Senate Bill 2364
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
By Senator Holzendorf
2-1451B-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to education; creating the
3 "Education Investment Act of 2000"; providing
4 definitions; providing legislative intent for
5 certain investments and enhancements;
6 authorizing certain programs; authorizing
7 improved curriculum; requiring improved
8 counseling ratios in certain schools;
9 authorizing a test preparation program for
10 certain students; providing for separation of
11 open enrollment programs within schools for
12 certain purposes; authorizing expanded student
13 assistance programs at universities;
14 authorizing fee waivers for students and former
15 students of certain schools; authorizing rules
16 of the Department of Education; authorizing
17 state-funded test-preparation courses for
18 certain students; authorizing a salary bonus
19 for certain teachers; providing an effective
20 date.
21
22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
23
24 Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Education
25 Investment Act of 2000."
26 Section 2. The Legislature finds that low-performing
27 high schools are those that receive students from
28 low-performing elementary and middle schools. Even the top
29 graduates from those high schools are likely to experience
30 difficulty in university education. Therefore, the Legislature
31 intends to invest academic resources in students attending
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 low-performing schools at all levels. An adequate return on
2 the investment will be earned if the top twenty percent of
3 each high school's graduating class gains academic skills
4 sufficient to experience success in postsecondary education.
5 (1) To identify the schools that will benefit from the
6 resource investments provided in this act, the Department of
7 Education shall determine which schools with a grade
8 designation of "C" are at risk of falling beneath that
9 designation. As used in this act, the term "low-performing
10 school" means a "C" school at risk of earning a lower grade,
11 as determined by the Department of Education, and each school
12 with a grade designation of "D" or "F."
13 (2) The Department of Education shall determine which
14 elementary and middle schools provide the majority of students
15 to low-performing high schools. As used in this act, the term
16 "feeder-pattern school" refers to any elementary or middle
17 school whose former students predominantly enroll in a
18 low-performing high school, as determined by the Department of
19 Education.
20 Section 3. The Legislature intends to invest resources
21 in low-performing high schools and their feeder-pattern
22 elementary and middle schools in the core disciplines of
23 mathematics, language arts, and writing.
24 (1) For a high school, these enhancements may consist
25 of providing:
26 (a) A longer shool day,
27 (b) A longer school year,
28 (c) Consultants or mentors to assist teachers to
29 improve or adapt curriculum to better meet the needs of
30 students, and
31 (d) Additional teachers to reduce class size.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 (2) For a feeder-pattern school for a low-performing
2 high school, these enhancements may include:
3 (a) Increased funding to expand special reading
4 instruction from grade levels 1-3 into grades 4-8.
5 (b) Enhanced instruction in mathematics and writing
6 skills.
7 (c) After-school programs to provide homework
8 assistance, recreational reading, or other activities that
9 will increase a student's association with adults or older
10 students as positive role models for learning.
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12 The Department of Education shall oversee any program of
13 curriculum enhancement for low-performing high schools and
14 their feeder-pattern schools and shall adopt measures of
15 productivity and accountability to judge the success of the
16 program. For instance, the department should assure that, in a
17 high school with such a program, a teacher in the core subject
18 areas does not have responsibility for more than 150 students
19 per day.
20 (3) The department may assist any school whose program
21 is not likely to produce an adequate return on the investment
22 provided in this act.
23 (4) Annually the department shall report to the
24 Legislature the number of programs implemented with funds
25 provided for this act, the types of assistance provided, and
26 the results of the productivity and accountability measures
27 established.
28 Section 4. The Department of Education shall evaluate
29 the ability of low-performing high schools and their
30 feeder-pattern schools adequately to counsel students who
31 would benefit from enrollment in honors courses, Advanced
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 Placement courses, dual enrollment courses, and the college
2 preparatory courses required for university admission to the
3 freshman class.
4 (1) Each school district that contains a
5 low-performing high school shall annually report to the
6 department the college preparatory, Advanced Placement,
7 honors, or dual enrollment courses completed by students who
8 are in the top 20 percent of each class. The department shall
9 analyze the reports and determine which districts require
10 intervention in the form of technical assistance or an
11 enhanced allocation to employ or contract for the services of
12 additional counselors.
13 (2) If a low-performing high school has a greater
14 ratio of students per counselor than another high school in
15 the district, the ratio must be lowered by employing
16 additional counselors. In a district with only one high
17 school, the comparison must be made with adjacent districts.
18 The ratio of students per counselor at a low-performing high
19 school may be no higher than the ratio at the highest
20 performing high school in the district or adjacent district.
21 (3) Beginning in the 2000-2001 school year, each
22 school district that contains a low-performing high school
23 shall compute and report to the Department of Education the
24 following accountability measures related to college
25 preparatory courses:
26 (a) The percent increase in the numbers of guidance
27 counselors at the middle and high school level who completed a
28 seminar on advising for college.
29 (b) The percent increase in the numbers of students in
30 grades 6-12 who received a college-preparation curriculum
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1 audit that also included a 7-year plan for courses needed to
2 satisfy the 19-credit admission standard.
3 (c) The number of low-performing high schools and
4 their feeder-pattern schools that employ at least one
5 instructional coach per 500 students.
