With the close of the 2008
Florida Legislative Session, several educational bills passed and
are now waiting on Governor Crist’s approval.
Provided that the following bills are not vetoed, these bills will
become law by July 1, 2008. Listed below are just some of the education
bills passed. You may obtain additional information on these and
other bills at www.leg.state.fl.us
ETHICS IN EDUCATION
CS/CS/CS/SB 1712 — Ethics in Education Act
The bill establishes
comprehensive changes at the state and local level regarding the
screening, hiring, and termination policies for educators and the
reporting procedures related to allegations of educator misconduct.
Background
Screening
Each school district, charter school, and private school that accepts
scholarship students under certain state programs must to screen
potential applicants for instructional personnel and school-based
administrator positions by contacting previous employers, reviewing
the certification history of the individual through the Department
of Education certification website, and performing criminal history
records checks on these individuals.
The bill establishes a list of
crimes that would disqualify an individual, if convicted, from obtaining
or retaining a teaching certificate or instructional employment involving
direct contact with students.
Immediate Suspension and Reassignment
from Classroom or School
A school district superintendent must immediately suspend and reassign
instructional personnel or school-based administrators from direct
contact with students upon an allegation of misconduct involving
the health, safety, or welfare of students.
Confidentiality Agreements
Prohibited
Schools are prohibited from entering into confidentiality agreements
when terminating an employee when the termination is based in whole
or in part on the misconduct of the individual, which affects the
health, safety, or welfare of students. Schools are also prohibited
from providing a reference to a prospective employer without disclosing
such misconduct.
Penalties and Sanctions
The bill includes significant financial penalties and teacher-certification
sanctions for non-compliance. District school superintendents and
school personnel that fail to report misconduct of instructional
personnel and school-based administrators, which affects the health,
safety, or welfare of students would also be subject to certification
penalties.
The bill provides that any public officer or employee
convicted of certain sex-related offenses on minors within the scope
of his or her duties would forfeit his or her right to any state
retirement benefits, except for an individual's accumulated contributions
up to the time of the conviction.
Education Practices Commission
The bill revises the membership of the Education Practices Commission
to include sworn law enforcement officers, parents of public school
students, and an administrator of a private school. The authority
of the commission is expanded to include discipline of an educator
who knowingly fails to report suspected or actual child abuse or
misconduct by an educator.
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SCHOOL STANDARDS, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND GRADING
CS/SB 1908 — State Curriculum Standards, Accountability,
and
High School Grades
School Grading
Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, the bill revises the high
school grading formula to reduce the FCAT component of a high school's
grade to 50 percent of the grade and adds the school's graduation
rate, at-risk student graduation rate, postsecondary readiness
rate, and the participation and performance of students on demanding
coursework such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate,
dual enrollment, Advanced International Certificate of Education,
and industry certification in a career and professional academy
as the remaining 50 percent of a school's grade.
The bill revises
the assignment of grades to alternative schools by requiring that
the grade of a student assigned to an alternative school is credited
to the school for which the student is assigned. The bill also
makes school performance more accessible to the public by reducing
the minimum number of student scores required to calculate a school
grade or rating while protecting student identity.
The bill expands
the number of schools eligible for School Recognition Program funding
by awarding funds to schools that increase more than one school grade
in a given year and maintain that performance the following year.
State Curriculum Standards
The bill provides for the revision of Florida's K-12 curriculum standards
to include collaboration with renowned experts in content area
and subject related fields. The standards revised to date and those
scheduled for completion within the next three years would be renamed
the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
Statewide Assessments
and Preparation
The Commissioner of Education is authorized to adopt rigorous end-of-course
assessments for secondary courses and provide for the transition
to a more comprehensive and cost-effective state writing assessment.
The bill also establishes parameters for statewide testing dates
to require the latest possible date for test administration and
the earliest possible date for the return of test scores.
The Department
of Education must select an assessment to evaluate the postsecondary
readiness of certain students, and districts must provide remediation
to those students before they graduate and enter college.
The bill
prohibits school districts from interrupting a student's regular
day of instruction to engage in test taking practices for the statewide
assessment with certain exceptions.
High School Graduation
The bill authorizes students to earn credit in practical arts for
purposes of meeting the fine arts requirements for high school
graduation.
Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, students
may earn a differentiated diploma that indicates their achievement
in certain demanding coursework and college credit.
Teacher Stipends
and Certification
The bill revises provisions for the Teachers Lead Program Stipend
to clarify eligible expenditures, deadlines for distribution of funds
to teachers, and options available for the allocation and expenditure
of program funds.
The bill provides additional options for teacher
certification candidates to demonstrate mastery of subject area knowledge
in certain foreign languages.
School Cafeteria Reports
The bill requires the posting of school cafeteria sanitation and
safety reports in a public location in the school cafeteria.
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SCHOOL
SAFETY AND WELLNESS
HB 669 — School Safety
The bill creates the "Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students
Act" and prohibits the bullying or harassment of any public
K-12 student or employee during a public K-12 education program or
activity; during a school-related or school-sponsored program or
activity; on a public K-12 school bus; or through a public K-12 computer,
computer system, or computer network.
The Department of Education
must adopt a model bullying and harassment policy by October 1, 2008.
By December 1, 2008, each school district is required to adopt a
bullying and harassment policy in substantial conformity with the
department's model policy, and include students, parents, teachers,
administrators, school staff, volunteers, community representatives,
and local law enforcement agencies in the development of the district's
policy.
For the 2009-2010 school year, each school district's
Safe Schools funding is contingent upon the department's approval
of the district's bullying and harassment policy. To obtain approval,
the district policy must substantially conform with the department's
policy. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a school district's
annual allocation of Safe Schools funding is contingent upon the
district's compliance with reporting requirements for bullying and
harassment incidents, the investigation of such incidents, and the
steps taken by the district in response.
The Commissioner of Education
must submit an annual report to the Governor and Legislature to include
data on district reports of bullying and harassment.
The bill provides
limited civil immunity for a school employee, volunteer, student,
or parent who reports bullying or harassment in good faith.
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CS/CS/SB
610 — The Don Davis Physical Education Act
This bill is named
for the late Representative Don Davis of Jacksonville, who was the
sponsor of this legislation in the House of Representatives. This
bill requires each district school board to include in its written
physical education policy the benefits of physical education and
the availability of one-on-one counseling to parents concerning the
benefits. In addition to current requirements for the provision of
150 minutes of physical education each week to students in kindergarten
through grade 5, the bill requires each school board to provide such
education to students in grade 6 who are enrolled in a school that
also contains one or more elementary grades. On any day when such
physical education instruction is provided there must be at least
30 consecutive minutes of instruction.
Beginning with the 2009-2010
school year, district school boards must provide the equivalent of
one class period per day of physical education for one semester of
each year for students enrolled in grades 6 through 8. This requirement
must be waived for students who are enrolled in a remedial course
or whose parents request a waiver under certain conditions. School
districts are required to notify parents of the waiver options before
scheduling a student to participate in physical education.
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SCHOOL
AND PROGRAM CHOICE
CS/CS/SB 1906 — Alternative Credit High School Courses
The bill
creates a pilot program to provide opportunities for high school
students enrolled in rigorous career academies to simultaneously
earn credit in specific math and science courses without taking the
math or science course.
High school students enrolled in career and
professional academies would earn credit for Integrated Math 1 and
2, Algebra 1a and 1b, Algebra 1, Geometry, and Biology, provided
the standards and essential concepts of these courses are included
in their career coursework and the students can verify mastery of
the core content on approved end-of-course-assessments. The bill
provides that students who attain scores that verify mastery of content
on the end-of-course assessments would earn the district additional
funding within the funding caps provided by law.
The bill authorizes
the Palm Beach County school district to conduct a pilot program
to recognize business partners by publicly displaying the businesses'
names on school district property in unincorporated areas.
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CS/CS/CS/HB
653 —
Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program
For the
Corporate Income Tax Credit (CTC) Scholarship Program, the bill revises
the scholarship eligibility criteria to allow the participation of
the sibling of a scholarship student and students who are placed
in foster care. The bill also makes the following changes to the
provisions of the CTC scholarship program:
Increases the current maximum
scholarship award amount from $3,750 to $3,950, beginning with FY
2008-2009;
Requires an eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding
organization (SFO) to annually expend at least 75 percent, rather
than obligate 100 percent of the eligible contributions received
in that fiscal year;
- Authorizes SFOs to retain up to 3
percent of contributions for reasonable and necessary administrative
expenses;
- Provides that only SFOs that have been in
operation for three years and do not have any negative financial
findings are eligible for the administrative fee;
- Limits the amount
of the administrative fee that can be expended on recruitment of
additional contributions to one-third of the administrative fee;
- Removes the limitation on interest being
used for scholarships;
- Increases the $88 million maximum tax credit
by $30 million to $118 million beginning with FY 2008-2009;
- Provides
that contributions in excess of carry forward at the end of the
state fiscal year revert to General Revenue; and
- Eliminates the
current reserve of at least 1 percent of the maximum tax credit
for small businesses.
