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 CS for SB 1718 By the Committees on Budget; and Education Pre-K - 12; and Senators Benacquisto, Flores, Altman, Gaetz, and Hays 576-04511-12 20121718c2 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; requiring such 15 notification to include information about the 16 availability of virtual instruction; amending s. 17 1002.32, F.S.; correcting a cross-reference; amending 18 s. 1002.33, F.S.; requiring charter schools to be in 19 compliance with statutes relating to notifications and 20 assignment of teachers; creating s. 1003.07, F.S., the 21 Parent Empowerment Act; requiring each school district 22 to notify parents of students attending a lowest 23 performing school that has been unable to improve 24 performance and must implement a school turnaround 25 option; authorizing parents to submit a petition 26 requesting implementation of an available school 27 turnaround option; providing requirements for 28 submission of a petition and its consideration and 29 adoption by the district school board; requiring the 30 State Board of Education to adopt rules for the 31 petition process and specifying requirements therefor; 32 amending s. 1008.33, F.S.; identifying the options for 33 improving a school identified in the lowest-performing 34 category as school turnaround options; authorizing 35 parents to submit a petition to the school district to 36 implement a school turnaround option; amending s. 37 1012.2315, F.S.; requiring that each district school 38 board adopt rules to implement an assistance plan for 39 out-of-field classroom teachers and requiring their 40 participation in certain programs; requiring that the 41 school district annually notify the parent of each 42 student assigned to an out-of-field classroom teacher 43 or a classroom teacher who has received unsatisfactory 44 performance evaluations; requiring such notification 45 to include information about the availability of 46 virtual instruction; requiring that a school district, 47 upon request, provide a parent with the performance 48 evaluation of each classroom teacher assigned to his 49 or her child; prohibiting the consecutive assignment 50 of students to classroom teachers who receive certain 51 performance evaluations; repealing s. 1012.42, F.S., 52 relating to teachers teaching out-of-field; providing 53 an effective date. 54 55 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 56 57 Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 1001.10, Florida 58 Statutes, is amended to read: 59 1001.10 Commissioner of Education; general powers and 60 duties.— 61 (3) To facilitate innovative practices andto allowlocal 62 selection of educational methods, the State Board of Education 63 may authorize the commissioner to waive, upon the request of a 64 district school board, state boardof Educationrules that 65 relate todistrictschool instruction andschooloperations, 66 except those rules pertaining to civil rights, and student 67 health, safety, and welfare. The Commissioner of Education is 68 not authorized to grant waivers for any provisions in rule 69 pertaining to the allocation and appropriation of state and 70 local funds for public education; the election, compensation, 71 and organization of school board members and superintendents; 72 graduation and state accountability standards; financial 73 reporting requirements; reporting of out-of-field teaching 74 assignments under s. 1012.2315(5)1012.42; public meetings; 75 public records; or due process hearings governed by chapter 120. 76 No later than January 1 of each year, the commissioner shall 77 report to the Legislature and the State Board of Education all 78 approved waiver requests in the preceding year. 79 Section 2. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (21) of 80 section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, and subsections (24) and (25) 81 are added to that section, to read: 82 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.—Parents of public 83 school students must receive accurate and timely information 84 regarding their child’s academic progress and must be informed 85 of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 86 students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory 87 rights including, but not limited to, the following: 88 (21) PARENTAL INPUT AND MEETINGS.— 89 (d) Parent empowerment.—Parents of students who are 90 assigned to a public school that is required to implement a 91 school turnaround option under s. 1008.33 may submit a petition 92 to the school district requesting implementation of a school 93 turnaround option pursuant to s. 1003.07. 94 (24) PERSONNEL EVALUATION REPORTS.—Upon request by the 95 parent of a public school student, the school district must 96 provide the parent with the performance evaluation for each 97 classroom teacher assigned to his or her child, pursuant to s. 98 1012.31. 99 (25) ASSIGNMENT TO TEACHERS.— 100 (a) Out-of-field classroom teachers.—Each school district 101 shall annually notify the parent of each public school student 102 assigned to a classroom teacher who is teaching out-of-field 103 regarding such assignment. The notification must inform the 104 parent that virtual instruction from a certified in-field 105 teacher with an annual performance evaluation rating of 106 effective or highly effective is available pursuant to s. 107 1012.2315(5). 108 (b) Underperforming classroom teachers.—When a student is 109 assigned to a classroom teacher who has received two consecutive 110 annual performance evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory, two 111 annual performance evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory within a 112 3-year period, or three consecutive annual performance 113 evaluation ratings of needs improvement or a combination of 114 needs improvement and unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34, the 115 school district shall notify the parent regarding the 116 performance evaluation rating of the classroom teacher. The 117 notification must inform the parent that virtual instruction 118 from a teacher with an annual performance evaluation rating of 119 effective or highly effective is available pursuant to s. 120 1012.2315(7). 