HB 5083

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to education; amending s. 121.021, F.S.;
3	deleting salary supplements for National Board for
4	Professional Teaching Standards certification from the
5	definition of "compensation" under the Florida Retirement
6	System; amending s. 1002.33, F.S.; excluding charter
7	school Merit Award Program funds from the calculation of
8	school district administrative fees; amending s. 1007.271,
9	F.S.; deleting dual enrollment funding provisions;
10	amending s. 1011.62, F.S.; revising provisions relating to
11	the calculation of full-time equivalent membership for
12	dual enrollment instruction; authorizing a district school
13	board to transfer certain categorical funds for academic
14	classroom instruction; requiring the Department of
15	Education to report to the Legislature the amounts
16	transferred and the activities for which the funds were
17	expended; requiring a district school board to report to
18	the department if the school board transfers funds from
19	its allocation for research-based reading instruction;
20	providing for future expiration of certain provisions;
21	amending s. 1011.71, F.S.; revising requirements for
22	school district expenditure of revenue generated by the
23	district school tax millage; providing for future
24	expiration of such provisions; amending s. 1012.72, F.S.,
25	relating to the Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program;
26	eliminating as authorized expenditures the fee subsidy for
27	National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
28	certification, the portfolio preparation incentive, the
29	bonus for mentoring and related services, and the
30	employer's share of Florida Retirement System
31	contributions; revising the requirements by which a
32	teacher may qualify for a bonus; deleting provisions to
33	conform; amending s. 1011.52, F.S.; requiring the first
34	accredited medical school to enter into an annual
35	operating agreement with a government-owned hospital
36	meeting specified criteria; providing for maintenance of
37	affiliation; requiring submission of documentation of the
38	agreement to the Department of Education prior to payment
39	from appropriation; providing an effective date.
40
41	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43	Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (22) of section
44	121.021, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
45	121.021  Definitions.--The following words and phrases as
46	used in this chapter have the respective meanings set forth
47	unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context:
48	(22)  "Compensation" means the monthly salary paid a member
49	by his or her employer for work performed arising from that
50	employment.
51	(a)  Compensation shall include:
52	1.  Overtime payments paid from a salary fund.
53	2.  Accumulated annual leave payments.
54	3.  Payments in addition to the employee's base rate of pay
55	if all the following apply:
56	a.  The payments are paid according to a formal written
57	policy that applies to all eligible employees equally;
58	b.  The policy provides that payments shall commence no
59	later than the 11th year of employment;
60	c.  The payments are paid for as long as the employee
61	continues his or her employment; and
62	d.  The payments are paid at least annually.
63	4.  Amounts withheld for tax sheltered annuities or
64	deferred compensation programs, or any other type of salary
65	reduction plan authorized under the Internal Revenue Code.
66	5.  Payments made in lieu of a permanent increase in the
67	base rate of pay, whether made annually or in 12 or 26 equal
68	payments within a 12-month period, when the member's base pay is
69	at the maximum of his or her pay range. When a portion of a
70	member's annual increase raises his or her pay range and the
71	excess is paid as a lump sum payment, such lump sum payment
72	shall be compensation for retirement purposes.
73	6.  Effective July 1, 2002, salary supplements made
74	pursuant to s. 1012.72 requiring a valid National Board for
75	Professional Standards certificate, notwithstanding the
76	provisions of subparagraph 3.
77	Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (20) of section
78	1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
79	1002.33  Charter schools.--
80	(20)  SERVICES.--
81	(a)  A sponsor shall provide certain administrative and
82	educational services to charter schools. These services shall
83	include contract management services; full-time equivalent and
84	data reporting services; exceptional student education
85	administration services; services related to eligibility and
86	reporting duties required to ensure that school lunch services
87	under the federal lunch program, consistent with the needs of
88	the charter school, are provided by the school district at the
89	request of the charter school; test administration services,
90	including payment of the costs of state-required or district-
91	required student assessments; processing of teacher certificate
92	data services; and information services, including equal access
93	to student information systems that are used by public schools
94	in the district in which the charter school is located. Student
95	performance data for each student in a charter school,
96	including, but not limited to, FCAT scores, standardized test
97	scores, previous public school student report cards, and student
98	performance measures, shall be provided by the sponsor to a
99	charter school in the same manner provided to other public
100	schools in the district. A total administrative fee for the
101	provision of such services shall be calculated based upon up to
102	5 percent of the available funds defined in paragraph (17)(b)
103	for all students. However, a sponsor may only withhold up to a
104	5-percent administrative fee for enrollment for up to and
105	including 500 students. For charter schools with a population of
106	501 or more students, the difference between the total
107	administrative fee calculation and the amount of the
108	administrative fee withheld may only be used for capital outlay
109	purposes specified in s. 1013.62(2). Funds awarded pursuant to
110	s. 1012.225 shall not be subject to the maximum 5-percent
111	administrative fee withheld pursuant to this paragraph. Sponsors
112	shall not charge charter schools any additional fees or
113	surcharges for administrative and educational services in
114	addition to the maximum 5-percent administrative fee withheld
115	pursuant to this paragraph.
116	Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 1007.271, Florida
117	Statutes, is amended to read:
118	1007.271  Dual enrollment programs.--
119	(2)  For the purpose of this section, an eligible secondary
120	student is a student who is enrolled in a Florida public
121	secondary school or in a Florida private secondary school which
122	is in compliance with s. 1002.42(2) and conducts a secondary
123	curriculum pursuant to s. 1003.43. Students enrolled in
124	postsecondary instruction that is not creditable toward the high
125	school diploma shall not be classified as dual enrollments.
126	Students who are eligible for dual enrollment pursuant to this
127	section shall be permitted to enroll in dual enrollment courses
128	conducted during school hours, after school hours, and during
129	the summer term. Instructional time for such enrollment may vary
130	from 900 hours; however, the school district may only report the
131	student for a maximum of 1.0 FTE, as provided in s. 1011.61(4).
132	Each semester of instruction that is eligible for high school
133	and postsecondary credit shall be reported by school districts
134	as 75 membership hours for purposes of FTE calculation. Any
135	student so enrolled is exempt from the payment of registration,
136	tuition, and laboratory fees. Vocational-preparatory
137	instruction, college-preparatory instruction, and other forms of
138	precollegiate instruction, as well as physical education courses
139	that focus on the physical execution of a skill rather than the
140	intellectual attributes of the activity, are ineligible for
141	inclusion in the dual enrollment program. Recreation and leisure
142	studies courses shall be evaluated individually in the same
143	manner as physical education courses for potential inclusion in
144	the program.
145	Section 4.  Paragraph (i) of subsection (1) and subsection
146	(6) of section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, as amended by chapter
147	2007-328, Laws of Florida, are amended to read:
148	1011.62  Funds for operation of schools.--If the annual
149	allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each
150	district for operation of schools is not determined in the
151	annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing
152	the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as
153	follows:
154	(1)  COMPUTATION OF THE BASIC AMOUNT TO BE INCLUDED FOR
155	OPERATION.--The following procedure shall be followed in
156	determining the annual allocation to each district for
157	operation:
158	(i)  Calculation of full-time equivalent membership with
159	respect to dual enrollment instruction.--Students enrolled in
160	dual enrollment instruction pursuant to s. 1007.271 may be
161	included in calculations of full-time equivalent student
162	memberships for basic programs for grades 9 through 12 by a
163	district school board. Instructional time for dual enrollment
164	may vary from 900 hours; however, the school district may only
165	report the student for a maximum of 1.0 full-time equivalent
166	student membership, as provided in s. 1011.61(4). With the
167	exception of early admission dual enrollment as defined in s.
168	1007.271(7), dual enrollment full-time equivalent student
169	membership shall be calculated in an amount equal to the hours
170	of instruction that would be necessary to earn the full-time
171	equivalent student membership for an equivalent course if it
172	were taught in the school district. The dual enrollment full-
173	time equivalent student membership for early admission dual
174	enrollment students as defined in s. 1007.271(7) shall be
175	calculated by dividing the number of college credit hours by 30.
176	Each semester of instruction that is eligible for high school
177	and postsecondary credit shall be reported by school districts
178	as 75 membership hours for purposes of FTE calculation. Such
179	Students in dual enrollment courses may also be calculated as
180	the proportional shares of full-time equivalent enrollments they
181	generate for a community college or university conducting the
182	dual enrollment instruction. Early admission students shall be
183	considered dual enrollments for funding purposes. Students may
184	be enrolled in dual enrollment instruction provided by an
185	eligible independent college or university and may be included
186	in calculations of full-time equivalent student memberships for
187	basic programs for grades 9 through 12 by a district school
188	board. However, those provisions of law which exempt dual
189	enrolled and early admission students from payment of
190	instructional materials and tuition and fees, including
191	laboratory fees, shall not apply to students who select the
192	option of enrolling in an eligible independent institution. An
193	independent college or university which is located and chartered
194	in Florida, is not for profit, is accredited by the Commission
195	on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
196	or the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools,
197	and which confers degrees as defined in s. 1005.02 shall be
198	eligible for inclusion in the dual enrollment or early admission
199	program. Students enrolled in dual enrollment instruction shall
200	be exempt from the payment of tuition and fees, including
201	laboratory fees. No student enrolled in college credit
202	mathematics or English dual enrollment instruction shall be
203	funded as a dual enrollment unless the student has successfully
204	completed the relevant section of the entry-level examination
205	required pursuant to s. 1008.30.
206	(6)  CATEGORICAL FUNDS.--
207	(a)  In addition to the basic amount for current operations
208	for the FEFP as determined in subsection (1), the Legislature
209	may appropriate categorical funding for specified programs,
210	activities, or purposes.
211	(b)  If a district school board finds and declares in a
212	resolution adopted at a regular meeting of the school board that
213	the funds received for any of the following categorical
214	appropriations are urgently needed to maintain school board
215	specified academic classroom instruction, the school board may
216	consider and approve an amendment to the school district
217	operating budget transferring the identified amount of the
218	categorical funds to the appropriate account for expenditure:
219	1.  Funds for student transportation.
220	2.  Funds for safe schools.
221	3.  Funds for supplemental academic instruction.
222	4.  Funds for research-based reading instruction.
223	5.  Funds for instructional materials if all instructional
224	material purchases have been completed for that fiscal year, but
225	no sooner than March 1, 2009.
226	(c)  Each district school board shall include in its annual
227	financial report to the Department of Education the amount of
228	funds the school board transferred from each of the categorical
229	funds identified in this subsection and the specific academic
230	classroom instruction for which the transferred funds were
231	expended. The Department of Education shall provide instructions
232	and specify the format to be used in submitting this required
233	information as a part of the district annual financial report.
234	The department shall provide to the Legislature a report that
235	identifies by district and by categorical fund the amount
236	transferred and the specific academic classroom activity for
237	which the funds were expended.
238	(d)  If a district school board transfers funds from its
239	research-based reading instruction allocation, the school board
240	must also submit to the Department of Education an amendment
241	describing the changes that the district is making to its
242	reading plan approved pursuant to paragraph (9)(d).
243	Section 5.  The amendments to s. 1011.62(6), Florida
244	Statutes, as carried forward by this act from chapter 2007-328,
245	Laws of Florida, and made by this act shall expire July 1, 2009,
246	and the text of that section shall revert to that in existence
247	on the day before the effective date of chapter 2007-328, Laws
248	of Florida, except that any amendments to such text enacted
249	other than by this act shall be preserved and continue to
250	operate to the extent that such amendments are not dependent
251	upon the portions of such text that expire pursuant to this
252	section.
253	Section 6.  Subsection (3) of section 1011.71, Florida
254	Statutes, as amended by chapters 2007-328 and 2008-2, Laws of
255	Florida, is amended to read:
256	1011.71  District school tax.--
257	(3)  A school district that has met the reduction
258	requirements regarding class size for the 2008-2009 fiscal
259	current year pursuant to s. 1003.03 for K-12 students for whom
260	the school district provides the educational facilities, has
261	received an unqualified opinion on its financial statements for
262	the preceding 3 years, has no material weaknesses or instances
263	of material noncompliance noted in an audit for the preceding 3
264	years, and certifies to the Commissioner of Education that the
265	district does not need all of its discretionary 2-mill capital
266	improvement revenue for capital outlay purposes and all of the
267	district's instructional space needs for the next 5 years can be
268	met from capital outlay sources that the district reasonably
269	expects to receive during the next 5 years from local revenues
270	and from currently appropriated state facilities funding or from
271	alternative scheduling or construction, leasing, rezoning, or
272	technological methodologies that exhibit sound management may
273	expend, subject to the provisions of s. 200.065, up to $65 per
274	unweighted full-time equivalent student from the revenue
275	generated by the 2008-2009 millage levy authorized by subsection
276	(2) to fund, in addition to expenditures authorized in
277	paragraphs (2)(a)-(j), 2008-2009 expenses for the following:
278	(a)  The purchase, lease-purchase, or lease of driver's
279	education vehicles; motor vehicles used for the maintenance or
280	operation of plants and equipment; security vehicles; or
281	vehicles used in storing or distributing materials and
282	equipment.
283	(b)  Payment of the cost of premiums for property and
284	casualty insurance necessary to insure school district
285	educational and ancillary plants. Operating revenues that are
286	made available through the payment of property and casualty
287	insurance premiums from revenues generated under this subsection
288	may be expended only for nonrecurring operational expenditures
289	of the school district.
290	Section 7.  The amendments to s. 1011.71(3), Florida
291	Statutes, as carried forward by this act from chapters 2007-328
292	and 2008-2, Laws of Florida, and made by this act shall expire
293	July 1, 2009, and the text of that section shall revert to that
294	in existence on the day before the effective date of chapter
295	2007-328, Laws of Florida, except that any amendments to such
296	text enacted other than by this act shall be preserved and
297	continue to operate to the extent that such amendments are not
298	dependent upon the portions of such text that expire pursuant to
299	this section.
300	Section 8.  Section 1012.72, Florida Statutes, as amended
301	by chapter 2007-328, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
302	1012.72  Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program.--
303	(1)  The Legislature recognizes that teachers play a
304	critical role in preparing students to achieve the high levels
305	of academic performance expected by the Sunshine State
306	Standards. The Legislature further recognizes the importance of
307	identifying and rewarding teaching excellence and of encouraging
308	good teachers to become excellent teachers. The Legislature
309	finds that the National Board for of Professional Teaching
310	Standards (NBPTS) has established high and rigorous standards
311	for accomplished teaching and has developed a national voluntary
312	system for assessing and certifying teachers who demonstrate
313	teaching excellence by meeting those standards. It is therefore
314	the Legislature's intent to provide incentives for teachers to
315	seek NBPTS certification and to reward teachers who demonstrate
316	teaching excellence by attaining NBPTS certification and sharing
317	their expertise with other teachers.
318	(2)  The Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program is created
319	to provide categorical funding for monetary incentives and
320	bonuses for teaching excellence. The Department of Education
321	shall distribute to each school district or to the NBPTS an
322	amount as prescribed annually by the Legislature for the Dale
323	Hickam Excellent Teaching Program. For purposes of this section,
324	the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be
325	considered a school district. Unless otherwise provided in the
326	General Appropriations Act, each distribution shall be the sum
327	of the amounts earned for the following incentives and bonuses:
328	(a)  A fee subsidy to be paid by the Department of
329	Education to the NBPTS on behalf of each individual who is an
330	employee of a district school board or a public school within
331	the school district, who is certified by the district to have
332	demonstrated satisfactory teaching performance pursuant to s.
333	1012.34 and who satisfies the prerequisites for participating in
334	the NBPTS certification program, and who agrees, in writing, to
335	pay 10 percent of the NBPTS participation fee and to participate
336	in the NBPTS certification program during the school year for
337	which the fee subsidy is provided. The fee subsidy for each
338	eligible participant shall be an amount equal to 90 percent of
339	the fee charged for participating in the NBPTS certification
340	program. The fee subsidy is a one-time award and may not be
341	duplicated for any individual.
342	(b)  A portfolio-preparation incentive of $150 paid by the
343	Department of Education to each teacher employed by a district
344	school board or a public school within a school district who is
345	participating in the NBPTS certification program. The portfolio-
346	preparation incentive is a one-time award paid during the school
347	year for which the NBPTS fee subsidy is provided.
348	(a)(c)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior
349	fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers to
350	be distributed to the school district to be paid to each
351	individual who holds NBPTS certification and is employed by the
352	district school board or by a public school within the school
353	district. The district school board shall distribute the annual
354	bonus to each individual who meets the requirements of this
355	paragraph and who is certified annually by the district to have
356	demonstrated satisfactory teaching performance pursuant to s.
357	1012.225 or s. 1012.34. The annual bonus may be paid as a single
358	payment or divided into not more than three payments.
359	(d)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior
360	fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers to
361	be distributed to the school district to be paid to each
362	individual who meets the requirements of paragraph (c) and
363	agrees, in writing, to provide the equivalent of 12 workdays of
364	mentoring and related services to public school teachers within
365	the state who do not hold NBPTS certification. Related services
366	must include instruction in helping teachers work more
367	effectively with the families of their students. The district
368	school board shall distribute the annual bonus in a single
369	payment following the completion of all required mentoring and
370	related services for the year. It is not the intent of the
371	Legislature to remove excellent teachers from their assigned
372	classrooms; therefore, credit may not be granted by a school
373	district or public school for mentoring or related services
374	provided during student contact time during the 196 days of
375	required service for the school year.
