Florida Senate - 2016                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for HB 7043
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Senator Bullard moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (420294) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 761 - 817
    5  and insert:
    6         (1) The Legislature recognizes that, second only to
    7  parents, instructional personnel play the most critical role
    8  within schools in preparing students to achieve a high level of
    9  academic performance. The Legislature further recognizes that
   10  research has linked student outcomes to an instructor’s own
   11  academic achievement. Therefore, it is the intent of the
   12  Legislature to designate instructional personnel who have
   13  achieved high academic standards during their own education as
   14  Florida’s best and brightest teacher scholars.
   15         (2) There is created the Florida Best and Brightest Teacher
   16  Scholarship Program to be administered by the Department of
   17  Education. The scholarship program shall provide categorical
   18  funding for scholarships to be awarded to instructional
   19  personnel, as defined in s. 1012.01(2), who have demonstrated a
   20  high level of academic achievement.
   21         (3)(a) To be eligible for a scholarship, an instructor must
   22  have achieved a composite score at or above the 80th percentile
   23  on either the SAT or the ACT based on the National Percentile
   24  Ranks in effect when the instructor took the assessment and have
   25  been evaluated as highly effective pursuant to s. 1012.34 in the
   26  school year immediately preceding the year in which the
   27  scholarship will be awarded, unless the instructor is newly
   28  hired by the district school board and has not been evaluated
   29  pursuant to s. 1012.34.
   30         (b) In order to demonstrate eligibility for an award, an
   31  eligible instructor must submit to the school district, no later
   32  than November 1, an official record of his or her SAT or ACT
   33  score demonstrating that the instructor scored at or above the
   34  80th percentile based on the National Percentile Ranks in effect
   35  when the instructor took the assessment. Once an instructor is
   36  deemed eligible by the school district, including instructors
   37  deemed eligible in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the instructor
   38  shall remain eligible as long as he or she remains employed by
   39  the school district as an instructor at the time of the award
   40  and receives an annual performance evaluation rating of highly
   41  effective pursuant to s. 1012.34.
   42         (4) Annually, by December 1, each school district shall
   43  submit to the department the number of eligible instructional
   44  personnel who qualify for the scholarship.
   45         (5) Annually, by February 1, the department shall disburse
   46  scholarship funds to each school district for each eligible
   47  instructor to receive a scholarship as provided in the General
   48  Appropriations Act. The amount disbursed shall include a
   49  scholarship award of $1,000, from the total amount of funds
   50  appropriated, for each eligible instructor in a Title I school.
   51  Of the remaining funds, a scholarship in the amount provided in
   52  the General Appropriations Act shall be awarded to every
   53  eligible instructor, including those in Title I schools. If the
   54  number of eligible instructional personnel exceeds the total
   55  appropriation authorized in the General Appropriations Act, the
   56  department shall prorate the per-teacher scholarship amount.
   57         (6) Annually, by April 1, each school district shall award
   58  the scholarship to each eligible instructor.
   59         (7) For purposes of this section, the term “school
   60  district” includes the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind
   61  and charter school governing boards.
   62  
   63  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   64  And the title is amended as follows:
   65         Delete line 1615
   66  and insert:
   67         submit the number of eligible instructional personnel
   68         to the