121 Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (7) of section 122 1002.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 123 1002.32 Developmental research (laboratory) schools.— 124 (7) PERSONNEL.— 125 (c) Lab school faculty members shall meet the certification 126 requirements of s.ss.1012.32and1012.42. 127 Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (16) of section 128 1002.33, Florida statutes, is amended to read: 129 1002.33 Charter schools.— 130 (16) EXEMPTION FROM STATUTES.— 131 (b) Additionally, a charter school shall be in compliance 132 with the following statutes: 133 1. Section 286.011, relating to public meetings and 134 records, public inspection, and criminal and civil penalties. 135 2. Chapter 119, relating to public records. 136 3. Section 1003.03, relating to the maximum class size, 137 except that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s. 138 1003.03 shall be the average at the school level. 139 4. Section 1012.22(1)(c), relating to compensation and 140 salary schedules. 141 5. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions. 142 6. Section 1012.335, relating to contracts with 143 instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011. 144 7. Section 1012.34, relating to the substantive 145 requirements for performance evaluations for instructional 146 personnel and school administrators. 147 8. Section 1012.2315(5) and (7), relating to notifications 148 and assignment of teachers. 149 Section 5. Section 1003.07, Florida Statutes, is created to 150 read: 151 1003.07 Parent empowerment.— 152 (1) This section may be cited as the “Parent Empowerment 153 Act.” 154 (2) Each school district must provide written notification 155 to the parents of eligible students, as defined in paragraph 156 (3)(b), and the school advisory council when a public school has 157 been unable to improve performance and must implement a school 158 turnaround option as required under s. 1008.33. The written 159 notification shall inform parents that they may, by petition, 160 request implementation of a school turnaround option by the 161 school in the following school year. The notification shall be 162 provided to parents within 30 calendar days after the school 163 district receives notice from the Department of Education that 164 the school must implement a school turnaround option. The 165 notification by the school district shall include: 166 (a) A description of each school turnaround option 167 available for selection under s. 1008.33; 168 (b) A description of the process for implementing school 169 turnaround options, including the date by which the school 170 district must submit its implementation plan to the State Board 171 of Education; 172 (c) The date and location for submission of the petition; 173 (d) The date and location of the publicly noticed district 174 school board meeting required under paragraph (4)(a) at which 175 the school board will consider any school turnaround option, 176 including a parent petition; and 177 (e) School district contact information for questions. 178 (3)(a) Prior to the school district’s selection and 179 implementation of a school turnaround option for the following 180 school year, parents may submit a petition selecting an 181 available school turnaround option, as described pursuant to 182 paragraph (2)(a), for consideration by the district school 183 board. 184 (b) Up to one parental vote per eligible student may be 185 counted with respect to parent signatures on the petition. An 186 eligible student is a student enrolled in the school in which 187 the school turnaround option will be implemented or, according 188 to the district school board’s enrollment policies, a student 189 who is scheduled the following school year for assignment to 190 that school. 191 1. A parental vote is the signature of one parent unless 192 the other parent objects in writing to the petition vote, in 193 which case the parental vote counts for one-half per eligible 194 student. The objection must be made before the date the petition 195 is to be submitted pursuant to subsection (2). 196 2. Notwithstanding subparagraph 1., a parental vote is the 197 signature of the parent who has been assigned sole parental 198 responsibility or ultimate responsibility for education 199 decisions pursuant to s. 61.13. 200 (c) A parent must date each petition on the day it is 201 signed and identify each eligible student on the petition. The 202 parent’s signature shall constitute a certification that the 203 parent has a present intention to enroll each eligible student 204 in the school if the school turnaround option identified on the 205 petition is selected. A parent may sign the petition prior to 206 the initial notification provided to the parents of eligible 207 students pursuant to subsection (2). 208 (d) The school district shall verify at least a majority of 209 the signatures on the petition using existing student enrollment 210 documentation or other records containing parent signatures. 211 However, a notarized signature of a person who is a parent of an 212 eligible student shall be treated as valid. Signatures not 213 verified within the established verification period shall be 214 treated as valid. 215 (e) A signature gatherer may not be paid per signature and, 216 if asked, must disclose the organization he or she represents. 217 (4)(a) The school turnaround option selected by parents 218 must be considered for implementation by the district school 219 board at a publicly noticed school board meeting if the petition 220 is signed and dated by a majority of the parents of eligible 221 students. A majority is more than one-half of the parents who 222 are eligible to sign the petition pursuant to paragraph (3)(b). 