Bill Text: FL S1718 | 2012 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Parent Empowerment in Education
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-09 - CS failed to pass; YEAS 20 NAYS 20 -SJ 1189 [S1718 Detail]
Download: Florida-2012-S1718-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Parent Empowerment in Education
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-09 - CS failed to pass; YEAS 20 NAYS 20 -SJ 1189 [S1718 Detail]
Download: Florida-2012-S1718-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2012 CS for SB 1718 By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senators Benacquisto and Fasano 581-02280-12 20121718c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to parent empowerment in education; 3 amending s. 1001.10, F.S.; conforming a cross 4 reference; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; authorizing 5 parents of students who are assigned to certain 6 underperforming public schools to submit a petition to 7 the school district requesting implementation of a 8 school turnaround option; requiring a school district, 9 upon request, to provide a parent with a performance 10 evaluation for each classroom teacher assigned to his 11 or her child; requiring notification to the parent of 12 each student who is assigned to a classroom teacher 13 who is teaching out-of-field or who has received 14 unsatisfactory performance evaluations and of the 15 availability of virtual instruction; amending s. 16 1002.32, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; creating 17 s. 1003.07, F.S., the Parent Empowerment Act; 18 requiring each school district to notify parents of 19 students attending a lowest-performing school that has 20 been unable to improve performance after 21 implementation of a school turnaround option; 22 authorizing parents to submit a petition requesting 23 implementation of an available school turnaround 24 option; providing requirements for a petition and its 25 consideration and adoption by the district school 26 board; requiring that the State Board of Education 27 adopt rules; amending s. 1008.33, F.S.; identifying 28 the options for improving a school identified in the 29 lowest-performing category as school turnaround 30 options; authorizing parents to submit a petition to 31 the school district to implement a specified school 32 turnaround option; amending s. 1012.2315, F.S.; 33 requiring that each district school board adopt rules 34 to implement an assistance plan for out-of-field 35 classroom teachers and requiring that such teachers 36 participate in certain programs; requiring that the 37 school district annually notify the parent of each 38 student assigned to an out-of-field classroom teacher 39 or an underperforming classroom teacher and of the 40 availability of virtual instruction; requiring that a 41 school district, upon request, provide to a parent the 42 performance evaluation of each classroom teacher 43 assigned to his or her child; prohibiting the 44 consecutive assignment of students to classroom 45 teachers who receive certain performance evaluations; 46 repealing s. 1012.42, F.S., relating to teachers 47 teaching out-of-field; providing an effective date. 48 49 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50 51 Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 1001.10, Florida 52 Statutes, is amended to read: 53 1001.10 Commissioner of Education; general powers and 54 duties.— 55 (3) To facilitate innovative practices andto allowlocal 56 selection of educational methods, the State Board of Education 57 may authorize the commissioner to waive, upon the request of a 58 district school board, state boardof Educationrules that 59 relate todistrictschool instruction andschooloperations, 60 except those rules pertaining to civil rights, and student 61 health, safety, and welfare. The Commissioner of Education is 62 not authorized to grant waivers for any provisions in rule 63 pertaining to the allocation and appropriation of state and 64 local funds for public education; the election, compensation, 65 and organization of school board members and superintendents; 66 graduation and state accountability standards; financial 67 reporting requirements; reporting of out-of-field teaching 68 assignments under s. 1012.2315(5)1012.42; public meetings; 69 public records; or due process hearings governed by chapter 120. 70 No later than January 1 of each year, the commissioner shall 71 report to the Legislature and the State Board of Education all 72 approved waiver requests in the preceding year. 73 Section 2. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (21) of 74 section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, and subsections (24) and (25) 75 are added to that section, to read: 76 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public 77 school students must receive accurate and timely information 78 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed 79 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 80 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 81 rights including, but not limited to, the following: 82 (21) PARENTAL INPUT AND MEETINGS.— 83 (d) Parent empowerment.—Parents of students who are 84 assigned to a public school that does not improve performance 85 following implementation of a school turnaround option under s. 86 1008.33(5)(a) may submit a petition to the school district 87 requesting implementation of a school turnaround option pursuant 88 to s. 1003.07. 89 (24) PERSONNEL EVALUATION REPORTS.—Upon request by the 90 parent of a public school student, the school district must 91 provide to the parent the performance evaluation for each 92 classroom teacher assigned to his or her child, pursuant to s. 93 1012.31. 94 (25) ASSIGNMENT TO TEACHERS.— 95 (a) Each school district shall annually notify the parent 96 of each public school student assigned to a classroom teacher 97 who is teaching out-of-field regarding such assignment. The 98 notification must inform the parent that virtual instruction 99 from a certified in-field teacher with an annual performance 100 evaluation rating of effective or highly effective is available 101 pursuant to s. 1012.2315(5). 102 (b) When a student is assigned to a classroom teacher who 103 has received two consecutive annual performance evaluation 104 ratings of unsatisfactory, two annual performance evaluation 105 ratings of unsatisfactory within a 3-year period, or three 106 consecutive annual performance evaluation ratings of needs 107 improvement or a combination of needs improvement and 108 unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34, the school district shall 109 notify the parent regarding the performance evaluation rating of 110 the classroom teacher. The notification must inform the parent 111 that virtual instruction from a teacher who has received an 112 annual performance evaluation rating of effective or highly 113 effective is available pursuant to s. 1012.2315(7). 