Gov. Scott signs controversial education bill
Gov. Rick Scott signed a fiercely contested education bill Thursday in a ceremony surrounded by lawmakers and young children who attend a special-needs school.
“This is going to be great,” Scott said after he signed HB 7069, a measure that many public school leaders have decried since its passage in May.
The new law is a nearly 300-page document that tackles everything from recess to teacher bonuses to testing. Backers called it “landmark” and “transformational” legislation, while critics said it will harm public
schools and their most vulnerable students.
Scott, speaking at an Orlando Catholic school, briefly acknowledged those who dislike the law. “I’ve gotten a lot of feedback,” but he also said he was convinced of itsworth.
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, one of its chief architects, was at Scott’s side and called the bill the most “pro-student, pro-parent, pro-teacher bill we’ve ever passed.”
The measure includes the “schools of hope” provision Corcoran championed, which will use state money to lure high-performing charter schools toneighborhoods where students in traditional schools have struggled academically.
“These are kids who are being robbed of dignity and hope,” Corcoran said. “We want every single child to have an opportunity to get a world-class education.”
The bill’s provisions related to charter schools — privately run public institutions — have prompted some of the biggest outcry, with many educators and school advocates urging Scott to veto the bill because they think it will reduce funding for traditional public schools.
“We’re certainly disappointed because we were hoping for a veto and thought there was statewide support for a veto,” saidBarbaraJenkins, superintendent of Orange County Public Schools. “However, we have to acknowledge the political process.”
Like other district administrators, Jenkins and her staff most worry about sections of the legislation that will require them to share some local tax money with charter schools and that change how they distribute federal anti-poverty funds.
Those provisions will reduce money for school construction projects and hurt programs that serve the most disadvantaged students, they said.
The law includes some items school leaders like, such as giving districtsmore control of teacher evaluations, but they don’t outweigh the ones that trouble them, she said.
Scott signed the bill at Morning Star Catholic School, which serves children with disabilities. A group of students in school uniforms, some holding signs that read, “Thank you Gov. Scott,” stood nearby during the ceremony.
A section of the law expands money for Gardiner Scholarships that provide funds to children with significant disabilities, which can be used for private school tuition. Scott said he wanted to highlight that piece of the law, though he touted other sections, too, including new bonuses for many of the state’s teachers.
Scott’s signing of the bill was a victory for Corcoran, who wanted the legislation passed but feuded with Scott for much of this year, mostly about funding for tourism-marketing and jobincentive programs. In recent weeks, however, they worked out a deal to restore funding to those programs.
“Thanks a lot, Governor,” he said after Scott put his signature to paper.
Critics had a starkly different take: “6/15/2017 marks the beginning of the end of traditional public education in Florida,” the advocacy group Minimize Testing wrote on Twitter.
“This is what happens when we pass a budget and we pass bills that don’t reflect the needs of our traditional public school system,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who voted against the bill. “There [are] complaints from the other side that the traditional public schools are not performing at the level that we want them to do, but part of the problem is lack of resources. We exacerbate that problem when we drain those resources and make the problem evenworse.”
The wide-ranging legislation, among other things:
Eliminates a section of Florida’s often-criticized 2011 teacher merit-pay law by doing away with a requirement that student performance on state exams, crunched througha complicated formula, be used in teacher evaluations.
Scraps the state’s algebra 2 standardized test and allows a return to paper-andpencil exams for many other state tests now given on computer.
Mandates elementary students at traditional public schools get 20 minutes of recess a day, rules already in effect in most local districts.
Continues the “best and brightest” teacher bonus program that rewards teachers in part on how they scored on the ACT or SAT when theywere applying to college.
Creates a new teacher bonus programthat gives all teachers rated “highly effective” a $1,200 bonus and all “effective” teachers a bonus up to $800.
Requires college students, starting in the 2018-19 school year, to demonstrate “competency” in civic literacy, either by passing a course in the subject or a test.
Staff writersAnnieMartin and Gray Rohrer contributed to this report.