This week, the Legislature will hold the first of six weeks of Interim Committee Meetings in preparation for the regular 2020 Legislative Session on January 14, 2020. This first round of meetings will focus on a review of the state’s financial outlook and the Legislative Budget Requests (LBRs) submitted by state agencies, updates on the…
The Florida Department of Education on Wednesday asked a Tallahassee judge to toss a lawsuit that seeks to have the state pay money to teachers that school districts deducted from bonuses.The lawsuit, filed last month, accused state officials of improperly instructing school districts to deduct employer taxes from teacher bonus awards granted under the “Best…
The dozen Florida school districts that sued the Legislature over a controversial 2017 law establishing and funding a new charter school system have suffered another setback in court. While acknowledging the districts had a limited right to challenge the law, a three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal found the districts’ legal arguments…
Florida Department of Education officials’ latest budget proposal does not include any additional funding for a controversial teacher bonus program, which is currently facing a legal challenge.Instead, state education officials on Wednesday called on the Florida Legislature to keep funding the “Best and Brightest” teacher and principal bonus program at $284.5 million, the same amount…
FSBA 2020 Platform Development The FSBA PROPOSED 2020 Legislative and Federal Platforms are available HERE along with related information. Please be sure to review these PROPOSED Platforms and share any comments or concerns you may have with your district’s representative on the FSBA Legislative Committee. There will also be an online Q&A session on Friday,…
A year ago, with school safety still high on Florida’s list of concerns, the state’s school boards association focused much of its legislative platform on increasing campus security with armed officers and hardened facilities. Having gotten much of what it asked for, the association is looking to new ideas for the 2020 session, for which…
Heading into a critical election year, Florida legislators may have to tighten spending because of a combination of a slowing economy and reverberations of financial decisions. State economists on Wednesday drew up new estimates that predict the state will take in about $867 million less in revenue over two years than earlier anticipated. Read More
A state school-safety commission meeting got heated Wednesday as members tackled a range of issues stemming from a controversial school “guardian” program, while one panelist recommended allowing Florida pre-schools to have armed security. Read More
Lawmakers set new rules in the spring for who could qualify for a “Best and Brightest” teacher bonus this year. One of the categories it created was a “recruitment” award. It would be paid to newly hired teachers deemed “content experts” in mathematics, science, computer science, reading or civics. The Legislature left it to the…
Florida is planning to reinvent school-based mental health awareness, but Florida International University (FIU) psychologists are raising questions about the plan’s implementation. The goal is to help students identify the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, how to get help for themselves and others and what to do or say to peers affected by a…