Florida has an estimated 400,000 children who need behavioral-health services, but 55 percent of them don’t get any treatment, members of a health care panel were told last week. That translates to 220,000 children across the state, or about one child in every classroom, health official Jeffrey Brosco told members of the Florida Healthy Kids…
Calling the recently wrapped Florida legislative session “amazing,” education commissioner Richard Corcoran said his team earned a top grade for achieving its goals. “We pretty much got 93 percent of the legislative agenda,” Corcoran told the State Board of Education during its meeting Wednesday in Tampa. He included among those successes bills — now laws…
The state’s massive effort to get public input about replacing or revamping Florida’s academic standards has opened the floodgates in schools and homes with schoolchildren, revealing a far more troubled picture of public education than the spin that comes from press releases and news conferences. Read More
We are pleased to announce the publication of the FSBA 2019 Legislative Session Summary. Our Summary provides an in-depth analysis of the education related funding in the state budget and detailed summaries of the education related bills passed during the session. We will update our Summary if, during the coming days, Governor DeSantis chooses to…
The 2019 Legislative Session has adjourned, sine die, with public education enjoying some important victories in education funding and policy, but also enduring some significant disappointments. We are still sorting through the final bill actions, including the status of last minute amendments to the bills that are of interest, but we have provided a PRELIMINARY…
After about seven hours of angry, sometimes deeply painful debate about race and gun violence that spanned two days, the Florida House passed a bill Wednesday that would allow classroom teachers to be armed, expanding a program lawmakers created last year after the Parkland shooting. The debate reached emotional heights that had Democrats shouting or…
The Florida Legislature is sending a controversial bill to the governor that allows teachers to carry guns on campus, despite protests from educators and students urging them not to put more firearms in schools. The Florida House voted 65-47 Wednesday in favor of the school safety measure, which prompted hours of heated and emotional debate.…
Bills of interest on today’s schedule include 3rd Reading of SB 7030 (school safety) in the House. Other bills of interest on the schedule today include bills relating to early learning, personnel, mental health, and public records. In addition to bills on the agenda, bills will be moving back and forth between chambers in Messages. …
A far-reaching, omnibus education bill that creates a new private school voucher and restructures the state’s teacher bonus program is on its way to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, after the Florida House passed it on Tuesday. The bill, Senate Bill 7070, achieves a goal that has been sought by Republicans since Jeb Bush was governor:…
With only four days remaining in the 2019 Legislative Session, you may wish to take a few minutes to view our FSBA Weekly Video Update featuring FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina providing a recap of the main events during the eighth week of the Session. As we’ve mentioned, the pace will be very fast for…