House approves universal choice and school board term limits bills, sex ed and more

House chooses choice: Every K-12 student in the state would be eligible for a nearly $8,000 scholarship from the state to attend a private school under a bill overwhelmingly approved Friday by members of the House. H.B. 1 also would extend scholarships to home-schooled students, who were previously ineligible, require the state to create an online portal to help parents sort through choice options, and have the Florida Board of Education develop recommendations for the governor and Legislature to reduce “regulation of public schools.” The companion Senate bill is up for a vote in the full chamber, possibly this week. Gov. Ron DeSantis has said he favors expanding vouchers, but also has expressed some reservations about making every K-12 student eligible. “If you have a family that (has a) very high income, they already have school choice,” he recently said. “They don’t necessarily need to be eligible for the program.” The House projects its bill will cost $209 million, and the Senate’s estimate is $646 million. But critics think the costs will run into the billions. News Service of FloridaPolitico FloridaUSA Today Florida NetworkOrlando SentinelFlorida PhoenixFlorida PoliticsWPTV. WFSU.

Also in the Legislature: The full House also overwhelmingly approved two other bills Friday. H.B. 477 would ask voters to amend the state constitution by limiting school board members to eight years in office. If approved by 60 percent of voters on the 2024 ballot, it would take effect in 2026. H.B. 225 would put Gov. DeSantis in charge of appointing the board members of the Florida High School Athletic Association, which oversees school sports in grades 6-12. It would also allow schools to make 2 minutes of “opening remarks” before sporting events, including prayers, and public schools to join organizations other than the FHSAA. Politico FloridaNews Service of FloridaFlorida Senate.

Around the state: Broward school board members are being asked to consider significant changes to the district’s sexual education curriculum, New College of Florida trustees can use $200,000 in state money to help pay newly named interim president Richard Corcoran’s $265,000 salary through June but still hasn’t announced how it will pay the remaining $699,000 of his annual contract, a group out of Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Education has failed to reply to eight requests for public records since last May, and an appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to reject a lawsuit against the Sarasota County School Board over the alleged sexual abuse of a student by a district employee. Here are details about those stories and others from the state’s districts, private schools, and colleges and universities:

Broward: School board members are being asked to consider changing the now-comprehensive sexual education curriculum into one that emphasizes abstinence. Chapters about birth control, the reproductive system, human anatomy and LGBTQ people would be taken out of most sex ed lesson plans, according to a draft memo called “Family Life and Human Sexuality Curriculum Matrix of Revisions 2022-2023.” Most drawings of the human body would be removed. Mentions of HIV and AIDS, now introduced in 2nd grade, would be delayed until students reach 7th grade, and 4th-grade discussions about puberty and menstruation wouldn’t happen until 6th grade. District officials have said little about the changes, but others are critical. “To call these revisions would be kind. Butchering would be more like it,” said Takeata King Pang, executive director of Women’s Foundation of Florida. “They took one of the most comprehensive and medically accurate curriculums in the state and in the country, and they’ve gone so far backwards.” Sun-Sentinel.

Orange: The NAACP and the American Federation of Teachers union collaborated Saturday on a town hall meeting to protest new education laws in the state. “As opposed to being a state where wokeness went to die, it turned into the state where common sense went to die,” said Leon Russell, chair of the NAACP board of directors. “It’s quite disturbing,” said Harold Ford, an elementary school teacher. “Slaves weren’t allowed to read, and now children aren’t allowed to read about slaves.” WFTV.

Duval: The district is in the middle of an initiative, in partnership with the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, to recruit, hire and retain 1,000 male teachers by 2025 to better reflect the student enrollment. While just one-third of the district’s students are white, two-thirds of the teachers are, according to district data. WJXT.

Sarasota: An appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to reject a lawsuit against the school board over the alleged sexual abuse of a student by a district employee. The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the suit was filed too late. The state’s sovereign immunity law requires cases to be filed no later than four years after the incident in question. But the alleged abuse happened during the 2010-2011 school year, and the plaintiff filed the case in 2016. News Service of Florida.

Colleges and universities: New College of Florida trustees can use $200,000 in state money to help pay newly named interim president Richard Corcoran’s salary through June, but still hasn’t announced how it will pay the remaining $699,000 of his annual contract. Tampa Bay Times. Several large donors to New College said they won’t be giving further to the school despite Corcoran’s recent letter appealing for help. “We encourage interim president Corcoran to hear the negative feedback reflected by the $29 million drop in donations as an invitation to learn, to engage in critical thinking, and to question current assumptions – the same way students do as part of their New College of Florida liberal arts education,” alumnus and former trustee Brian Cody wrote in an open letter to Corcoran. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Jaffus Hardrick, who has been president of Florida Memorial University since 2019, was formally inaugurated Friday. The ceremony had been on hold because of the pandemic and an ensuing economic crisis that threatened the school’s accreditation. Miami Herald. Florida A&M University students say they’re worried about the state targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Tampa Bay Times. University of Central Florida professor Charles Negy has filed a lawsuit against the school for unsuccessfully trying to fire him after he said on social media that black people are not systemically oppressed in the United States. Florida Politics.

Suit targets FDOE: The American Oversight group, out of Washington, D.C., has filed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Education has failed to reply to eight requests for public records since last May. The records relate to a state law restricting the way race-related issues can be taught in classrooms and a state decision this year to reject a proposed Advanced Placement African-American studies course. WUSF. News Service of Florida.

Around the nation: Legislators in at least a dozen states have introduced bills that would prohibit public universities from funding diversity, equity and inclusion programs and requiring commitments to diversity in statements during hiring. Politico.

Opinions on schools: Florida lawmakers are about to take the biggest educational gamble in American history — financed with your tax dollars. They want to offer every child in Florida the chance to use publicly funded vouchers at private schools that have virtually no regulation and offer no guarantee that the students will get educated. Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel. You could have successfully completed drug rehabilitation or flown a spacecraft to Venus in less time than it has taken Brevard Public Schools to complete its investigation into whether school board member Gene Trent lied about being arrested on his employment application. John A. Torres, Florida Today. If we’re interested in following the founders’ advice about the best way to run a government, we should be looking at ways to make our political system less partisan, not more. TCPalm. What’s really needed in schools is a character building program for the adults who grew up without one or the values it might have instilled. They could benefit from learning that being a decent human being should come first, even before political activism. Carrie Seidman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune. History and common sense show us that diversity, equity and inclusion in society don’t happen without programs that include all people in the opportunities of higher education. Brook J. Sadler, Tampa Bay Times.


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BY NextSteps staff