HB 4217

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the authority to enforce public school
3	improvement; repealing s. 1008.33, F.S., which establishes
4	the authority of the State Board of Education and the
5	Department of Education to enforce accountability
6	requirements, categorize public schools based on student
7	performance, and apply intervention and support strategies
8	to improve student performance; amending ss. 1001.42,
9	1002.33, 1006.40, 1008.345, and 1012.2315, F.S.;
10	conforming provisions and cross-references; providing an
11	effective date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1.  Section 1008.33, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
16	Section 2.  Subsection (18) of section 1001.42, Florida
17	Statutes, is amended to read:
18	1001.42  Powers and duties of district school board.-The
19	district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
20	powers and perform all duties listed below:
21	(18)  IMPLEMENT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.-
22	Maintain a state system of school improvement and education
23	accountability as provided by statute and State Board of
24	Education rule. This system of school improvement and education
25	accountability shall be consistent with, and implemented
26	through, the district's continuing system of planning and
27	budgeting required by this section and ss. 1008.385, 1010.01,
28	and 1011.01. This system of school improvement and education
29	accountability shall comply with the provisions of ss. 1008.33,
30	1008.34, 1008.345, and 1008.385 and include the following:
31	(a)  School improvement plans.-The district school board
32	shall annually approve and require implementation of a new,
33	amended, or continuation school improvement plan for each school
34	in the district.
35	(b)  Public disclosure.-The district school board shall
36	provide information regarding the performance of students and
37	educational programs as required pursuant to ss. 1008.22 and
38	1008.385 and implement a system of school reports as required by
39	statute and State Board of Education rule which shall include
40	schools operating for the purpose of providing educational
41	services to youth in Department of Juvenile Justice programs,
42	and for those schools, report on the elements specified in s.
43	1003.52(19). Annual public disclosure reports shall be in an
44	easy-to-read report card format and shall include the school's
45	grade, high school graduation rate calculated without GED tests,
46	disaggregated by student ethnicity, and performance data as
47	specified in state board rule.
48	(c)  School improvement funds.-The district school board
49	shall provide funds to schools for developing and implementing
50	school improvement plans. Such funds shall include those funds
51	appropriated for the purpose of school improvement pursuant to
52	s. 24.121(5)(c).
53	Section 3.  Paragraph (o) of subsection (9) of section
54	1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
55	1002.33  Charter schools.-
56	(9)  CHARTER SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS.-
57	(o)  Upon notification that a charter school receives a
58	school grade of "D" for 2 consecutive years or a school grade of
59	"F" under s. 1008.34(2), the charter school sponsor or the
60	sponsor's staff shall require the director and a representative
61	of the governing body to submit to the sponsor for approval a
62	school improvement plan to raise student achievement and to
63	implement the plan. The sponsor has the authority to approve a
64	school improvement plan that the charter school will implement
65	in the following school year. The sponsor may also consider the
66	State Board of Education's recommended action pursuant to s.
67	1008.33(1) as part of the school improvement plan. The
68	Department of Education shall offer technical assistance and
69	training to the charter school and its governing body and
70	establish guidelines for developing, submitting, and approving
71	such plans.
72	1.  If the charter school fails to improve its student
73	performance from the year immediately prior to the
74	implementation of the school improvement plan, the sponsor shall
75	place the charter school on probation and shall require the
76	charter school governing body to take one of the following
77	corrective actions:
78	a.  Contract for the educational services of the charter
79	school;
80	b.  Reorganize the school at the end of the school year
81	under a new director or principal who is authorized to hire new
82	staff and implement a plan that addresses the causes of
83	inadequate progress; or
84	c.  Reconstitute the charter school.
85	2.  A charter school that is placed on probation shall
86	continue the corrective actions required under subparagraph 1.
87	until the charter school improves its student performance from
88	the year prior to the implementation of the school improvement
89	plan.
90	3.  Notwithstanding any provision of this paragraph, the
91	sponsor may terminate the charter at any time pursuant to
92	subsection (8).
