| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to expenditures for classroom instruction; |
| 3 | creating s. 1010.2155, F.S.; providing minimum |
| 4 | requirements for expenditures for classroom instruction at |
| 5 | the school district and school levels; specifying |
| 6 | requirements for uniform calculation of district and |
| 7 | school operating expenditures that support classroom |
| 8 | instruction; requiring annual reporting of expenditures; |
| 9 | requiring the Department of Education and district school |
| 10 | boards to analyze expenditures; providing for technical |
| 11 | assistance in budget preparation and analysis; requiring |
| 12 | explanation of financial and performance status of school |
| 13 | districts and schools under certain circumstances; |
| 14 | authorizing rulemaking by the State Board of Education; |
| 15 | amending ss. 1008.25 and 1008.34, F.S.; requiring the |
| 16 | inclusion of information regarding classroom instruction |
| 17 | expenditures in certain school district and school |
| 18 | reports; providing an effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Section 1. Section 1010.2155, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 23 | to read: |
| 24 | 1010.2155 Expenditures for classroom instruction.-- |
| 25 | (1) Effective July 1, 2008, school districts shall spend a |
| 26 | minimum of 65 percent of district operating funds on classroom |
| 27 | instruction and school administrators shall spend a minimum of |
| 28 | 65 percent of each school's budget on classroom instruction. |
| 29 | Effective July 1, 2010, the minimum expenditures for classroom |
| 30 | instruction at the district level and the school level shall be |
| 31 | 70 percent of district operating funds and 70 percent of the |
| 32 | school's budget, respectively. |
| 33 | (2) Each school district shall calculate annually the |
| 34 | percentage of operating expenditures that support classroom |
| 35 | instruction. |
| 36 | (a) The numerator for this calculation shall be the sum of |
| 37 | school district operating expenditures related to: |
| 38 | 1. Salaries and benefits for instructional personnel, |
| 39 | instructional specialists, and instructional support personnel |
| 40 | as defined in s. 1010.215; |
| 41 | 2. Instructional materials and instructional supplies; |
| 42 | 3. Inservice teacher education; |
| 43 | 4. Curriculum development; and |
| 44 | 5. Student activities such as field trips, athletics, and |
| 45 | interscholastic competitions. For the purposes of this |
| 46 | subparagraph, interscholastic competitions include, but are not |
| 47 | limited to, athletic, academic, career or technical, and fine |
| 48 | arts competitions. |
| 49 | (b) The denominator for this calculation shall be the sum |
| 50 | of all school district operating expenditures. |
| 51 | (3) The Department of Education shall develop a uniform |
| 52 | calculation for determining classroom expenditure percentages |
| 53 | and a common format for school district reporting. School |
| 54 | districts shall publish classroom expenditure information |
| 55 | annually in the financial report required in s. 1010.215(6) and |
| 56 | post the information on the school district's Internet website. |
| 57 | (4) Effective July 1, 2010, each school district shall |
| 58 | calculate annually the percentage of school operating |
| 59 | expenditures that support classroom instruction for each public |
| 60 | school and charter school within the district. The numerator for |
| 61 | this calculation shall be the sum of school expenditures |
| 62 | delineated in paragraph (2)(a). The denominator for this |
| 63 | calculation shall be the total operating budget for the school. |
| 64 | School-specific expenditure information shall be reported in the |
| 65 | same manner as school district expenditures. |
| 66 | (5) The Department of Education shall analyze the |
| 67 | expenditures of any school district that: |
| 68 | (a) Fails to meet required classroom instruction |
| 69 | expenditure levels and receives a district grade of "C" or |
| 70 | lower. |
| 71 | (b) Meets the required classroom instruction expenditure |
| 72 | levels and receives a district grade of "C" or lower. |
| 73 | (c) Fails to meet the required classroom instruction |
| 74 | expenditure levels and receives a district grade higher than |
| 75 | "C." |
| 76 | (6) The district school board shall analyze the |
| 77 | expenditures of any school that: |
| 78 | (a) Fails to meet required classroom instruction |