The bill requires
the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
(OPPAGA) to provide a report to the Governor and Legislature by December
1, 2008, which reviews the advisability and net state fiscal impact
of increasing the maximum annual amount of credits for the corporate
income tax and authorizing the use of credits for insurance premium
taxes as an additional source of funding for the scholarship program.
The bill also requires OPPAGA to make recommendations, if warranted,
for strategies to encourage scholarship students to participate in
the statewide assessment program.
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CS/CS/SB 242 — Single-gender
Schools, Classes, and Programs
This bill (Chapter 2008-26, L.O.F.)
authorizes district school boards to establish and maintain a single-gender
nonvocational class, extracurricular activity, or school for elementary,
middle, or high school students if the school district also makes
available a substantially equally single-gender class, extracurricular
activity, or school to students of the other gender and a coeducational
class, extracurricular activity, or school to all students.
District
school boards that elect to establish a single-gender class, extracurricular
activity, or school may not require participation by any student,
and must ensure that student participation is voluntary. Additionally,
a district school board that establishes a single-gender class, extracurricular
activity, or school must evaluate the class, activity, or school
every two years in order to ensure compliance with state and federal
requirements.
These provisions became law without the Governor's signature and
take effect July 1, 2008.
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CS/CS/SB 526 — Interscholastic Extracurricular
Activities
Beginning in the 2008-2009 school year in Bradford,
Duval and Nassau school districts, a 2-year pilot program is established
to permit a middle or high school student enrolled in a private school
to participate in intrascholastic and interscholastic sports at a
public school, if the student is zoned for the public school, the
private school does not provide an intrascholastic or interscholastic
program, and the school is not a member of the Florida High School
Athletic Association (FHSAA).
To be eligible to participate at a public
high school, middle school, or a grades 6-12 school, the student
must meet certain conditions, including requirements for standards
of conduct and student academic performance.
The bill also provides
an exemption from civil liability arising out of an injury that occurs
during the private school student’s
transportation to and from his or her public school. A report, including
recommendations, must be made by the FHSAA and the participating
school districts to the Governor and the legislative presiding officers
by January 1, 2010.
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CS/SB 1414 — Supplemental Educational Services
The bill tasks
the Department of Education (DOE) with annually designating a performance
grade of "A," "B," "C," "D," or "F," for
each state-approved Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provider,
based on a combination of student learning gains and student proficiency
levels, as measured by the statewide assessment and norm-referenced
tests approved by the DOE for students in kindergarten through grade
3. Under the bill, a grade is assigned beginning with the 2007-2008
school year and must be reported to parents, SES providers, school
districts, and the public.
The bill limits the facility rental fee
that Miami Dade County School District may charge a state-approved
SES provider. The fee is limited to only the hours that a classroom
is used by the provider to tutor students.
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EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT AWARENESS
CS/SB 856 — Disability History and Awareness
The bill requires
district school boards to designate "Disability
History and Awareness Weeks" during the first two weeks in October
of each year and authorizes school boards to provide disability history
and awareness instruction in kindergarten through grade 12 during
those weeks. The instruction may be integrated into the existing
school curriculum. The bill encourages state postsecondary institutions
to conduct and promote activities related to disability history and
awareness.
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HB 7067 — Virtual Education
This bill authorizes
school district virtual instruction programs for funding through
the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). The bill:
- Designates
school district virtual instruction programs as components of public
K-12 schools, lists them as educational choice options and as open
enrollment options;
- Beginning with the 2009-10 school year, requires
school districts to provide students with the option of participating
in school district virtual instruction programs;
- Provides that school
district virtual instruction programs shall use online and distance
learning technology for students in grades K to 8 on a full-time
basis and for high school students on a part-time or full-time
basis;
- Provides that a school district program may
consist of one or more schools operated by the district, by contracted
providers approved by the Department of Education (DOE), or through
multi-district contractual agreements;
- Provides that charter schools
may enter into joint agreements with the district to participate
in a program;
- Authorizes the DOE to approve eligible providers
by March 1 of each year;
- Establishes provider qualifications, including
state-located administrative offices and staff, certified teachers,
and appropriate accreditation;
- Grandfathers in the existing K-8
Virtual School providers and exempts them from new provider qualifications;
- Establishes
program requirements to include the use of certified teachers,
alignment with Sunshine State Standards, background screening of
employees, provision of instructional materials, equipment and
internet access, when appropriate, for full-time students in households,
and no tuition or fees;
- Beginning in 2010-2011, does not allow growth
in enrollment if the program earns less than a grade of "C" in
the prior year;
- Limits enrollment to students who, in the
prior year, were enrolled in a public school or in a school district
virtual instruction program, or who are dependents of a member
of the armed services;
- Requires school districts to report virtual
instruction students as full-time equivalents in basic programs
for grades K to 8 who complete the coursework and are promoted
to the next grade level, and in basic or English for Speakers of
Other Languages (ESOL) programs for high school students in Department
of Juvenile Justice or dropout prevention programs who earn six
credit completions for funding in the FEFP;
- For 2008-2009, provides
that a school district may offer its own district virtual instruction
program or contract with K-8 providers under s. 1002.415, F.S.,
or for grades 9 to 12, with providers who contracted with a regional
consortium for 2007-2008 for students in Department of Juvenile
Justice and dropout prevention programs;
- Requires school district
virtual instruction programs, not including the Florida Virtual
School, to be included in the state assessment and accountability
system and to receive a school grade;
- Requires school district
programs to be terminated if they receive a "D" or an "F" for
two of any four consecutive years and requires the DOE to select
a new provider;
- Clarifies that digital or online content
providers that are used to supplement instruction in regular district
(seat-time) schools are exempt from the requirements of the bill;
and
- Exempts the school district virtual instruction
programs, the Florida Virtual School, and the K-8 Virtual Schools
from class size requirements by amending the "core-curricula courses" definition.
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HB 5083 — Education
This bill revises public
school funding statutes to conform them to the General Appropriations
Act (GAA). The bill:
- Removes the requirement for the norm-referenced
portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT);
- Allows
for pro-ration of the regional consortia state supplement;
- Prohibits
districts from withholding a portion of the Merit Award Program
payment from charter schools;
- Clarifies the Full Time Equivalent
(FTE) reporting requirement for dual enrollment courses;
- Makes
the FTE bonus for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate,
and Advanced
- International Certificate of Education programs
twice the level of funding for the course;
- Removes the middle school
Algebra I bonus from the funding formula;
- Limits the industry certification
bonus to students who earn a high school diploma, to .3 FTE per
student, and to $15 million annually;
- Makes the fourth calculation
of the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) the final calculation
of the Required Local Effort for the fiscal year;
- Makes the Declining
Enrollment funding percentage an amount to be determined in the
GAA;
- Provides school districts with additional
fiscal flexibility by allowing categorical program funds, including
the reading allocation and instructional materials, to be spent
for classroom instruction in certain limited cases, for 2008-09
only;
- Continues the school-level compliance standard
for class size reduction for 2008-09;
- Provides a shift of 0.25
mills from the 2 mill capital outlay discretionary levy to the
Required Local Effort of the FEFP and provides a protection for
the issuance of certificates of participation;
- Allows school districts,
if they certify that they have met class size reduction requirements
and have met all instructional space capital outlay needs for the
next five years with expected capital outlay funding, to use up
to $65 per FTE of capital millage revenue for purchase/lease-purchase
of certain vehicles or payment of casualty and property insurance
premiums for 2008-09 only;
- Allows school districts to submit Merit
Award Program plans for 2008-09 by October 1, 2008;
- Requires prototype
design and construction when a school district is building multiple
schools in a 5-year period;
- For the Excellent Teaching Program,
maintains the payments for the teacher certification bonuses; removes
the requirement for funding the application and portfolio fees
and the FRS contribution payment; limits bonuses to one 10-year
period; and retains the mentoring bonus, if funds are provided.
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