| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Corporate Income Tax Credit |
| 3 | Scholarship Program; amending s. 220.187, F.S.; requiring |
| 4 | that students who are participating in the Corporate |
| 5 | Income Tax Credit Scholarship Program take the Florida |
| 6 | Comprehensive Assessment Test under certain conditions; |
| 7 | providing additional requirements for private schools that |
| 8 | are participating in the program; revising the Department |
| 9 | of Education's obligations under the program; amending s. |
| 10 | 1002.421, F.S.; providing additional requirements for |
| 11 | teachers employed by or under contract with private |
| 12 | schools that are participating in the program; providing |
| 13 | an effective date. |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (7), subsection |
| 18 | (8), and paragraph (j) of subsection (9) of section 220.187, |
| 19 | Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 20 | 220.187 Credits for contributions to nonprofit |
| 21 | scholarship-funding organizations.-- |
| 22 | (7) PARENT AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PROGRAM |
| 23 | PARTICIPATION.-- |
| 24 | (e) The parent shall ensure that the student participating |
| 25 | in the scholarship program takes the assessment as required in |
| 26 | this paragraph. |
| 27 | 1. A student who is participating in the program must take |
| 28 | the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in reading, |
| 29 | writing, science, mathematics, and other content areas as |
| 30 | directed by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to s. 1008.22 |
| 31 | if: |
| 32 | a. There are 20 or fewer students enrolled in the |
| 33 | participating private school during the school year; or |
| 34 | b. There are more than 20 students enrolled in the |
| 35 | participating private school during the school year and the |
| 36 | total amount of scholarship funds received by the participating |
| 37 | private school during the school year is $25,000 or more. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | The parent is responsible for transporting the student to the |
| 40 | assessment site designated by the school district. |
| 41 | 2. A student who does not take the FCAT as required in |
| 42 | subparagraph 1. must take the norm-referenced assessment offered |
| 43 | by the private school. The parent may also choose to have the |
| 44 | student participate in the statewide assessments pursuant to s. |
| 45 | 1008.22. If the parent requests that the student participating |
| 46 | in the scholarship program take statewide assessments pursuant |
| 47 | to s. 1008.22, the parent is responsible for transporting the |
| 48 | student to the assessment site designated by the school |
| 49 | district. |
| 50 | (8) PRIVATE SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY AND OBLIGATIONS.--An |
| 51 | eligible private school may be sectarian or nonsectarian and |
| 52 | must: |
| 53 | (a) Comply with all requirements for private schools |
| 54 | participating in state school choice scholarship programs |
| 55 | pursuant to s. 1002.421. |
| 56 | (b) Provide to the eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding |
| 57 | organization, upon request, all documentation required for the |
| 58 | student's participation, including the private school's and |
| 59 | student's fee schedules. |
| 60 | (c) Be academically accountable to the parent for meeting |
| 61 | the educational needs of the student by: |
| 62 | 1. At a minimum, annually providing to the parent a |
| 63 | written explanation of the student's progress. |
| 64 | 2. Annually administering or making provision for students |
| 65 | participating in the scholarship program to take the FCAT or one |
| 66 | of the nationally norm-referenced tests identified by the |
| 67 | Department of Education. Students having with disabilities for |
| 68 | whom standardized testing is not appropriate are exempt from |
| 69 | this requirement. A participating private school must report a |
| 70 | student's scores to the parent and to the independent research |
| 71 | organization selected by the Department of Education as |
| 72 | described in paragraph (9)(j). |
| 73 | 3. Cooperating with the scholarship student whose parent |
| 74 | chooses to have the student participate in the statewide |
| 75 | assessments pursuant to s. 1008.22. |
| 76 | (d) Employ or contract with teachers who have regular and |
| 77 | direct contact with each student receiving a scholarship under |
| 78 | this section at the school's physical location. |
| 79 | (e) Receive a school grade pursuant to s. 1008.34 if the |
| 80 | school has students who are required to take the FCAT under |
| 81 | subparagraph (7)(e)1. |
| 82 |
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| 83 | The inability of a private school to meet the requirements of |
| 84 | this subsection shall constitute a basis for the ineligibility |
| 85 | of the private school to participate in the scholarship program |
| 86 | as determined by the Department of Education. |
| 87 | (9) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OBLIGATIONS.--The Department |
| 88 | of Education shall: |
| 89 | (j) Select an independent research organization, which may |
| 90 | be a public or private entity or university, to which |
| 91 | participating private schools must report the scores of |
| 92 | participating students on the FCAT and the nationally norm- |
| 93 | referenced tests administered by the private school. The |
| 94 | independent research organization must annually report to the |
| 95 | Department of Education on the year-to-year improvements of |
| 96 | participating students. The independent research organization |
| 97 | must analyze and report student performance data in a manner |
| 98 | that protects the rights of students and parents as mandated in |
| 99 | 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy |
| 100 | Act, and may must not disaggregate data to a level that will |
| 101 | disclose the academic level of individual students or of |
| 102 | individual schools. To the extent possible, the independent |
| 103 | research organization must accumulate historical performance |
| 104 | data on students from the Department of Education and private |
| 105 | schools to describe baseline performance and to conduct |
| 106 | longitudinal studies. To minimize costs and reduce time required |
| 107 | for third-party analysis and evaluation, the Department of |
| 108 | Education shall conduct analyses of matched students from public |
| 109 | school assessment data and calculate control group learning |
| 110 | gains using an agreed-upon methodology outlined in the contract |
| 111 | with the third-party evaluator. The sharing of student data must |
| 112 | be in accordance with requirements of 20 U.S.C. s. 1232g, the |
| 113 | Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and shall be for the |
| 114 | sole purpose of conducting the evaluation. All parties must |
| 115 | preserve the confidentiality of such information as required by |
| 116 | law. |
| 117 | Section 2. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of section |
| 118 | 1002.421, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 119 | 1002.421 Accountability of private schools participating |
| 120 | in state school choice scholarship programs.-- |
| 121 | (2) A private school participating in a scholarship |
| 122 | program must be a Florida private school as defined in s. |
| 123 | 1002.01(2), must be registered in accordance with s. 1002.42, |
| 124 | and must: |
| 125 | (h) Employ or contract with teachers who hold |
| 126 | baccalaureate or higher degrees, have at least 3 years of |
| 127 | teaching experience in public or private schools, or have |
| 128 | special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to |
| 129 | provide instruction in subjects taught. However, a private |
| 130 | school participating in the Corporate Income Tax Credit |
| 131 | Scholarship Program pursuant to s. 220.187 must employ or |
| 132 | contract with a teacher who holds a baccalaureate or higher |
| 133 | degree and has 3 years of teaching experience or a teacher who |
| 134 | is certified pursuant to s. 1012.56. |
| 135 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |