{"id":3861,"date":"2011-12-28T13:07:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-28T18:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=3861"},"modified":"2012-01-04T17:20:07","modified_gmt":"2012-01-04T22:20:07","slug":"seven-education-leaders-to-watch-in-tallahassee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2011\/12\/28\/seven-education-leaders-to-watch-in-tallahassee\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven Education Leaders To Watch In Tallahassee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Florida House of Representatives<\/p>

Rep. Will Weatherford is the next Florida House Speaker. The Pasco County Republican also was involved in trying to open a rejectd Pasco County charter school.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Legislative session opens next month, expect these folks to make the most news — or maybe just the most noise.<\/p>\n

Gov. Rick Scott<\/strong> — Scott got much of what he wanted last year. The first bill he signed into law — with a press event at a charter school — required statewide teacher evaluations.<\/p>\n

This year Scott has thrown out two markers: He’d like $1 billion added to K-12 budgets and he wants state universities to graduate students in fields which expect job growth<\/a>, such as math, science and engineering.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Legislative leaders have been lukewarm on Scott’s budget proposal so far.<\/p>\n

Scott, a Republican, is among the most unpopular governors in the country, which could give the Legislature some cover to ignore his priorities.<\/p>\n

Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson<\/strong><\/a> — He’s only been on the job a few months but he’s already set a tone.<\/p>\n

Robinson disregarded the recommendations of a panel of educators, business leaders and others and recommended a higher required score on the high school reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The higher score was supported by former Gov. Jeb Bush,<\/a> causing some state school superintendents to wonder if Robinson was feeling political pressure from Bush. Robinson sternly brushed those criticisms aside and said he made his decision based on data.<\/p>\n

Robinson is Gov. Rick Scott’s top lieutenant on education issues, so keep an eye on if he weighs in on legislation or the state budget.<\/p>\n

Sen. J.D. Alexander<\/strong><\/a> — Alexander is chairman of the Senate budget committee and gets a big say in setting state spending priorities.<\/p>\n

Alexander has been pushing for the University of South Florida – Poly campus in Polk County to become an independent university. That move have been opposed by University of South Florida president Judy Genshaft and others.<\/p>\n

If Alexander wants to fast-track an independent Polk County university, the budget is one way to make that happen. Alexander could also punish those who opposed the plan in the budget.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Florida Senate<\/p>

Sen. Larcenia Bullard has proposed a bill eliminating the FCAT.<\/p><\/div>\n

Sen. Larcenia Bullard<\/strong><\/a> — The South Florida Democrat is the leading opponent to the Florida model of education overhaul.<\/p>\n

Bullard has filed a bill that would end the FCAT, a foundation for evaluating district, school and teacher performance.<\/p>\n

Bullard has also filed a bill that would require charter schools to maintain a website detailing school leadership and ties to management companies.<\/p>\n

Rep. Will Weatherford<\/strong><\/a> – The next Speaker of the Florida House, Weatherford will have a big say in what legislation gets through the House.<\/p>\n

Weatherford, a Republican, has been active in education issues. He is chairman of the House Education Policy Council.<\/p>\n

He is also a member of the board of a proposed Pasco County charter school. The school board rejected the application.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year Tampa-area school leaders asked Weatherford to take a year off from any significant education changes, following last year’s law requiring teacher evaluations and ending long-term teacher contracts.<\/p>\n

Sen. Stephen Wise<\/strong><\/a> — The Jacksonville Republican is chairman of the Senate Education Pre-K – 12 committee and will play a key role in any new education policies.<\/p>\n

Wise has introduced a bill that would require school districts to call the annual time off at the end of December “Christmas Break” instead of Winter break.<\/p>\n

Wise is also co-sponsor of a bill that would increase the tax credits available for businesses who donate scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools.<\/p>\n

Sen. Bill Montford<\/strong><\/a> — Montford is a top Senate Democrat and leads the Florida Association of District School Superintendents in his day job.<\/p>\n

Montford has introduced a bill allowing advertising on school buses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Legislative session opens next month, expect these folks to make the most news — or maybe just the most noise. Gov. Rick Scott — Scott got much of what he wanted last year. The first bill he signed into law — with a press event at a charter school — required statewide teacher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":3862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[1105,1028,1049,1027],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3868,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions\/3868"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}