Senate Bill 0050e1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to education; creating the
3 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Program for
4 areas of critical state concern; identifying
5 the areas of critical state concern; providing
6 eligibility criteria for teachers; providing
7 for allocation of funds; providing for use of
8 funds for employment incentives; requiring
9 certain agreements for receipt of a retention
10 bonus; requiring exit interviews and a report,
11 as a condition for receiving funds from the
12 program; creating the Teacher Recruitment
13 Program for low-performing schools; requiring a
14 school district with a school in grade category
15 "D" or "F" to submit to the Department of
16 Education a plan for recruitment of certain
17 teachers to failing schools; requiring a salary
18 bonus or increase for selected teachers;
19 authorizing principals to determine eligible
20 teachers; requiring performance criteria to be
21 submitted to and reviewed by the district
22 school board; requiring review of a principal's
23 administration of the program; creating the
24 Public School Equipment Matching Grants Program
25 for failing schools; authorizing state matching
26 of certain amounts of private donations;
27 requiring a school board to certify the receipt
28 of certain contributions; amending s. 230.23,
29 F.S.; requiring district school boards to
30 implement policies for parental and guardian
31
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 involvement in schools; providing an effective
2 date.
3
4 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
5
6 Section 1. There is created the Subject Area Teacher
7 Recruitment and Retention Program for areas of critical state
8 concern.--
9 (1) In any year in which the Legislature appropriates
10 funds for the program, full-time middle and high school
11 teachers in the following areas may be eligible for a bonus
12 from the Subject Area Teacher Recruitment and Retention
13 Program:
14 (a) Foreign language.
15 (b) Science.
16 (c) Mathematics.
17 (d) Computer science.
18 (e) Exceptional student education.
19 (2) The Department of Education shall allocate funds
20 to each school district based on each district's total
21 proportion of the state total number of teachers in these
22 areas of critical state concern.
23 (3) For the recruitment segment of the program,
24 district and school officials shall use funds provided as an
25 incentive for employment.
26 (a) Newly employed classroom teachers qualified and
27 assigned to teach in an area of critical state concern are
28 eligible for a bonus of up to $1,200 from the program.
29 (b) The school district may define purposes for the
30 funds, such as payment of moving expenses for a newly employed
31 teacher or purchase of a computer for the teacher's use.
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 (4) For the retention segment of the program, a
2 teacher qualified and assigned to teach in an area of critical
3 state concern is eligible for a bonus of up to $1,200.
4 (a) To receive a bonus, a teacher must have received a
5 favorable performance appraisal for the previous school year
6 and must agree to maintain employment as a classroom teacher
7 in an area of critical state concern for the 2000-2001 school
8 year.
9 (b) To receive funds for the program, a school
10 district must require an exit interview with every teacher who
11 leaves the district's employment and must report the results
12 of the interviews to the Department of Education every 6
13 months.
14 (c) The Department of Education shall annually
15 summarize and forward the results of the exit interviews to
16 the Governor and the Legislature.
17 Section 2. (1) There is created the Teacher
18 Recruitment Program to encourage the transfer of teachers with
19 demonstrated teaching mastery to failing schools.
20 (2) By July 1 of each year, each school district that
21 contains a school in grade category "D" or "F" or an
22 alternative school that serves disruptive or violent youths
23 shall develop a plan that authorizes principals of schools in
24 those categories to recruit master teachers as provided by the
25 program.
26 (a) The plan must provide for an annual salary bonus,
27 or it must give evidence of contract negotiations that provide
28 an addition to the salary of teachers recruited for the
29 program. The plan must state the amount of the bonus or salary
30 addition and the maximum number of years a teacher may be
31 eligible for the annual bonus, which must be at least $1,000.
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 If the plan authorizes a teacher to earn a bonus for more than
2 1 year, a teacher may be eligible for a bonus for teaching at
3 a school graded "C" or better, provided that the teacher was
4 recruited to the school when the grade was "D" or "F."
5 (b) The plan must authorize the school principal to
6 determine which teachers meet the performance requirements for
7 the program; however, the principal must supply performance
8 data to support the recruitment of each teacher. The district
9 school board shall review the performance data and approve
10 each selection. If the Legislature appropriates funds for
11 bonus payments in an appropriations act, they must be made no
12 later than October 1 of the year in which they are
13 appropriated.
14 (c) The plan must describe the action the school
15 district will take to make it possible for teachers to
16 transfer into and out of the school.
17 (3) A principal may not select a teacher for the
18 program who is already employed at a school in any year in
19 which it receives a grade of "F," unless the teacher is
20 nationally certified or has been selected as district or state
21 Teacher of the Year. However, if a school improves its grade
22 from an "F" to a "C" or better, all teachers assigned to the
23 school may receive a bonus of an amount provided in the plan.
24 (4) The district school board shall evaluate the
25 principal's performance in administering the program and shall
26 consider the performance of students and faculty in its
27 evaluation. If the school fails to improve its grade in the
28 year following implementation of the program, the school
29 district shall recommend corrective action and submit the
30 recommendation to the State Board of Education for approval.
31 This recommendation must include a statement of how well the
4
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 principal used the recruitment program to the advantage of the
2 school and whether the principal should be retained. It must
3 describe the measures taken by the district to facilitate the
4 transfer of teachers recruited for the program by the
5 principal.
6 Section 3. (1) There is created the Public School
7 Equipment Matching Grants Program to provide equipment for
8 low-performing schools.
9 (2) A school is eligible for the program if it is
10 graded "F" in any year. The amount of each grant is equal to
11 the private contribution made to an eligible school, but the
12 maximum amount that any qualifying school may receive from the
13 program is $50,000.
14 (3) In-kind contributions may qualify for state match
15 at a value equal to one-half of the fair market value of the
16 in-kind contribution.
17 (4) Before any funds provided for the program may be
18 released to any district for any school, the district school
19 board must, through formal action taken in a public board
20 meeting, certify to the Commissioner of Education that private
21 cash or in-kind contributions have been received by the school
22 seeking a matching grant.
23 Section 4. Subsection (15) of section 230.23, Florida
24 Statutes, is amended to read:
25 230.23 Powers and duties of school board.--The school
26 board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers and
27 perform all duties listed below:
28 (15) PUBLIC INFORMATION AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
29 PROGRAM.--
30
31
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
CS for SB 50 First Engrossed
1 (a) Adopt procedures whereby the general public can be
2 adequately informed of the educational programs, needs, and
3 objectives of public education within the district.
4 (b) Implement a policy for parental and guardian
5 involvement in schools which addresses the teachers' and the
6 administration's communication with parents and guardians
7 about school programs and student progress, parent and
8 guardian volunteering opportunities, and the availability of
9 community resources that support classroom instruction and
10 child development. The school board may encourage at least one
11 of a child's parents or the child's guardian to participate in
12 an orientation program at the time the child is enrolled in,
13 transferred to, or promoted to a new school.
14 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
6