Bill Text: FL S1410 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Best and Brightest Teachers and Principals
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2017-05-05 - Died in Education, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 7069 (Ch. 2017-116) [S1410 Detail]
Download: Florida-2017-S1410-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2017 SB 1410
By Senator Perry
8-01331A-17 20171410__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the best and brightest teachers and
3 principals; amending s. 1012.731, F.S.; revising the
4 eligibility criteria for the Florida Best and
5 Brightest Teacher Scholarship Program; requiring
6 certain classroom teachers to submit an official
7 transcript with a specified honor to demonstrate
8 eligibility; providing for retention of a classroom
9 teacher’s scholarship eligibility under certain
10 circumstances; requiring each school district to
11 annually submit certain information to the Department
12 of Education; creating s. 1012.732, F.S.; creating the
13 Florida Best and Brightest Principal Scholarship
14 Program; providing legislative intent; providing for
15 funding of the program; providing for certain school
16 principals to receive a scholarship under the program;
17 providing eligibility requirements; requiring the
18 department to annually identify eligible school
19 principals and disburse funds to school districts by a
20 specified date; requiring each eligible school
21 principal to receive a scholarship; requiring
22 scholarships to be prorated under certain
23 circumstances; requiring school districts to annually
24 award scholarships to eligible school principals by a
25 specified date; requiring school districts to provide
26 best and brightest principals with specified
27 additional authority and responsibilities; defining
28 the term “school district”; providing an effective
29 date.
30
31 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
32
33 Section 1. Subsections (3), (4), and (8) of section
34 1012.731, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
35 1012.731 The Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship
36 Program.—
37 (3)(a) To be eligible for a scholarship, a classroom
38 teacher must:
39 1. Have achieved a composite score at or above the 75th
40 80th percentile or, if the classroom teacher graduated cum laude
41 or higher with a baccalaureate degree, the 70th percentile on
42 either the SAT, or the ACT, GRE, LSAT, GMAT, or MCAT based on
43 the National Percentile Ranks in effect when the classroom
44 teacher took the assessment.
45 2. and Have been evaluated as highly effective pursuant to
46 s. 1012.34, or have been evaluated as highly effective based on
47 a commissioner-approved student learning growth formula pursuant
48 to s. 1012.34(8), in the school year immediately preceding the
49 year in which the scholarship will be awarded, unless the
50 classroom teacher is newly hired by the district school board
51 and has not been evaluated pursuant to s. 1012.34.
52 (b) In order to demonstrate eligibility for an award, an
53 eligible classroom teacher must submit to the school district,
54 no later than November 1, an official record of his or her
55 qualifying assessment SAT or ACT score and, if applicable, an
56 official transcript demonstrating that he or she graduated cum
57 laude or higher with a baccalaureate degree the classroom
58 teacher scored at or above the 80th percentile based on the
59 National Percentile Ranks in effect when the teacher took the
60 assessment. Once a classroom teacher is deemed eligible by the
61 school district, including teachers deemed eligible in the 2015
62 2016 fiscal year, the teacher shall remain eligible as long as
63 he or she remains employed by the school district as a classroom
64 teacher at the time of the award and receives an annual
65 performance evaluation rating of highly effective pursuant to s.
66 1012.34 or is evaluated as highly effective based on a
67 commissioner-approved student learning growth formula pursuant
68 to s. 1012.34(8).
69 (4) Annually, by December 1, each school district shall
70 submit to the department:
71 (a) The number of eligible classroom teachers who qualify
72 for the scholarship.
73 (b) The name and master school identification number (MSID)
74 of each school in the district to which an eligible classroom
75 teacher is assigned.
76 (c) The name of the school principal of each eligible
77 classroom teacher’s school if he or she has served as the
78 school’s principal for at least 2 consecutive school years
79 including the current school year.
80 (8) This section expires July 1, 2017.
81 Section 2. Section 1012.732, Florida Statutes, is created
82 to read:
83 1012.732 The Florida Best and Brightest Principal
84 Scholarship Program.—
85 (1) The Legislature recognizes that the most effective
86 school principals establish a safe and supportive school
87 environment for students and faculty. Research shows that these
88 principals increase student learning by providing opportunities
89 for the professional growth, collaboration, and autonomy that
90 classroom teachers need to become and remain highly effective
91 educational professionals. As a result, these principals are
92 able to recruit and retain more of the best classroom teachers
93 and improve student outcomes at their schools, including schools
94 serving low-income and high-need student populations. Therefore,
95 it is the intent of the Legislature to designate school
96 principals whose school faculty has a high percentage of
97 classroom teachers who are designated as Florida’s best and
98 brightest teacher scholars pursuant to s. 1012.731 as Florida’s
99 best and brightest principals.
100 (2) There is created the Florida Best and Brightest
101 Principal Scholarship Program to be administered by the
102 Department of Education. The program shall provide categorical
103 funding for scholarships to be awarded to school principals, as
104 defined in s. 1012.01(3)(c)1., who have recruited and retained a
105 high percentage of best and brightest teachers.
106 (3) A school principal identified pursuant to s.
107 1012.731(4)(c) is eligible to receive a scholarship under this
108 section if he or she has served as school principal at his or
109 her school for at least 2 consecutive school years including the
110 current school year and his or her school has a ratio of best
111 and brightest teachers to other classroom teachers that is at
112 the 80th percentile or higher for schools within the same grade
113 group, statewide, including elementary schools, middle schools,
114 high schools, and schools with a combination of grade levels.
115 (4) Annually, by February 1, the department shall identify
116 eligible school principals and disburse funds to each school
117 district for each eligible school principal to receive a
118 scholarship as provided in the General Appropriations Act. A
119 scholarship must be awarded to every eligible school principal,
120 with a greater scholarship amount awarded to school principals
121 who are assigned to a Title I school. If the number of eligible
122 school principals exceeds the total appropriation authorized in
123 the General Appropriations Act, the department shall prorate
124 each school principal’s scholarship in a manner consistent with
125 this subsection.
126 (5) Annually, by April 1, each school district must award a
127 scholarship to each eligible school principal.
128 (6) A school district must provide a best and brightest
129 principal with the additional authority and responsibilities
130 provided in s. 1012.28(8) for a minimum of 2 years.
131 (7) For purposes of this section, the term “school
132 district” includes the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
133 and charter school governing boards.
134 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
