The Constitution Revision Commission Committees met this week to consider several of the education related proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution that have been filed. Please click on the link below to access our report on the education related proposals that were considered this week and information on upcoming meetings of CRC Committee and public hearings by the full Commission.
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The CRC Local Government Committee met to consider:
Proposal 43 – Sponsored by Erika Donalds. The proposal amends Article IX, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution. The proposal would limit school board members to two consecutive four year terms in office. As originally proposed, all current service on the school board would count toward that school board member’s 8-year term limit. The proposal was amended in the CRC Education Committee to provide that the 8-year term limit would commence with a board member’s last election and the proposal was amended again in this meeting to make service since 2015 to count toward the term limit. Even as amended, there were several questions about how and when the term limit would apply. FSBA staff and others testified in opposition to this proposal. The Proposal passed the Committee on a vote of 5-1 and is now pending a report from the Local Government Committee. We have revised our analysis of this proposal to reflect changes to the original proposal and it is available on the FSBA website on the Education Legal News page or, to access it directly, click HERE.
Proposal 33 — Sponsored by Erika Donalds. The proposal amends Article IX, Section 5 of the Florida Constitution. The proposal would require that the superintendent of schools of a school district be appointed by the district school board rather than elected. The proposal provides an effective date of November 17, 2020. Several district superintendents and others testified in opposition to this proposal. The proposal passed the Committee on a vote of 4-2 and is now ready for consideration by the full Commission. FADSS has prepared Information and Talking Points on this proposal that is available on the FSBA website on the Education Legal News page.
Proposal 37 – Sponsored by John Stemberger. The proposal amends Article X of the Florida Constitution by adding a new section. The proposal would prohibit state or local governments from naming government buildings, facilities, land or a government administered program after an elected state or local official, until after that official has vacated office. The proposal also requires that any law or ordinance which names a building, facility, land or program after a state or local elected official not contain provisions on any other subject. The proposal passed the Committee with a vote of 5-1 and is now ready for consideration by the full Commission.
The Local Government Committee Meeting Packet is available HERE. If you wish to view the video recording of the meeting, it is available in the Video Library of The Florida Channel.
The CRC Education Committee meeting was devoted to several presentations on Charter School Authorizers, School Start Dates, High-Performing Districts, Fee Waivers, Financial Aid, Mission/Intent of Public Education, Students with Unique Abilities. Although no specific proposals were presented or discussed in this meeting, each of these topics relates to a proposal that will be considered by the Education Committee at a later date. The Committee Meeting Agenda is available HERE. You may access the video recording of the meeting in the Video Library on The Florida Channel.
In other CRC Committee meetings this week:
The CRC Finance & Tax Committee met to consider, among other items:
Proposal 72 – Sponsored by Fred Karlinsky. The proposal amends Article VII of the Florida Constitution by adding a new section. The proposal provides that a law may not impose a new state tax or fee or raise a state tax or fee unless passed by two-thirds vote of the membership of each house of the legislature. The proposal does not apply to any tax or fee imposed by a county, municipality, school board, or special district. The Proposal passed the Committee on a 5-0 vote and is now ready for consideration by the full Commission.
The CRC Legislative Committee met to consider, among other items:
Proposal 103 – Sponsored by Jeanette Nuñez. The proposal amends Article III, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. The proposal provides that the Legislature will convene for regular session on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each even-numbered year. Currently, the Constitution provides that, in odd-numbered years, the Legislature must convene on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, but allows the Legislature to set the date for convening in even-numbered years. The Proposal passed the Committee on a 4-0 vote and is now ready for consideration by the full Commission.
In addition, the CRC Ethics & Elections Committee was scheduled to consider several proposals of interest, but each of these was temporarily postponed.
For more information on any of the proposals discussed above, please see our CHART that provides details and links on 35 proposals that are of direct or tangential interest to school board members.
The next round of CRC Committee meetings is scheduled for January 11-12, 2018. Additional CRC Committee meetings are scheduled for January 18-19, 2018, January 25-26, 2018, and February 1-2, 2018. In addition, the full Commission has scheduled a second series of public hearings to allow the public another opportunity to comment on any of the proposals that may be placed on the 2018 ballot. The tentative schedule for these public hearings is as follows:
South Florida Public Hearing
Tuesday, February 6, 1:00-7:00 PM
Nova Southeastern University
Rick Case Arena at the Don Taft University Center (UC)
3301 College Avenue
Fort Lauderdale (Broward County)
Central Florida Public Hearing
Monday, February 19, 1:00-7:00 PM
Eastern Florida State College
King Center
3865 North Wickham Road
Melbourne (Brevard County)
Northeast Florida Public Hearing
Tuesday, February 20, 1:00-7:00 PM
University of North Florida
Herbert University Center
12000 Alumni Drive
Jacksonville (Duval County)
Northwest Florida Public Hearing
Tuesday, February 27, 1:00-7:00 PM Central Time
University of West Florida
Conference Center & Ballroom
11000 University Parkway
Building 22
Pensacola (Escambia County)
Tampa Bay Region Public Hearing
Tuesday, March 13, 1:00-7:00 PM
University of South Florida – St. Petersburg
University Student Center
6th Ave S
St. Petersburg (Pinellas County)
Southwest Florida Public Hearing – Date and Location To Be Determined
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This will be our last Session Spotlight report for 2017, but we will return in early January with new and updated resources and information to assist your advocacy efforts in 2018.
We wish you all a peaceful and joyful holiday season and a Happy New Year!
