Florida

The regular session of the Florida Legislature concluded later than expected on May 8, 2017. State legislators approved an $82.4 billion budget, and 234 bills were passed by both the House and Senate chambers. However, Governor Rick Scott vetoed major parts of the budget and bills, especially those pertaining to education. He then called for a three-day special session starting June 7 to revise the budget and stipulated that legislators must increase spending for schools. A controversial bill, House Bill 7069, was passed as a result of this session, which included major funding and policy priorities for education. The impact of these sessions and this bill is summarized in this article, as it pertains to funding priorities, changes in the funding formula, pressing issues that affect funding, and specific P-12 and higher education issues.

FUNDING PRIORITIES FOR P-12 AND/OR HIGHER EDUCATION

The regular and special legislative sessions in 2017 resulted in significant shifts in education funding. Specifically, House Bill 7069, approved during the special session in June, resulted in an additional $419 million dedicated to educational priorities.¹ In addition to significant funds being directed toward school choice options (see below for details), additional funding was allocated to assessment, accountability, facilities, and educator effectiveness. For example, $234 million was allocated to expand the Best and Brightest Scholarship to provide bonuses to highly effective teachers and principals. This was an increase of $185 million from 2016. Additionally, "Schools of Hope" were created to establish highperforming schools in low-income areas. These school were designated to be funded in the same manner as charter schools, with an additional $2,000 in per pupil funding, among access to other start up and professional development grants. The Gardiner Scholarship Program, which allowed parents to use public funds to design customizable educational programs for students with qualifying disabilities, received an additional $30 million to expand the program. HB 7069 also created the Early Childhood Music Education Incentive Pilot Program for three years and clarified that all students, including home education and private school students, were eligible to participate in virtual options throughout the state. Additional legislation also required that contracts for construction services that were projected to cost more than $200,000 (state projects) or $300,000 (local projects) must be competitively awarded.² In higher education, there was an increase in funding in the Bright Futures Scholarship from $217 million to $397 million, which funds tuition and fees for state universities and colleges for students who excelled academically in high school. The increase in funding will be used to expand the scholarship to summer programs and provide stipends for textbooks.

CHANGES TO FUNDING FORMULA FOR P-12 AND/OR HIGHER EDUCATION

The allocation to the Florida Education Finance Program, the primary funding source of public education in Florida, increased by $455,034,702 from $20.1 billion in 2016 to $20.6 billion. While local contributions were held flat, state funding increased from $11,309,068,374 to $11,673,261,717.³ Increased funding contributed to an overall rise in per pupil allocation of $100 (or 1.4%). Additionally, program costs were adjusted. Program costs provide a weight to base allocations to account for student grade levels and special needs. Specifically, the bill called for a slight increase in the K-3 basic, ESE level 4, and ESOL program costs, while the ESE level 5 program costs was raised significantly.⁴

PRESSING STATE ISSUES AFFECTING P-12 AND/OR HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING

HB 7069 also included policy changes that have the potential to affect funding. For example, the transition to fully online state testing was halted by requiring that reading and math tests for grades 3-6 be administered exclusively on paper. It also eliminated the Algebra II End of Course assessment. Furthermore, the bill required the Commissioner of Education to contract for an independent study of the ACT/SAT as an alternative for a grade 10 ELA assessment and an Algebra I EOC assessment. The bill also specified that, after providing Title I funds to schools above the 75% poverty threshold, a...