The Legislature will hold a sixth, and final, round of Interim Committee Meetings this week to lay more groundwork for the 2020 Legislative Session that will convene on January 14, 2020. Several committees/subcommittees will consider bills addressing topics of interest including, among others, health and safety, curriculum, personnel issues, and school choice options. In addition,…
The Legislature will hold a 4th week of Interim Committee Meetings this week. The schedule is relatively light since none of the main education related committees or subcommittees will be meeting. However, bills and topics of interest that will be considered this week include public safety, facilities, the Florida Kidcare Program, and public records. The…
Today, the Department of Justice announced it has awarded more than $85.3 million to bolster school security — including funding to educate and train students and faculty — and support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident. Read More Fact Sheet Listing Award Recipients
Saying the case involves protecting “local control over local schools by local representatives answerable to local voters,” nine county school boards urged the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday to take up a battle about a 2017 state law that sought to bolster charter schools. Read More
The Legislature will hold a second round of Interim Committee Meetings this week. Education related Committees and Subcommittees will receive overviews on educator professional development, the state system of school improvement, teacher compensation, and the FDOE’s Legislative Budget Request (LBR). Other Committees will consider a few bills of interest, including bills relating to public records,…
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…
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…
As we count down the final days of the 2019 Session, we have begun compiling our FSBA 2019 Legislative Session Summary and, after the Legislative Session adjourns, we will conduct a series of onsite and online Legislative Session Review Workshops and Webinars. These Workshops and Webinars provide a comprehensive analysis of education appropriations and detailed…
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…