12/19/18
Economic/Demographic/Research (EDR) staff today released their December 14th estimating conference results on student enrollment Significantly, the new projections show a 17,000 FTE drop from what was expected last August. Attached is the summary of the conference. The full conference papers can be found at this link. one factor was the expectation of an influx of students from Hurricane-ravaged areas such as Puerto Rico did not materialize. The projections also include the impact of the corporate income tax scholarships and the new Hope Scholarship, both showing decreases in enrollment projections. The results leave enrollment growth under 8,000 new students this year, the smallest increase since 2008. A little under 12,000 additional students are projected for next year.
As with the revenue estimates yesterday, these figures will serve as baseline data in Gov-Elect Ron DeSantis' budget recommendations for FY20. The estimates also include a district-by-district breakdown over the next few years, linked here.
Meanwhile, The Desantis Education/Workforce Transition committee met by conference call today with no decisions being made, but discussion of varying opinions related to teacher salaries, the 80% expenditure requirement that Gov-Elect Desantis has as a priority wherein school districts must spend at least 80% of FEFP funds in the classroom (all acknowledged the need for agreement as to what constitutes classroom dollars--a similar law was implemented at 65% in the mid-2000's which later found nearly every district met that level), and some discussion on level of education funding. The group also touched on higher education transparency. Again, no consensus or decisions made.
The group is set to meet next by conference call on Friday, December 28th to discuss school/parent choice and workforce education. We'll provide the call-in information once it is posted.
As with the revenue estimates yesterday, these figures will serve as baseline data in Gov-Elect Ron DeSantis' budget recommendations for FY20. The estimates also include a district-by-district breakdown over the next few years, linked here.
Meanwhile, The Desantis Education/Workforce Transition committee met by conference call today with no decisions being made, but discussion of varying opinions related to teacher salaries, the 80% expenditure requirement that Gov-Elect Desantis has as a priority wherein school districts must spend at least 80% of FEFP funds in the classroom (all acknowledged the need for agreement as to what constitutes classroom dollars--a similar law was implemented at 65% in the mid-2000's which later found nearly every district met that level), and some discussion on level of education funding. The group also touched on higher education transparency. Again, no consensus or decisions made.
The group is set to meet next by conference call on Friday, December 28th to discuss school/parent choice and workforce education. We'll provide the call-in information once it is posted.
12/18/18
State
Florida revenues moved from a slight downward trend last August to an increase of nearly $842 million now projected over the next two year period over previous projections. In simple terms, the projected increase for this current year is up by $461.5 million over earlier projections and about $380.5 million for FY20. For FY20, it means total nw operating reveine of about $2.2 Billion of which about $1.6B is recurring, up from the $1.2B projected in August. Today's General Revenue estimating results by House, Senate and Executive economists who comprise the Economic, Demographic and Research (EDR) conference will be welcome news for Gov.-Elect Ron DeSantis as these figures will be what he will base his FY20 budget recommendations to the Legislature next month or early February.
The Executive Summary and Financial Outlook papers are attached. Further back-up information is available at the EDR website, linked here, These are the data panels also studied by school district finance officers as part of the current and following year revenue pictures for schools. For those wishing to delve into the weeds, the three segments of today's GR conference are available by vodcast on The Florida Channel, linked here. Part 3 which lasts 10 minutes is the final summary.
We do not expect the EDR conference to meet again on general revenue until sometime next March at which time the House and Senate budget writers will use those updated figures for their FY20 spending plans.
Federal
US-Ed released the Federal Commission on School Safety final report that contains primarily 19 sections of recommendations ("best practices" in many cases) for states and school districts to follow or consider. The Commission was formed at the direction of President Trump following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings last February 14th. The Commission consisted of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the Attorney General's office, signed off by Acting AG Matthew Whitaker. The press release is linked here.
The 177-page report does not include any substantive Congressional recommendations or funding requests. It does suggest a federal rule change related to student discipline. The report can be downloaded and read here. The sections reviewed by the four federal departments are grouped into the following categories:
PREVENT
PROTECT & MITIGATE
RESPOND & RECOVER
Appendix A of the report, starting on page 158, lists the federal research used as bases for many of the recommendations.
