Text of the Bill and a Brief Summary
- HB 7039 (full text) is one of two House that focus on deregulation of public schools. Unlike the Senate bills, HB 7025 focuses mainly on administrative changes and does not reduce burdens for students or educators.
Some of the changes proposed in the bill are listed below
- Requires the State Board of Education to develop strategies to address critical teacher shortage areas.
- Restricts collective bargaining in areas including providing incentives to highly effective teachers.
As important as what is included in the bill is what is not included. The proposals fall far short of creating parity between all publicly-funded schools.
- Nothing in this bill reduces the number of tests students take nor the amount of time spent testing.
- The bill continues to favor publicly-funded private, corporate schools over public schools.
- Publicly-funded private schools still don’t have to share their test scores with the public, and they are not labeled with an A-F grade.
What’s Next
The bill has passed each of its committee stops and is ready for the House floor.
Talking Points
Leveling the playing field between public, charter and private schools is necessary in order to create a robust public school system that attracts and retains highly trained teachers and education staff professionals, and ensures students are learning and thriving.
Click on any of the headers below to expand the section and receive more information.
- SB 7004 (full text) is one of three bills proposed by the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee that focuses on deregulation of public schools. The focus for SB 7004 is on regulations regarding assessment and accountability.
SB 7004 makes several significant changes to Florida’s graduation and retention requirements as well as to teacher evaluations. Some of the proposed changes include:
- Eliminating the requirement to pass Grade 10 ELA assessment and Algebra 1 EOC in order to earn a high school diploma. (Line 848)
- Allows for a third grade student who receive a Level 1 on the ELA assessment to be promoted to 4th grade if the student’s parent determines promotion to be in the student’s best interest. (Line 1080)
- Prohibits VAM from being the “sole determinant to recruit instructional personnel.” (Line 1250)
As important as what is included in the bill is what is not included. The proposals fall far short of creating parity between all publicly-funded schools.
- Nothing in this bill reduces the number of tests students take nor the amount of time spent testing.
- The bill continues to favor publicly-funded private, corporate schools over public schools.
- Publicly-funded private schools still don’t have to share their test scores with the public, and they are not labeled with an A-F grade.
SB 7004 has been referred to the Fiscal Policy Committee for what will likely be its final committee stop before heading for a vote in the full Senate.
The bill could be heard in the Fiscal Policy Committee as soon as Dec. 5. We’ll know by Nov. 28 if the bill is placed on the agenda for the Dec. 5 meeting.
- 9-0 : Senate PreK-12 Education Committee, 11-15-23. (Senators Osgood and Yarborough both had excused absences from the meeting.)
Coming soon.
