Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, has expressed support for the recent signing of House Bills 1105 and 1255 by Governor Ron DeSantis. The bills align with several priorities of the Foundation during this legislative session.
“These bills include student-centered policy priorities that will improve education in Florida and address many issues, including the challenges charter and private schools face as they seek to serve students across the state," Levesque stated.
A key feature of these bills is the expansion of Florida's distraction-free learning law, which aims to create a more focused educational environment by minimizing cell phone distractions for over 1.8 million students starting this fall.
Levesque also commended various lawmakers: “We applaud Gov. DeSantis for signing these policies into law and thank Reps. Jennifer Canady, Demi Busatta, Jennifer Kincart-Jonsson, Dana Trabulsy and Sens. Danny Burgess and Alexis Calatayud for their work on these priorities.”
House Bill 1105 includes measures such as expanding development options for private schools in specific counties and broadening the state's distraction-free learning law from kindergarten through eighth grade. It also initiates a pilot program in high schools across six districts. Additionally, it mandates collaboration between the Department of Education and the Center for Students with Unique Abilities to establish a workforce credential program tailored for students with Autism.
The bill further modifies the charter school conversion process by requiring only a favorable vote from 50% of parents at a school to begin conversion. Municipalities are permitted to apply to convert public schools into "job engine" charter schools focusing on career and technical education. Charter schools are also given access to workforce training grants if they offer programs linked to high-value credentials.
House Bill 1255 requires districts to prioritize placing highly effective teachers in grades K-2 within their reading plans. It enhances reading interventions by mandating instructional personnel have either a literacy microcredential or an endorsement in reading.
Financial literacy education is expanded under HB 1255, necessitating that students learn about postsecondary education costs alongside available scholarships, grants, and loans. Improvements in charter school regulations are also included: prohibiting local governing bodies from imposing building or operational requirements affecting student capacity or hours; preventing non-uniform zoning requirements; ensuring swift approval processes for charter school development applications meeting legal standards.