The Florida Senate

229.592  Implementation of state system of school improvement and education accountability.--

(1)  DEVELOPMENT.--It is the intent of the Legislature that every public school in the state shall have a school improvement plan, as required by s. 230.23(16), fully implemented and operational by the beginning of the 1993-1994 school year. Vocational standards considered pursuant to s. 239.229 shall be incorporated into the school improvement plan for each area technical center operated by a school board by the 1994-1995 school year, and area technical centers shall prepare school report cards incorporating such standards, pursuant to s. 230.23(16), for the 1995-1996 school year. In order to accomplish this, the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability and the school districts and schools shall carry out the duties assigned to them by ss. 229.594 and 230.23(16), respectively.

(2)  ESTABLISHMENT.--Based upon the recommendations of the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability, the Legislature may enact such laws as it considers necessary to establish and maintain a state system of school improvement and accountability. If, after considering the recommendations of the commission, the Legislature determines an adequate system of accountability to be in place to protect the public interest, the Legislature may repeal or revise laws, including fiscal policies, deemed to stand in the way of school improvement.

(3)  COMMISSIONER.--The commissioner shall be responsible for implementing and maintaining a system of intensive school improvement and stringent education accountability.

(a)  Based on the recommendations of the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability, the commissioner shall develop and implement the following programs and procedures:

1.  A system of data collection and analysis that will improve information about the educational success of individual students and schools. The information and analyses must be capable of identifying educational programs or activities in need of improvement, and reports prepared pursuant to this subparagraph shall be distributed to the appropriate school boards prior to distribution to the general public. This provision shall not preclude access to public records as provided in chapter 119.

2.  A program of school improvement that will analyze information to identify schools, educational programs, or educational activities in need of improvement.

3.  A method of delivering services to assist school districts and schools to improve.

4.  A method of coordinating with the state educational goals and school improvement plans any other state program that creates incentives for school improvement.

(b)  The commissioner shall be held responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the system of school improvement and education accountability outlined in this subsection. There shall be an annual determination of whether adequate progress is being made toward implementing and maintaining a system of school improvement and education accountability.

(c)  The annual feedback report shall be developed by the commission and the Department of Education.

(d)  The commissioner and the commission shall review each school board's feedback report and submit its findings to the State Board of Education. If adequate progress is not being made toward implementing and maintaining a system of school improvement and education accountability, the State Board of Education shall direct the commissioner to prepare and implement a corrective action plan. The commissioner and State Board of Education shall monitor the development and implementation of the corrective action plan.

(e)  As co-chair of the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability, the commissioner shall appear before the appropriate committees of the Legislature annually in October to report and recommend changes in state policy necessary to foster school improvement and education accountability. The report shall reflect the recommendations of the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability. Included in the report shall be a list of the schools for which school boards have developed assistance and intervention plans and an analysis of the various strategies used by the school boards. School reports shall be distributed pursuant to this paragraph and s. 230.23(16)(e) according to guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education.

(4)  DEPARTMENT.--

(a)  The Department of Education shall implement a training program to develop among state and district educators a cadre of facilitators of school improvement. These facilitators shall assist schools and districts to conduct needs assessments and develop and implement school improvement plans to meet state goals.

(b)  Upon request, the department shall provide technical assistance and training to any school, school advisory council, district, or school board for conducting needs assessments, developing and implementing school improvement plans, developing and implementing assistance and intervention plans, or implementing other components of school improvement and accountability. Priority for these services shall be given to school districts in rural and sparsely populated areas of the state.

(c)  Pursuant to s. 24.121(5)(d), the department shall not release funds from the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund to any district in which a school does not have an approved school improvement plan, pursuant to s. 230.23(16), after 1 full school year of planning and development. The department shall send a technical assistance team to each school without an approved plan to develop such school improvement plan. The department shall release the funds upon approval of the plan. Notice shall be given to the public of the department's intervention and shall identify each school without a plan.

