2006 Legislative Session Report

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Will Hawke wrote: FW: 2006 Legislative Session Report 2006 Legislative Session Report FLORIDA

PTAeverychild:onevoice 2006 Legislative Session Report Florida PTA thanks all the advocates who responded to our alerts during the regular 2006 legislative session, using Florida PTA’s CapWiz site. Because of your e-advocacy the proposed constitutional amendment on vouchers and class size reduction was narrowly defeated. Just think your e-mail could have made the difference. Don't ever underestimate the power of your voices. During the 2006 Legislative session 330 bills were passed and are awaiting the Governor’s signature. Please find below a final report on the 2006 legislative session. As you begin planning for the 2006/2007 school year, we encourage you to introduce all your members to our Capwiz service and

sign up new PTA advocates to receive our alerts. The November elections will usher in new leadership in the governor’s office, House and Senate. This is an opportunity for all PTA members to educate policy makers and encourage them to prioritize the needs of Florida’s children right at the start of a new administration. We look forward to working with you next session. Have a great summer. Again we thank you for taking the time to advocate for the children of Florida. FLORIDA PTA2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSIONFinal Report 2006 Session Highlights The 2006

Legislature adopted a new state motto: “In God We Trust,” and an official state pie: key lime. It also moved ahead with Governor Jeb Bush’s goal to make sweeping changes to public education, but it was unable to take a step closer to alleviating its most formidable financial nemesis -- class size reduction -- and it failed in its attempt to ask voters to grant it the most far-reaching, all-encompassing voucher authority of any state in the Union. The Legislature adopted a “rich” budget for next year -- some $1.7 billion or 10.76 percent for K-12 -- although there always are areas where more funds would have been welcomed. At the same time, lawmakers continued the Governor’s practice of providing tax breaks for Florida’s citizens, including: completing the phase-out of the tax on stocks and bonds (intangibles tax.), continuing the

July 22-30 sales tax holiday on certain school supplies, declaring a sales tax holiday from May 21 to June 1 on hurricane preparedness items, and providing a sales tax exemption from October 5 to 11 on the purchase of energy-efficient products, including light bulbs, fans and air conditioners that cost $1500 or less. The 2006 lawmakers responded to parental demands from some corners of the state to stop school districts from infringing on summer vacations by opening school too early and ruled that, as of 2007-2008, the regular fall term cannot begin earlier than 14 days prior to Labor Day. The Legislature agreed with school districts that the State Board of Education had overstepped its authority when it decreed that co-teaching, i.e. two teachers in one classroom, was not a legitimate way to reduce class size. Starting with the next

school year and lasting through 2010, new legislation authorizes co-teaching, provided districts follow certain parameters, such as teaming new teachers with experienced ones. The Legislature also created and funded its own performance pay plan for teachers and, in so doing, sidestepped the controversial E-Comp Plan which the State Board of Education had approved. School boards will have the option of applying for their share of $147 million allocated to the STAR program ( Special Teachers Are Rewarded) which is intended to reward the top 25 percent of each school district’s teachers based on the performance of their students. Theoretically the program is optional, but the amount of funding each district stands to lose if it chooses not to participate, makes it almost mandatory that they do. A++ Unlike the 2005 Legislative Session, when Governor Bush’s school reform legislation failed to pass because it contained language expanding the state’s voucher programs, this year’s reform bill met with relatively little controversy. The bill (HB 7087) requires school districts to “redesign” their middle and high school programs and insure that low- achieving students receive the extra help they need. The middle school reform requires students to take three courses each in language arts, social studies, science and math and to examine career choices so they have an idea what the future offers. High school students will have to take four years of math, instead of three, and will have the opportunity to major and minor in areas they may want to pursue in college. In keeping with the Florida PTA’s

