Florida School Boards Association
Florida’s public education system could see millions of dollars of funding reduced in the coming year, under scenarios put forth Tuesday by the state House Appropriations Committee. Citing flat revenue this year, with anticipated declines in the coming two years, chairman Rep. Carlos Trujillo asked members to go through a budget cutting exercise aimed at…
Senator David Simmons says teachers shouldn’t have to hold down second jobs: “It breaks my heart when I see teachers having to work in the evening just to make ends meet and we’ve got to improve teacher compensation,” he says. Simmons, an Altamont Springs Republican, is chairing his chamber’s K-12 Education Committee. And he says…
State lawmakers will need to decide whether to hold property taxes flat or have the option of providing a significant funding increase to public schools, the chairman of the Senate budget-writing committee said Thursday. The remarks added new urgency to an emerging debate over what to do about a decision by the Legislature early this…
State budget forecasters determined Tuesday that tax revenue supporting projects to build and repair schools will drop by 5 percent next year and that bonds may be an alternative. Read full article
Florida House freshmen attended an introductory course to writing a state budget Tuesday. They learned that the process gives them sweeping authority, but within the limits of fiscal reality. At present, Florida government is running a $3 billion reserve within a total budget of around $83.5 billion. But if spending continues at existing levels, that…
Some new faces will oversee the education policy debates in the Florida Senate during the 2017 session, while a familiar hand will run education appropriations in the chamber. Senate President Joe Negron announced Tuesday that Sen. Dorothy Hukill, a Volusia County Republican, will chair the Education Committee with Sen. Debbie Mayfield, an Indian River County…
Florida’s economy continues to grow, but not at the pace state budget forecasters expected. The slower-than-expected economic growth could affect tax revenue that feeds the state budget, which already promises increased costs next year for Medicaid and education. Budget analysts from the House, Senate and governor’s office gathered Friday for the State Economic Estimating Conference. Read full…
Florida Department of Education officials are looking for ways to funnel more money to the state’s aging schools and their growing backlog of deferred maintenance and repairs. On Thursday, they proposed a new formula for doling out money from the Public Education Capital Outlay fund, known as PECO. Read full article
Florida needs to invest more money in schools that offer students longer school days and years. And the state should ease regulations on public schools that perform well. Those are two provocative ideas raised by incoming state House Speaker Richard Corcoran in a recent interview with the head of a South Florida law firm. Corcoran, who is set to lead…
The Council of Chief State School Officers has proposed its own plan for ensuring that federal funds supplement and do not supplant state and local education spending, a plan that differs in a few key respects from the U.S. Department of Education’s own proposed rules. Under the proposal that CCSSO is submitting as a formal public comment…