Interim Committee Week #2: What’s on for Education in Florida

Next week (Jan 7-11, 2019), Florida’s lawmakers will return to Tallahassee for the inauguration of the new Governor and Interim Committee Week #2. Here’s what’s up for Education:

Tuesday, January 8th:

2:30pm. Senate Education

• Update on School Safety and Security Issues: Expect discussion of the recently released Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission report which, among other things, recommends allowing the arming of teachers on the classroom. You can read the entire 458 page report here.

3:00 pm: House Education

• Overview of Governance Structure for K-12: Expect discussion of Amendment 8, which was pulled from the November Ballot after a legal challenge. Amendment 8 would have amended the Florida Constitution to restrict local school boards to overseeing ONLY the schools they “established,” opening the door for a separate system of charter school authorization and oversight.

Wednesday, January 9th:

5:00pm. PreK-12 Innovation Subcommittee

• Presentation on early learning and implementation of HB 1091 Expect discussion that will impact Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) and “School Readiness.”
• Presentations on state scholarship programs. In other words, expect a discussion of Florida’s Voucher programs: McKay (voucher) and Gardiner (Education Savings Account or ESA) for children with special needs, Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low income, Hope Scholarship for students who claim to have been bullied, Reading Scholarship for students who fail the 3rd grade FSA. Newly appointed Commissioner of Education, Richard Corcoran, has suggested that “if Florida were to “voucherize” the entire school system it would transform education for the better.”

Thursday, January 10th:

9:00am: PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee

• Subcommittee Overview 
• Base Budget Overview

11:00am: PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee

• Presentation on School Improvement. Expect a review of the current A-F School Grades Accountabaloney system and, probably, the turnaround process for low performing (i.e. low income) schools.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education is not scheduled to meet.

This year will be an especially good year to speak out in support of public schools. As always, if you can’t be there in person, you can watch these meetings live streamed on The Florida Channel.

Stay informed and call out the accountabaloney when you smell it.