The Coalition for Quality Public Education

THE COALITION FOR QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION

2024 LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

Public School Funding

*Increase the Base Student Allocation and State Categorical Programs by at least 5% annually so that Florida achieves a ranking of at least #20 nationwide in PreK-12 educational funding

*Prohibit any new unfunded mandates for public schools.

*Eliminate all taxpayer funding of private K-12 schools.

*Cease all legislative reductions of Florida future revenues until Florida’s allocation to public school funding reaches the nationwide average.

*Encourage the Florida Department of Education to apply for any and all federal funding available to support Pre-K-12 public schools.

Recruitment and Retention of Quality Educators

*Increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) until Florida ranks at least #20 in national average teacher and educational support personnel salaries.

*Establish the EDUCATOR INCENTIVE SCHOLARSHIP/LOAN PROGRAM which would cover tuition costs for in-state education students and reduce pay-back a percentage for each year the educator teaches at a Florida public school.

*Return to Professional Services Contracts to provide employee security.

*Continue new employment open enrollment in the defined benefit program of the Florida Retirement System.

Charter Schools

(Charter schools are public schools, receiving public funds, both state and local.)

*Improve oversight of charter schools by the elected county school board.

*Deny petitions for new, renewed, or materially revised charter schools operated or managed by for-profit companies.

*Limit approval of new charter applications to those that address specific academic or space needs not met by the local school district.

*Clarify state law concerning charter school governance to assure equal application of requirements and consequences if those requirements are not met or are violated.

*Continue to use state funding, not local appropriations, for charter school capital funding.

Accountability for all state educational funds

*Hold all schools that receive state funding to the same standards and testing as traditional public schools.

*Hold all schools that receive state and/or federal funding to the anti-discrimination standards that apply to K-12 traditional public schools.

*Reduce the number of state-required exams to not exceed the minimum required under the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and provide the assessments in predominant languages of non-English speaking students.

Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK)

*Fund pilot programs of full-day VPK and programs for three-year-olds in high need areas.

*Implement legislation for the Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK) similar to HB 1091 enacted in 2018 which currently impacts the School Readiness (SR) Program.

*Use assessment only for the purposes for which they were designed. Quality child development assessments should be used to inform instruction. They are not valid to determine program quality.

*Provide increased funding for PreK students and allow for differentiated funding for Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) programs that employ teachers with current Florida certification.

Support One Topic/One Bill Requirement for the Legislature

Nonpartisan School Board Elections.

*Support the Constitutional mandate for nonpartisan school board elections by adding “or school board” to Title IX, Chapter 105, Sections 105.071 and 105.09 of Florida Statutes.