The Florida Senate

229.0061  Florida's K-20 education system; guidelines for implementation; guidelines for structure, functions, and organization.--

(1)  GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION.--

(a)  Florida's seamless K-20 education system shall be a decentralized system in which as many commissions, boards, councils, and other excess layers of bureaucracy as possible are eliminated.

(b)  Florida's K-20 education system shall rely on a single entity, the Florida Board of Education, as its single strategic voice. If the board desires assistance on matters of policy research or other issues, the board shall be authorized to appoint on an ad hoc basis a committee or committees to assist it on any and all issues within the K-20 education system.

(c)  Members of the Florida Board of Education shall focus on high-level policy decisions.

(d)  It is essential to the success of Florida's seamless K-20 education system to have a fully operational systemwide technology plan based on a common set of data definitions.

(2)  GUIDELINES FOR STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONS, AND ORGANIZATION.--

(a)  Roles of the Legislature, the Florida Board of Education, the education governance officers, and the institutional boards of trustees and school boards.--The Legislature shall establish education policy, enact education laws, and appropriate and allocate education resources. The Florida Board of Education shall enforce all laws, rules, and guidelines and shall timely provide direction, resources, assistance, intervention when needed, and strong incentives and disincentives to force accountability for results. In terms of major areas of responsibility, the Legislature, the Florida Board of Education, the education governance officers, and the institutional boards of trustees and school boards shall each perform essential constituent roles.

(b)  Florida Board of Education.--The Florida Board of Education shall serve as the body corporate for Florida's seamless K-20 education system; implement the coordinated education vision; and, together with the Secretary of the Florida Board of Education, the commissioner, the chancellors, and the executive director, oversee the success of that vision. The Florida Board of Education shall:

1.  Enforce systemwide education policies and goals.

2.  Recommend annually the coordinated education budget and authorize the allocation of resources in accordance with law and rule. Any program recommended by the Florida Board of Education which requires state funding for more than 1 year must be presented in a multiyear budget plan.

3.  Adopt long-term and short-term education plans, including a coordinated 5-year plan for postsecondary enrollment which the board shall submit annually to the Legislature and shall review periodically for adjustment.

4.  Adopt university plans designed to achieve continued student diversity in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.

5.  Enforce education accountability standards and measures of all components of the K-20 education system.

6.  Accurately and continuously assess data and monitor and report performance.

7.  Provide high-quality assistance and intervention when and where needed.

8.  Provide timely and accurate information on all public and independent education services.

9.  Recommend to the Legislature the missions of the public colleges and universities and community colleges.

(c)  Commissioner of Education.--The Commissioner of Education shall serve as chief executive officer of the seamless K-20 education system. The commissioner shall propose action on all issues that the Florida Board of Education brings before the State Board of Education and shall be responsible for enforcing compliance with the mission and goals of the seamless K-20 education system by all education delivery sectors. The commissioner's office shall operate all statewide functions necessary to support the Florida Board of Education and the seamless K-20 education system, including the following areas:

1.  Legal.

2.  Communications, including a Citizen Information Center that provides quick response and uses customer-friendly methods.

3.  Strategic planning and budget development.

4.  General administration.

5.  Assessment and accountability.

6.  Data management, education technology, and an education data warehouse.

7.  Access and opportunity.

8.  Policy research and development, except the Council for Education Policy Research and Improvement.

9.  Florida Board of Education personnel.

10.  Workforce and economic development.

11.  Educational facilities.

12.  Technology and information services.

13.  Student financial assistance.

14.  Inspector General.

(d)  Chancellors and executive director.--The Chancellor of Public Schools, the Chancellor of Community Colleges, the Chancellor of Colleges and Universities, and the Executive Director of Independent Education shall serve the Florida Board of Education, the Secretary of the Florida Board of Education, and the Commissioner of Education in the role of division vice presidents of the K-20 education system and as governance officers and critical members of the state-level education leadership team. They shall each be held responsible for providing leadership, administering programs, resolving disputes, providing technical assistance, and timely recommending action plans to the commissioner for sanctions or intervention when needed, as well as making recommendations to the board, the secretary, and the commissioner for strategic planning and budget development for their respective education delivery sectors. They shall support the governing policies and responsibilities of the board, the secretary, and the commissioner and bear primary responsibility for the achievement of the mission and goals of the K-20 education system by their education delivery sectors, as applicable to their sectors. They shall reinforce the policies and principles of the seamless K-20 education system in every venue and at every opportunity, and work together to facilitate horizontal communications and interactions between the education delivery sectors. Specifically, as applicable, each education governance officer shall:

1.  Serve as the head of the division.

2.  Supervise all employees and work of the division.

3.  Properly and timely inform education institutions and the public as to legislative action, including funding, grant opportunities, and substantive policy changes affecting the division.

4.  Direct the review of expenditures of public funds in accordance with legislative intent.

5.  Evaluate the performance of each education institution under the division and report performance results to the public, the Legislature, the Commissioner of Education, the Florida Board of Education, and the institution and its governing board.

6.  Direct institutional governing boards to take corrective action to improve unsatisfactory performance pursuant to law and rules of the Florida Board of Education.

7.  Direct and oversee the development of the division's accountability system and recommend changes to the Commissioner of Education and the Florida Board of Education.

8.  Direct the division's activities in order to coordinate with other divisions to provide a seamless education system.

9.  Direct the provision of state services to institutions under the division.

10.  Direct the development of the division's legislative budget request and work cooperatively with the commissioner and other governance officers to develop a coordinated budget request.

11.  Serve as the primary point of contact and communication for the division.

(e)  Institutional boards of trustees and school boards.--Each institutional board of trustees and school board shall:

1.  Provide strategic planning and budget development for their institution or school district.

2.  Implement and maintain high-quality education programs within law and rules of the Florida Board of Education.

3.  Measure and enforce performance.

4.  Provide timely and accurate reporting of information.

5.  Provide direct input on education issues to the education governance officers.

6.  Have broad latitude within law and rules of the Florida Board of Education in developing local policies and local programs to meet the needs of their students, their communities, and area employers.

7.  Hold presidents and appointed superintendents responsible for institution and school performance.

8.  Be responsible for the fiscal accountability of their institution or school district.

9.  Be responsible for compliance with all laws, rules of the Florida Board of Education, and performance accountability requirements.

(f)  Presidents and superintendents.--Each institutional president and school district superintendent shall:

1.  Be responsible for efficient and effective budget and program administration.

2.  Provide strong leadership to accomplish their education missions and goals.

3.  Closely monitor education performance.

4.  Provide timely and accurate financial and performance data.

5.  Link instructional staff evaluations to student performance.

(g)  Ad hoc advisory committees.--Advisory bodies shall be appointed on an ad hoc basis by the Florida Board of Education to serve the board, commissioner, and chancellors when and as needed by studying and recommending action on major issues that affect the direction and quality of education, providing public forums for debate, and safeguarding a coordinated systemwide approach to education policy decisions.

History.--s. 8, ch. 2001-170.