| 79 | expenditure levels and receives a school grade of "C" or lower. |
| 80 | (b) Meets the required classroom instruction expenditure |
| 81 | levels and receives a school grade of "C" or lower. |
| 82 | (c) Fails to meet the required classroom instruction |
| 83 | expenditure levels and receives a school grade higher than "C." |
| 84 | (7) The department shall provide technical assistance in |
| 85 | budget preparation and analysis to school districts that fail to |
| 86 | meet the required classroom instruction expenditure levels and |
| 87 | may provide technical assistance to any district upon request. |
| 88 | The superintendent of schools of any district that fails to meet |
| 89 | the minimum classroom instruction expenditure levels shall |
| 90 | appear before the State Board of Education to explain the |
| 91 | financial and performance status of the district. Such |
| 92 | appearance shall occur no later than 60 days after release of |
| 93 | the district expenditure report. The Commissioner of Education |
| 94 | shall make written recommendations to the district school |
| 95 | superintendent and district school board regarding expenditure |
| 96 | revisions that may result in improved district performance. |
| 97 | (8) The district school board shall provide technical |
| 98 | assistance in budget preparation and analysis to school |
| 99 | principals whose schools fail to meet the required classroom |
| 100 | instruction expenditure levels. The school principal shall |
| 101 | appear before the district school board to explain the financial |
| 102 | and performance status of the school. Such appearance shall |
| 103 | occur no later than 30 days after release of the school |
| 104 | expenditure report. |
| 105 | (9) The State Board of Education may adopt rules pursuant |
| 106 | to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this |
| 107 | section and may enforce the provisions of this section pursuant |
| 108 | to s. 1008.32. |
| 109 | Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (8) of section |
| 110 | 1008.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 111 | 1008.25 Public school student progression; remedial |
| 112 | instruction; reporting requirements.-- |
| 113 | (8) ANNUAL REPORT.-- |
| 114 | (b) Each district school board must annually publish in |
| 115 | the local newspaper, and report in writing to the State Board of |
| 116 | Education by September 1 of each year, the following information |
| 117 | on the prior school year: |
| 118 | 1. The provisions of this section relating to public |
| 119 | school student progression and the district school board's |
| 120 | policies and procedures on student retention and promotion. |
| 121 | 2. By grade, the number and percentage of all students in |
| 122 | grades 3 through 10 performing at Levels 1 and 2 on the reading |
| 123 | portion of the FCAT. |
| 124 | 3. By grade, the number and percentage of all students |
| 125 | retained in grades 3 through 10. |
| 126 | 4. Information on the total number of students who were |
| 127 | promoted for good cause, by each category of good cause as |
| 128 | specified in paragraph (6)(b). |
| 129 | 5. Any revisions to the district school board's policy on |
| 130 | student retention and promotion from the prior year. |
| 131 | 6. The percentage of district operating funds expended on |
| 132 | classroom instruction as calculated pursuant to s. 1010.2155. |
| 133 | Section 3. Subsection (5) of section 1008.34, Florida |
| 134 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 135 | 1008.34 School grading system; school report cards; |
| 136 | district grade.-- |
| 137 | (5) SCHOOL REPORT CARD.--The Department of Education shall |
| 138 | annually develop, in collaboration with the school districts, a |
| 139 | school report card to be delivered to parents throughout each |
| 140 | school district. The report card shall include the school's |
| 141 | grade, information regarding school improvement, an explanation |
| 142 | of school performance as evaluated by the federal No Child Left |
| 143 | Behind Act of 2001, and indicators of return on investment. The |
| 144 | report card shall also include the percentage of the school's |
| 145 | operating funds expended on classroom instruction as calculated |
| 146 | pursuant to s. 1010.2155. Each school's report card shall be |
| 147 | published annually by the department on its website, and the |
| 148 | school district shall provide the school report card to each |
| 149 | parent. |
| 150 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |