Work on the state budget took center stage today and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees reviewed their respective budget proposals and related bills. The House made only a few changes to their main budget bill – none of which impacted Pre-K-12 Education Funding – but adopted a lengthy substitute bill for their main education…
In a replay of last year, the House on Wednesday attached a major education policy bill to the state budget, spurring a debate on controversial issues such as a voucher-like program for students who are bullied and an effort to weaken teachers’ unions. The House Appropriations Committee voted 20-8 for the 198-page budget “conforming” bill…
Legislative committees considered several bills of interest today, including, most notably, bills relating school board member term limits and school district accountability. Please click on the link below for our report on the outcome of the consideration of these bills and others that were considered today. Tomorrow, the Appropriations Committees in both chambers will be…
The Constitution Revision Commission Education Committee met this afternoon to consider several important education-related proposals to amend the Florida Constitution, including, among others, proposals relating to public and charter school authorizers, school choice programs, and the prohibition against using public revenues in aid of religious entities. You may wish to review our Discussion and Key…
A giant K-12 education package bill had its first public presentation on Thursday in the House Education Committee, where it passed despite light criticism from Democrats who requested more time to review its many provisions. The bill, which was posted online Tuesday night on the committee’s page, addresses a myriad of issues such as accountability of…
Several bills of interest were considered today including a significant Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) by the House Education Committee that addresses private school accountability, school choice programs, district flexibility, and a new reading scholarship program. Other bills of interest address early learning, students with disabilities, public meetings and records, and labor organizations. Please click on…
Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran made one thing perfectly clear after the passage of the omnibus education bill HB 7069 in the spring: You ain’t seen nothing yet. “We will continue to have zero tolerance for a system that determines a child’s destiny based on demographics,” Corcoran intoned in his session opening remarks in January. Exactly…
Today, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee chairs released their budget proposals for their specific budget areas. The initial proposal submitted by Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Subcommittee chair Kathleen Passidomo provides more than $21.1 billion in FEFP funding — an increase of more than $535.2 million or 2.60%. This increase is due, in part, by maintaining the…
As we begin the third week of the 2018 Legislative Session, we encourage you to view our Legislative Weekly video that features Andrea Messina providing a recap of the major bills and meetings last week. Today, legislators took up several bills of interest today including bills relating to the Hope Scholarship Program, educational enhancements, school…
This will be a busy week with several bills of interest under consideration throughout the week, release of budget proposals from the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Tuesday and Wednesday, and meetings of the Constitution Revision Commission Committees scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Please click on the link below for the…