6 (d) A comparison of students in low-achieving high
7 schools and their feeder-pattern schools with schools of
8 comparable size that earned a grade of "A." The comparison
9 shall include the percent change (increase or decrease) in the
10 gap between students at each type of school who:
11 1. Enroll in and complete with a grade of "C" or
12 better gatekeeper courses by grade level. Gatekeeper courses
13 include pre-algebra in grade 8 and English, mathematics,
14 science, social studies, and foreign language in each of
15 grades 6 through 12.
16 2. Enroll in and complete with a grade of "C" or
17 better in honors, Advanced Placement, and dual enrollment
18 courses.
19 3. Earn college credit by passing a dual enrollment
20 course or passing an Advanced Placement test with a score of 3
21 or better.
22 Section 5. (1) The Legislature intends to assist
23 students whose initial sitting for the Preliminary Scholastic
24 Assessment Test provides evidence of poor test-taking skills.
25 (a) The Department of Education and each school
26 district shall use PSAT scores of students in low-performing
27 high schools to adopt priorities for identifying students who
28 could most benefit from a course designed to prepare students
29 for taking the Scholastic Assessment Test of the College
30 Entrance Examination or an equivalent test in the American
31 College Testing Program.
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1 (b) The department may adopt rules or policies to
2 select students for a test-preparation program, and the
3 policies may include financial need, teacher recommendations,
4 or other measures of the student's ability to benefit.
5 (2) If funded in the annual General Appropriations
6 Act, the department shall develop a test-preparation program
7 or initiate a grant process to contract with a provider of
8 such programs. If the department selects a private provider or
9 providers, the selection must be based upon evidence of
10 previous success, especially with low-achieving students. The
11 funds provided must be allocated to school districts and used
12 to provide test preparation courses to students who attend
13 low-performing high schools and whose scores on the PSAT
14 indicate that they could benefit from such preparation.
15 Section 6. Any self-contained public education program
16 located within a low-performing high school is defined as a
17 separate school for purposes of implementing the "Talented
18 Twenty Percent" component of the state's policy for university
19 admissions. An open-enrollment magnet program is, therefore, a
20 school for purposes of this act and the identification of the
21 "Talented Twenty Percent." Such a program must determine its
22 top-ranked twenty percent in each graduating class, and the
23 high school that contains the program shall separately
24 identify its top-ranked graduates. Both groups of graduates
25 are eligible for any benefits provided by policy, rule, or law
26 because of their standing.
27 Section 7. The Legislature intends to improve the
28 ability of public universities to expand undergraduate student
29 recruitment, retention, and support services provided to
30 students from low-performing high schools.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 (1) If funded in the annual General Appropriations
2 Act, each university that enrolls students from low-performing
3 high schools because of the "Talented Twenty Percent"
4 admissions policy shall develop student services to assist
5 them. These services may include admitting students early for
6 orientation programs, providing mentors or additional
7 opportunities for personal advisement, and conducting meetings
8 to identify additional opportunities for assistance.
9 (2) Any funds provided for this purpose must be used
10 to enhance any similar program funded by the federal
11 government or the university and must address the unique needs
12 of students admitted because of the policy who would not have
13 met the admissions standards prior to implementation of the
14 policy.
15 Section 8. The Legislature intends to provide waivers
16 of matriculation fees for Florida residents who begin a
17 post-baccalaureate degree program within a public state
18 university within 2 years after graduation from a Florida
19 public or independent university and who received a Pell Grant
20 or a subsidized Stafford Loan as an undergraduate student.
21 (1) Priority for the first 3 years of the fee waiver
22 program must be for students who also graduated from a high
23 school that was low-performing either when the student
24 graduated from high school or when the student graduated from
25 college.
26 (2) If funded in the annual General Appropriations
27 Act, the fee waivers must be distributed to students
28 identified by the university in which the student wishes to
29 enroll.
30 (3) The Department of Education shall adopt rules for
31 allocating an equitable number of fee waivers to each
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 university. If funds are not adequate to provide fee waivers
2 to each student whose university makes a request on his or her
3 behalf, the university shall base the selection of students to
4 receive the waivers upon considerations that include the
5 student's need and the low performance of the student's high
6 school.
7 Section 9. The Legislature intends to provide
8 Law-School-Admission-Test-preparation courses to aspiring
9 law-school students who graduate from a state university and
10 are also graduates of a low-performing high school.
11 (1) If funds are provided for this program in the
12 General Appropriations Act, each university shall identify and
13 inform eligible students of this opportunity. Eligible
14 students are students in each incoming group of admissions and
15 in each graduating class who are graduates of a low-performing
16 high school.
17 (2) First priority for a free course is for students
18 who enrolled in the university as freshmen, with other
19 graduates included if funds are available.
20 (3) A student is eligible if his or her former high
21 school was low-performing either in the year the student
22 graduated from high school or in the year the student
23 graduated from college. However, a student who graduates from
24 the university more than 6 years after graduation from high
25 school is eligible only if his or her high school was
26 low-performing in the year of the student's graduation from
27 high school.
28 Section 10. If a school graded "D" or "F" in one year
29 earns a higher grade designation in the subsequent year, each
30 classroom teacher assigned to that school in the second year,
31 including a teacher who was assigned to the school during both
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 2364
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1 years, is eligible for a salary bonus of $5,000, if funded in
2 the annual General Appropriations Act.
3 Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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6 SENATE SUMMARY
7 Creates the "Education Investment Act of 2000." Provides
legislative intent. Provides for programs and fee waivers
8 for students of certain schools. (See bill for details.)
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