223 If petitions for more than one school turnaround option are 224 signed by a majority of the parents, the petition having the 225 most such signatures shall be deemed the official turnaround 226 option selected by parents. 227 (b) The district school board may adopt the school 228 turnaround option selected by parents or a different school 229 turnaround option selected by the school board. If the district 230 school board does not adopt the school turnaround option 231 selected by parents, it must include that option with the 232 implementation plan submitted to the State Board of Education 233 under s. 1008.33. If the state board determines that the school 234 turnaround option selected by parents is more likely to improve 235 the academic performance of students at the school, it shall 236 return the district school board’s implementation plan to the 237 school board. The district school board shall submit to the 238 state board an implementation plan for the school turnaround 239 option selected by parents. 240 (5) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to 241 establish a model petition format, the petition submission 242 process, standards for verifying signatures, and timelines for 243 district school board validation and consideration of a petition 244 at a publicly noticed meeting. The rules must provide a sample 245 petition form for each school turnaround option available for 246 selection under s. 1008.33 with easy-to-understand instructions. 247 Each petition form shall clearly identify only one school 248 turnaround option on the front page of the petition and each 249 page thereafter. The petition forms must be provided or made 250 easily accessible to parents at the time of notification by the 251 school district pursuant to subsection (2). The rules shall 252 provide for the following: 253 (a) A minimum of 30 days after initial notification, 254 pursuant to subsection (2), must be provided for the parents of 255 eligible students to gather petition signatures. 256 (b) A maximum of 30 days after the date the petition is 257 submitted must be provided for the school district to verify the 258 signatures. 259 (c) A minimum of 30 days must be provided between the 260 submission of a petition and the district school board meeting 261 to consider the petition. 262 (d) A submitted petition may list only one school 263 turnaround option identified in s. 1008.33 that is not currently 264 being implemented at the school. 265 (e) A parent may sign a petition for each school turnaround 266 option. 267 (f) A school district may not reject a parent signature on 268 a petition based on a lack of conformity to signatures in school 269 records if the parent’s identity and signature can be easily 270 validated with a photographic identification, a notarized 271 signature verifying the identity of the signer, or by the 272 personal knowledge of a school employee. 273 (g) A school district may not reject a parent signature on 274 a petition on the basis that the parent signed the petition 275 prior to the initial notification pursuant to subsection (2). 276 Section 6. Subsection (5) of section 1008.33, Florida 277 Statutes, is amended to read: 278 1008.33 Authority to enforce public school improvement.— 279 (5)(a) In the school year after a school is initially 280 identified as a school in the lowest-performing category, the 281 school district must submit a plan, which is subject to approval 282 by the State Board of Education, for implementing one of the 283 following school turnaround options at the beginning of the next 284 school year. The plan must be implemented unless the school 285 moves from the lowest-performing category: 286 1. Convert the school to a district-managed turnaround 287 school by means that include implementing a turnaround plan 288 approved by the Commissioner of Education which shall become the 289 school’s improvement plan; 290 2. Reassign students to another school and monitor the 291 progress of each reassigned student; 292 3. Close the school and reopen the school as one or more 293 charter schools, each with a governing board that has a 294 demonstrated record of effectiveness; or 295 4. Contract with an outside entity that has a demonstrated 296 record of effectiveness to operate the school. 297 (b) If a school does not move from the lowest-performing 298 category during the initial year of implementing one of the 299 school turnaround options in paragraph (a), the school district 300 must submit a plan, which is subject to approval by the State 301 Board of Education, for implementing a different school 302 turnaround option in paragraph (a) at the beginning of the next 303 school year, unless the State Board of Education determines that 304 the school is likely to move from the lowest-performing category 305 if additional time is provided to implement intervention and 306 support strategies. The State Board of Education shall determine 307 whether a school district may continue to implement a school 308 turnaroundanoption beyond 1 year while a school remains in the 309 lowest-performing category. 310 (c) Parents of students who are assigned to a public school 311 that is required by the State Board of Education to implement a 312 school turnaround option may petition the school district to 313 implement one of the school turnaround options in paragraph (a) 314 selected by the parents pursuant to s. 1003.07. A school 315 implementing a school turnaround option during the 2011-2012 or 316 2012-2013 school year is not subject to the requirements of s. 317 1003.07 until the school is required to implement a different 318 school turnaround option. 319 Section 7. Section 1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is amended 320 to read: 321 1012.2315 Assignment of teachers.