support of a 24-credit graduation requirement and the inclusion of arts in education, high school students will have to earn 24 credits, including a semester of fine arts. The changes begin with the sixth grade next year; the ninth grade the following year. Schools will have the option of establishing “career academies” to give students the opportunity to receive “industry certification” in a specific career, along with their regular high school diploma. Constitutional Amendments Some 42 constitutional amendments were available for discussion during the 2006 Session. Most of them failed to get the three-fifths vote of the House and of the Senate necessary for a proposed amendment to win a slot on the November ballot. The Senate killed a proposed constitutional amendment which would have let voters decide if all voucher programs--present and future--are legal in Florida. The Florida PTA opposes vouchers. The amendment was in response to a State Supreme Court decision, which ruled that Florida’s Opportunity Scholarship Program violated the state constitution by providing public dollars for private schools. Expressing concern that other “voucher” programs, such as the highly popular McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities, were in danger from future such court actions, the lawmakers attempted, but failed, to ask voters for carte blanche approval of all voucher programs.The 733 students on Opportunity Scholarships were saved when legislation (SB 256) passed, making that program part of the Corporate Income Tax Scholarship Program. The

Senate also refused to provide the three-fifths vote required to get the question of easing up on class size reduction requirements on the November ballot. The proposed amendment would have altered the looming class-by-class student count to a district- wide count with a provision that no single class could exceed the current cap by more than five students. The Legislature did fully fund the operational costs of class size reduction for the 2006-2007 school year, providing an additional $644 million just for this purpose, and it allocated another $1.1 billion dollars to build more classrooms to accommodate the smaller sizes. The Florida PTA supported full funding of both the operational and capital outlay costs of class size reduction. The proposed amendment to modify class size reduction included a second issue, specifically: to

become part of a national movement requiring school boards to spend 65 percent of their operating dollars on “direct classroom instruction.” The Florida PTA opposed the highly controversial 65 percent rule because decisions about what would count toward the 65 percent and what would not were going to be left to the discretion of future legislators. The proposed rule went down with the amendment. An amendment slated to be on the November ballot was removed. Lawmakers retreated from a plan to ask voters to extend their current eight -year term limits to 12 years. Also failing to make it to the November ballot was a proposal to require students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily unless their parents exercised an opt out. Charter Schools Charter Schools were the focus of several pieces of legislation. The most controversial is HB 135, which establishes an appointed Florida Schools of Excellence Commission with the power to grant charter applications and to approve co-sponsors, including municipalities, all without first having to get permission from the local school board. Opponents questioned the constitutionality of an appointed board having full authority over public funds, but that issue will remain unresolved, unless it ends up in court. The same bill gives school boards “discretion” to share their local optional capital outlay revenue with their charters. Another measure dealing with charter schools, HB 7103, will implement additional accountability standards for these schools, particularly those that are failing. Representatives of the charter’s

governing board will have to appear before the school boards and present a plan for their school’s improvement. Stun Guns The Florida PTA’s position concerning the use of dart-firing guns (tasers) was partly realizedwith the passage of legislation requiring law enforcement and correctional officers to receive basic training in use of the device. The same law (SB 214) prohibits using the weapons, except during an arrest and, then, only if the arresting officer believes his/her life is in danger or the suspect is trying to escape. The stun guns were not prohibited on school grounds, however, which is something the PTA sought. There was additional action on “weapons” in the 2006 session. Of interest to parents and school officials is HB 1291, which contains language that specifically excludes “plastic knives” and “blunt-bladed table knives” from the list of items that are forbidden on school grounds and at school events. Child Protection/Welfare The lawmakers agreed to HB 7173, establishing a Child Abuse Prevention Office within the Governor’s Office and authorizing creation of a state plan to coordinate all child abuse programs. This is in keeping with the Florida PTA’s position urging the Legislature to improve programs that protect children. In line with the Florida PTA’s position on the importance of daily

recess for students, the lawmakers included language in SB 772 encouraging school boards to provide 150 minutes a week of physical education for grades K-5 and 225 minutes a week for grades 6-8. The same bill requires that automatic defibrillators (heart-starting devices) be available and in working condition on the grounds of every school that is a member of the Florida High School Athletics Association and participates in interscholastic athletic events. Yet another requirement contained in SB 772 mandates that, school uniforms notwithstanding, students may wear sunglasses and other sun protective wear when they are outside during regular school hours. Affordable Housing The 2006 Session made an effort to help teachers find affordable housing, a problem that plagues all school districts trying to fill Florida’s estimated 31,000 available instructional positions for next year. It passed HB 1363 which increased the median income of persons eligible for state housing assistance to a level that encompasses teacher salaries, and granted permission to school boards to use their surplus land, should any be available, to provide low-cost housing for teachers. Not Successful In the last few hours of the 2006 Session, the effort to modify the Lunsford Act became stalled in the Senate and failed to pass. The law, passed by the 2005 Legislature, requires extensive background screening of just about every individual who comes onto school grounds, including

