House GOP loads issues into education bill

In a replay of last year, the House on Wednesday attached a major education policy bill to the state budget, spurring a debate on controversial issues such as a voucher-like program for students who are bullied and an effort to weaken teachers’ unions. The House Appropriations Committee voted 20-8 for the 198-page budget “conforming” bill…

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FSBA Session Spotlight — January 30, 2018

Legislative committees considered several bills of interest today, including, most notably, bills relating school board member term limits and school district accountability. Please click on the link below for our report on the outcome of the consideration of these bills and others that were considered today.  Tomorrow, the Appropriations Committees in both chambers will be…

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FSBA Session Spotlight — January 29, 2018

Legislative committees considered several bills of interest today, including bills relating to student safety and health, juvenile justice, public meetings, school funding, early learning, and curriculum. Please click on the link below for our report on the outcome for these bills and others.  Tomorrow, legislators will consider several more bills of interest, most notably, bills…

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FSBA Session Spotlight — January 28, 2018

As we begin this fourth week of the 2018 Legislative Session, we encourage you to view our Legislative Weekly video that features Andrea Messina providing a recap of the major bills and meetings last week.  This will be a busy week with several bills of interest under consideration throughout the week, consideration of the House…

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Lawmakers look to start new school vouchers, tighten control on private schools

Florida lawmakers moved last week to expand the state’s school voucher programs — pushing to create a new one for bullied students — even as they also worked to impose more rules on participating private schools.The state’s three current voucher, or scholarship, programs pay private school tuition for 140,000 students statewide, serving youngsters from low-income…

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FSBA Session Spotlight — January 26, 2018

The Constitution Revision Commission Education Committee met this afternoon to consider several important education-related proposals to amend the Florida Constitution, including, among others, proposals relating to public and charter school authorizers, school choice programs, and the prohibition against using public revenues in aid of religious entities. You may wish to review our Discussion and Key…

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Florida constitution committee keeps alive an education surprise

Proposals to ask voters in November to expand vouchers and school choice were given a predicted green light Friday as a key committee of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission moved forward in what is a top priority of Florida’s Republican leaders.  The biggest school choice victory of the day was the unanimous vote of the…

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House K-12 mega-bill has first public airing

A giant K-12 education package bill had its first public presentation on Thursday in the House Education Committee, where it passed despite light criticism from Democrats who requested more time to review its many provisions.  The bill, which was posted online Tuesday night on the committee’s page, addresses a myriad of issues such as accountability of…

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FSBA Session Spotlight — January 25, 2018

Several bills of interest were considered today including a significant Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) by the House Education Committee that addresses private school accountability, school choice programs, district flexibility, and a new reading scholarship program. Other bills of interest address early learning, students with disabilities, public meetings and records, and labor organizations.  Please click on…

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