FASA Legislative Updates
FASA 2019 Legislative Platform
FLORIDA’S PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERS: SUPPORT STATUTORY PROVISIONS THAT ALLOW SCHOOLS TO EDUCATE OUR STUDENTS IN SAFE CLASSROOMS LED BY HIGH-QUALITY TEACHERS.
EDUCATIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
FASA calls for a comprehensive review of Florida’s accountability system, including but not limited to: a description of the system, including alignment and consistency within the accountability system; a determination of the capacity of districts and schools to administer the required statewide, standardized assessments without interruption in the ongoing delivery of instruction to students who are not being assessed; a development of a timeline for transition to school grades that includes all the components of school grades to be available before school grades are released; and an analysis of districts pay for performance plans and impact on teacher recruitment and retention.
- Revise Florida statutes and related State Board of Education Rules regarding 3rd Grade promotion and retention to:
Provide clearly defined alternative pathways for student promotion and retention with a more balanced approach that considers both assessment results and local evidence of student performance;
Ensure that the final decision on student promotion or retention is made at the local level; and
Ensure that student promotion or retention is not dependent upon, or denied by, a single assessment result.
- FASA supports the implementation of ESSA, with emphasis on the parts of the law that empower school leadership.
FASA supports the definition of school leader in the ESSA as the principal (which could also mean the assistant principal), or the designated school official responsible for the daily managerial and instructional leadership inside the school building.
FASA supports the inclusion of language in ESSA related to the dedicated funding for states on principal professional development which help to focus funds to create mentoring, induction and performance measures to attract and retain effective principals.
- FASA supports an efficient, rigorous accountability system providing for maximum flexibility to school districts.
- Prohibit the use of VAM as the sole determinate in teacher assignments.
- Simplify the calculation for the Best in Brightest Program and place more weight on student growth versus SAT/ACT scores.
- Revise the state accountability system using balanced measures. If learning gains are used, make calculations equitable.
- Avoid changing measures annually to provide data that can be compared annually.
- FASA supports the Department of Education exploring the usage of concordant scores for SAT/ACT as they compare to secondary math and look to reduce the number of tests.
CAPITAL NEEDS
Increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) and adjust for student population growth.
- Restore local control to school districts to review millage discretionary funding (to 2 mills) to school boards to support Capital Outlay, where the proportion provided to public and charter schools is equitable in such a way that public schools, who provide the education for the majority of students in a district, receive at least the same amount of capital outlay money as charter schools on a consistent basis.
- Provide maximum flexibility for all school district revenues to be used to meet the needs of students.
- Recalibrate the Cost per Student Station formula in Capital Outlay to allow districts to build new facilities to today’s standards.
SCHOOL SAFETY
- Increase the Safe Schools Categorical per student funding to provide more School Resource Officers (SRO) to keep schools safe and reach the goal of a minimum of one SRO in each school.
- Include administrators in the group receiving family benefits when killed in the line of duty.
- FASA supports minimizing out-of-school suspensions except in the cases where student and staff safety and welfare are concerned.
OTHER ISSUES
FASA Leaders also support the following issues:
- Continue funding for the digital classroom allocation and emphasize for school leaders to determine appropriate professional development as needed for administrators and teachers to implement a digital learning environment.
- Expand the funding for instructional materials categorical due to the increase in dual enrollment and digital instructional material costs.
- Recognize the importance of early childhood education for children from birth to grade 2 and support an increase in funding for full day early childhood education from Lottery funding to better prepare students for K-12 education standards; provide for closer cooperation between Early Learning Coalitions, schools and public schools; increase professional development for teachers and administrators for birth to grade 2 program; and mandate ongoing assessment of progress of PreK children in all publicly funded schools.
- Revise Florida Statutes and related State Board of Education Rules to allow school districts to promote school and district successes (to exclude paid advertising and signage for candidates).
- Currently, districts are required to promote programs of the district but are forbidden from using public dollars. Revise Florida Statute and State Board of Education Rules to allow school districts to promote programs through use of public dollars.
- FASA supports flexibility in funding for the recruitment and retention of certified educators; specifically, in mentoring teachers in the first three years of their career and providing for a loan forgiveness program for new teachers in teacher shortage areas as determined by the Florida Department of Education.
- Allow teachers to return to the classroom as a substitute in the first year of retirement immediately following retirement.
- Allow teachers that are highly effective or high impact for three years and on a temporary certificate to extend their temporary certificate for an additional three years to pass necessary exams
- Add flexibility to the Class Size Amendment by using school averages where applicable.