ATTACHMENT A – STATUTORY AUTHORITY
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THESE ARE NOT EXHAUSTIVE COMPILATIONS. DISTRICTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO
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REVIEW THE STATUTES IN THEIR ENTIRETY.
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Specific Appropriation 64A Aid To Local Governments
Better Educated Students and Teachers (BEST)
From Principal State School Trust Fund in the amount of $25,000,000
Funds in Specific Appropriation 64A shall be used by the Commissioner of Education to identify and
fund early innovator school districts that will establish best practices developmental models for
implementation of the Florida BEST Teaching Program in accordance with the provisions of s.
1012.231, Florida Statutes, including principal leadership designation pursuant to section 1012.987,
Florida Statutes, as described in SB 30A or similar legislation. Approval of proposed best practices
developmental models for funding shall be determined by the Commissioner of Education and shall
only be awarded to those school district models that fully and most feasibly implement the spirit and
intent of the Florida BEST Teaching Program.
To be eligible to participate in the best practices developmental models for the Florida BEST
Teaching Program, a school board must adopt in an open meeting new, permanently established
positions of increasing responsibility for teachers at each of the four salary career ladder positions as
defined in s. 1012.231(1), Florida Statutes. The school board shall agree to reach consensus with the
Commissioner of Education over a BEST developmental model by December 31, 2003, and begin
trial implementation in all of the district’s schools beginning January 2004. The bargaining agent
representative must submit to the school board for verification an agreement to each of the established
career ladder positions, with salary levels to follow.
Selected early innovator school boards shall also adopt in an open meeting a plan for principal
leadership designation based on student performance, school grade, and teacher retention, as
described in s. 1012.987, Florida Statutes, and shall agree to reach consensus with the Commissioner
of Education over such plan by December 31, 2003, and begin district-wide trial implementation
beginning January 2004. Any remaining funds not distributed to participating school districts by
March 1, 2004, shall revert.
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1000.041 Better Educated Students and Teachers (BEST) Florida Teaching; legislative
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purposes; guiding principles
.
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--The legislative purposes and guiding principles of BEST Florida Teaching are:
(1) Teachers lead, students learn.
(2) Teachers maintain orderly, disciplined classrooms conducive to student learning.
(3) Teachers are trained, recruited, well compensated, and retained for quality.
(4) Teachers are well rewarded for their students' high performance.
(5) Teachers are most effective when served by exemplary school administrators.
Each teacher preparation program, each postsecondary educational institution providing dual
enrollment or other acceleration programs, each district school board, and each district and school-
based administrator fully supports and cooperates in the accomplishment of these purposes and
guiding principles.
* Amended language
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ATTACHMENT A – STATUTORY AUTHORITY
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Section 1012.01(2)(a), Florida Statutes, Definitions--
(2) INSTRUCTIONAL PERSONNEL.--"Instructional personnel" means any staff member whose
function includes the provision of direct instructional services to students. Instructional personnel also
includes personnel whose functions provide direct support in the learning process of students.
Included in the classification of instructional personnel are:
(a)
Classroom teachers.
--Classroom teachers are staff members assigned the professional activity of
instructing students in courses in classroom situations, including basic instruction, exceptional student
education, career and technical education, and adult education, including substitute teachers.
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Section 1012.231, Florida Statutes, is created to read:
1012.231 BEST Florida Teaching salary career ladder program
;
assignment of teachers
.
(1) SALARY CAREER LADDER FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS.--Beginning with the 2004-
2005 academic year, each district school board shall implement a salary career ladder for classroom
teachers as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a). Performance shall be defined as designated in s.
1012.34(3)(a)1.-7. District school boards shall designate categories of classroom teachers reflecting
these salary career ladder levels as follows:
(a) Associate teacher.--Classroom teachers in the school district who have not yet received a
professional certificate or those with a professional certificate who are evaluated as low-performing
teachers.
(b) Professional teacher.--Classroom teachers, in the school district who have received a professional
certificate.
(c) Lead teacher.--Classroom teachers in the school district who are responsible for leading others in
the school as department chair, lead teacher, grade-level leader, intern coordinator, or professional
development coordinator. Lead teachers must participate on a regular basis in the direct instruction of
students and serve as faculty for professional development activities as determined by the State Board
of Education. To be eligible for designation as a lead teacher, a teacher must demonstrate outstanding
performance pursuant to s. 1012.34(3)(a)1.-and must have been a "professional teacher" pursuant to
paragraph (b) for at least 1 year.
(d) Mentor teacher.--Classroom teachers in the school district who serve as regular mentors to other
teachers who are either not performing satisfactorily or who strive to become more proficient.
Mentor teachers must serve as faculty-based professional development coordinators and regularly
demonstrate and share their expertise with other teachers in order to remain mentor teachers. Mentor
teachers must also participate on a regular basis in the direct instruction of low-performing students.
To be eligible for designation as a mentor teacher, a teacher must demonstrate outstanding
performance pursuant to s. 1012.34(3)(a)1.-7. and must have been a "lead teacher" pursuant to
paragraph (c) for at least two years.
Promotion of a teacher to a higher level on the salary career ladder shall be based upon prescribed
performance criteria and not based upon length of service.
* Amended language
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ATTACHMENT A – STATUTORY AUTHORITY
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Section 1012.231, Continued
(2) TEACHER ASSIGNMENT.--School districts may not assign a higher percentage than the school
district average of first-time teachers, temporarily certified teachers, teachers in need of improvement,
or out-of-field teachers to schools with above the school district average of minority and
economically disadvantaged students or schools that are graded "D" or "F." District school boards are
authorized to provide salary incentives to meet this requirement. No district school board shall sign a
collective bargaining agreement that fails to provide sufficient incentives to meet this requirement.
(3) STATE BOARD AND SCHOOL DISTRICT PLANS.--The State Board of Education shall
develop a long-range plan to implement a differentiated pay model for teachers beginning in the
2004-2005 academic year, based upon the differentiated classroom teacher categories in subsection
(1). No later than December 1, 2003, the State Board of Education shall approve guidelines and
criteria for the district plans. District school boards shall develop plans to implement the salary career
ladder prescribed in this section and submit these plans to the State Board of Education by March 1,
2004.
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Subsection (2) of Section 1012.27, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
1012.27, F.S. Public School Personnel; powers and duties of district school superintendent --
(
2) COMPENSATION AND SALARY SCHEDULES.--Prepare and recommend to the district
school board for adoption a salary schedule or salary schedules. The district school superintendent
must recommend a salary schedule for instructional personnel which bases a portion of each
employee's compensation on performance demonstrated under s. 1012.34. In developing the
recommended salary schedule, the district school superintendent shall include input from parents,
teachers, and representatives of the business community.
Beginning with the 2004-2005 academic
year, the recommended salary schedule for classroom teachers shall be consistent with the district's
career ladder based upon s. 1012.231.*
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Subsection (1)(c) of Section 1012.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
1012.22, F.S. Public school personnel; powers and duties of the district school board.—
The district school board shall:
(1) Designate positions to be filled, prescribe qualifications for those positions, and provide for the
appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dismissal of employees as follows, subject to
the requirements of this chapter:
(c) Compensation and salary schedules.--
1. The district school board shall adopt a salary schedule or salary schedules designed to furnish
incentives for improvement in training and for continued efficient service to be used as a basis for
paying all school employees and fix and authorize the compensation of school employees on the basis
thereof.
2. A district school board, in determining the salary schedule for instructional personnel, must base a
portion of each employee's compensation on performance demonstrated under s. 1012.34, must
* Amended language
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ATTACHMENT A – STATUTORY AUTHORITY
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Section 1012.22, continued
consider the prior teaching experience of a person who has been designated state teacher of the
year by any state in the United States, and must consider prior professional experience in the field
of education gained in positions in addition to district level instructional and administrative
positions.
3.
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In developing the salary schedule, the district school board shall seek input from parents,
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teachers, and representatives of the business community.
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4.
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Beginning with the 2002-2003 fiscal year, each district school board must adopt a performance-
pay policy for school administrators and instructional personnel. The district's performance-pay
policy is subject to negotiation as provided in chapter 447; however, the adopted salary schedule
must allow school administrators and instructional personnel who demonstrate outstanding
performance, as measured under s.1012.34, to earn a 5-percent supplement in addition to their
individual, negotiated salary. The supplements shall be funded from the performance-pay reserve
funds adopted in the salary schedule.
Beginning with the 2004-2005 academic year, the district's
5-percent performance-pay policy must provide for the evaluation of classroom teachers within
each level of the salary career ladder provided in s. 1012.231.*
The Commissioner of Education
shall determine whether the district school board's adopted salary schedule complies with the
requirement for performance-based pay. If the district school board fails to comply with this
section, the commissioner shall withhold disbursements from the Educational Enhancement Trust
Fund to the district until compliance is verified.
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Section 1012.34(3)(a) 1-7, Florida Statutes, Assessment Procedures and Criteria--
(3) The assessment procedure for instructional personnel and school administrators must be primarily
based on the performance of students assigned to their classrooms or schools, as appropriate. The
procedures must comply with, but are not limited to, the following requirements:
(a) An assessment must be conducted for each employee at least once a year. The assessment must be
based upon sound educational principles and contemporary research in effective educational
practices. The assessment must primarily use data and indicators of improvement in student
performance assessed annually as specified in s. 1008.22 and may consider results of peer reviews in
evaluating the employee's performance. Student performance must be measured by state assessments
required under s. 1008.22 and by local assessments for subjects and grade levels not measured by the
state assessment program. The assessment criteria must include, but are not limited to, indicators that
relate to the following:
1. Performance of students.
2. Ability to maintain appropriate discipline.
3. Knowledge of subject matter. The district school board shall make special provisions for
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evaluating teachers who are assigned to teach out-of-field.
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4. Ability to plan and deliver instruction, including the use of technology in the classroom.
5. Ability to evaluate instructional needs.
* Amended language
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ATTACHMENT A – STATUTORY AUTHORITY
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Section 1012.34, F.S., continued
6. Ability to establish and maintain a positive collaborative relationship with students' families to
increase student achievement.
7. Other professional competencies, responsibilities, and requirements as established by rules of the
State Board of Education and policies of the district school board.
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Section 1012.987, Florida Statutes, is created in Part V of Section 1012.98, Florida
Statutes, to read:
1012.987, F.S. Education leadership development
.--The State Board of Education shall adopt rules
through which school principals may earn a principal leadership designation based on teacher
retention, overall student performance, and school grade.
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Subsection (4)(b), 5 a-c of Section 1012.98, F.S. School Community Professional
Development Act.
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5.
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Require each school principal to establish and maintain an individual professional development
plan for each instructional employee assigned to the school. The individual professional
development plan must:
a. Be related to specific performance data for the students to whom the teacher is assigned.
b. Define the inservice objectives and specific measurable improvements expected in student
performance as a result of the inservice activity.
c. Include an evaluation component that determines the effectiveness of the professional
development plan.
* Amended language
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