SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1756

    Amendment No.    

                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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11  Senator Dawson-White moved the following amendment:

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13         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 

14         On page 11, line 6, through page 12, line 25, delete

15  those lines

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17  and insert:

18         229.0537  Opportunity Scholarship Program.--

19         (1)  FINDINGS AND INTENT.--The purpose of this section

20  is to provide enhanced opportunity for students in this state

21  to gain the knowledge and skills necessary for postsecondary

22  education, a technical education, or the world of work. The

23  Legislature recognizes that the voters of the State of

24  Florida, in the November 1998 general election, amended s. 1,

25  Art. IX, of the Florida Constitution so as to make education a

26  paramount duty of the state. The Legislature finds that the

27  State Constitution requires the state to provide the

28  opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. The

29  Legislature further finds that a student should not be

30  compelled, against the wishes of the student's parent or

31  guardian, to remain in a school found by the state to be

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1756

    Amendment No.    





 1  failing for 2 years in a 4-year period. The Legislature shall

 2  authorize school districts to participate in the opportunity

 3  scholarship program if they choose to do so by a

 4  super-majority vote of the school board membership. If the

 5  district chooses to participate in the program, the

 6  Legislature shall make available opportunity scholarships in

 7  order to give parents and guardians the opportunity for their

 8  children to attend a public school that is performing

 9  satisfactorily or to attend an eligible private school when

10  the parent or guardian chooses to apply the equivalent of the

11  public education funds generated by his or her child to the

12  cost of tuition in the eligible private school as provided in

13  paragraph (6)(a). Eligibility of a private school shall

14  include the control and accountability requirements that,

15  coupled with the exercise of parental choice, are reasonably

16  necessary to secure the educational public purpose, as

17  delineated in subsection (4).

18         (2)  OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIP ELIGIBILITY.--If a local

19  school board has chosen to participate in the opportunity

20  scholarship program, a public school student's parent or

21  guardian may request and receive from the state an opportunity

22  scholarship for the child to enroll in and attend a private

23  school in accordance with the provisions of this section if:

24         (a)  By assigned school attendance area or by special

25  assignment, the student has spent the prior school year in

26  attendance at a public school that has been designated

27  pursuant to s. 229.57 as performance grade category "F,"

28  failing to make adequate progress, and that has had two school

29  years in a 4-year period of such low performance, and the

30  student's attendance occurred during a school year in which

31  such designation was in effect; or the parent or guardian of a

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                                                  SENATE AMENDMENT

    Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1756

    Amendment No.    





 1  student who has been in attendance elsewhere in the public

 2  school system or who is entering kindergarten or first grade

 3  has been notified that the student has been assigned to such

 4  school for the next school year;

 5         (b)  The student is a Florida resident; and

 6         (c)  The parent or guardian has obtained acceptance for

 7  admission of the student to a private school eligible for the

 8  program pursuant to subsection (4), and has notified the

 9  Department of Education and the school district of the request

10  for an opportunity scholarship no later than July 1 of the

11  first year in which the student intends to use the

12  scholarship.

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15  ================ T I T L E   A M E N D M E N T ===============

16  And the title is amended as follows:

17         On page 1, line 7, after the semicolon,

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19  insert:

20         authorizing school districts to participate in

21         the opportunity scholarship program by vote of

22         the local school board;

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