Senate Bill sb0094c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 94
By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Miller
309-2068-02
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to reading instruction;
3 providing legislative intent regarding required
4 reading instruction; requiring each public
5 elementary school to develop and implement
6 programs for reading and literacy development
7 in kindergarten through grade 4; establishing a
8 program to encourage the training of teachers
9 in reading development; providing for the
10 withholding of a portion of staff training
11 funds if the program is not implemented in at
12 least one school in a district; requiring the
13 Department of Education to provide technical
14 support; providing an effective date.
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16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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18 Section 1. Required reading instruction in
19 kindergarten through grade 4.--
20 (1) The Legislature recognizes that reading is a major
21 foundational skill for all school-based learning. It further
22 recognizes the importance of instruction in reading in primary
23 grades to improve a student's academic performance. The public
24 schools of this state have successfully improved student
25 performance by increasing the number of instructional hours
26 spent on reading in the primary grades. Engaging students in
27 learning through curriculum that emphasizes reading offers the
28 additional benefits of reducing disciplinary problems and
29 diminishing the need for social promotion of students who have
30 not learned to read.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 94
309-2068-02
1 (2) To encourage local control in the determination of
2 reading and literacy development programs, each public
3 elementary school shall develop and implement an appropriately
4 designed reading program to include daily reading and literacy
5 development in kindergarten through grade 4.
6 (3) Each public school shall devote a locally
7 determined amount of time each day to reading and literacy
8 development in kindergarten through grade 4.
9 (4) The Legislature recognizes that statewide
10 compliance with this section is necessary to raise student
11 achievement in reading and, therefore, establishes the program
12 described in this section to promote the goals of this
13 section.
14 (a) School districts will offer each school in their
15 district the opportunity to receive training for the staff of
16 that entire school in reading development and literacy. The
17 district will select at least one school for that purpose.
18 (b) The school district may contract with any
19 reading-development training program, including North East
20 Florida Educational Consortium, Project Child, or another
21 program, through which to train its teachers.
22 (c) If the reading program selected is implemented in
23 at least one of the schools, the district will receive 100
24 percent of its annual allocation for teacher training as
25 provided in the General Appropriations Act.
26 (d) If the program is not implemented in at least one
27 of the schools, the district will receive only 90 percent of
28 its annual allocation for teacher training. The Secretary of
29 Education may use the holdback to fund another reading
30 program.
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Florida Senate - 2002 CS for SB 94
309-2068-02
1 (e) Small districts with school populations of fewer
2 than 2,500 students, although encouraged to adopt reading and
3 literacy-development programs, are exempt from the funding
4 penalties imposed under this section.
5 (5) The Department of Education shall provide
6 technical support and guidance to any public school that
7 requests assistance pertaining to the implementation of this
8 section.
9 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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11 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
12 Senate Bill 94
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14 The Committee Substitute provides that a school district
larger than 2,500 students must select at least one school for
15 training the school's entire staff in reading development and
literacy. Failure to do so would cause the district to incur
16 a loss of 10% of its teacher training funds.
17 Smaller districts are encouraged, but not required, to do the
staff training in reading development and literacy.
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