Huge Committee Day Yesterday in Tallahassee for Membership Association Bills

The Florida Coalition of School Board Members had an excellent day in Tallahassee yesterday.  Members of the coalition made their presence felt in the House Education Subcommittee and in the Senate K-12 Education committee.  As a result of some diligent effort by various members of both chambers of the legislature, as well as some discussions individual school board members from our coalition have had with legislators face to face, the membership association bills  (HB 1155 and SB 1426 ) that we all strongly support made their way favorably through both committee stops.  In the House, 1155 moved favorably through the committee by a 10-2 margin.

In the Senate, the vote was a bit more precarious, with 1426  moving favorably through the committee by a 5-4 vote.  Former Senate President Don Gaetz made a rousing endorsement for the bill, the reasoning behind the need for such a bill, and why he was proud to be the bill's co-sponsor ( minute 85:30 of this video )---- explaining this all to his colleagues just prior to the vote.

Erika Donalds, the current president of the Coalition, gave her testimony before the committee at minute 72:40 of the meeting

Andrea Messina, the Executive Director of the FSBA gave testimony in opposition to the bill at minute 78:00 of this video

I spoke in favor of the bill in this video at minute 81:50

The next stop for HB 1155 in the House is in the full House Education Committee.

The next stop for SB 1426 in the Senate is in the full Senate Appropriations Committee. 

Sarasota Herald-Tribune Covers Pres. Gaetz's Visit With FCSBM in Tallahassee

The Florida Coalition of School Board Members were visited in Tallahassee at their legislative reception by several influential lawmakers, including President Don Gaetz. 

Today's Sarasota Herald Tribune chronicled this visit from Gaetz:

"Ziegler, meanwhile, spent part of her time in Tallahassee promoting a conservative counterpart to the association, the new Florida Coalition of School Board of School Board Members. The group was established in part because of opposition to the lawsuit. “There is a great deal of excitement about the coalition,” Ziegler said at a gathering of about two dozen people Wednesday at an office building near the Capitol, including conservative school district officials from across the state, lawmakers and lobbyists who advocate for school choice issues.  The coalition got a boost from Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican and former school board member who recently completed a two-year term as senate president. He urged the group to advance policies they believe in, even if they’re unpopular with other board members.
“I had some lonely years on the school board,” Gaetz said, addressing the group in a meeting room two doors down from the Florida Charter School Alliance office.
Ziegler was surrounded by like-minded individuals at the event. Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds helped start a charter school. She spoke to a legislative committee Wednesday about the challenges charter school officials face.
Another school board member from Escambia County, Jeff Bergosh, said he considers himself a “real threat to the status quo” and is intending to introduce a motion at his next board meeting asking the district not pay his portion of the $21,766 in dues owed to the Florida School Board Association.

“I’m tired of sending my money every year to an organization that’s working against school choice and suing the governor and Legislature,” Bergosh said."