Florida revenues moved from a slight downward trend last August to an increase of nearly $842 million now projected over the next two year period over previous projections. In simple terms, the projected increase for this current year is up by $461.5 million over earlier projections and about $380.5 million for FY20. For FY20, it means total nw operating reveine of about $2.2 Billion of which about $1.6B is recurring, up from the $1.2B projected in August. Today's General Revenue estimating results by House, Senate and Executive economists who comprise the Economic, Demographic and Research (EDR) conference will be welcome news for Gov.-Elect Ron DeSantis as these figures will be what he will base his FY20 budget recommendations to the Legislature next month or early February.
The Executive Summary and Financial Outlook papers are attached. Further back-up information is available at the EDR website, linked here, These are the data panels also studied by school district finance officers as part of the current and following year revenue pictures for schools. For those wishing to delve into the weeds, the three segments of today's GR conference are available by vodcast on The Florida Channel, linked here. Part 3 which lasts 10 minutes is the final summary.
We do not expect the EDR conference to meet again on general revenue until sometime next March at which time the House and Senate budget writers will use those updated figures for their FY20 spending plans.
Federal
US-Ed released the Federal Commission on School Safety final report that contains primarily 19 sections of recommendations ("best practices" in many cases) for states and school districts to follow or consider. The Commission was formed at the direction of President Trump following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings last February 14th. The Commission consisted of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the Attorney General's office, signed off by Acting AG Matthew Whitaker. The press release is linked here.
The 177-page report does not include any substantive Congressional recommendations or funding requests. It does suggest a federal rule change related to student discipline. The report can be downloaded and read here. The sections reviewed by the four federal departments are grouped into the following categories:
PREVENT
- Character Development and a Culture of Connectedness
- Cyberbullying and School Safety
- Curating a Healthier and Safer Approach: Issues of Mental Health and Counseling for Our Young
- Integrating Mental Health, Primary Care, Family Services, and Court-Ordered Treatment
- Using Suspicious Activity Reporting and Threat Assessments to Enhance School Safety
- Effects of Press Coverage of Mass Shootings
- Violent Entertainment and Rating Systems
- The Obama Administration's "Rethink School Discipline" Guidance
- The Effectiveness and Appropriateness of Psychotropic Medication for Treatment of Troubled Youth
- The Efficacy of Age Restrictions for Firearm Purchases
- Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws
- Improvements to the FBI's Public Access Line
PROTECT & MITIGATE
- Training School Personnel to Help Ensure Student Safety
- Emergency and Crisis Training for Law Enforcement
- The Transition of Military Veterans and Retired Law Enforcement Officials into New Careers in Education
- Best Practices for School Building Security
- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Other Statutory and Regulatory Privacy Protections
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Other Statutory and Regulatory Privacy Protections
RESPOND & RECOVER
- Active Shooter Preparedness and Mitigation
Appendix A of the report, starting on page 158, lists the federal research used as bases for many of the recommendations.
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12/17/18
The State Board of Education unanimously approved former House Speaker Richard Corcoran to succeed Pam Stewart as Commissioner. The appointment takes effect next month, but no specific date was announced pending contract negotiations that will be conducted by Board Chair Marva Johnson.
Corcoran's name had been rumored for the post since the November election. He is the second Florida Legislator to be named Commissioner after voters approved a 1998 constitutional amendment for an appointed state board and commissioner. The SBE named former State Senator Jim Horne as its first appointed commissioner in 2003. (Note: the State Board has full flexibility in how they appoint a commissioner. In past years there has been a mixture of searches and direct appointments without a search).
Speaker Corcoran's opening comments and the question/answer period give a clear picture of his goals, concerns and background. All should view this vodcast linked here. His appearance and subsequent questions and comments begin about 1:07:23 (one hour, seven minutes, 23 seconds) into the vodcast following several individuals of the public who spoke on his pending appointment. Following the SBE meeting, the former House Speaker held an 7 minute press op that provides a few more details. The link is here. I highly recommend you take the time to see the discussion for yourself in addition to hearing or reading any published news reports.
The Board also recognized Commissioner Pam Stewart who is leaving next month after 39 years in education; Deputy Commissioner Linda Champion who is retiring December 31st after 25 years in the DOE and Herschel Lyons, Chancellor of K-12 Public Schools, who is retiring January 4th.
The State Board today also took action on approval of school turnaround plans in Marion, Hillsborough and Broward counties. The full SBE agenda is here. Their next meeting will be January 16th in Pensacola.
Corcoran's name had been rumored for the post since the November election. He is the second Florida Legislator to be named Commissioner after voters approved a 1998 constitutional amendment for an appointed state board and commissioner. The SBE named former State Senator Jim Horne as its first appointed commissioner in 2003. (Note: the State Board has full flexibility in how they appoint a commissioner. In past years there has been a mixture of searches and direct appointments without a search).
