Speaker Weatherford's Opening Day Speech

Click here to view Speaker Weatherford's opening day speech.

Please note on page 7, 3^rd  paragraph the Speaker’s reference to Tech Centers.

It would be wonderful, if you sent him an email thanking him for his recognition of Tech Centers in his opening day address.

Will.Weatherford@myfloridahouse.gov

Please address him as Speaker Weatherford.

In the subject line I would suggest: Thank you from (the name of your Technical Center)

The Technical Center bill passed out of the House Education Appropriations Committee with the amendment. HB 7057 (Technical Center bill) will now be heard in the full House Education Committee on next Wednesday, March 12th, at 1 pm. in Reed Hall (change to schedule). We need Directors in attendance, so please let me know if you plan to attend and whether you need a hotel room. I can guarantee the reservation with the FACTE card and you present your card for payment on arrival. Hotel rooms are tight, so please let me know.

Thank you so much for your assistance.

Senate Version of Accountability Bill

Click here for the lastest version of the staff analysis for SB7060.

The CTE issue we have with this bill is that only the industry certifications which articulate to college credit will be used in the school grade calculation.

I attended the House Education workshop on Accountability today  and the language discussed included all of the certificates on the Funding list in the school grade calculation. We have no bill number for the House version yet.

Neither the House nor the Senate are including any  “participation” in their calculations.

Updates on Bills & Accountability Presentation

Below are a few documents that may interest you.

Visit our News & Legislation page to read Amendment 1011-80 to the tech center bill from the House Ed. Appropriations Committee staff (HB 7057). Email any comments you may have concerning this proposed amendment. The SB 1202 has been filed it is the companion to SB 7057 Technical “college” bill.

Last Tuesday, Pam Stewart gave this accountability presentation at the State Board of Education meeting. It discusses the DOE's proposed changes to school grading.

Click here to read a bill that would move forward with Agriculture industry certification requirement. There is currently no companion for this bill in senate.

House Higher Education members with link to their info- Technical Center bill to be heard Thursday, Feb. 13 at 8 am

Nunez, Jeanette M. [R]

Vice Chair

Rodrigues, Ray Wesley [R]

Bracy, Randolph [D]
Coley, Marti [R]
Fitzenhagen, Heather Dawes [R]
Fresen, Erik [R]
Grant, James W. "J.W." [R]
Powell, Bobby [D]
Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Michelle [D]
Saunders, Joe [D]
Spano, Ross [R]
Zimmermann, Carl F. "Z" [D]

Above you will find the links to each member of the House Higher Education and Workforce committee. We were told by House staff that the bill will be put to vote in this committee on Feb. 13, 8 am. The meeting notice has not been posted yet and we still do not have the PCB number; but both items should be available by the end of the week or before.

I have two tasks for you:

1.    Contact the legislators on this list and ask for their support for the bill, BEFORE next week. It is particularly important if the Legislator is from your county. Follow up  with an invitation to your Tech Center campus.

2.    It would be helpful if  you could come for the committee meeting on FEB. 13^th,however, if you are here for CTE on the Hill try to get an appointment with your Legislators to discuss the bill. Please let me know if you plan to attend either event. I will try to get some rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn for the night of Feb. 12^th.

The meeting went well yesterday. The president of the Council of Presidents spoke briefly and basically said they did not have a position on the bill YET. The State College presidents are meeting in Tallahassee on Thursday, and I am sure this will be a major topic of conversation.

I want to thank Todd Bowden, Dave Barnes, Martha Compton, and Susan Miller for coming up yesterday. Though there were no questions that required our response, the staff knew they were in the audience. I since a list to staff  advising that our experts were available.

I spoke briefly with Senator Munford yesterday evening and he is still supportive of the bill. He said “it was the right thing to do”.

Prior to the committee meeting yesterday I spoke to the Manufacturing Association of Florida and they will support the bill. Al Stimac was particularly vocal in his support. Al has been appointed to the Higher Education Coordinating Council, by the Governor. He will be a strong advocate for our issues, secondary and post-secondary.

Tech Center Legislative Update: Career in a Year Update 2

Dear Colleagues,

Hope you all had a relaxing holiday.  Everything is beginning to move at a more rapid pace with two committee weeks in January and three in February prior to the March 3^rd start of the session.