376	(b)(e)  The employer's share of social security and
377	Medicare taxes and Florida Retirement System contributions for
378	those teachers who qualify for NBPTS certification and receive
379	bonus amounts under paragraph (a).
380
381	A teacher for whom the state pays the certification fee and who
382	does not complete the certification program or does not teach in
383	a public school of this state for at least 1 year after
384	completing the certification program must repay the amount of
385	the certification fee to the state. However, a teacher who
386	completes the certification program but fails to be awarded
387	NBPTS certification is not required to repay the amount of the
388	certification fee if the teacher meets the 1-year teaching
389	requirement. Repayment is not required of a teacher who does not
390	complete the certification program or fails to fulfill the
391	teaching requirement because of the teacher's death or
392	disability or because of other extenuating circumstances as
393	determined by the State Board of Education.
394	(3)(a)  In addition to any other remedy available under the
395	law, any person who is a recipient of a certification fee
396	subsidy paid to the NBPTS and who is an employee of the state or
397	any of its political subdivisions is considered to have
398	consented, as a condition of employment, to the voluntary or
399	involuntary withholding of wages to repay to the state the
400	amount of such a certification fee subsidy awarded under this
401	section. Any such employee who defaults on the repayment of such
402	a certification fee subsidy must, within 60 days after service
403	of a notice of default by the Department of Education to the
404	employee, establish a repayment schedule which must be agreed to
405	by the department and the employee, for repaying the defaulted
406	sum through payroll deductions. The department may not require
407	the employee to pay more than 10 percent of the employee's pay
408	per pay period under such a repayment schedule or plan. If the
409	employee fails to establish a repayment schedule within the
410	specified period of time or fails to meet the terms and
411	conditions of the agreed upon or approved repayment schedule as
412	authorized by this subsection, the employee has breached an
413	essential condition of employment and is considered to have
414	consented to the involuntary withholding of wages or salary for
415	the repayment of the certification fee subsidy.
416	(b)  A person who is employed by the state, or any of its
417	political subdivisions, may not be dismissed for having
418	defaulted on the repayment of the certification fee subsidy to
419	the state.
420	(4)  The State Board of Education may adopt rules pursuant
421	to ss. 120.536 and 120.54 as necessary to administer the
422	provisions for payment of the fee subsidies, incentives, and
423	bonuses and for the repayment of defaulted certification fee
424	subsidies under this section.
425	(3)(5)  If the funds available in any fiscal year are
426	insufficient to pay in full the annual bonuses under subsection
427	(2) for certification and for providing mentoring and related
428	services, payments for providing mentoring and related services
429	shall be prorated among the eligible recipients.
430	Section 9.  Subsection (2) of section 1011.52, Florida
431	Statutes, is amended to read:
432	1011.52  Appropriation to first accredited medical
433	school.--
434	(2)  In order for a medical school to qualify under the
435	provisions of this section and to be entitled to the benefits
436	herein, such medical school:
437	(a)  Must be primarily operated and established to offer,
438	afford, and render a medical education to residents of the state
439	qualifying for admission to such institution;
440	(b)  Must be operated by a municipality or county of this
441	state, or by a nonprofit organization heretofore or hereafter
442	established exclusively for educational purposes;
443	(c)  Must, upon the formation and establishment of an
444	accredited medical school, transmit and file with the Department
445	of Education documentary proof evidencing the facts that such
446	institution has been certified and approved by the council on
447	medical education and hospitals of the American Medical
448	Association and has adequately met the requirements of that
449	council in regard to its administrative facilities,
450	administrative plant, clinical facilities, curriculum, and all
451	other such requirements as may be necessary to qualify with the
452	council as a recognized, approved, and accredited medical
453	school;
454	(d)  Must certify to the Department of Education the name,
455	address, and educational history of each student approved and
456	accepted for enrollment in such institution for the ensuing
457	school year; and.
458	(e)  Must enter into an annual operating agreement each
459	fiscal year with a government-owned hospital that is located in
460	the same county as the medical school and that is a statutory
461	teaching hospital as defined in s. 408.07(45). The annual
462	operating agreement shall provide for the medical school to
463	maintain the same level of affiliation with the hospital,
464	including the level of services to indigent and charity care
465	patients served by the hospital, that was in place in the prior
466	fiscal year. Documentation of the operating agreement shall be
467	submitted to the Department of Education prior to the payment of
468	moneys from the annual appropriation.
469	Section 10.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.