1 | A bill to be entitled |
2 | An act relating to inservice professional development |
3 | academies; amending s. 1012.985, F.S.; revising provisions |
4 | relating to regional inservice professional development |
5 | academies; requiring that one school district be |
6 | designated to serve as the fiscal agent for each regional |
7 | academy; deleting provisions that require such academies |
8 | to meet certain criteria in order to receive start-up |
9 | funds; providing an effective date. |
10 |
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11 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
12 |
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13 | Section 1. Section 1012.985, Florida Statutes, is amended |
14 | to read: |
15 | 1012.985 Regional Statewide system for inservice |
16 | professional development academies.-- |
17 | (1) The intent of this section is to facilitate establish |
18 | a statewide system of professional development that provides a |
19 | wide range of targeted inservice training to teachers, managers, |
20 | and administrative personnel designed to upgrade skills and |
21 | knowledge needed to attain reach world class standards in |
22 | education. The system shall consist of a network of professional |
23 | development academies in each region of the state which are |
24 | operated in partnership with area business partners to develop |
25 | and deliver high-quality training programs for purchased by |
26 | school districts. One school district shall be designated to |
27 | serve as the fiscal agent for each regional academy. The |
28 | academies shall be established to meet the human resource |
29 | development needs of professional educators, schools, and school |
30 | districts and shall. Funds appropriated for the initiation of |
31 | professional development academies shall be allocated by the |
32 | Commissioner of Education, unless otherwise provided in an |
33 | appropriations act. To be eligible for startup funds, the |
34 | academy must: |
35 | (a) Support Be established by the collaborative efforts of |
36 | one or more district school boards, members of the business |
37 | community, and the postsecondary educational institutions, which |
38 | may award college credits for courses taught at the academy. |
39 | (b) Demonstrate the capacity to provide effective training |
40 | to improve teaching skills in the areas of elementary reading |
41 | and mathematics, the use of instructional technology, high |
42 | school algebra, and classroom management, and to deliver such |
43 | training using face-to-face, distance learning, and |
44 | individualized computer-based delivery systems. |
45 | (c) Propose a plan for responding in an effective and |
46 | timely manner to the professional development needs of teachers, |
47 | managers, administrative personnel, schools, and school |
48 | districts relating to improving student achievement and meeting |
49 | state and local education goals. |
50 | (b)(d) Demonstrate the ability to Provide high-quality |
51 | trainers and training, appropriate followup and coaching for all |
52 | participants, and support school personnel in increasing student |
53 | achievement in positively impacting student performance. |
54 | (c)(e) Be operated under contract with its public partners |
55 | and governed by an independent board of directors, which should |
56 | include at least one district school superintendent and one |
57 | district school board chair from the participating school |
58 | districts, the president of the collective bargaining unit that |
59 | represents the majority of the region's teachers, and at least |
60 | three individuals who are not employees or elected or appointed |
61 | officials of the participating school districts. Regional |
62 | educational consortia as defined in s. 1001.451 satisfy the |
63 | requirements of this paragraph. |
64 | (f) Be financed during the first year of operation by an |
65 | equal or greater match from private funding sources and |
66 | demonstrate the ability to be self-supporting within 1 year |
67 | after opening through fees for services, grants, or private |
68 | contributions. Regional educational consortia as defined in s. |
69 | 1001.451 which serve rural areas of critical economic concern |
70 | are exempt from the funding match required by this paragraph. |
71 | (g) Own or lease a facility that can be used to deliver |
72 | training onsite and through distance learning and other |
73 | technology-based delivery systems. The participating district |
74 | school boards may lease a site or facility to the academy for a |
75 | nominal fee and may pay all or part of the costs of renovating a |
76 | facility to accommodate the academy. The academy is responsible |
77 | for all operational, maintenance, and repair costs. |
78 | (d)(h) Provide professional development services for the |
79 | participating school districts as specified in the contract and |
80 | may provide professional development services to other school |
81 | districts, private schools, and individuals on a fee-for- |
82 | services basis. |
83 | (2) Upon compliance with the requirements for the first |
84 | year of operation in paragraph (1)(f), A regional professional |
85 | development academy: |
86 | (a) may receive funds from the Department of Education or |
87 | as provided in the General Appropriations Act for the purpose of |
88 | developing programs, expanding services, assessing inservice |
89 | training and professional development, or other programs that |
90 | are consistent with the mission of the academy and the needs of |
91 | the state and region; and |
92 | (b) Is not, by virtue of providing services to one or more |
93 | school districts, a component of any school district or any |
94 | governmental unit to which the regional professional development |
95 | academy provides services. |
96 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |