Florida Senate - 2017                                    SB 1460
       
       
        
       By Senator Simmons
       
       
       
       
       
       9-01238A-17                                           20171460__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida Best and Brightest
    3         Teacher Scholarship Program; amending s. 1012.731,
    4         F.S.; revising legislative findings; revising the
    5         intent of the program to include eligibility for
    6         school administrators who meet certain standards;
    7         revising requirements for a classroom teacher to be
    8         eligible for a scholarship under the program;
    9         providing eligibility requirements for a school
   10         administrator to receive a scholarship under the
   11         program; requiring an eligible classroom teacher or
   12         school administrator to submit certain information to
   13         the school district demonstrating eligibility for an
   14         award; providing that certain classroom teachers and
   15         school administrators remain eligible for the award
   16         under certain circumstances; deleting the scheduled
   17         expiration of the program; providing an effective
   18         date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Section 1012.731, Florida Statutes, is amended
   23  to read:
   24         1012.731 The Florida Best and Brightest Teacher Scholarship
   25  Program.—
   26         (1) The Legislature recognizes that, second only to
   27  parents, teachers and administrators play the most critical role
   28  within schools in preparing students to achieve a high level of
   29  academic performance. The Legislature further recognizes the
   30  importance of that research has linked student outcomes to a
   31  teacher’s or administrator’s own academic achievement and the
   32  need to strategically assign the most effective teachers and
   33  administrators to the lowest-performing schools. Therefore, it
   34  is the intent of the Legislature to designate teachers and
   35  administrators who are highly effective and who either have
   36  achieved high academic standards during their own education or
   37  are assigned in high-need areas as Florida’s best and brightest
   38  teacher scholars.
   39         (2) There is created the Florida Best and Brightest Teacher
   40  Scholarship Program to be administered by the Department of
   41  Education. The scholarship program shall provide categorical
   42  funding for scholarships to be awarded to classroom teachers, as
   43  defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a), and school administrators, as
   44  defined in s. 1012.01(3)(c), who are highly effective and who
   45  either have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement or
   46  are assigned, or agree to be assigned, to a low-performing
   47  school.
   48         (3)(a) To be eligible for a scholarship, a classroom
   49  teacher must have been evaluated as highly effective pursuant to
   50  s. 1012.34 in the school year immediately preceding the year in
   51  which the scholarship will be awarded and must meet at least one
   52  of the following criteria:
   53         1. Achieved a composite score at or above the 80th
   54  percentile on either the SAT or the ACT based on the National
   55  Percentile Ranks in effect when the classroom teacher took the
   56  assessment;
   57         2.Achieved a cumulative undergraduate grade point average
   58  of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, as verified on the teacher’s
   59  official final college transcript;
   60         3. Achieved a score at or above the 90th percentile on the
   61  Florida Teacher Certification Examination Subject Area
   62  Examination in the subject area in which he or she will teach in
   63  the subsequent academic year; or
   64         4. Currently teach, or agree in writing to teach in the
   65  subsequent academic year, at a low-performing school, as
   66  evidenced by a school grade of “D” or “F”; a school implementing
   67  a turnaround option pursuant to s. 1008.33; or a school ranked
   68  as one of the 300 lowest-performing elementary schools pursuant
   69  to s. 1011.62(1)(f) and (9).
   70         (b) To be eligible for a scholarship, a school
   71  administrator must have been evaluated as highly effective
   72  pursuant to s. 1012.34 in the school year immediately preceding
   73  the year in which the scholarship will be awarded and must meet
   74  at least one of the following criteria:
   75         1. Achieved a composite score at or above the 80th
   76  percentile on the SAT or ACT based on the National Percentile
   77  Ranks in effect when the school administrator took the
   78  assessment;
   79         2. Achieved a cumulative undergraduate grade point average
   80  of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, as verified on the school
   81  administrator’s official final college transcript; or
   82         3. Currently administer, or agree in writing to administer
   83  in the subsequent academic year, at a low-performing school, as
   84  evidenced by a school grade of “D” or “F”; a school implementing
   85  a turnaround option pursuant to s. 1008.33; or a school ranked
   86  as one of the 300 lowest-performing elementary schools pursuant
   87  to s. 1011.62(1)(f) and (9) and have been evaluated as highly
   88  effective pursuant to s. 1012.34 in the school year immediately
   89  preceding the year in which the scholarship will be awarded,
   90  unless the classroom teacher is newly hired by the district
   91  school board and has not been evaluated pursuant to s. 1012.34.
   92         (c)(b) In order to demonstrate eligibility for an award, a
   93  an eligible classroom teacher or school administrator must
   94  submit to the school district, no later than November 1, the
   95  following information, as applicable:
   96         1. An official record of his or her SAT or ACT score
   97  demonstrating achievement of a score that the classroom teacher
   98  scored at or above the 80th percentile based on the National
   99  Percentile Ranks in effect at the time of when the teacher took
  100  the assessment; an official final college transcript
  101  demonstrating a cumulative undergraduate grade point average of
  102  at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale; or, for classroom teachers only, an
  103  official record of his or her subject area exam score
  104  demonstrating achievement of a score at or above the 90th
  105  percentile; or
  106         2. A signed agreement accepting reassignment to a low
  107  performing school in the subsequent academic year.
  108         (d) Once a classroom teacher or school administrator is
  109  deemed eligible by the school district, including teachers
  110  deemed eligible in the 2015-2016 or 2016-2017 fiscal years year,
  111  the teacher or school administrator shall remain eligible as
  112  long as he or she remains employed by the school district as a
  113  classroom teacher or school administrator at the time of the
  114  award and receives an annual performance evaluation rating of
  115  highly effective pursuant to s. 1012.34. A classroom teacher or
  116  school administrator who earns the award for assignment at, or
  117  who accepts reassignment to, a low-performing school shall
  118  remain eligible as long as he or she remains employed by the
  119  school district as a classroom teacher or school administrator
  120  at the time of the award; receives an annual performance
  121  evaluation rating of highly effective pursuant to s. 1012.34;
  122  and remains at the assigned low-performing school, regardless of
  123  whether the school continues to meet the criteria of a low
  124  performing school, or accepts reassignment to another low
  125  performing school.
  126         (4) Annually, by December 1, each school district shall
  127  submit to the department the number of eligible classroom
  128  teachers and school administrators who qualify for the
  129  scholarship.
  130         (5) Annually, by February 1, the department shall disburse
  131  scholarship funds to each school district for each eligible
  132  classroom teacher and school administrator to receive a
  133  scholarship as provided in the General Appropriations Act. A
  134  scholarship in the amount provided in the General Appropriations
  135  Act shall be awarded to every eligible classroom teacher and
  136  school administrator. If the number of eligible classroom
  137  teachers and school administrators exceeds the total
  138  appropriation authorized in the General Appropriations Act, the
  139  department shall prorate the per-teacher scholarship amount.
  140         (6) Annually, by April 1, each school district shall award
  141  the scholarship to each eligible classroom teacher and school
  142  administrator.
  143         (7) For purposes of this section, the term “school
  144  district” includes the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
  145  and charter school governing boards.
  146         (8)This section expires July 1, 2017.
  147         Section 2. This act shall take effect June 30, 2017.
  148