93	Section 4.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
94	1006.40, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
95	1006.40  Use of instructional materials allocation;
96	instructional materials, library books, and reference books;
97	repair of books.-
98	(2)(a)  Each district school board must purchase current
99	instructional materials to provide each student with a textbook
100	or other instructional materials as a major tool of instruction
101	in core courses of the appropriate subject areas of mathematics,
102	language arts, science, social studies, reading, and literature
103	for kindergarten through grade 12. Such purchase must be made
104	within the first 2 years after the effective date of the
105	adoption cycle; however, this requirement is waived for the
106	adoption cycle occurring in the 2008-2009 academic year for
107	schools within the district which are identified in the top four
108	categories of schools pursuant to s. 1008.33, as amended by
109	chapter 2009-144, Laws of Florida. The Commissioner of Education
110	may provide a waiver of this requirement for the adoption cycle
111	occurring in the 2008-2009 academic year if the district
112	demonstrates that it has intervention and support strategies to
113	address the particular needs of schools in the lowest two
114	categories. Unless specifically provided for in the General
115	Appropriations Act, the cost of instructional materials
116	purchases required by this paragraph shall not exceed the amount
117	of the district's allocation for instructional materials,
118	pursuant to s. 1011.67, for the previous 2 years.
119	Section 5.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of section
120	1008.345, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
121	1008.345  Implementation of state system of school
122	improvement and education accountability.-
123	(6)
124	(d)  The commissioner shall assign a community assessment
125	team to each school district or governing board with a school
126	graded "F" or a school in the lowest-performing category
127	pursuant to s. 1008.33 to review the school performance data and
128	determine causes for the low performance, including the role of
129	school, area, and district administrative personnel. The
130	community assessment team shall review a high school's
131	graduation rate calculated without GED tests for the past 3
132	years, disaggregated by student ethnicity. The team shall make
133	recommendations to the school board or the governing board and
134	to the State Board of Education which address the causes of the
135	school's low performance and may be incorporated into the school
136	improvement plan. The assessment team shall include, but not be
137	limited to, a department representative, parents, business
138	representatives, educators, representatives of local
139	governments, and community activists, and shall represent the
140	demographics of the community from which they are appointed.
141	Section 6.  Section 1012.2315, Florida Statutes, is amended
142	to read:
143	1012.2315  Assignment of teachers.-
144	(1)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.-The Legislature finds
145	disparities between teachers assigned to teach in a majority of
146	schools that do not need improvement and schools that do need
147	improvement pursuant to s. 1008.33. The disparities may be found
148	in the assignment of temporarily certified teachers, teachers in
149	need of improvement, and out-of-field teachers and in the
150	performance of the students. It is the intent of the Legislature
151	that district school boards have flexibility through the
152	collective bargaining process to assign teachers more equitably
153	across the schools in the district.
154	(2)  ASSIGNMENT TO SCHOOLS CATEGORIZED AS IN NEED OF
155	IMPROVEMENT.-School districts may not assign a higher percentage
156	than the school district average of temporarily certified
157	teachers, teachers in need of improvement, or out-of-field
158	teachers to schools in one of the three lowest-performing
159	categories under s. 1008.33(3)(b). Each school district shall
160	annually certify to the Commissioner of Education that this
161	requirement has been met. If the commissioner determines that a
162	school district is not in compliance with this subsection, the
163	State Board of Education shall be notified and shall take action
164	pursuant to s. 1008.32 in the next regularly scheduled meeting
165	to require compliance.
166	(3)  SALARY INCENTIVES.-District school boards are
167	authorized to provide salary incentives to meet the requirement
168	of subsection (2). A district school board may not sign a
169	collective bargaining agreement that precludes the school
170	district from providing sufficient incentives to meet this
171	requirement.
172	(2)(4)  COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.-Notwithstanding provisions
173	of chapter 447 relating to district school board collective
174	bargaining, collective bargaining provisions may not preclude a
175	school district from providing incentives to high-quality
176	teachers and assigning such teachers to low-performing schools.
177	(3)(5)  REPORT.-Schools graded "D" or "F" shall annually
178	report their teacher-retention rate. Included in this report
179	shall be reasons listed for leaving by each teacher who left the
180	school for any reason.
181	Section 7.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

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