| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a study of school district costs; |
| 3 | requiring the Department of Education to contract with an |
| 4 | out-of-state postsecondary educational institution to |
| 5 | conduct a study to analyze Florida's district cost |
| 6 | differential amenities index and to develop a cost-of- |
| 7 | education index; requiring a report and submission of the |
| 8 | report to the Legislature and the Governor; providing an |
| 9 | 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. (1) The Department of Education shall contract |
| 14 | with a qualified third party to conduct a study to analyze the |
| 15 | state's current school district cost differential amenities |
| 16 | index and to develop a cost-of-education index that focuses on |
| 17 | the cost differences integral to K-12 public school district |
| 18 | operations. |
| 19 | (2) For purposes of the study, the cost-of-education index |
| 20 | shall be a tool used to adjust state education calculations to |
| 21 | compensate for regional variations in costs of education beyond |
| 22 | the control of school districts and may include, but not be |
| 23 | limited to, costs for teacher salaries, costs for health |
| 24 | insurance for employees, and property insurance and |
| 25 | transportation costs per full-time equivalent student. |
| 26 | (3) The third party contracted to conduct the study shall |
| 27 | be an out-of-state postsecondary educational institution. The |
| 28 | report prepared by the postsecondary educational institution |
| 29 | shall be submitted by the Department of Education to the |
| 30 | President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of |
| 31 | Representatives, and the Governor by January 1, 2011. |
| 32 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |