Proposed Senate education bill retools teacher bonuses, expands school-choice options

Influential senators want to make dramatic policy changes in a sweeping education bill that will come before legislators in the 2019 session. 

Senate Education Chair Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah Gardens, said Thursday the proposal would include changes in the recruitment, retention and recognition of teachers, as well as expand school-choice options. 

He was joined by Senate President Pro Tempore David Simmons, and Sen. Kelli Stargel, who also sit on the Senate Committee on Education. The bill hasn't been drafted yet, but will be ready for the start of session next month, Diaz said. 

"We appreciate Gov. (Ron) DeSantis’ prioritizing families, empowerment, school safety and security, and this package of policy and budget goals," said Stargel, a Republican from Lakeland. "The Senate has similar priorities."

The announcement – and the Senate's support of a school safety bill that would expand the guardian program to allow teachers to carry guns – was met by opposition from the Florida Democratic Party. Its chair Terrie Rizzo said the proposal would leave public schools "underfunded, unsafe, and unable to provide our children with a quality education."

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In an effort to attract more teachers to Florida, the bill would change the Best and Brightest teacher bonus program. It would eliminate teacher SAT and ACT requirements, which has been opposed by many educators. It would create a one-time recruitment bonus for newly hired teachers who are experts in mathematics, science, computer science, reading, or civics.

It also would create a retention bonus for effective and highly effective teachers at schools demonstrating academic improvement. A recognition bonus would be created for highly effective teachers selected by principals, based on performance criteria and policies adopted by district school boards. 

It also seeks to lock in a price for certification exams and give teachers three years to complete the general knowledge exam. 

That change was backed by Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee,, who was noticeably missing from the news conference. The Senate Education vice chair, who has championed education issues in the Senate for eight years, said the proposal to expand the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship gave him pause. 

The Family Empowerment Scholarship would be the fifth scholarship category. Designed to eliminate the scholarship wait list, it would be available for low-income families to enroll students in private schools. It would be financed by the general fund.

"This clearly makes a statement that general funds can be used for vouchers to private schools... Many of us can look at this and say there are good pieces to it and there are not some good pieces," he said. "The last piece in here gives me pause because that is a significant shift in Florida’s public education system."

The proposal was met with resistance from the Florida Education Association. 

“What our students need is a monumental commitment to their neighborhood public schools, the schools that educate most of our kids,” FEA President Fedrick Ingram said in a statement.

Other changes would reduce regulations related to school construction and expand wrap-around services for community schools. 

"A child who shows up without breakfast, who needs health care who is in need of the social services that are so essential that in many instances they are not getting at home," said Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. "Those are the children that we need to be able to provide those additional services to."

James Call contributed to this story. Contact Ashley White at adwhite@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.