Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1388
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 555354                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2013           .                                
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       The Committee on Education (Montford) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 1006.283, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         1006.283District school board instructional materials
    8  program.—
    9         (1)A district school board may determine whether it will
   10  be responsible for reviewing, adopting, and purchasing
   11  instructional materials submitted by a publisher. If such a
   12  determination is made by the district school board, the district
   13  school superintendent shall notify the department upon such
   14  determination and describe the process by which materials will
   15  be reviewed and adopted. The district school superintendent
   16  shall annually certify to the department that all core
   17  instructional materials are aligned with the applicable state
   18  standards.
   19         (2)The district school board shall adopt rules
   20  implementing the district’s instructional materials program
   21  which must include, but need not be limited to:
   22         (a)Its review, adoption, and purchasing process.
   23         (b)Identification of a term of adoption for instructional
   24  materials.
   25         (c)The duties and qualifications of the instructional
   26  materials reviewers.
   27         (d)The requirements for an affidavit made by a district
   28  instructional materials reviewer, which substantially includes
   29  the requirements of s. 1006.30.
   30         (e)Compliance with s. 1006.32 relating to prohibited acts.
   31         (f)A process that certifies the accuracy of instructional
   32  materials.
   33         (g)The incorporation of applicable requirements of s.
   34  1006.38 relating to the duties, responsibilities, and
   35  requirements of publishers of instructional materials.
   36         (h)The process by which instructional materials will be
   37  purchased, including advertising, bidding, and purchasing
   38  requirements.
   39         (3)The district school board may set and collect fees from
   40  publishers that participate in the instructional materials
   41  approval process. The amount assessed and collected must be
   42  reported to the district school board. The fees may not exceed
   43  the fees that are assessed by the state for materials submitted
   44  for review and shall be allocated in a separate account or
   45  district budget line item for auditing purposes.
   46         (4)A publisher that offers instructional materials to a
   47  district school board must provide the materials at a price
   48  that, including all costs of electronic transmission, does not
   49  exceed the lowest price at which the publisher offers such
   50  instructional materials for approval or sale to any other state
   51  or school district in this or any other state.
   52         (5) A publisher shall automatically reduce the price of
   53  instructional materials to the district school board to the
   54  extent that reductions are made elsewhere in the United States.
   55         (6) Each district school board shall submit to the
   56  Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House
   57  of Representatives, and the State Board of Education an annual
   58  report regarding the district instructional review, adoption,
   59  and purchasing program and the impact on the quality and
   60  availability of instructional materials, and the cost
   61  effectiveness of the program. The district school board shall
   62  submit the report on January 1 following the first fiscal year
   63  of implementation of the program and each year thereafter.
   64         Section 2. Section 1006.29, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   65  read:
   66         1006.29 State instructional materials reviewers.—
   67         (1) For purposes of this section, the term “instructional
   68  materials” means items that have intellectual content and that,
   69  by design, serve as a tool for assisting in the instruction of a
   70  subject or course.
   71         (2)(1)(a) The commissioner shall determine annually the
   72  areas in which instructional materials shall be submitted for
   73  approval adoption, taking into consideration the desires of the
   74  district school boards. The commissioner shall also determine
   75  the number of titles to be adopted in each area.
   76         (b) By April 15 of each school year, the commissioner shall
   77  appoint state instructional materials reviewers for three state
   78  or national experts in the content areas submitted for approval
   79  adoption to review the instructional materials and evaluate the
   80  content for alignment with the applicable Next Generation
   81  Sunshine state standards. These reviewers shall be designated as
   82  state instructional materials reviewers and shall evaluate
   83  review the materials for the level of instructional support and
   84  the accuracy and appropriateness of the progression of
   85  introduced content. Instructional materials must shall be made
   86  electronically available to the reviewers. The initial review of
   87  the materials shall be made by only two of the three reviewers.
   88  If the two reviewers reach different results, the third reviewer
   89  shall break the tie. The reviewers shall independently make
   90  recommendations to the commissioner regarding materials that
   91  should be placed on the list of adopted materials through an
   92  electronic feedback review system.
