FORT MYERS, Fla.- At Pivot Charter School in Fort Myers, Principal Gary Iker is banking on the passage of Senate Bill 1852.

"It really is a necessity," Dr. Iker said. "Especially when you have new schools starting up. They need the same advantages to be successful."

The legislation would require property tax dollars be shared between public and charter schools to fund construction and maintenance projects.

"It would allow us to really spend those needed dollars on strictly educational purposes," Iker said. Currently, charter schools in Florida get a set allotment per student. That money is used for both educational purposes, and to fund building projects. But the legislation would give tax dollars, generated through property tax assessments, to districts to be split among traditional public schools and charter schools.

State Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R) of Fort Myers, supports the measure.

"If a child is in a public charter school, or a traditional public school, to me, they're our charges," Benacquisto said during a heated debate at a Senate Education Committee meeting earlier this week. "They're our responsibility to educate. It's our obligation to make sure that no matter the system, they're receiving the best." She voted in favor of the measure.

But Lee County School Board member Thomas Scott has expressed serious concerns about the bill

"I question the constitutionality," Scott said Wednesday. "From the fundamental view that you're asking for public funds to be utilized by private businesses to acquire assets for their benefit." Scott says he spoke with Benacquisto in Tallahassee several weeks ago to voice his opinion.

But charter school principals remain adamant that the bill is in the best interest of students.

"We're really excited to see charter schools sort of be on par with districts schools in terms of facilities funding, capital outlays funding, just being able to educate our kids," said Dr. Myyrha Satow of Fort Myers Preparatory and Fitness Academy.

The school is currently waiting to move in to its new location, an old Robb and Stucky building on US 41 just South of Colonial Blvd. in Fort Myers. Satow says the project has been in the works for years, but funding from the state would have made it a reality much sooner. The school will open its doors at the new location in time for the 2012-2013 school year.

A similar bill in the state House was watered down to exclude the provision about sharing construction money between districts and charter schools.