114 Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (7) of section 115 1002.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 116 1002.32 Developmental research (laboratory) schools.— 117 (7) PERSONNEL.— 118 (c) Lab school faculty members shall meet the certification 119 requirements of s.ss.1012.32and1012.42. 120 Section 4. Section 1003.07, Florida Statutes, is created to 121 read: 122 1003.07 Parent empowerment.— 123 (1) This section may be cited as the “Parent Empowerment 124 Act.” 125 (2) Each school district must provide written notification 126 to the parents of eligible students, as defined in paragraph 127 (3)(b), when a public school has been unable to improve 128 performance following implementation of a school turnaround 129 option and must implement a different option, as required under 130 s. 1008.33(5). The written notification shall inform parents 131 that they may, by petition, request implementation of a school 132 turnaround option by the school in the following school year. 133 The notification shall be provided to parents within 30 calendar 134 days after the school district receives notice from the 135 Department of Education that the school must implement a 136 different school turnaround option. The notification by the 137 school district shall include: 138 (a) A description of each school turnaround option 139 available for selection under s. 1008.33(5)(a); 140 (b) A description of the process for implementing school 141 turnaround options, including the date by which the school 142 district must submit its implementation plan to the State Board 143 of Education; 144 (c) The date and location for submission of the petition; 145 (d) The date and location of the publicly noticed district 146 school board meeting, required under paragraph (4)(a), at which 147 the school board will consider the petition; and 148 (e) School district contact information for additional 149 questions. 150 (3)(a) Prior to the school district’s selection and 151 implementation of a different school turnaround option for the 152 following school year, parents may submit a petition selecting 153 an available school turnaround option, as described in the 154 notification provided pursuant to paragraph (2)(a), for 155 consideration by the district school board. 156 (b) Only one parent per eligible student may sign the 157 petition. An eligible student is a student enrolled in the 158 school in which the school turnaround option will be implemented 159 or a student who is scheduled, the following school year, for 160 assignment to the school in which the school turnaround option 161 will be implemented, according to the district school board’s 162 enrollment policies. 163 (c) A parent must date the petition on the day it is signed 164 and identify the eligible student on the petition. 165 (d) If the school district chooses to verify signatures on 166 the petition, the district shall use existing student enrollment 167 documentation or other records containing parent signatures. 168 (4)(a) The school turnaround option selected by parents 169 must be considered for implementation by the district school 170 board at a publicly noticed school board meeting if the petition 171 is signed and dated by a majority of the parents of eligible 172 students. A majority is more than one-half of the parents who 173 are eligible to sign the petition pursuant to paragraph (3)(b). 174 (b) The district school board may adopt the school 175 turnaround option selected by parents or a different school 176 turnaround option selected by the school board. If the district 177 school board does not adopt the school turnaround option 178 selected by parents, it must include that option with the 179 implementation plan submitted to the State Board of Education 180 under s. 1008.33(5)(b). If the state board determines that the 181 school turnaround option selected by parents is more likely to 182 improve the academic performance of students at the school, it 183 shall remand the district school board’s implementation plan to 184 the school board. The district school board shall submit to the 185 state board an implementation plan for the school turnaround 186 option selected by parents. 187 (5) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant 188 to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to establish a model petition 189 format, petition submission process, standards for verifying 190 signatures, and timelines for district school board 191 consideration of a petition at a publicly noticed meeting. 192 Section 5. Subsection (5) of section 1008.33, Florida 193 Statutes, is amended to read: 194 1008.33 Authority to enforce public school improvement.— 195 (5)(a) In the school year after a school is initially 196 identified as a school in the lowest-performing category, the 197 school district must submit a plan, which is subject to approval 198 by the State Board of Education, for implementing one of the 199 following school turnaround options at the beginning of the next 200 school year. The plan must be implemented unless the school 201 moves from the lowest-performing category: 202 1. Convert the school to a district-managed turnaround 203 school by means that include implementing a turnaround plan 204 approved by the Commissioner of Education which shall become the 205 school’s improvement plan; 206 2. Reassign students to another school and monitor the 207 progress of each reassigned student; 208 3. Close the school and reopen the school as one or more 209 charter schools, each with a governing board that has a 210 demonstrated record of effectiveness; or 211 4. Contract with an outside entity that has a demonstrated 212 record of effectiveness to operate the school. 