HB 7029 Becomes Law

It's kind of like this  "One small step for man (and this one individual conservative school board member), one giant leap for mankind (and conservative school board members throughout Florida!)


That is how huge this is to me......

HB 7029: Inside the Most Talked About Education Legislation in Florida for 2016

legislation that is built on multiple pieces of other related bills at the end of session is called  a "Train"

Everyone connected to education has something to say about HB 7029, the massive, omnibus education legislation that passed the House and Senate on the last day of this year's legislative session.  There are a lot of member priorities tucked into the law, as many bills that may not have passed on their own were added to the bill late in the game. That's how the sausage comes out of the hopper, that is how many bills end up becoming laws.

Of course I am very pleased with the membership association language that was included--this was absolutely necessary and long overdue.  Conservative school board members should not be forced to join high-priced,  taxpayer-funded membership associations that spend this money unwisely on needless litigation against the Governor and the Legislature.  We should have always enjoyed, as individually elected constitutional offices, choice in advocacy.   And now we do!

But many other aspects of the bill are equally appealing to reform-minded officials like me, such as the expansion of school choice opportunities that empowers students and families, school board member campus visits and inspections of schools language, classroom teacher transfer language that empowers parents, immediate athletic eligibility for students of military families that transfer into a Florida public schools, construction spending caps that force economy and efficiency for capital spending projects, and much, much more.

Of course, there are liberals and other guardians of the status-quo that think Governor Scott should veto HB 7029.  They don't like the way it was passed.  Thankfully,  most observers do not believe this bill will be vetoed.

Ironic how liberals that benefit tremendously from massive, pork-laden omnibus spending packages rammed through Congress in DC decry the method in which HB 7029 was passed through the Florida Legislature.  Yes, these liberals and other status quo guardians have NO PROBLEM with Harry Reid and his minions utilizing dirty tricks and opaque Senate rules to ram-rod  OBAMACARE through the Congress in secrecy with no open testimony or public scrutiny and without A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTE.  Yes, DC politics, when liberals drive the train and benefit from the process, is completely acceptable.  Yet a large bill that PASSED in Florida with large margins by Republicans and many Democratic supporters---HB 7029-- is somehow "unacceptable."

As Spock from Star Trek might comment on this rank hypocrisy  "Fascinating."

But I digress...

Our district's legislative affairs representative, Mixon and Associates, put together a very nice recap of all the items contained in HB 7029, which I will post below.  Long read, but lots of good information.

HB 7029: School Choice
Please note that the summary below is not in the order in which these elements are contained in the bill, rather they are grouped together by topic in order to aid in the dissemination of information to the staff responsible for implementation. Additionally, unless otherwise noted in this summary, the elements of the bill will take effect on July 1, 2016.
Membership Associations – bill lines 348-368
 Mandates that dues paid to a membership association which are paid with public funds must be assessed for each elected or appointed public officer and may be paid to a membership association.
 Requires that if a public officer elects not to join the membership association, the dues assessed to that public officer may not be paid to the membership association.
School Board Member Duties – bill lines 369-378
 Authorizes school board members to visit schools.
Educational Choice – bill lines 418-612, 1770-1806
 Authorizes parents to seek any public educational choice options for their children throughout the state.
 States that in addition to other choice programs, options for students also includes CAPE digital tools, CAPE industry certifications and collegiate high school programs.

HB 7029 Is Enrolled

The engrossed, enrolled version of the most talked-about education related legislation for 2016 is now available.  This bill, HB 7029,  can be viewed/downloaded here.

As I have discussed frequently on this blog, this bill is a game-changer for conservative school board members statewide, and eventually it will be for members nationwide as well.

And the vote and the events from Tuesday Night's Escambia County School Board meeting will reverberate far and wide in the struggle for individual, duly elected conservative school board members to choose whom it is (if anyone) that will receive their share of taxpayer funded dues memberships for advocacy/training/professional development.

Next up, after the Governor signs the bill, the implementation of the law will be huge.  I can't wait for July 1st!

(Pages 14- 15 of this 160 page bill are the critical parts of this pending law as it pertains to taxpayer funded membership dues)

Escambia County School Board Deducts one Member's Share from FSBA Dues Payment for 2016-2017

....And although the discussion was intense and it ended with a substitute motion that squeaked by and barely passed 3-2--at the end of the day the desired result, the one that comports with pending legislation, was reached in my opinion.

