Florida Senate - 2016 CS for SB 978
By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Legg
581-02366-16 2016978c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to public school teachers; creating s.
3 1012.731, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
4 the term “school district”; establishing the Florida
5 Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program;
6 providing eligibility criteria; requiring a school
7 district to annually submit the number of eligible
8 teachers to the Department of Education; providing for
9 funding and disbursement of funds; providing an
10 effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 1012.731, Florida Statutes, is created
15 to read:
16 1012.731 The Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship
17 Program.—
18 (1) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—The Legislature recognizes that
19 teachers play a critical role in preparing students to achieve a
20 high level of academic performance. The Legislature further
21 recognizes that research has linked student performance to a
22 teacher’s own academic achievements. Therefore, it is the intent
23 of the Legislature to designate teachers who have achieved high
24 academic standards during their own education as Florida’s Best
25 and Brightest Teacher scholars.
26 (2) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the term
27 “school district” includes the Florida School for the Deaf and
28 the Blind and a charter school governing board.
29 (3) PROGRAM.—There is created the Florida Best and
30 Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program to be administered by the
31 Department of Education. Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year,
32 the scholarship program shall provide categorical funding for
33 scholarships to be awarded to teachers who have demonstrated a
34 high level of academic achievement.
35 (4) TEACHER ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—
36 (a) To be eligible for a Florida Best and Brightest Teacher
37 scholarship, a teacher must have completed his or her second
38 year of teaching; must have scored at or above the 60th
39 percentile on the SAT or the ACT, based upon the percentile
40 ranks in effect when the teacher took the assessment; and must
41 have been evaluated as highly effective pursuant to s. 1012.34.
42 (b) In order to demonstrate eligibility for an award, a
43 teacher must submit to the school district no later than October
44 1 an official record of his or her SAT or ACT score
45 demonstrating that he or she scored at or above the 60th
46 percentile, based upon the percentile ranks in effect when he or
47 she took the assessment. If a teacher is deemed eligible by the
48 school district, the teacher will remain eligible as long as he
49 or she is employed by the school district and maintains the
50 highly effective level pursuant to s. 1012.34.
51 (5) ELIGIBILITY NOTIFICATION; FUNDING AND DISBURSEMENT OF
52 FUNDS.—
53 (a) By December 1 of each year, each school district shall
54 submit to the department the number of eligible teachers who
55 qualify for the scholarship.
56 (b) By February 1 of each year, the department shall
57 disburse scholarship funds, in an amount prescribed by the
58 Legislature in the General Appropriations Act, to each school
59 district for eligible teachers to receive a scholarship. If the
60 number of eligible teachers exceeds the total appropriation
61 authorized in the General Appropriation Act, the department
62 shall prorate the per-teacher scholarship amount.
63 (c) By April 1 of each year, each school district shall
64 provide payment of the scholarship to each eligible teacher.
65 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.