Florida Senate - 2016                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 524
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Senator Bullard moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 924 - 980
    4  and insert:
    5         (1) The Legislature recognizes that, second only to
    6  parents, instructional personnel play the most critical role
    7  within schools in preparing students to achieve a high level of
    8  academic performance. The Legislature further recognizes that
    9  research has linked student outcomes to an instructor’s own
   10  academic achievement. Therefore, it is the intent of the
   11  Legislature to designate instructional personnel who have
   12  achieved high academic standards during their own education as
   13  Florida’s best and brightest teacher scholars.
   14         (2) There is created the Florida Best and Brightest Teacher
   15  Scholarship Program to be administered by the Department of
   16  Education. The scholarship program shall provide categorical
   17  funding for scholarships to be awarded to instructional
   18  personnel, as defined in s. 1012.01(2), who have demonstrated a
   19  high level of academic achievement.
   20         (3)(a) To be eligible for a scholarship, an instructor must
   21  have achieved a composite score at or above the 80th percentile
   22  on either the SAT or the ACT based on the National Percentile
   23  Ranks in effect when the instructor took the assessment and have
   24  been evaluated as highly effective pursuant to s. 1012.34 in the
   25  school year immediately preceding the year in which the
   26  scholarship will be awarded, unless the instructor is newly
   27  hired by the district school board and has not been evaluated
   28  pursuant to s. 1012.34.
   29         (b) In order to demonstrate eligibility for an award, an
   30  eligible instructor must submit to the school district, no later
   31  than November 1, an official record of his or her SAT or ACT
   32  score demonstrating that the instructor scored at or above the
   33  80th percentile based on the National Percentile Ranks in effect
   34  when the teacher took the assessment. Once an instructor is
   35  deemed eligible by the school district, including teachers
   36  deemed eligible in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the teacher shall
   37  remain eligible as long as he or she remains employed by the
   38  school district as an instructor at the time of the award and
   39  receives an annual performance evaluation rating of highly
   40  effective pursuant to s. 1012.34.
   41         (4) Annually, by December 1, each school district shall
   42  submit to the department the number of eligible instructional
   43  personnel who qualify for the scholarship.
   44         (5) Annually, by February 1, the department shall disburse
   45  scholarship funds to each school district for each eligible
   46  instructor to receive a scholarship as provided in the General
   47  Appropriations Act. The amount disbursed shall include a
   48  scholarship award of $1,000, from the total amount of funds
   49  appropriated, for each eligible instructor in a Title I school.
   50  Of the remaining funds, a scholarship in the amount provided in
   51  the General Appropriations Act shall be awarded to every
   52  eligible instructor, including those in Title I schools. If the
   53  number of eligible instructional personnel exceeds the total
   54  appropriation authorized in the General Appropriations Act, the
   55  department shall prorate the per-teacher scholarship amount.
   56         (6) Annually, by April 1, each school district shall award
   57  the scholarship to each eligible instructor.
   58         (7) For purposes of this section, the term “school
   59  district” includes the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
   60  and charter school governing boards.
   61  
   62  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   63  And the title is amended as follows:
   64         Delete line 84
   65  and insert:
   66         submit the number of eligible instructional personnel
   67         to the