Speaker Corcoran's opening comments and the question/answer period give a clear picture of his goals, concerns and background. All should view this vodcast linked here. His appearance and subsequent questions and comments begin about 1:07:23 (one hour, seven minutes, 23 seconds) into the vodcast following several individuals of the public who spoke on his pending appointment. Following the SBE meeting, the former House Speaker held an 7 minute press op that provides a few more details. The link is here. I highly recommend you take the time to see the discussion for yourself in addition to hearing or reading any published news reports.
The Board also recognized Commissioner Pam Stewart who is leaving next month after 39 years in education; Deputy Commissioner Linda Champion who is retiring December 31st after 25 years in the DOE and Herschel Lyons, Chancellor of K-12 Public Schools, who is retiring January 4th.
The State Board today also took action on approval of school turnaround plans in Marion, Hillsborough and Broward counties. The full SBE agenda is here. Their next meeting will be January 16th in Pensacola.
12/14/18
As projected last night, House speaker Jose Oliva has released subcommittee chairs and committee membership today for 2019. All committees were announced except Economic Affairs.
Two files are attached: one organized by committee and the other organized by member.
Subcommittee chairs of note include Byron Donalds--House PreK-12 Quality; Chris Latvala--Prek-12 Appropriations; Ralph Massullo, Jr.--Prek-12 Innovation; Cord Byrd--Higher Education and Career Readiness; and Randy Fine--Higher Education Appropriations (including postsecondary workforce ed). All committees are slated to meet during Jan. 7-9.
Ron DeSantis and Jeanette Nunez will be sworn in at 12 noon as Governor and Lt. Governor, Respectively, on January 8th. Gov.-Elect DeSantis' transition committees have posted their meeting times for next week, all by conference call-in. The schedule is attached. Also attached is today's presser from his office announcing additional key administrative appointments that will be affective on January 8th after the swearing in.
And...the first draft of the 2019 Congressional calendar has been put together courtesy of Roll Call. It is attached for your reference. Both chambers convene the 116th Congress on January 3rd.
Two files are attached: one organized by committee and the other organized by member.
Subcommittee chairs of note include Byron Donalds--House PreK-12 Quality; Chris Latvala--Prek-12 Appropriations; Ralph Massullo, Jr.--Prek-12 Innovation; Cord Byrd--Higher Education and Career Readiness; and Randy Fine--Higher Education Appropriations (including postsecondary workforce ed). All committees are slated to meet during Jan. 7-9.
Ron DeSantis and Jeanette Nunez will be sworn in at 12 noon as Governor and Lt. Governor, Respectively, on January 8th. Gov.-Elect DeSantis' transition committees have posted their meeting times for next week, all by conference call-in. The schedule is attached. Also attached is today's presser from his office announcing additional key administrative appointments that will be affective on January 8th after the swearing in.
And...the first draft of the 2019 Congressional calendar has been put together courtesy of Roll Call. It is attached for your reference. Both chambers convene the 116th Congress on January 3rd.
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12/13/18
Stoneman Douglas Safety Commission
Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission completed their first and foremost phase of their legislatively mandated mission today by preparing a full report and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by January 1st on last February's tragedy. Draft materials from meetings yesterday and today will be formatted into a final report. The shorter draft findings and recommendations can be viewed and downloaded here. The full 407-page draft report is linked here. The link to the main web page of the Commission is here.
Many recommendations pertain to "target-hardening" of school facilities, training, and interagency communications. Reported in the media is a recommendation, voted 13-1 yesterday, to allow volunteer teachers having appropriate training to be armed in their schools. You may recall this issue was widely debated last session. The final vote in SB7026 was to exclude regular classroom teachers (those teaching full-time classes), but allow those instructional personnel whose duties may be split between classes and other functions or positions such as counselors, coaches and library/media specialists.
The Commission has a five-year lifespan to look at school safety and security matters as may be assigned.
Legislative Committee Week
The House held a series of orientation sessions ranging from ethics to dealing with representative groups and content specific issues such as PreK-12 Education. The Three day "university" precedes naming of subcommittee chairs and committee membership which is expected as soon as tomorrow or into next week. The House will begin its committee meetings January 7-9.
Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations spent its time yesterday reviewing a revenue outlook for next year and FY21 from EDR coordinator Amy Baker. Chair Rob Bradley issues a cautionary note that given a projected minor slowdown in revenues, coupled with significant expenditures required for healthcare, new student enrollment and infrastructure repair/replacement from hurricanes Irma and Michael, the committee may have some tough decisions related to continuation of base-budget programs in the coming year. The picture presented by Baker is found here. She did note these figures will be reviewed next Tuesday during a day-long General Revenue Estimating Conference by economists from both chambers and the executive offices.
The Education Appropriations Subcommittee, now organized to include Prek-12 and higher education, had an overview by Staff Director Tim Elwell of education programs and funding. The backup information, linked here, is a good reference of FY19 programs and funding.
Transition Team for Education Meets
In preparation for the January 8th inauguration of Ron DeSantis as Governor and Jeannette Nunez as Lt. Governor, several content-area transition teams have been named and starting to meet. Members of the Education and Workforce team announced as noted in last Thursday's update, spent most of a two hour meeting today in Tallahassee hearing data presentations and discussing current results-oriented measurement and achievement. Co-chairs Mori Hosseini (U-F Board Chair) and Marva Johnson (SBE Chair) heard from individuals expressing views on how and what to measure and how, if so, should it be linked to resources (e.g. performance funding). The two-hour vodcast can be seen here. If you can find a two-hour or parts of two hours, this discussion is worthwhile to watch. The link to the main webpage is here.
The group will meet by conference call two times: Wednesday the 19th, 10am-12noon on accountability, transparency and efficiency and Friday the 28th, 1-3pm, on parental empowerment, school choice and workforce preparedness. The topics follow Gov.-elect DeSantis' education platform that he ran on, here.
Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission completed their first and foremost phase of their legislatively mandated mission today by preparing a full report and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by January 1st on last February's tragedy. Draft materials from meetings yesterday and today will be formatted into a final report. The shorter draft findings and recommendations can be viewed and downloaded here. The full 407-page draft report is linked here. The link to the main web page of the Commission is here.
Many recommendations pertain to "target-hardening" of school facilities, training, and interagency communications. Reported in the media is a recommendation, voted 13-1 yesterday, to allow volunteer teachers having appropriate training to be armed in their schools. You may recall this issue was widely debated last session. The final vote in SB7026 was to exclude regular classroom teachers (those teaching full-time classes), but allow those instructional personnel whose duties may be split between classes and other functions or positions such as counselors, coaches and library/media specialists.
The Commission has a five-year lifespan to look at school safety and security matters as may be assigned.
Legislative Committee Week
The House held a series of orientation sessions ranging from ethics to dealing with representative groups and content specific issues such as PreK-12 Education. The Three day "university" precedes naming of subcommittee chairs and committee membership which is expected as soon as tomorrow or into next week. The House will begin its committee meetings January 7-9.
Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations spent its time yesterday reviewing a revenue outlook for next year and FY21 from EDR coordinator Amy Baker. Chair Rob Bradley issues a cautionary note that given a projected minor slowdown in revenues, coupled with significant expenditures required for healthcare, new student enrollment and infrastructure repair/replacement from hurricanes Irma and Michael, the committee may have some tough decisions related to continuation of base-budget programs in the coming year. The picture presented by Baker is found here. She did note these figures will be reviewed next Tuesday during a day-long General Revenue Estimating Conference by economists from both chambers and the executive offices.
The Education Appropriations Subcommittee, now organized to include Prek-12 and higher education, had an overview by Staff Director Tim Elwell of education programs and funding. The backup information, linked here, is a good reference of FY19 programs and funding.
Transition Team for Education Meets
In preparation for the January 8th inauguration of Ron DeSantis as Governor and Jeannette Nunez as Lt. Governor, several content-area transition teams have been named and starting to meet. Members of the Education and Workforce team announced as noted in last Thursday's update, spent most of a two hour meeting today in Tallahassee hearing data presentations and discussing current results-oriented measurement and achievement. Co-chairs Mori Hosseini (U-F Board Chair) and Marva Johnson (SBE Chair) heard from individuals expressing views on how and what to measure and how, if so, should it be linked to resources (e.g. performance funding). The two-hour vodcast can be seen here. If you can find a two-hour or parts of two hours, this discussion is worthwhile to watch. The link to the main webpage is here.
The group will meet by conference call two times: Wednesday the 19th, 10am-12noon on accountability, transparency and efficiency and Friday the 28th, 1-3pm, on parental empowerment, school choice and workforce preparedness. The topics follow Gov.-elect DeSantis' education platform that he ran on, here.