The Florida School Boards Association’s legislative committee has crafted and approved a two-page list of priorities for the 2015 session, and perhaps it comes as no surprise that testing and accountability reform tops the list.
The platform, which goes to the general membership for ratification in December, calls for a delay in the consequences associated with state exam results, as many local boards have adopted resolutions to that end. Beyond that, it proposes a halt to the use of test results for anything but diagnostic purposes, and pushes for paper-and-pencil state exams at the state’s expense as districts work to get enough computers for online testing.
Several other priorities the FSBA sets forth aim toward increasing local control of issues. They include:
– Restoring school board authority to levy up to 2 mills of property tax for construction and capital projects. The Legislature has reduced that level in recent years.
– Repealing provisions calling for a standard charter school contract, and granting local school board final authority over charter schools in their districts.
