Florida Senate - 2020 SB 458
By Senator Rodriguez
37-00374-20 2020458__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the English Language Learner
3 Advisory Council; creating s. 1003.562, F.S.; creating
4 the English Language Learner Advisory Council adjunct
5 to the Department of Education; providing the purpose
6 of the advisory council; specifying the composition of
7 the advisory council, the appointment of members, and
8 the terms they serve; providing meeting requirements;
9 requiring the advisory council to identify certain
10 issues; requiring the advisory council to submit an
11 annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, the
12 chairs of the State Board of Education and the Board
13 of Governors, and the Commissioner of Education;
14 requiring the department to provide staff and
15 administrative support and to maintain a webpage;
16 providing an effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Section 1003.562, Florida Statutes, is created
21 to read:
22 1003.562 English Language Learner Advisory Council.—
23 (1) The Florida English Language Learner Advisory Council,
24 an advisory council as defined in s. 20.03, is created adjunct
25 to the Department of Education for the purpose of providing
26 recommendations to enhance the education of English language
27 learners in this state by analyzing data and identifying areas
28 in which improvement is needed.
29 (2) Members of the advisory council shall include:
30 (a) The Commissioner of Education, or his or her designee,
31 who shall serve as a nonvoting member and be the chair of the
32 advisory council.
33 (b) The director of the Office of Policy and Budget of the
34 Executive Office of the Governor, or his or her designee, who
35 shall serve as a nonvoting member.
36 (c) The chair of the Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus,
37 or his or her designee.
38 (d) The chair of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, or
39 his or her designee.
40 (e) The chair of the Florida Jewish Legislative Caucus, or
41 his or her designee.
42 (f) Thirty members of the public, who shall be appointed by
43 the Governor, as follows:
44 1. One member who has professional or occupational
45 expertise in university-level preparation of English for
46 Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) or bilingual education
47 teachers and in second-language research.
48 2. One member who has professional or occupational
49 expertise in college-level preparation of special education
50 teachers and ESOL or bilingual education teachers.
51 3. One member who has professional or occupational
52 expertise in implementing in-service programs for teachers of
53 English language learners.
54 4. One member who has professional or occupational
55 expertise as a guidance counselor in a secondary school and in
56 adult ESOL or bilingual education programs.
57 5. One member who has professional or occupational
58 expertise in preparing teachers for early childhood programs
59 serving dual language learners.
60 6. One member who has experience as the principal of a
61 district school with a schoolwide dual language program.
62 7. One member who is a dual language program administrator
63 in a district with multiple dual language program tracks
64 operating under a school-within-a-school model which includes
65 elementary schools, middle schools, and at least one high
66 school.
67 8. One member who is an elementary school ESOL teacher.
68 9. One member who is a secondary school ESOL teacher.
69 10. One member who teaches history, mathematics, computer
70 science, or science to English language learners.
71 11. Twenty members who have professional or occupational
72 expertise in, or who are generally knowledgeable about, issues
73 that relate to programs and services for English language
74 learners, with one member selected from two nominees from each
75 of the following organizations:
76 a. Sunshine State TESOL of Florida.
77 b. The Florida Association of Bilingual/ESOL Supervisors,
78 Inc.
79 c. LULAC Florida.
80 d. NAACP Florida State Conference.
81 e. UnidosUS Florida.
82 f. Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center.
83 g. Iniciativa Accion Puertorriquena.
84 h. Florida PTA.
85 i. The ESOL parent leadership council in the same district
86 as the member selected from the Florida PTA.
87 j. A bilingual college located in Florida.
88 k. The Florida League of Cities.
89 l. The Florida Foreign Language Association.
90 m. The Florida Educational Research Association.
91 n. The Florida School Boards Association.
92 o. The Florida Policy Institute.
93 p. The Florida Association for Bilingual Education.
94 q. A chamber of commerce with members engaged in industries
95 that require employees with multilingual and multicultural
96 skills.
97 r. The Association of Haitian Educators of Dade.
98 s. The Spanish American League Against Discrimination.
99 t. The Coalition of Florida Farmworker Organizations.
100 (g) One member of the Florida Education Association who
101 shall be appointed by the President of the Senate.
102 (h) One member with experience as the superintendent of a
103 school district who shall be appointed by the Speaker of the
104 House of Representatives.
105 (i) One member with experience as the principal of a
106 schoolwide dual language charter school who shall be appointed
107 by the Commissioner of Education.
108 (3)(a) Members of the advisory council appointed by the
109 Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House
110 of Representatives, and the Commissioner of Education shall
111 serve 4-year terms, except that initially, to provide for
112 staggered terms, the Governor shall appoint 15 members to serve
113 2-year terms.
114 (b) A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the
115 original appointment. A vacancy occurring on the advisory
116 council before the expiration of a term shall be filled for the
117 remainder of the unexpired term. A member of the advisory
118 council may be reappointed.
119 (4) Each member of the advisory council shall serve without
120 compensation but may be reimbursed for per diem and travel
121 expenses pursuant to s. 112.061.
122 (5) The advisory council shall hold its first meeting no
123 later than October 1, 2020, and meet at least once per quarter
124 thereafter. Meetings may be held via teleconference or other
125 electronic means. In conducting its meetings, the advisory
126 council shall use Robert’s Rules of Order.
127 (6) The advisory council must identify three pressing
128 English language learner issues, selected by the advisory
129 council members at their third quarterly meeting each year,
130 related to the following topics:
131 (a) Reform initiatives that address statewide English
132 language learner accountability policies, including research
133 based assessment accommodations and ESOL program entry and exit
134 criteria appropriate for English language learners.
135 (b) Changes to state law, including, but not limited to,
136 the statutory criteria for awarding the State Seal of
137 Biliteracy; State Board of Education rules; the state plan
138 adopted under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); and
139 agreements with the federal government which would remove
140 barriers to or enhance the implementation of education programs
141 offered to English language learners.
142 (c) Changes to teacher preparation and credential
143 standards, professional development and in-service education,
144 ESOL program models, and instructional materials and strategies.
145 (d) Methods for increasing parental engagement in English
146 language learner programs.
147 (e) Funding allocations for English language learner
148 programs.
149 (f) Proposed changes needed in resources allocated to the
150 State University System to achieve improved outcomes for English
151 language learners in middle schools and secondary schools, to
152 increase the graduation rate of English language learners in
153 this state, and to expand the capabilities of ESOL or bilingual
154 programs.
155 (g) Other matters identified by advisory council members.
156 (7) By November 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the
157 advisory council shall submit a written report to the Governor,
158 the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
159 Representatives, the Chair of the State Board of Education, the
160 Chair of the Board of Governors, and the Commissioner of
161 Education containing the advisory council’s recommendations on
162 the issues identified in subsection (6).
163 (8) The Department of Education shall provide staff and
164 administrative support for the advisory council and shall
165 maintain a webpage with meeting materials, hyperlinks to the
166 parliamentary authority or guidelines explaining key sections of
167 the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, council report
168 drafts, and final reports.
169 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.