Here is the latest information that we have as of today:

·         We are still on track regarding each of the 7 points of our legislative platform.

·         OPPAGA’s presentation (Mark Baird) to the House Higher Ed and Workforce Subcommittee yesterday was positive and reinforced our mission as the premier occupational training centers in the State.  Mark also introduced their review of Technical Colleges and our quest to become one.  Please view his presentation at http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/VideoPlayer.aspx?eventID=2443575804_2014011025&committeeID=2712.  His presentation starts at about 1:27.

·         On Wednesday, January 15, we are going to make a presentation at 10:00 to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Workforce Education and Technical Centers.  We have been working with the DOE (Rod/Tara), and the Senate Staff (Tim Elwell/Mark Armstrong) to re-familiarize the Committee as to who we are and what we do.(The committee requested Bob Crawford, Diane Culpepper and Doug Wagner to present.)

·         The House has almost completed its draft of “the bill” that will come forth through the Higher Ed Committee.  We have been working with them Heather Sherry and Kathy Mizereck to develop the actual bill language. (We have not actually seen “the bill”, but have responded to questions from staff.)

·         Please continue to meet with your local legislators, business/industry and others regarding our value and worth in putting people to work.

·         Our tag line of “Career In A Year” has stuck, so please use this to sell our message of Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.

·         We plan to conduct a webinar through FACTE before the end of January to bring everyone up to date on where we are and next steps.  Marsan will send out the information soon.  Please get everyone to watch, listen and participate.

·         We need to keep the pressure on to move our agenda forward.  Thank you again for all that each of you have done to date.

Overview of Legislative Committee - Week of January 13, 2014

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

8:00-10:00 am   

House-Higher Education & Workforce

            NOT MEETING

10:00-12:00

Senate-Education Appropriations

CS/CS/SB 84 by Education / Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security / Latvala—Waivers of Out-of-state Fees for Veterans

Workshop on Postsecondary Education in Career and Technical Centers

Discussion of constitutionally required trust fund creations, re-creations and terminations

2:30-4:30

House-Education Appropriations

Meeting Overview/Summary:
Implementation Updates:
District Technology Plans & Distribution of Technology Funding
Safe Schools Security Assessments

Thursday, January 16, 2014

9:00-11:00

House-Education Committee

Meeting Overview/Summary:
Workshop on Early Learning

HB 277 - Joint Use of Public School Facilities

Appear at Meeting

General Bill   by Spano Joint Use of Public School Facilities: Encourages district school board to promote public access to outdoor recreation & sports facilities on school property, increase number of joint-use agreements, & provide appeal process if negotiations for joint-use agreement fail; provides immunity from liability for district school board that adopts public access policies or enters into joint-use agreement except in instances of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

HB 319 - Maximum Class Size

Appear at Meeting

General Bill   by Moraitis (CO-SPONSORS) Edwards Maximum Class Size: Calculates school district's class size categorical allocation reduction at school average when maximum class size requirements are not met; revises calculation.

HB 337 - Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program

Appear at Meeting

General Bill   by Fresen Florida Teachers Classroom Supply Assistance Program: Revises procedures for distributing program funds to classroom teachers. CS/CS/SB 84 - Waivers of Out-of-state Fees for Veterans General Bill   by Education and Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security and Latvala (CO-SPONSORS) Evers; Grimsley; Detert; Sachs; Bradley; Montford Waivers of Out-of-state Fees for Veterans: Citing this act as the "Congressman C. W. Bill Young Veteran Tuition Waiver Act"; establishing the Congressman C. W. Bill Young Veteran Tuition Waiver Program; requiring a state university or Florida College System institution to waive out-of-state fees for certain veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the National Guard and reserve components thereof; requiring a state university and Florida College System institution to report to the Board of Governors and the State Board of Education, respectively, the number and value of all fee waivers, etc.

SB 178 - Disability Awareness

General Bill   by Ring Disability Awareness: Requiring that each district school board provide disability history and awareness instruction in all K-12 public schools; providing for individual presenters who have disabilities to augment the disability history and awareness instruction; requiring each public school to establish a disability history and awareness advisory council, etc.

SB 236 - Edison State College

General Bill   by Richter Edison State College: Renaming Edison State College as “Florida SouthWestern State College”, etc.