Efforts by the Legislature to make explicitly clear the rights students and teachers have to express their religious beliefs in Florida public schools is ready for a floor vote in the Senate, while earning high praise in an initial House hearing. Read More
DetailsThe House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee voted Tuesday narrowly against requiring workers to pay their own attorney fees in disputes over benefits. The tally went 8-7 against an amendment by Republican Jay Fant to scrap most of a proposed committee bill addressing escalating workers’ compensation premiums. Read More
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In separate meetings, the House and Senate versions of bills — HB 303 and SB 436 — relating to Religious Expression in Public Schools drew quite a bit of discussion and public testimony. Though originally identical in content, the House PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee took up and passed a Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) for HB 303 by Representative…
DetailsBack at the end of January, Gov. Rick Scott made teachers a top priority in his budget recommendations to the Legislature for next year. But his proposals aren’t getting much traction, now that lawmakers are delving into the nitty-gritty of their own ideas. Read More
DetailsMore than 3,000 students in Lake and Osceola counties want to transfer to new schools in August, taking advantage of a Florida law that allows them to attend any public school that has room. Read More
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We are looking forward to having FSBA Treasurer Nora Rupert (Broward County), Patty Good (Broward County), and Betsy Condon (Clay County) in town this week to flex their advocacy muscles and participate in the legislative process. These three school board members will be participating in an initiative launched by the FSBA Legislative Committee and Advocacy…
DetailsU.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Monday released a new application for states to use in developing their accountability plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act. And, as you might expect, it is shorter and includes fewer requirements than an earlier application released by the Obama administration in November. The biggest difference seems to be…
DetailsIt has been more than three years since a School Board meeting in Volusia County was canceled after a heated dispute over what some considered to be pro-Islam content in a history textbook raised safety concerns about potential violence. Read More
DetailsMore top educators in Florida would have a crack at an annual state bonus in the 2017-18 school year, under initial legislative proposals to expand a controversial, 2-year-old teacher incentive program. While there’s more room for compromise this year, House and Senate plans, unveiled this week, likely won’t appease all critics . . . Read More
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We have concluded the first week of the 60-day Legislative Session and, already, there has been quite a bit of activity on bills of interest to school board members. You may wish to review the earlier issues of the FSBA Session Spotlight for this week for details, but as a quicker summary, please be sure…
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