Florida House Approves Far-Reaching Education Bill

April 14, 2013

A wide-ranging education bill passed the House on Friday and headed to Gov. Rick Scott for his signature. Lawmakers voted 116-0 to approve the measure, which passed the Senate earlier this week.

“This is a transformational bill, and it’s one that will change the trajectory of the education system,” said House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel. The bill (SB 1076), which weighs in at 144 pages, would overhaul high school and higher education. It would create two “designations” for high school degrees, each with different requirements, with one aimed at encouraging students to work toward industry certification. The bill would also set out standards for universities to be recognized as “preeminent universities,” with one of those schools being tabbed to operate an online institute in an effort to encourage Internet-based education.

Despite the lack of opposition to the bill, House members spoke about it for nearly 50 minutes before approving the measure.


by The News Service of Florida

Comments

2 Responses to “Florida House Approves Far-Reaching Education Bill”

  1. No Excuses on April 14th, 2013 7:53 pm

    I think this sounds like a good thing AS LONG as students aren’t “locked” into one program or another upon entering high school. In the past, this was called “tracking” and while I agree that not all students need or want to go to college, they deserve the preparation to do so if they wish. There’s nothing wrong with a vocational emphasis on studies in high school, as long as the academics are there to make them competitive in either market upon graduation.

  2. Robert S on April 14th, 2013 9:53 am

    Wow, finally some common sense from Tallahassee. Five decades ago when I was in high school there were buddies of mine who were planning on college and others who were going into the military or workforce upon graduation. Some, in each group have been very successful and not all needed to go to college to do good things for themselves and for us. Example is that I depend equally upon the guy who started working in a brake and alignment shop and ended up owning it; and upon my cardiologist with several college and medical degrees. One makes sure that I have a safe and reliable vehicle that stops when I need it. The other makes sure that I have care to make sure that I don’t stop before MY time.
    The move a couple of years ago that required kids to pass this End-of-Course Exam to earn their high school credit was way off course. A student could have straight A’s in Algebra and not make a passing grade on the EOC exam and end up not getting the Algebra credit. That is nuts.
    Will stay tuned for further development, in the meantime thanks to Terry and Dr. Dan for your care.