NEW EDUCATION BILLS FILED FOR FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE SESSION

These are some of the education-related bills were filed since the last update.

 

·       House Bill 543  allow delivery of an inspirational message at a noncompulsory high school event.

·       House Bill 595 would establish a sales tax exemption on school supplies for one week in August 2009.

·       House Bill 597 would establish a homelessness prevention grant program; create a Housing First program; and provide school attendance exemption and school certification of school-entry health examination exemption for certain children in foster care.

·       House Bill 627/Senate Bill 1320 would prohibit school bus stops from being established directly on a state-maintained road with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour or greater.

·       House Bill 765/Senate Bill (not identical) would allow for school years calendars of 180 days of instruction or their hourly equivalent, and provides authority for adjusting these requirements in emergencies.

·       Senate Bill 619 would modify the state's current program in which businesses receive tax credits for providing vouchers for private school tuition. If approved, the bill would require businesses to donate at least 25% of their contributions to scholarships to pay for tutoring of pubic school students, and would require school districts to account for these donations.

·       House Bill 677/Senate Bill 112 would prohibit use of a cellular telephone while operating a motor vehicle in a school zone.

·       Senate Bill 918 would expand eligibility for Florida KidCare low-income health insurance program. (See related article below.)

·       Senate Bill 1010 would make available McKay scholarships to students who receive certain services under the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program, and delete the requirement that a student must have spent the prior school year in attendance at a Florida public school to receive McKay scholarships.

·       Senate Bill 1128 would modify provisions for the designation of a surrogate parent for educational decisionmaking for a child who has or is suspected of having a disability and for whom no willing and able parent can be located.

·       Senate Bill 1182 would prohibit a retired person from receiving both a salary from an employer in the state-administered retirement system and retirement benefits, and from reenrolling in the State Retirement System. Exemptions would include employees currenty enrolled in DROP and substitute teachers, and also part-time, non-contractual education paraprofessional, transportation assistants, bus drivers, or food service workers.

·       Senate Bill 1214 would prohibit an elected officer from receiving both a salary from an employer in the state-administered retirement system and retirement benefits.

·       Senabte Bill 1248 would delete the requirement that a school collect 50 to 75 percent of a textbook's purchase price from a student who has lost, destroyed, or damaged a textbook that has been in use for more than 1 year.

·       Senate Bill 1360 would allow delivery of an inspirational message at a noncompulsory high school event.