The Florida School Boards Association is committed to improving student achievement and ensuring that all students make annual learning gains sufficient to acquire knowledge, skills and competencies needed to master state standards
EDUCATION FUNDING
In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Florida, FSBA believes that a strong and consistent financial investment in education is critical to the success of public schools. Such a financial investment requires revenue that is stable, equitable and sufficient to meet the needs of all of Florida’s students. This will demand the identification of new revenue sources as well as a comprehensive review and reform of Florida’s tax structure.
The Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) must be subject to periodic review to ensure that the formula provides equitable funding. The methodology for calculating all education appropriations must reflect growth and inflation. School districts must have maximum flexibility in the use of all funds and the legislature must eliminate any budgetary initiatives and funding caps that usurp local control or limits the delivery of necessary educational services to students. Full funding must also be provided to support student health services, school safety programs, and student transportation, including public school choice programs,.
New education funding sources and options should be considered and mechanisms should be established to ensure funding stability during each fiscal year. It is also important for citizens to be provided with clear, accurate information about state and local education funding, particularly with regard to advertisement of the school district budget, millage rates and FRS contribution rates.
As legislative PRIORITIES, FSBA will work with the Florida Legislature to:
- Provide full Base Student Allocation funds for every Full Time Equivalent (FTE) student and guarantee annual increases to match changes in Florida’s Price Level Index.
- Provide state funding and options to assist school districts in addressing the growing costs of health insurance, including the option for school districts to participate in the state group health insurance and prescription drug program.
- Support a concurrent resolution to amend the Florida Constitution to include the following statement: “The state shall not mandate or assign any new, expanded or modified programs or responsibilities to school districts in such a way as to necessitate additional local expenditures by the school district unless such programs or responsibilities are approved by the local school board.”
- Establish a property insurance fund that will provide school districts with coverage for the first $100 million in losses or damages.
- Raise the cap on the yield of the equalized .25 mill local optional levy from $50 to $75 per FTE.
ACCOUNTABILITY
FSBA welcomes stringent accountability standards for all levels of performance: student, classroom, school and district. However, these standards must be appropriately developed, equitably applied and carefully evaluated. As with other state programs and services, Florida’s A+ Plan, which provides the current framework for accountability of public schools, must be subject to periodic, comprehensive, independent review to evaluate its impact and effectiveness.
Meaningful accountability standards must incorporate consistent and cooperative long range planning. Legislative initiatives should conform with the five-year strategic plan adopted by the Florida Board of Education. Furthermore, all accountability goals and measures must clearly define parental responsibilities, particularly with regard to student conduct and discipline.
FSBA supports the circuit court decision that found vouchers unconstitutional and we remain steadfast in opposition to any voucher or “scholarship” program that diverts public tax dollars away from Florida’s paramount and fundamental duty to provide a high quality system of free public schools.
As legislative PRIORITIES, FSBA will work with the Florida Legislature to:
- Repeal the John McKay Scholarship Program that provides vouchers to students with disabilities and the corporate tax credit that provides funding for vouchers.
- Revise the FCAT testing program so that student performance data provides a beginning-of-year and end-of- year assessment of student learning gains.
- Return pre-kindergarten programs to the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Education and provide school districts with the flexibility to control the financial resources available for these programs.
- Oppose any effort to establish a universal, statewide school calendar.
- Reinstate the authority within the executive branch to approve school district requests for statutory waivers.
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
FSBA believes that excellence in education cannot be accomplished without adequate funding for a sufficient number of well constructed, well equipped school facilities that allow for optimal teacher/student ratios.
State funding for school construction, renovation, repair and maintenance must keep pace with increases in student enrollment. School districts must have flexibility in the use of all revenue sources in order to respond to local demands for instructional and non-instructional space, ancillary facilities and other capital needs. In addition, legislative policies relating to educational facilities – particularly with regard to school size and portable classrooms – must not usurp local control and decision making.
In the ongoing effort to coordinate local decisions regarding public school facilities, state growth management policies must promote local control and generally facilitate joint planning among local governments and school boards, yet not infringe upon the duties and responsibilities of elected officials.
As legislative PRIORITIES, FSBA will work with the Florida Legislature to:
- Amend student capacity formulas to accurately reflect the number of available student stations in a manner that is consistent with legislative policies regarding class size and instructional program needs. Contradictions between the Florida Inventory of School Houses (FISH) capacity formula and actual educational program capacity needs must be eliminated. Decisions regarding school size, school site requirements and the use of portable classrooms must be determined locally.
- Establish a new, predictable and stable funding source for school construction, renovation, maintenance and repair.
- Authorize school boards to negotiate real estate purchases privately, with all proceedings recorded and made public after the transaction has been completed.
- Reimburse school districts for costs associated with implementing statutory requirements relating to emergency disaster shelters, including hurricane shelters and refuges.
PERSONNEL
The Florida School Boards Association recognizes that excellence in student achievement depends greatly upon having dedicated educators who are highly skilled, thoroughly trained and fairly compensated. In responding to a growing shortage of qualified teachers and administrators, legislative initiatives regarding personnel recruitment and retention must acknowledge the differing personnel needs among school districts and should focus on providing school boards with the flexibility and funding necessary to meet those needs.
It is essential to ensure that only the best and brightest professionals are entrusted with the responsibility of teaching our students, yet it is equally important to ensure that certification and training requirements do not deter qualified individuals from entering and remaining in the teaching profession. This is of particular concern with regard to the excessive teacher training requirements for ESOL and bi-lingual education programs. Therefore, school districts must have the flexibility to provide a variety of avenues for these individuals to demonstrate subject area mastery and to achieve state certification.
As legislative PRIORITIES, FSBA will work with the Florida Legislature to:
- Allow school boards to decide the specifics of how best to identify and respond to critical shortage areas, to provide effective recruitment and retention incentives, to evaluate and reward performance, to develop salary schedules that reflect credit for years of service, and to implement new retirement options.
- Authorize local school boards to utilize their own performance pay plans in lieu of the required 5% reserve from the local salary schedule.
- Provide waivers of required state certification exams for teachers with out-of-state certification who have three years of documented, successful teaching experience and one year of documented, successful teaching experience in Florida.
- Allow school districts to re-employ classroom teachers and administrators into full-time service after one month of retirement, with the requirement that such employees must participate in the FRS Defined Contribution program.
- Provide increased flexible funding for competitive salaries and benefits without supplanting current funding.