213 (b) If a school does not move from the lowest-performing 214 category during the initial year of implementing one of the 215 school turnaround options in paragraph (a), the school district 216 must submit a plan, which is subject to approval by the State 217 Board of Education, for implementing a different option in 218 paragraph (a) at the beginning of the next school year, unless 219 the State Board of Education determines that the school is 220 likely to move from the lowest-performing category if additional 221 time is provided to implement intervention and support 222 strategies. The State Board of Education shall determine whether 223 a school district may continue to implement a school turnaround 224anoption beyond 1 year while a school remains in the lowest 225 performing category. Parents of students who are assigned to a 226 public school that is required to implement a different school 227 turnaround option may petition the school district to implement 228 a school turnaround option selected by the parents pursuant to 229 s. 1003.07. 230 Section 6. Section 1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is amended 231 to read: 232 1012.2315 Assignment of teachers.— 233 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—The Legislature finds 234 disparities between teachers assigned to teach in a majority of 235 schools that do not need improvement and schools that do need 236 improvement pursuant to s. 1008.33. The disparities may be found 237 in the assignment of temporarily certified teachers, teachers in 238 need of improvement, and out-of-field teachers and in the 239 performance of the students. It is the intent of the Legislature 240 that district school boards have flexibility through the 241 collective bargaining process to assign teachers more equitably 242 across the schools in the district. 243 (2) ASSIGNMENT TO SCHOOLS CATEGORIZED AS IN NEED OF 244 IMPROVEMENT.—School districts may not assign a higher percentage 245 than the school district average of temporarily certified 246 teachers, teachers in need of improvement, or out-of-field 247 teachers to schools in one of the three lowest-performing 248 categories under s. 1008.33(3)(b). Each school district shall 249 annually certify to the Commissioner of Education that this 250 requirement has been met. If the commissioner determines that a 251 school district is not in compliance with this subsection, the 252 State Board of Education shall be notified and shall take action 253 pursuant to s. 1008.32 in the next regularly scheduled meeting 254 to require compliance. 255 (3) SALARY INCENTIVES.—District school boards mayare256authorized toprovide salary incentives to meet the requirement 257 of subsection (2). A district school board may not sign a 258 collective bargaining agreement that precludes the school 259 district from providing sufficient incentives to meet this 260 requirement. 261 (4) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—Notwithstanding provisions of 262 chapter 447 relating to district school board collective 263 bargaining, collective bargaining provisions may not preclude a 264 school district from providing incentives to high-quality 265 teachers and assigning such teachers to low-performing schools. 266 (5) ASSISTANCE TO OUT-OF-FIELD TEACHERS.— 267 (a) Each district school board shall adopt rules for 268 implementing an assistance plan for each classroom teacher who 269 is teaching out-of-field. The assistance plan must provide 270 teachers who are teaching out-of-field with priority 271 consideration in professional development activities and require 272 such teachers to participate in a certification or staff 273 development program that provides the competencies required for 274 the assigned duties. The assistance plan must also include 275 duties of administrative personnel and other instructional 276 personnel for assisting a teacher who is teaching out-of-field 277 in providing instructional services to students. 278 (b) The school district shall annually notify the parent of 279 each student who is assigned to a classroom teacher who is 280 teaching a subject matter that is: 281 1. Outside the field in which the teacher is certified; 282 2. Outside the field that was the teacher’s minor field of 283 study; or 284 3. Outside the field in which the teacher has demonstrated 285 sufficient subject area expertise, as determined by district 286 school board policy in the subject area to be taught. 287 288 The notification must inform the parent that virtual instruction 289 from a certified in-field teacher who has received an annual 290 performance evaluation rating of effective or highly effective 291 under s. 1012.34 is available to his or her child through the 292 virtual instruction options listed under s. 1002.321(4). 293 (6)(5)REPORT.— 294(a)By July 1, 2012, the Department of Education shall 295 annually report on its website, in a manner that is accessible 296 to the public, the performance rating data reported by district 297 school boards under s. 1012.34. The report must include the 298 percentage of classroom teachers, instructional personnel, and 299 school administrators receiving each performance rating 300 aggregated by school district and by school. 301 (7) ASSIGNMENT OF TEACHERS BASED UPON PERFORMANCE 302 EVALUATIONS.— 303 (a)(b)Notwithstandingthe provisions ofs. 304 1012.31(3)(a)2., each school district shall annually notify 305report tothe parent of any student who is assigned to a 306 classroom teacher or school administrator having two consecutive 307 annual performance evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory under s. 308 1012.34, two annual performance evaluation ratings of 309 unsatisfactory within a 3-year period under s. 1012.34, or three 310 consecutive annual performance evaluation ratings of needs 311 improvement or a combination of needs improvement and 312 unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34. The notification must inform 313 the parent that virtual instruction from a teacher who has 314 received a performance evaluation rating of highly effective or 315 effective under s. 1012.34 is available to his or her child 316 through the virtual instruction options listed under s. 317 1002.321(4). 318 (b) Upon request by the parent of a public school student, 319 the school district shall provide to the parent the performance 320 evaluation for each classroom teacher assigned to his or her 321 child, pursuant to s. 1012.31. 322 (c) If a student is currently taught by a classroom teacher 323 who receives, in that school year, a performance evaluation 324 rating of needs improvement or unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34, 325 the student may not be assigned the following school year to a 326 classroom teacher, in the same subject area, who received a 327 performance evaluation rating of needs improvement or 328 unsatisfactory in the preceding school year. 329 Section 7. Section 1012.42, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 330 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.