| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to high school reform; providing a popular |
| 3 | name; creating s. 1003.413, F.S.; requiring each school |
| 4 | district to establish policies to assist high school |
| 5 | students to remain in school, graduate on time, and be |
| 6 | prepared for postsecondary education and the workplace; |
| 7 | authorizing supplemental educational services for certain |
| 8 | students and providing funding therefor; providing |
| 9 | criteria for calculation of school grades; creating the |
| 10 | High School Reform Task Force and providing for |
| 11 | appointment of members; requiring recommendation of a |
| 12 | long-term plan relating to high school reform and |
| 13 | specifying items to be addressed; providing for |
| 14 | termination of the task force; providing an effective |
| 15 | date. |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Section 1. This act may be cited as the "High School |
| 20 | Reform Act." |
| 21 | Section 2. Section 1003.413, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 22 | to read: |
| 23 | 1003.413 High school reform.-- |
| 24 | (1) Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, each school |
| 25 | district shall establish policies to assist high school students |
| 26 | to remain in school, graduate on time, and be prepared for |
| 27 | postsecondary education and the workforce. Such policies must |
| 28 | address: |
| 29 | (a) Intensive reading remediation for students in grades 9 |
| 30 | through 12 scoring below Level 3 on FCAT Reading. |
| 31 | (b) Credit recovery options and course scheduling designed |
| 32 | to allow high school students to earn credit for failed courses |
| 33 | so that they are able to graduate on time. |
| 34 | (c) Immediate and frequent notification to parents of |
| 35 | students who are in danger of not graduating from high school. |
| 36 | (d) Placement in alternative programs, such as programs |
| 37 | that emphasize applied integrated curricula, small learning |
| 38 | communities, support services, increased discipline, or other |
| 39 | strategies documented to improve student achievement. |
| 40 | (e) Summer reading institutes for rising ninth graders |
| 41 | scoring below Level 3 on FCAT Reading. |
| 42 |
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| 43 | A student's participation in an instructional or remediation |
| 44 | program prior to or immediately following entering grade 9 for |
| 45 | the first time shall not affect that student's classification as |
| 46 | a first-time ninth grader for reporting purposes, including |
| 47 | calculation of graduation and dropout rates. |
| 48 | (2) Beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, parents of |
| 49 | low-income high school students who score Level 1 on FCAT |
| 50 | Reading in non-Title I high schools that have earned a school |
| 51 | grade of "F" for 3 consecutive years shall be offered the |
| 52 | opportunity to choose supplemental educational services from a |
| 53 | list of providers approved by the Department of Education. Funds |
| 54 | for the supplemental educational services shall be provided from |
| 55 | supplemental academic instruction categorical funds in an amount |
| 56 | per student as determined annually in the General Appropriations |
| 57 | Act. |
| 58 | (3) For the purposes of this section only and |
| 59 | notwithstanding the provisions of s. 1008.34, school grades for |
| 60 | high schools shall be calculated to provide double weight to |
| 61 | learning gains of students scoring Level 1 on FCAT Reading the |
| 62 | prior year. |
| 63 | Section 3. High School Reform Task Force.-- |
| 64 | (1) There is created the High School Reform Task Force. |
| 65 | The task force shall work in conjunction with the Southern |
| 66 | Regional Education Board and shall be administratively supported |
| 67 | by the office of the Chancellor for K-12 Public Schools in the |
| 68 | Department of Education and the Just Read, Florida! Office. |
| 69 | Appointments to the task force shall be coordinated to ensure |
| 70 | that the membership reflects the geographic and cultural |
| 71 | diversity of Florida's school age population. The task force |
| 72 | shall be abolished upon submission of its recommendations. |
| 73 | (2)(a) The Governor shall appoint members of the task |
| 74 | force from the following categories and shall appoint the chair |
| 75 | of the task force from its membership: |
| 76 | 1. Two representatives of public school districts, who may |
| 77 | be principals, district school board members, or school |
| 78 | superintendents, at least one of whom works in or with a school |
| 79 | with a school grade of "F." |
| 80 | 2. One high school teacher who teaches in a high school |
| 81 | with a school grade of "F." |
| 82 | 3. Two parents of high school students scoring Level 1 on |
| 83 | FCAT Reading, at least one whom has a child enrolled in a school |
| 84 | with a school grade of "F." |
| 85 | 4. One high school student. |
| 86 | 5. One teacher or administrator from a charter high |
| 87 | school. |
| 88 | 6. Two private school teachers or administrators from any |
| 89 | registered Florida private school with students in grades 9-12 |
| 90 | regardless of whether the school is nonsectarian, sectarian, |
| 91 | not-for-profit, or for-profit. |
| 92 | 7. One representative of the business community. |
| 93 | 8. Two representatives of postsecondary educational |
| 94 | institutions, including, but not limited to, vocational, |
| 95 | technical, or other skills-based training institutions; |
| 96 | community colleges; 4-year colleges; and universities. |
| 97 | 9. One expert in the subject of high school reform who |
| 98 | does not otherwise fall within one of the other enumerated |
| 99 | categories. |
| 100 | (b) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall |
| 101 | appoint one member of the House of Representatives to serve on |
| 102 | the task force and the President of the Senate shall appoint one |
| 103 | member of the Senate to serve on the task force. |
| 104 | (3) Not later than February 1, 2006, the task force shall |
| 105 | recommend to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the |
| 106 | President of the Senate, and the Governor a long-term plan for |
| 107 | revisions to statutes, rules, and policies that will improve |
| 108 | Florida's grade 9 retention rate, graduation rate, dropout rate, |
| 109 | and college remediation rate and align high school requirements |
| 110 | with the needs of Florida's employers and postsecondary |
| 111 | educational institution requirements. The plan must address, but |
| 112 | is not limited to addressing: graduation requirements; course |
| 113 | redesign; remediation strategies; credit recovery; use of |
| 114 | alternative programs, including programs that emphasize applied |
| 115 | integrated curricula, small learning communities, support |
| 116 | services, or increased discipline; use of technology; |
| 117 | adjustments to the school grading system to reflect learning |
| 118 | gains by high school students; middle school systemic alignment; |
| 119 | transition from middle school to high school; alignment with |
| 120 | postsecondary and workforce education requirements; and |
| 121 | alignment with employer expectations. |
| 122 | Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |