Gov. Rick Scott sign controversial education bill today in Orlando

Gov. Rick Scott today will sign a fiercely controversial education bill at a ceremony at an Orlando Catholic school, his office announced this morning.
The bill (HB 7069) is a nearly 300-page document that tackles multiple education issues, from recess to teachers bonuses to testing. The bill’s backers call it a game changer for public education while its critics say it is manipulative and detrimental.
“Today is very exciting day for Students and Parents all across FL!” wrote Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, on Twitter after the governor announced he would sign the bill. Diaz is a a key education leader in the House.
The bill’s provisions related to charter schools — privately run public institutions — have prompted some of the most controversy, with many educators and school advocates urging Scott to veto the bill because they believe 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 video,” said Barbara Jenkins, superintendent of Orange County 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 will change how they distribute federal anti-poverty funds. Those provisions will reduce money for school construction projects and hurt programs that serve their most disadvantaged students, they say.
Jenkins said Orange administrators will find “creative ways to get the job done for our children,” despite the new law, and then push for changes in 2018.

The bill includes some items school leaders like, such as giving districts more control of teacher evaluations, but they don’t outweigh the ones that trouble them, she said. “We wouldn’t trade those positives for the largely negative impact they have strapped on financially,” she added.

Scott is to sign the bill at 3:45 p.m. at Morning Star Catholic School in Orlando. Morning Star is the Catholic Diocese’s school for children with special needs.

A section of the bill expands money for Gardiner Scholarships, which provide money to children with significant disabilities that can be used for private school tuition.
Starkly divergent views of the bill were obvious as soon as the news that Scott would sign the bill broke this morning.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran posted a series of messages on Twitter touting the legislation’s benefits, including its “revolutionary opportunity” to help struggling campuses.
But the advocacy group Minimize Testing, based in the Florida Keys, tweeted, “6/15/2017 marks the beginning of the end of trad public education in Florida. We will remember today and those who voted for this #7069.”

Scott’s signing of the bill will be a victory for Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran. The Land O’ Lakes Republican pushed the legislation, particularly its “schools of hope” provision that aims to lure high-performing charter schools to neighborhoods where students in traditional public schools are struggling.
Corcoran and Scott feuded for much of this year, mostly about funding for tourism marking and job incentive programs. But in recent weeks they worked out a deal to restore funding to those programs, as Scott wanted, so many Tallahassee observers then predicted Scott would sign HB 7069, as Corcoran desired.
Corcoran said the “schools of hope” provision will entice top-notch charter schools to open near traditional public schools with poor grades on the state’s A-to-F school report card, giving students more options.

The 278-page bill does contain elements some teachers and parents like, but some argue those were packaged with too many other provisions they dislike, making the overall bill objectionable.
The wide-ranging bill, among other provisions,:

--eliminates a section of Florida’s often-criticized, 2011 teacher merit-pay law by doing a way with a requirement that student performance on state exams, crunched though a complicated “value-added model” or VAM, be used in teacher evaluations. Many Florida educators disliked that provision.
--scraps the state’s algebra 2 standardized test and returns to paper-and-pencil exams for many other state tests now given to students on computer.
--mandates elementary students at traditional public schools — charter schools are exempt — get 20 minutes of recess a day.

--continues the controversial “best and brightest” teacher bonus program that rewards teachers in part on how they scored on the ACT or SAT back when they were applying to college.
--creates a new teacher bonus program that gives all teachers rated “highly effective” a $1,200 bonus and all “effective” teachers up to an $800 bonus.

--requires college students, who begin school in the 2018-19 school year, to demonstrate “competency” in civic literacy, either by passing a course in the subject or a test.