| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to discrimination in the K-20 public |
| 3 | education system; amending s. 1000.05, F.S.; prohibiting |
| 4 | discrimination against students and employees on the basis |
| 5 | of sexual orientation; amending s. 1002.20, F.S.; |
| 6 | conforming provisions; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (e) of subsection |
| 11 | (2), subsection (4), and paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of |
| 12 | section 1000.05, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 13 | 1000.05 Discrimination against students and employees in |
| 14 | the Florida K-20 public education system prohibited; equality of |
| 15 | access required.-- |
| 16 | (2)(a) Discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, |
| 17 | national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or |
| 18 | marital status against a student or an employee in the state |
| 19 | system of public K-20 education is prohibited. No person in this |
| 20 | state shall, on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, |
| 21 | gender, sexual orientation, disability, or marital status, be |
| 22 | excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be |
| 23 | subjected to discrimination under any public K-20 education |
| 24 | program or activity, or in any employment conditions or |
| 25 | practices, conducted by a public educational institution that |
| 26 | receives or benefits from federal or state financial assistance. |
| 27 | (b) The criteria for admission to a program or course |
| 28 | shall not have the effect of restricting access by persons of a |
| 29 | particular race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual |
| 30 | orientation, disability, or marital status. |
| 31 | (c) All public K-20 education classes shall be available |
| 32 | to all students without regard to race, ethnicity, national |
| 33 | origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or marital |
| 34 | status; however, this is not intended to eliminate the provision |
| 35 | of programs designed to meet the needs of students with limited |
| 36 | proficiency in English, gifted students, or students with |
| 37 | disabilities or programs tailored to students with specialized |
| 38 | talents or skills. |
| 39 | (e) Guidance services, counseling services, and financial |
| 40 | assistance services in the state public K-20 education system |
| 41 | shall be available to students equally. Guidance and counseling |
| 42 | services, materials, and promotional events shall stress access |
| 43 | to academic and career opportunities for students without regard |
| 44 | to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, |
| 45 | disability, or marital status. |
| 46 | (4) Educational institutions within the state public K-20 |
| 47 | education system shall develop and implement methods and |
| 48 | strategies to increase the participation of students of a |
| 49 | particular race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual |
| 50 | orientation, disability, or marital status in programs and |
| 51 | courses in which students of that particular race, ethnicity, |
| 52 | national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or |
| 53 | marital status have been traditionally underrepresented, |
| 54 | including, but not limited to, mathematics, science, computer |
| 55 | technology, electronics, communications technology, engineering, |
| 56 | and career education. |
| 57 | (6) The functions of the Office of Equal Educational |
| 58 | Opportunity of the Department of Education shall include, but |
| 59 | are not limited to: |
| 60 | (d) Conducting studies of the effectiveness of methods and |
| 61 | strategies designed to increase the participation of students in |
| 62 | programs and courses in which students of a particular race, |
| 63 | ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, |
| 64 | disability, or marital status have been traditionally |
| 65 | underrepresented and monitoring the success of students in such |
| 66 | programs or courses, including performing followup monitoring. |
| 67 | Section 2. Subsection (7) of section 1002.20, Florida |
| 68 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 69 | 1002.20 K-12 student and parent rights.--Parents of public |
| 70 | school students must receive accurate and timely information |
| 71 | regarding their child's academic progress and must be informed |
| 72 | of ways they can help their child to succeed in school. K-12 |
| 73 | students and their parents are afforded numerous statutory |
| 74 | rights including, but not limited to, the following: |
| 75 | (7) NONDISCRIMINATION.--All education programs, |
| 76 | activities, and opportunities offered by public educational |
| 77 | institutions must be made available without discrimination on |
| 78 | the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual |
| 79 | orientation, disability, or marital status, in accordance with |
| 80 | the provisions of s. 1000.05. |
| 81 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |