Florida charter schools are exempt from competitive bidding rules, and there are no restrictions on for-profit management companies.

Experts say the most effective charter school laws are those that strike a balance between accountability and flexibility.

“Of course states want to preempt business practices that work against the interests of students and taxpayers,” said Bryan Hassel, co-director of the national education consulting firm Public Impact. “The question is how to do that without restricting deals that would actually be good for students and taxpayers — and without piling on cumbersome restrictions that burden everyone, including law-abiding schools.”

There is significant debate over how to achieve that balance.

The model charter school law created by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a lobbying and support organization, does not speak to competitive bidding or guidelines on selecting governing board members. It does, however, include a provision that governing boards operate independently from management companies — and that conflicts of interests between the two entities be disclosed and explained in the charter.

“What’s key is that the responsibilities of the two organizations be well defined and consistent with statute,” said Martin West, a professor of education at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Patricia Levesque, executive director for the Foundation for Florida’s Future, an education think tank created by former Gov. Jeb Bush that supports charter schools, is cautious about adding new regulations to Florida’s charter school law.

“When a bad actor is identified and dealt with, that is the system working,” Levesque said. “That doesn’t mean a new law needs to be passed to prohibit anything bad from ever happening.”

Robert Haag, president of the Florida Consortium for Public Charter Schools, said he would like to see charter schools regulate themselves. He suggested the creation of a statewide grievance commission to hold failing and financially troubled charter schools more accountable.

“We want to look at the issues, address them and move on,” Haag said.

Charter school critics, however, support stronger regulations in Florida and other states.

Diane Ravitch, a former U.S. assistant secretary of education under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, said the law should explicitly prohibit charter schools from screening out low-performing children. She also believes pay for charter school executives should be capped at no more than that of local school superintendents.

“The public should recognize that there are some very good charters and there are others that are in it for the money,” Ravitch wrote in an email to The Herald.

To Grove, who researches charter school authorizers for the Southern Regional Education Board, the overall goal should be guaranteeing quality charter schools. Making changes to state law, he said, will only go so far.

“In the end, it comes down to will,” he said.