FSBA Session Spotlight — January 31, 2017

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 30, 2018

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 29, 2018

Legislative committees considered several bills of interest today, including bills relating to student safety and health, juvenile justice, public meetings, school funding, early learning, and curriculum. Please click on the link below for our report on the outcome for these bills and others.  Tomorrow, legislators will consider several more bills of interest, most notably, bills…

Lawmakers look to start new school vouchers, tighten control on private schools

Florida lawmakers moved last week to expand the state’s school voucher programs — pushing to create a new one for bullied students — even as they also worked to impose more rules on participating private schools.The state’s three current voucher, or scholarship, programs pay private school tuition for 140,000 students statewide, serving youngsters from low-income…

House K-12 mega-bill has first public airing

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 25, 2018

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 24, 2018

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 23, 2018

Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee chairs released their budget proposals for their specific budget areas. The initial proposal submitted by House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee chair Manny Diaz provides more than $21 billion in FEFP funding — an increase of more than $506.8 million or 2.46%.  This increase is due, in part, by allowing the Required…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 22, 2018

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…

FSBA Session Spotlight — January 21, 2018

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…