— 322 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—The Legislature finds 323 disparities between teachers assigned to teach in a majority of 324 schools that do not need improvement and schools that do need 325 improvement pursuant to s. 1008.33. The disparities may be found 326 in the assignment of temporarily certified teachers, teachers in 327 need of improvement, and out-of-field teachers and in the 328 performance of the students. It is the intent of the Legislature 329 that district school boards have flexibility through the 330 collective bargaining process to assign teachers more equitably 331 across the schools in the district. 332 (2) ASSIGNMENT TO SCHOOLS CATEGORIZED AS IN NEED OF 333 IMPROVEMENT.—School districts may not assign a higher percentage 334 than the school district average of temporarily certified 335 teachers, teachers in need of improvement, or out-of-field 336 teachers to schools in one of the three lowest-performing 337 categories under s. 1008.33(3)(b). Each school district shall 338 annually certify to the Commissioner of Education that this 339 requirement has been met. If the commissioner determines that a 340 school district is not in compliance with this subsection, the 341 State Board of Education shall be notified and shall take action 342 pursuant to s. 1008.32 in the next regularly scheduled meeting 343 to require compliance. 344 (3) SALARY INCENTIVES.—District school boards mayare345authorized toprovide salary incentives to meet the requirement 346 of subsection (2). A district school board may not sign a 347 collective bargaining agreement that precludes the school 348 district from providing sufficient incentives to meet this 349 requirement. 350 (4) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—Notwithstanding provisions of 351 chapter 447 relating to district school board collective 352 bargaining, collective bargaining provisions may not preclude a 353 school district from providing incentives to high-quality 354 teachers and assigning such teachers to low-performing schools. 355 (5) ASSISTANCE TO OUT-OF-FIELD TEACHERS.— 356 (a) Each district school board shall adopt rules for 357 implementing an assistance plan for each classroom teacher who 358 is teaching out-of-field. The assistance plan must provide 359 teachers who are teaching out-of-field with priority 360 consideration in professional development activities and require 361 such teachers to participate in a certification or staff 362 development program that provides the competencies required for 363 the assigned duties. A district school board may reimburse a 364 teacher who is teaching out-of-field for a certification fee. 365 The assistance plan must also include duties of administrative 366 personnel and other instructional personnel for assisting a 367 teacher who is teaching out-of-field in providing instructional 368 services to students. 369 (b) The school district shall annually notify the parent of 370 each student who is assigned to a classroom teacher who is 371 teaching subject matter that is: 372 1. Outside the field in which the teacher is certified; 373 2. Outside the field that was the teacher’s minor field of 374 study; or 375 3. Outside the field in which the teacher has demonstrated 376 sufficient subject area expertise, as determined by district 377 school board policy in the subject area to be taught. 378 379 The notification must inform the parent that virtual instruction 380 from a certified in-field teacher with an annual performance 381 evaluation rating of effective or highly effective under s. 382 1012.34 is available to his or her child through the virtual 383 instruction options listed under s. 1002.321(4). 384 (6)(5)REPORT.— 385(a)By July 1, 2012, the Department of Education shall 386 annually report on its website, in a manner that is accessible 387 to the public, the performance rating data reported by district 388 school boards under s. 1012.34. The report must include the 389 percentage of classroom teachers, instructional personnel, and 390 school administrators receiving each performance rating 391 aggregated by school district and by school. 392 (7) ASSIGNMENT OF TEACHERS BASED UPON PERFORMANCE 393 EVALUATIONS.— 394 (a)(b)Notwithstandingthe provisions ofs. 395 1012.31(3)(a)2., each school district shall annually notify 396report tothe parent of any student who is assigned to a 397 classroom teacher or school administrator having two consecutive 398 annual performance evaluation ratings of unsatisfactory under s. 399 1012.34, two annual performance evaluation ratings of 400 unsatisfactory within a 3-year period under s. 1012.34, or three 401 consecutive annual performance evaluation ratings of needs 402 improvement or a combination of needs improvement and 403 unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34. The notification must inform 404 the parent that virtual instruction from a teacher with a 405 performance evaluation rating of highly effective or effective 406 under s. 1012.34 is available to his or her child through the 407 virtual instruction options listed under s. 1002.321(4). 408 (b) Upon request by the parent of a public school student, 409 the school district shall provide the parent with the 410 performance evaluation for each classroom teacher assigned to 411 his or her child, pursuant to s. 1012.31. 412 (c) If a student is currently taught by a classroom teacher 413 who receives, in that school year, a performance evaluation 414 rating of needs improvement or unsatisfactory under s. 1012.34, 415 the student may not be assigned the following school year to a 416 classroom teacher in the same subject area who received a 417 performance evaluation rating of needs improvement or 418 unsatisfactory in the preceding school year. 419 Section 8. Section 1012.42, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 420 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.