   93         (c) Reviewers who are not appointed as laypersons must be
   94  actively engaged in teaching, or in the supervision of teaching,
   95  in the public elementary, middle, or high schools in the major
   96  fields and levels in which instructional materials are used in
   97  the public schools. Each reviewer must receive training pursuant
   98  to subsection (6) in competencies related to the evaluation and
   99  selection of instructional materials The commissioner shall
  100  request each district school superintendent to nominate one
  101  classroom teacher or district-level content supervisor to review
  102  two or three of the submissions recommended by the state
  103  instructional materials reviewers. School districts shall ensure
  104  that these district reviewers are provided with the support and
  105  time necessary to accomplish a thorough review of the
  106  instructional materials. District reviewers shall independently
  107  rate the recommended submissions on the instructional usability
  108  of the resources.
  109         (d)The commissioner shall appoint up to five reviewers for
  110  each content area submitted for approval pursuant to paragraph
  111  (a). At least 50 percent of the reviewers must be classroom
  112  teachers who are certified in an area directly related to the
  113  academic area or level considered for approval. One reviewer
  114  must be a layperson, and one must be a supervisor of teachers.
  115  The reviewers must have the capacity or expertise to address the
  116  broad racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity of
  117  the state’s student population.
  118         (3)(a)All appointments shall be as prescribed in this
  119  section. A reviewer may not serve more than two consecutive
  120  terms, and appointments are for 18-month terms. The commissioner
  121  may remove a reviewer for cause, and any vacancies shall be
  122  filled in the manner of the original appointment for only the
  123  time remaining in the unexpired term. An employee of the
  124  department may be appointed as an additional ex officio
  125  reviewer.
  126         (b)The reviewers’ names and mailing addresses shall be
  127  disclosed to the public when appointments are made.
  128         (c)A district school board shall be reimbursed for the
  129  actual cost of hiring a substitute teacher for each workday that
  130  a member of its instructional staff is absent from his or her
  131  assigned duties for the purpose of rendering service as a state
  132  instructional materials reviewer. Each reviewer may be paid a
  133  stipend and is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses and
  134  per diem in accordance with s. 112.061 for actual service in
  135  meetings of reviewers which are called by the commissioner.
  136  Payment of such substitute teachers, the stipend, applicable
  137  travel expenses, and per diem shall be made from the Textbook
  138  Bid Trust Fund on warrants to be drawn by the Chief Financial
  139  Officer upon requisition approved by the commissioner.
  140         (4)(2) For purposes of the review process, instructional
  141  materials state adoption, the term “instructional materials”
  142  means items having intellectual content that by design serve as
  143  a major tool for assisting in the instruction of a subject or
  144  course. These items may be made available in bound, unbound,
  145  kit, or package form and may consist of hardbacked or softbacked
  146  textbooks, electronic content, consumables, learning
  147  laboratories, manipulatives, electronic media, and computer
  148  courseware or software. A publisher or manufacturer providing
  149  instructional materials as a single bundle shall also make the
  150  instructional materials available as separate and unbundled
  151  items, each priced individually. A publisher may also offer
  152  sections of state-adopted instructional materials in digital or
  153  electronic versions at reduced rates to districts, schools, and
  154  teachers.
  155         (5)(3) Beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year, all
  156  adopted instructional materials for students in kindergarten
  157  through grade 12 must be provided in an electronic or digital
  158  format. For purposes of this section, the term:
  159         (a) “Electronic format” means text-based or image-based
  160  content in a form that is produced on, published by, and
  161  readable on computers or other digital devices and is an
  162  electronic version of a printed book, whether or not any printed
  163  equivalent exists.
  164         (b) “Digital format” means text-based or image-based
  165  content in a form that provides the student with various
  166  interactive functions; that can be searched, tagged,
  167  distributed, and used for individualized and group learning;
  168  that includes multimedia content such as video clips,
  169  animations, and virtual reality; and that has the ability to be
  170  accessed at any time and anywhere.
  171  
  172  The terms do not include electronic or computer hardware even if
  173  such hardware is bundled with software or other electronic
  174  media, nor does it include equipment or supplies.
  175         (6)(4) The department shall develop a training program for
  176  persons selected as state instructional materials reviewers and
  177  school district reviewers. The program shall be structured to
  178  assist reviewers in developing the skills necessary to make
  179  valid, culturally sensitive, and objective decisions regarding
  180  the content and rigor of instructional materials. All persons
  181  serving as instructional materials reviewers must complete the
  182  training program prior to beginning the review and selection
  183  process.
  184         (7) The department shall post on its website a list of
  185  department-approved instructional materials, district-approved
  186  instructional materials as applicable, and instructional
  187  materials approved by other states which align with applicable
  188  state standards.
  189         (8) The department may contract with a nonprofit
  190  organization or association to administer the review process.
  191         Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 1006.37, Florida
  192  Statutes, is amended to read:
  193         1006.37 Requisition of instructional materials from
  194  publisher’s depository.—
  195         (1) The district school superintendent shall requisition
  196  adopted instructional materials from the depository of the
  197  publisher with whom a contract has been made. However, the
  198  superintendent shall requisition current instructional materials
  199  to provide each student with a textbook or other materials as a
  200  major tool of instruction in core courses of the subject areas
  201  specified in s. 1006.40(2). These materials must be
  202  requisitioned within the first 2 years of the adoption cycle,
  203  except for instructional materials related to growth of student
  204  membership or instructional materials maintenance needs. The
  205  superintendent may requisition instructional materials in the
  206  core subject areas specified in s. 1006.40(2) that are related
  207  to growth of student membership or instructional materials
  208  maintenance needs during the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th years of the
  209  original contract period.
  210         Section 4. Subsection (2) of section 1006.40, Florida
  211  Statutes, is amended to read:
  212         1006.40 Use of instructional materials allocation;
  213  instructional materials, library books, and reference books;
  214  repair of books.—
  215         (2) Each district school board shall must purchase current
  216  instructional materials to provide each student with a major
  217  tool of instruction in core courses of the subject areas of
  218  mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, reading,
  219  and literature for kindergarten through grade 12. Such purchase
  220  must be made within the first 2 years after the effective date
  221  of the adoption cycle. For the 2012-2013 mathematics adoption, a
  222  district using a comprehensive mathematics instructional
  223  materials program adopted in the 2009-2010 adoption shall be
  224  deemed in compliance with this subsection if it provides each
  225  student with such additional state-adopted materials as may be
  226  necessary to align the previously adopted comprehensive program
  227  to common core standards and the other criteria of the 2012-2013
  228  mathematics adoption.
  229         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.
  230  
  231  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  232         And the title is amended as follows:
  233         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  234  and insert:
  235                        A bill to be entitled                      
  236         An act relating to instructional materials; creating
  237         s. 1006.283, F.S.; authorizing a district school board
  238         to review, adopt, and purchase instructional
  239         materials; requiring the district superintendent to
  240         notify the Department of Education if the district
  241         school board decides review, adopt and purchase
  242         instructional materials and to certify to the
  243         department that core instructional materials align
  244         with applicable state standards; requiring the
  245         district school board to adopt rules; authorizing the
  246         district school board to set and collect fees from a
  247         publisher that participates in the instructional
  248         materials review process; providing a limit on fees;
  249         providing pricing requirements for instructional
  250         materials; requiring each district school board to
  251         submit an annual report to the Governor, the
  252         Legislature, and the State Board of Education by a
  253         specified date; amending s. 1006.29, F.S.; requiring
  254         the Commissioner of Education to appoint state
  255         instructional materials reviewers, rather than state
  256         or national experts, to review instructional
  257         materials; providing requirements, composition,
  258         appointments, and terms for state instructional
  259         materials reviewers; authorizing the commissioner to
  260         remove a reviewer for cause; providing for public
  261         disclosure of names and mailing addresses of appointed
  262         state instructional materials reviewers; requiring a
  263         district school board to be reimbursed for the cost of
  264         hiring a substitute teacher for each work day that a
  265         member of its instructional staff is absent while
  266         rendering service as a reviewer; authorizing a stipend
  267         for service as a reviewer; requiring entitlement of
  268         payment for per diem and reimbursement for travel
  269         expenses for service as a reviewer; providing that
  270         payments for substitute teachers and reviewers be made
  271         from the Textbook Bid Trust Fund; requiring the
  272         Department of Education to post certain instructional
  273         materials on its website; authorizing the department
  274         to contract with a nonprofit organization or
  275         association to administer the review process; amending
  276         ss. 1006.37 and 1006.40, F.S.; conforming provisions
  277         to changes made by the act; providing an effective
  278         date.