Senate Bill sb2596
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
By Senator Wise
5-1656-06
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to education; creating s.
3 1002.331, F.S.; creating the "Schools of
4 Excellence Act"; establishing the Florida
5 Schools of Excellence Office; providing that
6 the office is not a school district, shall have
7 no fiscal impact at its inception, and shall be
8 self-funded; requiring the Department of
9 Education to assist the office in securing
10 grant funds to establish the Florida Schools of
11 Excellence Fund; providing requirements
12 relating to the fund; providing for the
13 membership of the office, the appointment of a
14 chairperson, and meetings; defining a quorum;
15 providing powers and duties of the office,
16 including the power to authorize the
17 establishment of charter schools, to review and
18 approve or deny applications for designation as
19 an FSE charter school, and to review the
20 performance of such schools; providing that FSE
21 charter schools are public schools and are
22 components of the state education system;
23 providing for accountability; providing for a
24 performance-based bonus system; creating the
25 Seal of Best Academic and Financial Management
26 Performance to serve as a basis for granting
27 bonus funding; providing application procedures
28 for prospective FSE charter schools; requiring
29 the office, with the assistance of the
30 department, to seek supplemental funding;
31 providing that employees of FSE charter schools
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
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1 may participate in the Florida Retirement
2 System; providing for funding and for a
3 deduction from funds distributed to public
4 schools; allowing the office to retain
5 administrative funds, as specified; requiring
6 the office to disseminate information to
7 parents; requiring the department to adopt
8 rules; providing an effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Section 1002.331, Florida Statutes, is
13 created to read:
14 1002.331 Schools of Excellence Act; Florida Schools of
15 Excellence Office; creation; composition; powers and duties;
16 accountability; charter school application process;
17 supplemental support; employee retirement; funding;
18 transportation; access to information.--
19 (1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the
20 "Schools of Excellence Act."
21 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.--There is established, as an
22 independent office working in collaboration with the
23 Department of Education, the Florida Schools of Excellence
24 Office, or FSE. The office is not a school district for any
25 purpose. The office shall have no fiscal impact on the state
26 at its inception and shall, thereafter, be self-funded. The
27 Department of Education shall assist the office in securing
28 federal and other institutional grant funds that must be used
29 to establish the Florida Schools of Excellence Fund. The
30 office may not begin to review applications received from
31 prospective charter schools until the balance of the fund is
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
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1 at least $200,000, whether received from gifts, grants,
2 donations, or other private or public sources.
3 (3) MEMBERSHIP.--The Florida Schools of Excellence
4 Office shall include two members appointed by the President of
5 the Senate and two members appointed by the Speaker of the
6 House of Representatives. The Governor shall appoint three
7 members and shall designate the chairperson. Each member shall
8 be appointed to serve a 2-year term, unless reviewed and
9 removed for cause by the entity that made the appointment. If
10 a vacancy occurs, it must be filled by the entity that
11 appointed the vacating person. The office shall meet at least
12 quarterly. Meetings may be called by the chairperson or upon
13 the request of five members. Five members of the office
14 constitute a quorum. The office shall retain an executive
15 director and a staff.
16 (4) POWERS AND DUTIES.--
17 (a) The Florida Schools of Excellence Office has the
18 power to:
19 1. Authorize the establishment of charter schools
20 pursuant to s. 1002.33.
21 2. Serve as sponsor and fiscal agent for the charter
22 schools that it authorizes.
23 3. Be a local education agency for purposes of federal
24 law, considered to be a public authority legally constituted
25 within the state for the administrative control and direction
26 of, and to perform a service function for, public elementary
27 and secondary charter schools in the state.
28 (b) The Florida Schools of Excellence Office shall:
29 1. Review applications for FSE charter schools and
30 assist in the establishment of FSE charter schools throughout
31 the state.
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
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1 2. Approve or deny applications for FSE charter
2 schools and renew or terminate FSE charter school charters.
3 3. Assist in the conversion of a traditional public
4 school to an FSE charter school under s. 1002.33(3)(b).
5 4. Develop, promote, and disseminate best practices
6 for charter schools and administrators of charter schools.
7 5. Develop, promote, and disseminate high standards of
8 accountability.
9 6. Monitor and annually review and evaluate the
10 performance of the charter schools it sponsors and hold the
11 schools accountable for their performance.
12 7. Monitor the financial management of each FSE
13 charter school. Each FSE charter school shall annually provide
14 to the office the results of an independent audit of the
15 school. The office shall report to the Department of Education
16 the same financial information relating to FSE charter schools
17 that school districts are required to report to the state with
18 respect to public schools.
19 8. Provide technical support to charter schools and to
20 persons who seek to establish charter schools by:
21 a. Identifying and promoting successful charter school
22 models.
23 b. Directing charter schools and persons who seek to
24 establish charter schools to sources of private funding and
25 support.
26 9. Develop criteria and standards to ensure that
27 high-quality charter schools are developed and provided with
28 incentives. At a minimum, the standards must encourage the
29 development and replication of academically and financially
30 proven charter school programs. These standards must be based
31 on academic achievement data compiled under chapter 1008 and
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
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1 on financial information reported annually in independent
2 financial audits. Each exemplary FSE charter school that meets
3 these standards shall be designated as a "Florida School of
4 Excellence" and shall be eligible for funds from the Seal of
5 Best Academic and Financial Management Performance program.
6 10. Perform for FSE charter schools the duties that
7 school districts perform for public schools under s.
8 1002.33(5)(b).
9 11. Collaborate with state universities, community,
10 colleges, municipalities, and other entities as cosponsors of
11 FSE charter schools for the purpose of providing the highest
12 level of public education to low-income and underserved
13 student populations.
14 a. Such collaborations must allow state universities
15 and community colleges that cosponsor an FSE charter school to
16 provide to students who attend such a charter school the
17 opportunity to take college courses and receive high school
18 and college credit for those courses. These schools can ease
19 transitions from high school to college and provide support to
20 students when they are in college. These schools may serve as
21 teaching academies where students who are interested in
22 becoming teachers can begin to earn college credit towards a
23 teaching degree, prospective teachers can conduct their
24 student teaching, and prospective administrators can complete
25 their internships.
26 b. The office shall actively seek partnerships with
27 municipalities through which the mayor or chief executive of a
28 municipality, by a resolution of the municipal governing body,
29 is granted the power to sponsor and establish charter schools
30 within the municipal boundaries. Such a municipality must
31 provide to the office assurances that its principal commitment
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1 in sponsoring charter schools is to provide equal access for
2 all students, maintain a diverse student population, and focus
3 on lower-income and lower-performing students.
4 (c) An FSE charter school shall be considered a public
5 school within the state which serves as a component of the
6 delivery of public education within the state's K-20 education
7 system.
8 (5) ACCOUNTABILITY.--The Florida Schools of Excellence
9 Office shall establish a rigorous, high-quality accountability
10 system based on the highest standards as established by
11 chapter 1008, including, but not limited to, measures of
12 adequate yearly progress, individual student learning gains,
13 and schools' letter grades designated under s. 1008.34.
14 (a) The office shall adopt guidelines necessary to
15 implement a performance-based bonus system that provides
16 additional funds to schools that have demonstrated achievement
17 of specified performance standards set forth by the office.
18 The office shall implement the performance-based bonus system
19 before authorizing a charter for any entity. The bonus system
20 must be based on an accountability system that measures
21 student progress, including, but not limited to:
22 1. Highest student achievement as measured by student
23 performance on the FCAT.
24 2. Individual student learning gains.
25 3. The percentage of students that improve by at least
26 two performance grade levels.
27 4. The attainment of more than 1 year's growth in the
28 learning gains of the lowest 25th percentile in reading, math,
29 and writing.
30 5. Attainment of standards of best financial
31 management practices.