(5)  STATE BOARD.--The State Board of Education shall adopt rules necessary to implement a state system of school improvement and education accountability. Such rules must be based on recommendations of the Commission on Education Reform and Accountability and must include, but need not be limited to, a requirement that each school report identify the annual Education Enhancement Trust Fund allocations to the district and the school and how those allocations were used for educational enhancement and supporting school improvement.

(6)  EXCEPTIONS TO LAW.--To facilitate innovative practices and to allow local selection of educational methods, the commissioner may waive, upon the request of a school board, requirements of chapters 230 through 239 of the Florida School Code that relate to instruction and school operations, except those pertaining to civil rights, and student health, safety, and welfare. The Commissioner of Education is not authorized to grant waivers for any provisions of law pertaining to the allocation and appropriation of state and local funds for public education; the election, compensation, and organization of school board members and superintendents; graduation and state accountability standards; financial reporting requirements; public meetings; public records; or due process hearings governed by chapter 120. Prior to approval, the commissioner shall report pending waiver requests to the state board on a monthly basis, and shall, upon request of any state board member, bring a waiver request to the state board for consideration. If, within 2 weeks of receiving the report, no member requests that a waiver be considered by the state board, the commissioner may act on the original waiver request. No later than January 1 of each year, the commissioner shall report to the President and Minority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives all approved waiver requests in the preceding year.

(a)  Graduation requirements in s. 232.246 must be met by demonstrating performance of intended outcomes for any course in the Course Code Directory unless a waiver is approved by the commissioner. In developing procedures for awarding credits based on performance outcomes, districts may request waivers from State Board of Education rules relating to curriculum frameworks and credits for courses and programs in the Course Code Directory. Credit awarded for a course or program beyond that allowed by the Course Code Directory counts as credit for electives. Upon request by any school district, the commissioner shall evaluate and establish procedures for variations in academic credits awarded toward graduation by a high school offering six periods per day compared to those awarded by high schools operating on other schedules.

1.  A school board may originate a request for waiver and submit the request to the commissioner if such a waiver is required to implement districtwide improvements.

2.  A school board may submit a request to the commissioner for a waiver if such request is presented to the school board by a school advisory council established pursuant to s. 229.58 and if such a waiver is required to implement a school improvement plan required by s. 230.23(16). The school board shall report annually to the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability, in conjunction with the feedback report required pursuant to subsection (3), the number of waivers requested by school advisory councils, the number of such waiver requests approved and submitted to the commissioner, and the number of such waiver requests not approved and not submitted to the commissioner. For each waiver request not approved, the school board shall report the statute or rule for which the waiver was requested, the rationale for the school advisory council request, and the reason the request was not approved.

3.  When approved by the commissioner, a waiver requested under this paragraph is effective for a 5-year period.

(b)  Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 120 and for the purpose of implementing this subsection, the commissioner may waive State Board of Education rules if the school board has submitted a written request to the commissioner for approval pursuant to this subsection.

(c)  The written request for waiver of statute or rule must indicate at least how the general statutory purpose will be met, how granting the waiver will assist schools in improving student outcomes related to the student performance standards adopted pursuant to subsection (5), and how student improvement will be evaluated and reported. In considering any waiver, the commissioner shall ensure protection of the health, safety, welfare, and civil rights of the students and protection of the public interest.

(d)  Upon denying a request for a waiver, the commissioner must state with particularity the grounds or basis for the denial. The commissioner shall report the specific statutes and rules for which waivers are requested and the number and disposition of such requests to the Florida Commission on Education Reform and Accountability for use in determining which statutes and rules stand in the way of school improvement.

History.--s. 65, ch. 90-288; s. 3, ch. 91-283; s. 1, ch. 92-64; s. 34, ch. 92-136; s. 2, ch. 93-198; s. 129, ch. 94-209; s. 56, ch. 94-232; s. 1523, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 96-369; ss. 50, 94, ch. 97-190.