HIGHLAND CITY — The Polk County School Board wants to ease into its search for a new superintendent and invite more community input than during the last one. Board members discussed the search at their retreat Monday at the district’s Jim Miles Center. They began sketching out the timeline for a national search process that…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE, Fla.- A push to let Florida’s public schools use alternative tests is moving ahead in the Florida Senate. A Senate panel voted Tuesday for a bill that would give school districts the option of switching from the Florida Standards Assessment to tests such as the SAT and ACT. The bill (SB 1360) now moves…
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TODAY’S HAPPENINGS In the Senate Appropriations Committee: SB 766 – Ad Valorem Taxation by Flores – AMENDED; PASSED WITH A COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE (CS) Requiring a property appraiser to notify the Department of Revenue if the recertified just value of an assessment roll is less than the initial just value of an assessment roll by a specified amount;…
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Ladies and Gentlemen: FSBA WEEKLY VIDEO UPDATE FSBA Video Update #7 has been posted on the FSBA website at www.fsba.org – you may access the video by clicking on the link to 2016 Legislative Session Updates (located in the right hand menu on our main page) or by using this direct link: https://fsba.org/2016-legislative-weekly-video-update-7/. This Video Update features FSBA Executive…
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This Video Update features FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina discussing recent activities and events during the legislative session and providing a comprehensive overview of the legislative budget process. Any who are not familiar with the budget development process or and Budget Conference process that is currently underway will find this information valuable.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The Education Budget Conference Committee met three times over the weekend. On Saturday, the House made the first offer on reconciling the differences between the House and Senate budgets. The House presented several offers on the FEFP and Non-FEFP items. For the FEFP, the House recommended a significant reduction in local property tax…
DetailsTALLAHASSEE –The Legislature opened final negotiations on a budget Friday by delivering crushing defeats to Gov. Rick Scott on his two priorities of tax cuts and incentive money to attract jobs. Scott had insisted on $1 billion in tax relief, but legislative leaders settled on $400 million, half of which is for one year. Scott…
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Ladies and Gentlemen: Earlier this evening, Senate President Gardiner and House Speaker Crisafulli announced that the Budget Conference process would begin this evening. At 5:30, House Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Corcoran, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Lee met for an organizational meeting to appoint Representative Corcoran to serve as chair of the Budget Conference…
DetailsThe Florida Legislature, particularly the House, is hell-bent on pushing its charter school facility funding and expansion agenda at the expense of the state’s traditional public schools. Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t oppose charter schools. In fact, I’ve been very supportive of them. While in the Legislature I voted for legislation that promoted…
DetailsSome of the most controversial education measures being discussed during the 2016 legislative session could have a new vehicle for passage in the Florida Senate, indicating a possible deal between House and Senate leaders to get these proposals through before session ends in two weeks. Senate education budget committee Chairman Don Gaetz, a Republican senator from…
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