Florida lawmakers are more than two-thirds of the way through the 60-day session. That the Senate and House must come to an agreement on several education bills, and  a budget before May 5. If they can't meet that deadline, there may be special session called. Here's a brief Q&A that includes the most frequently asked questions we received from member schools this week.  

Q: How much have the legislators allocated for Charter School Capital Outlay?

A: The House budget includes a $100 million allocation for charter school capital outlay.   The Senate's capital outlay allocation is $75 million. There are also proposals in both the House and Senate - SB 376 and HB 5103 - to have charter schools and districts share construction dollars raised from local property taxes in lieu of allocating capital outlay to schools.   Facilities funding will come from either the state budget or millage sharing.  

 

"I recommend that all charter schools conserve their current reserves for future facilities needs," says Ralph Arza, FCSA's Director of Governmental Affairs. "If a millage share proposal does not pass, the total capital outlay allocation will not change much from last year. Plus, there will be more schools accessing those funds which will diminish the per-school allocation."

Q: Have the Senate and House both passed High Impact Charter Networks bills?

A: Charter schools would have a greater authority over their federal education funding if HB 7101 -- approved on April 19 by the state House -- finds its way to the Senate. HB 7101 would allow charter networks to be an LEA -- the Lake Wales Charter Schools in the Polk County already work as their own LEA. The Senate's version - SB 1362 - will be discussed this week.

Q: Would a high performing charter school in Florida be eligible to apply to be a School of Hope?

A: Only school operators that are already either nationally recognized or have a record of successfully serving a high percentage of students from low-income families would qualify under the House proposal, HB 5105 . T he Senate's proposal -  SB 1552 - passed the Senate PreK-12 Education Subcommittee last week. It doesn't include an incentive to encourage charter schools to help struggling schools. Instead, it proposes giving struggling districts additional funds from the state if certain turnaround options were implemented: an extra hour of learning time for students; giving principals more control; or providing wraparound services, like health care and after-school programs. Now the Senate and House must begin negotiations on how to best help students in persistently failing district-run schools.

 

Q: Did the Fewer Better Test legislation pass? A: The Senate and House testing reform proposals look a lot alike. SB 926 would eliminate more end-of-course exams, extend paper testing to more grades and detach VAM from teacher evaluations. HB 549proposes changing VAM, requiring some paper-based exams, and relabeling Level 3 score on the FSA to "grade level."   

Q: Were legislators able to fix the alternative school assessment calculation?

A: The FCSA has been working with SIR-assessed schools on this issue for over a year. HB 7101 (Rep. Bob Cortes), which passed the House last week, includes language that allows the use of concordant scores, in addition to assessment scores or comparable scores, in determining the school improvement rating. The Senate's version - SB 1362 - will be discussed this week.