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1 (b) The office shall create standards by which
2 individual schools may be awarded a Seal of Best Academic and
3 Financial Management Performance and receive additional
4 funding.
5 (6) APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND REVIEW.--Charter school
6 applications submitted to the Florida Schools of Excellence
7 Office are subject to the same requirements as those set forth
8 in s. 1002.33. For the purposes of this subsection, references
9 to district school boards in s. 1002.33(6) shall be taken to
10 mean the Florida Schools of Excellence Office. The office
11 shall receive and review all applications for designation as
12 an FSE charter school. An application for FSE charter school
13 status may be submitted by an existing charter school
14 authorized by a school district. Approval by the office of an
15 application from an existing charter school does not relieve
16 the charter school of any preexisting contractual obligations
17 to the school district that authorized the charter school.
18 (7) SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT.--The Florida Schools of
19 Excellence Office shall, with the the assistance of the
20 Department of Education, actively seek supplemental revenue
21 from federal grant funds, institutional grant funds, and
22 philanthropic organizations. The office may receive and expend
23 moneys from gifts, grants, and donations of any kind from any
24 public or private entity to carry out the purposes of this
25 section.
26 (8) EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT FUNDS.--An employee of a
27 Florida Schools of Excellence charter school may participate
28 in the Florida Retirement System in the same manner as an
29 employee of a district school.
30 (9) FUNDING.--Students who are enrolled in an FSE
31 charter school shall be funded as if they were in a basic
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Florida Senate - 2006 SB 2596
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1 program or a special program, in the same manner as students
2 who are enrolled in other public schools in the school
3 district where the charter school is located. For each FSE
4 charter school, the Department of Education shall withhold
5 from the school district in which the FSE charter school is
6 located an amount equal to 100 percent of the state per-pupil
7 share payable to the district multiplied by the number of
8 pupils who are enrolled in the FSE charter school. The Florida
9 Schools of Excellence Office may retain the actual amount of
10 the FSE charter school's per-pupil share of the administrative
11 overhead costs actually provided to the FSE charter school,
12 except that the office may retain no more than the actual
13 amount of the administrative overhead costs, not to exceed 5
14 percent of the per-pupil revenues for each pupil enrolled in
15 the school.
16 (10) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.--The Florida
17 Schools of Excellence Office shall provide maximum access to
18 information to all parents in this state. It shall maintain
19 information systems, including, but not limited to, a
20 user-friendly website, which provide information and data
21 necessary for parents to make informed decisions. At a
22 minimum, the office must provide parents with information
23 about its accountability standards, links to Schools of
24 Excellence throughout the state, and public education programs
25 available in this state.
26 (11) IMPLEMENTATION.--The Department of Education
27 shall adopt rules to administer this section.
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
3 Creates the "Schools of Excellence Act." Establishes the
Florida Schools of Excellence Office. Provides that the
4 office is not a school district, shall have no fiscal
impact at its inception, and shall be self-funded.
5 Requires the Department of Education to assist the office
in securing grant funds to establish the Florida Schools
6 of Excellence Fund. Provides requirements relating to the
fund. Provides for the membership of the office, the
7 appointment of a chairperson, and meetings. Defines a
quorum. Provides powers and duties of the office,
8 including the power to authorize the establishment of
charter schools, to review and approve or deny
9 applications for designation as an FSE charter school,
and to review the performance of such schools. Provides
10 that FSE charter schools are public schools and are
components of the state education system. Provides for
11 accountability. Provides for a performance-based bonus
system. Creates the Seal of Best Academic and Financial
12 Management Performance, to serve as a basis for granting
bonus funding. Provides application procedures for
13 prospective FSE charter schools. Requires the office,
with the assistance of the department, to seek
14 supplemental funding. Provides that employees of FSE
charter schools may participate in the Florida Retirement
15 System. Provides for funding and for a deduction from
funds distributed to public schools. Allows the office to
16 retain administrative funds, as specified. Requires the
office to disseminate information to parents. Requires
17 the department to adopt rules.
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