 For the first time in the recorded history of the Escambia County School Board, so far as I can tell, the Escambia County School Board will not be sending their full dues membership payment in to the Florida School Boards Association.

As a result of a passionate discussion (see the debate under VB 2A3 "Membership Dues Assessment from the Florida School Boards Association", within this video ) Patty Hightower made the motion that my individual portion ($4,353.20) of the exorbitant yearly FSBA dues $21,766 be held aside for

Here's Why I Disagree With Expending $21,766 of Taxpayer Dollars for Dues

Although I appreciate the coverage this issue received in today’s Pensacola News Journal, there are numerous, important reasons why I do not want to be associated with the FSBA anymore.  There are numerous reasons why this year we need to wait before sending $21,766.00 in dues payments to FSBA ---via a simple “majority rules” vote---- three and on-half months early.

But first let’s start with my continuing dissatisfaction with FSBA.

Early on in my school board tenure, I attended most of their functions.  Problem for me was, the events were out of town, expensive, and frankly not really beneficial.  Nevertheless, I continued to participate in FSBA functions such as platform development and as the legislative liaison for Escambia County for two years.

Problem was, none of the fiscally conservative, pro-student, pro-school choice, pro-parent positions many board members put forth (myself included) ever made it on to FSBA’s platform.

Minority voices within FSBA (Conservatives) were not being heard, they were being drowned out.

FSBA’s platform essentially mirrored the platform positions of the entrenched special interests, unions, and the “Educrats”—aka the guardians of the status quo.

So I stopped attending the high-priced junkets to Orlando and Tampa to save taxpayer dollars.  I started doing my own research, independently working directly with legislators---because as an individual board member representing and elected by a conservative single member district, I felt this was my duty to my constituency.

But in order to be congenial with the other board members and at their request—I attended the FSBA Master Board training in 2009-2010, at a cost of thousands of dollars, and became “Master Board Trained.”

But I felt the lion’s share of the training was weak, and most of what they imparted was common-sense, garden variety information most of us already knew.

Fast Forward to 2012:  I’m the vice chairman of the Escambia County School Board, and I am with then Board Chair Patty Hightower in the office of one of the most powerful and well-respected members of the Florida Senate, discussing pending education legislation.  “Of all the groups that come here to Tallahassee to lobby us, out of all of these groups, I can think of none that is more ineffective than FSBA” stated this leader.   And the conversation devolved from there…but in a nutshell….his issue was my issue.  FSBA was taking adversarial stances against the legislators and 

HB 7029 Passes, With Many Great Education-Related Amendments Added

At the last day of the session it happened.  HB 7029, a massive bill that swallowed up many others in the waning days of the session passed both houses.  Next up, the Governor's desk for his signature.  Upon passage of this bill, The Florida Coalition of School Board Members President, Erika Donalds,  School Board Member from Collier County, issued the following statement:

Florida Coalition of School Board Members Statement on Education Bill HB 7029 & Amendments

The Florida Coalition of School Board Members is pleased to see initiatives from several of the bills we supported this session now added to HB 7029 passed through the Senate and House, including:

 

·         Universal Public Choice/Open Enrollment: Parents should have the right to select the educational environment that works best for their students and their family. We applaud the legislature’s continuous efforts to eliminate “zip code” from the criteria under which a student is determined to receive the best education possible.

·         School Choice: As strong supporters of parental choice and charter schools, we welcome greater accountability in the way our public charter schools are approved and operate. These measures will result in higher quality charter options for Florida’s families.

·         Enforcement of state mandated construction spending cap: The state’s per-student construction spending cap helps local school board members to ensure that district administrators do not, as they have in the past, overspend on building costs. This will allow for more efficient use of capital dollars for the maximum benefit to Florida’s students.

·         Local Control: FCSBM strongly supports the ability of individual School Board Members to choose which, if any, membership association to which they will belong. That this somehow “directs money to the Coalition” is wrong-headed. It provides the opportunity to choose. Many members will opt to keep their resources within the district, at work in the classroom. There are several school board associations in the State of Florida to which this bill applies. This does not steer funding to any one of them in particular. It does, however, break up the monopoly held by one group by challenging the assumption that they are automatically entitled to almost $2,000,000 in annual funding by Florida’s taxpayers. Competition is good - it results in higher quality services at a lower cost.

We are proud to see this very good education policy found in HB 7029 and to have championed nearly all of the items contained therein. When passed, it will move Florida in the direction of being a national leader in education by enhancing parental choice, school accountability, and local control through our duly elected School Board Members.