The 2017 State Legislative session is in full swing. Here's a brief recap of education and charter school related activity that took place during the second week of session
(3/13-3/17/17):
HB 827 Teacher Bonuses - Removes caps imposed on amounts of bonuses awarded to teachers based on student performance on certain course examinations. This Bill passed the PrekK-12 Innovation Subcommittee on March 14.
The House PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee approved legislation aimed at limiting the time spent on testing (HB 773 - Diaz). The measure would require the state's math and language arts tests to be administered at the end of the school year. The Senate companion is SB 926 (Flores).
Florida legislators considered bills to enhance statewide assessments, remove caps on teacher bonuses and study how Florida can improve middle school student achievement - Foundation for Florida's Future
Students, teachers, and the Principal of the
City of Hialeah Educational Academy visited the Capitol, met with lawmakers to share their charter school stories.
If you have any questions about the 2017 legislative session or plan to visit The Capitol in the coming weeks, please
contact Ralph Arza.
Florida TaxWatch Releases New Report
A TaxWatch
report released last week breaks down t
he "true cost" of educating a K-12 public school student in Florida and compares the costs at district-run schools to costs at charter schools, and private school scholarships.
According to the report, "commonly reported per-student spending figures are based solely on funding provided through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP)" but doesn't include other tax dollars spent by school districts.
