Florida School Boards Association joins chorus seeking HB 7069 veto

Florida has two groups advocating on behalf of school boards, and they are not always asking for the same things.  They disagreed on vouchers — in fact, the Florida Coalition of School Board members split from the larger, more established Florida School Boards Association over that issue — and now they disagree over the 278-page HB…

VIDEO: FSBA Session Wrap-up

Tallahassee, FL – After a three day extension, Florida’s Legislative Session has come to an end. Watch this FSBA Legislative Weekly Update for highlights, and be sure visit the FSBA Session Spotlight Blog and 2017 Legislative Session page for in-depth summaries, resources, and analyses. Also, be on the lookout for FSBA’s online and face-to-face Legislative Summary events.

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 8, 2017

The Legislature adjourned the 2017 Legislative Session, sine die, shortly before 9:00 pm this evening having passed each of the budget Conference Reports and tax cut package.  As expected, HB 7069 was the only education related Conference Report that generated significant debate, particularly in the Senate.  The bill passed the House by an essentially party…

Parents, school leaders urge ‘no’ vote on mammoth education bill

A swift outcry of condemnation came over the weekend from many parents, teachers and school administrators who want the Florida Legislature to reject a $419 million, 278-page K-12 public schools bill — which was decided behind closed doors, which lawmakers cannot change and which they’ll have had only about 72 hours to review when they…

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 7, 2017

The Legislature will return to work tomorrow — Monday — for the last day of the extended 2017 Legislative Session.  The only items that are scheduled to be considered are a bill outlining the state tax cut package (HB 7109) and the Conference Reports on the budget, budget implementing bill, and the related conforming bills. …

Parents who want recess say lawmakers are using kids as ‘pawns in a political game’

Passionate parents, like Kate Asturias of Miami and Angela Browning of Orlando, have been fighting for years to get guaranteed daily recess for their children and the more than 1.2 million other kids in Florida’s public elementary schools. The two moms trekked to Tallahassee on Friday, for the countless time, hoping to see lawmakers finally…

In last-day surprise, Legislature loads education policy into pass/fail budget

At the insistence of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, numerous major changes to education policy for Florida’s K-12 public schools — from teacher bonuses and daily recess, to testing reforms and expansions for charter schools — were crammed into a single mammoth bill on Friday, with $414 million in spending attached. All of the policies in the…

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 4, 2017

Budget negotiators met twice today to close out the final differences in the budget. Of particular interest to school boards, a corrected distribution list for state Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) funding was released. This provides $50 million each to Public Schools and Charter Schools for maintenance, repair, and renovations and more than $57 million…

FSBA Session Spotlight — May 1, 2017

If legislators hope to adjourn as scheduled on Friday, the Conference Report on the state budget must be published sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) to allow for the constitutionally required 72-hour “cooling off period” before a vote can be taken on the passage of the budget bill. There are several major budget issues that appear to be…