Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a education package Monday evening that puts into law the main education policy priorities of the legislative session, including small private school zoning laws, installing portraits of presidents in schools, and cursive writing testing requirements.
DeSantis signed the measure into law without a news conference or official statement. It takes effect July 1.
Both GOP-led chambers of the Florida Legislature passed SB 182, allowing private schools with 150 or fewer students to operate in commercially zoned buildings.
The bill was introduced by Democrat Sen. Shevrin Jones from Miami Gardens and the House version by Democrat Rep. Yvonne Hinson from Gainesville. The bills at introduction solely addressed creating a teacher mentorship program but became a vehicle for education priorities in the last days of session, including the zoning change.
It passed the House, 91-11, with only Democrats, but not all, voting in opposition. The Senate passed it unanimously.
READ MORE: Small private schools could open in commercially zoned buildings under late-session bill
Mentorship
The mentorship program will team retired teachers with classroom teachers at schools with D or F grades. Those retired teachers could mentor new teachers who are rated as needing improvement or “struggling with behavior management within the classroom.”
The retirees must have three years of experience and been rated highly effective. They may mentor up to five teachers and receive a stipend.
Working teachers with sufficient experience may mentor one student at a time.
The state requires the mentor to “not have a personal agenda other than assisting his or her mentee in developing and reaching the mentee’s goals.”
Private school zoning
The final language allows schools enrolling 150 or fewer students to operate in commercial or mixed-use zoning districts without rezoning or a special exemption, allowing counties and cities to require “proportionate mitigation measures necessary to mitigate vehicular traffic and pedestrian safety.” The building still must meet educational occupancy requirements in fire codes.
Teach Florida, self-described as a grassroots movement of the Jewish Orthodox Union seeking “equitable funding for nonpublic schools,” prioritized passing the bill, including campaign contributions to prominent Republicans crafting education policy, detailed in the Phoenix coverage at the time.
According to Teach Coalition, old legal requirements were “blocking school growth.” The organization told the Phoenix that 41,000 students statewide hoping to attend private schools have been unable to cash in their state scholarship vouchers because there were no available private school seats.
Step Up for Students, by far the largest scholarship funding organization in the state, also lobbied in support of the private school language, as did the Foundation for Florida’s Future, former Gov. Jeb Bush’s policy organization.
The conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity and CES Academy, a Biblically based school, were in support as well.
More additions
The House amended the legislation to include previously passed legislation require display of portraits of former presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln “in a conspicuous place at each public school in the district.” The state will select the portraits to be used.
The House added requiring testing for cursive writing.
The idea was to counteract some of the worst features of the digital aid.
If our students can’t read cursive, they can’t read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, or even a grandparent’s handwritten letter,” bill co-sponsor Rep. Dana Trabulsy argued in committee. “Cursive writing isn’t just a skill, it’s a link to our heritage and a tool for lifelong learning.”
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