construction workers, vendors and even, according to some interpretations, artists and performers volunteering their talents for a day. School districts and construction contractors lobbied heavily to have the act modified, but its passage became tangled in last-minute wrangling over whose version of the “fix” should pass. Time ran out and nothing passed. Left unresolved was a bill, which would have required every school board to adopt an anti-bullying policy, not to be confused with any of the anti-discrimination, anti-harassment rules already in place. Nor was there final agreement on a bill that would have made it illegal for children under 18 to buy violent video games in stores or play them in public arcades. It can be almost assuredly predictable that these unsuccessful issues, along with others that failed, will be back on the

agenda of the 2007 Legislature. Copies of complete bills are available on line at both the Senate website: www.flsenate.gov and the House website: www.myfloridahouse.gov.Georgia SlackEducation Information Specialist HEALTH REPORT At the end of the Session, when all is said and done, we did not fare very well on children's health issues in the state of Florida. Despite the valiant efforts of more than 50 organizations including Florida PTA, and hundreds of child advocates throughout the state $169 million was cut from the KidCare program. This was promoted by the House budget leaders as a "savings". While $50 million in general

revenue was not spent on children's healthcare (and was spent somewhere else) Florida will lose $119 million in federal matching dollars that will not be drawn down to cover our children. This is not a savings to the state but a loss of our federal dollars to another state. Enough money was appropriated to cover the children who are currently enrolled and approximately 39,000 additional state subsidized children. However, efforts to restore coverage for the children of legal immigrants and state employees failed. Sen. Durrell Peaden and Rep. Mike lead the effort to restore coverage for these children. Advocates tried to convince Legislators that it was short sighted to cut $169 million from the program when families are finally starting to apply and reapply after a tumultuous two years of policy changes resulting in the closing of the program and requirements for additional paperwork.

We are also concerned that Congress is reauthorizing the federal S-CHIP program in 2007 and the Agency for Health Care Administration estimates that Florida will have at least half a billion dollars of unspent money on the table and at least half a million uninsured but eligible children that are not enrolled in the program. This will place us at great risk when Congress calculates a new formula for distribution of federal funds for the future. These concerns and the fact that the number of enrolled children has decreased dramatically over the past two years lead child advocates to seek funding to reinstate community outreach. We were trying to get funding back to $4 million and we specifically asked that the money not go to the Healthy Kids Corporation because they engage in marketing which is very different from community based outreach. The

Covering Kids Coalition that is housed at the Chiles Center has an extensive network of community groups that have lost funding from a Wood Grant that ends this year and again, more than 50 organizations urged the Legislature to provide the funding to keep and build upon this network. However, we were not successful in our efforts and the Legislature provided only $1 million in matching funds to the Healthy Kids Corporation for outreach and marketing efforts. We were successful in passing bills sponsored by Rep. Vana and Senator Nan Rich that allow children ages 1-4 whose family income is over 200% of the Federal poverty level to participate in the full pay portion of the KidCare program. These children were previously excluded even though older siblings could participate. The Healthy Start Coalition received a long overdue increase in funding that will enable them to expand coverage of their very effective program. Other issues that did not pass include the Lead Poisoning and Prevention Act; the Prevention First Act (HB 1073), Schools/Health & vision examinations (HB 1403, SB 2562); Children's Health Insurance (HB 1423, SB 2654) increasing physician and dentists reimbursement rates with the intent of expanding access to care. The good news is that the Senate Health Care committee will be conducting an interim study over the summer that explores the creation of a child health system. Child advocates are very excited about the opportunity to reexamine, in a very comprehensive way, how the State delivers health services to children. WoodallHealth Information Specialist If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here. No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition.Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database:

268.8.1/355 - Release Date: 6/2/2006 __________________________________________________