2024 Session: High-stakes testing stays in Florida schools — for now
While the Florida Senate's "Learn Local" package passed with gusto on the second day of the 2024 legislative session, very different final versions of the bills were sent to the governor's desk Wednesday after stalling in the House for weeks.
Major components of the education deregulation bills, like removing accountability exams that have been in place for decades, were taken out by the House. One bill out of the trio (SB 7000) was also folded into another, leaving out a measure that would have allowed school boards to issue temporary teaching certificates.
"There were some things that, philosophically, there was no way that our some of our members were ever going to get there," House Speaker Paul Renner told reporters Wednesday evening. "But there were literally, I think, 60, 70 items that we came to common ground on that are going to make our public schools be able to operate with a lot greater facility."
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, earlier had called the passage of the bills a "tremendous win."
"My goal was to make serious headway this year, and I could not be more pleased with the final product,” Passidomo said in a press release. “My vision for this critical initiative is a multi-year effort."
"Deregulation of Public Schools/Assessment and Accountability, Instruction, and Education Choice," (SB 7004) and "Deregulation of Public Schools/School District Finance and Budgets, Facilities, and Administration and Oversight," (SB 7002) passed the Senate unanimously Wednesday afternoon.
"Every year more and more regulations are put on our school districts, and every year we need to be looking at regulations we can remove," Passidomo said. "With two years left in the Senate after my term as Senate President comes to an end in November, I look forward to ... (digging) in on deregulation in the years to come.”
SB 7004 faced criticism from the beginning with a provision that would have allowed third grade students to move on to the fourth grade, even if they failed the literacy exam, if a parent thought it was in the best interest of the child. It was removed on the second day of session on the Senate floor with an amendment by the bill's sponsor, Sen. Corey Simon, R-Quincy.
An earlier version of the bill would have also allowed high schoolers to graduate even if they failed the Algebra 1 end-of-course and 10th grade English Language Arts (ELA) exams, a measure that concerned some Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Bay, and administrative staff who worked with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
"The bills have come a long way since the initial Senate proposal," said Nathan Hoffman, senior legislative director with the Foundation for Florida’s Future. "We appreciate the efforts of the House to remove the provisions that would have lowered high graduation standards and removed safeguards for charter school funding."
More: 2024 Session: Florida House puts brakes on Senate school testing deregulation
Florida: A history of high-stakes testing
High-stakes testing has been a part of Florida's performance evaluation process since 1999.
Jeb Bush’s A+ Plan for Education implemented A through F grades for schools based on student standardized test scores. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), which began in 1998, also influenced teacher evaluations and compensation.
In the final version of SB 7004, the only mention of the Algebra I and 10th grade ELA exams says: "High schools shall use all available assessment results, including the results of statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessments and end-of-course assessments for Algebra I and Geometry, to advise students of any identified deficiencies and to provide appropriate postsecondary preparatory instruction before high school graduation."
The “Learn Local” package is an expansion of last year’s HB 1, a universal school voucher bill, which removed the income limit for school choice in Florida. Now any student in Florida can receive between $7,430 and $8,120 of taxpayer or Florida Tax Credit funds to go to a private school.
Provisions in SB 7002 include:
Allowing for the use of secondary degrees in salary adjustments.
Provides fee waivers for teachers seeking secondary certification for Exceptional Student Education.
Expands eligibility for teacher apprenticeship program.
Removes school board requirements for financial reporting and notices.
Provisions in SB 7004 include:
Revises elementary school student progression planning to identify students in kindergarten through grade 2 with substantial deficiency in reading or math; requires parental notification and input if the student is retained.
Provides additional time for schools that pursue a community school as a turnaround option.
Creates a streamlined process for districts to adopt state-required instructional materials, by creating timelines for the DOE to adopt instructional materials.
Provides greater flexibility for districts in the provision of virtual instruction.
Ana Go?i-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2024 Session: High-stakes testing stays in Florida schools — for now
