Today, Governor Ron DeSantis filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to examine and review school safety measures throughout the state, as well as the responses of public entities to laws designed to protect schools such as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. Read More
A bill that would allow Florida’s teachers to carry guns in schools passed its first committee along party lines Tuesday, setting up what could be one of the most heated debates of the 2019 legislative session. Senate Bill 7030 expands the “Guardian” program created by last year’s post-Parkland bill, by which school staff can volunteer…
Governor DeSantis released his 2019-2020 state budget recommendations on Friday, February 1. As a result, most of this week’s Legislative Interim Committee Meetings provided presentations on funding and policies outlined in in governor’s budget. In addition to presentations and discussion of budget issues, legislative committees/subcommittees considered several bills of interest including, among others, bills relating to…
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a wide-range of teacher pay proposals that include an increase of $422 million in rewards for teachers and a higher percentage of black teachers who would received the rewards. Read More
Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing a boost in per-student spending, an overhaul in how the state rewards teachers, improvements to the state’s aging transportation network and more money to save the Everglades in a record budget proposal announced Friday. DeSantis’ $91.3 billion proposed budget, dubbed “Bold Vision for a Brighter Future”, is the largest ever…
With a state commission saying classroom teachers should be allowed to be armed “guardians,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday backed the possibility of more school employees being able to carry guns — while also calling for other steps to avoid mass shootings. DeSantis told reporters that his upcoming budget proposal will include money for school security…
Citing a 55 percent decrease in teacher certification approvals since 2017, Florida education commissioner Richard Corcoran announced on Tuesday steps to speed the process and get more educators approved. In an after-hours press statement, Corcoran announced he had moved six employees to the Bureau of Educator Certification to reduce the backlog of unprocessed applications. Read…
Most of the 3rd week of Legislative Interim Committee Meetings provided presentations on the implementation of legislation that passed during the 2018 Legislative Session. Of particular interest were presentations to both the House and Senate Committees on the implementation of SB 7026 – last year’s school safety bill. Please click on the files below for a summary of…
The chairman of the state’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission is making some claims about local school districts that one state senator calls “disturbing” if they are true. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who chairs the commission, testified before the Senate and House Education committees on Tuesday and accused school districts of…
When Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri stood up to give his presentation to the House Education committee on Tuesday, he had harsh words for school districts whom he said are “not moving fast enough” and are “playing games” with SB 7026, the law passed last year in response to the Parkland shooting that mandated sweeping…