Florida Senate - 2009 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1310 Barcode 591830 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: WD/2R . 04/27/2009 02:54 PM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Senators Deutch, Wilson, and Rich moved the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments) 2 3 Between lines 234 and 235 4 insert: 5 (7) PARENT AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PROGRAM 6 PARTICIPATION.— 7 (e) The parent shall ensure that the student participating 8 in the scholarship program takes the assessment as required in 9 this paragraph. 10 1. A student who is participating in the program must take 11 the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in reading, 12 writing, science, mathematics, and other content areas, as 13 directed by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to s. 14 1008.22, if 33 percent or more of the students enrolled in the 15 private school are receiving a scholarship under this section 16 during the school year or the total scholarship funds received 17 by the private school during the school year exceeds $125,000, 18 whichever is less. The parent is responsible for transporting 19 the student to the assessment site designated by the school 20 district. 21 2. A student who does not take the FCAT as required in 22 subparagraph 1. must take the norm-referenced assessment offered 23 by the private school. The parent may also choose to have the 24 student participate in the statewide assessments pursuant to s. 25 1008.22. If the parent requests that the student participating 26 in the scholarship program take statewide assessments pursuant 27 to s. 1008.22, the parent is responsible for transporting the 28 student to the assessment site designated by the school 29 district. 30 (8) PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY AND OBLIGATIONS.—An eligible 31 private school may be sectarian or nonsectarian and must: 32 (a) Comply with all requirements for private schools 33 participating in state school choice scholarship programs 34 pursuant to s. 1002.421. 35 (b) Provide to the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding 36 organization, upon request, all documentation required for the 37 student’s participation, including the private school’s and 38 student’s fee schedules. 39 (c) Be academically accountable to the parent for meeting 40 the educational needs of the student by: 41 1. At a minimum, annually providing to the parent a written 42 explanation of the student’s progress. 43 2. Annually administering or making provision for students 44 participating in the scholarship program to take the FCAT or one 45 of the nationally norm-referenced tests identified by the 46 Department of Education. Students havingwithdisabilities for 47 whom standardized testing is not appropriate are exempt from 48 this requirement. A participating private school must report a 49 student’s scores to the parent and to the independent research 50 organization selected by the Department of Education as 51 described in paragraph (9)(j). 52 3. Cooperating with the scholarship student whose parent 53 chooses to have the student participate in the statewide 54 assessments pursuant to s. 1008.22. 55 (d) Employ or contract with teachers who have regular and 56 direct contact with each student receiving a scholarship under 57 this section at the school’s physical location. 58 (e) Receive a school grade pursuant to s. 1008.34 if the 59 school has students who are required to take the FCAT under 60 subparagraph (7)(e)1. 61 62 The inability of a private school to meet the requirements of 63 this subsection shall constitute a basis for the ineligibility 64 of the private school to participate in the scholarship program 65 as determined by the Department of Education. 66 67 ====== D I R E C T O R Y C L A U S E A M E N D M E N T ====== 68 And the directory clause is amended as follows: 69 Delete lines 45 - 46 70 and insert: 71 subsection (5), paragraphs (b) and (i) of subsection (6), 72 paragraph (e) of subsection (7), subsection (8), and paragraphs 73 (a), (b), (l), and (n) of subsection (9) of section 74 75 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 76 And the title is amended as follows: 77 Delete line 15 78 and insert: 79 against the corporate income tax; revising provisions 80 relating to the parents’ and students’ 81 responsibilities for participating in the program; 82 requiring that a participating student who is enrolled 83 in a private school take the Florida Comprehensive 84 Assessment Test under certain circumstances; requiring 85 that a student take the norm-referenced assessment 86 offered by the private school if the student does not 87 take the FCAT; requiring that an eligible private 88 school receive a school grade if the school has 89 students who are required to take the FCAT; imposing 90 an