TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are back at it in Tallahassee with the session starting last week. One of the key topics for the next few months – education.
School vouchers, later start times for high schoolers and a pilot program to test year-round school were a few education ideas lawmakers approved last year.
This year brings a few new bold ideas, although it’s still too early to tell how many of them will make the cut by March.
One lawmaker from Miami wants to require students to learn computer sciences by creating courses at elementary, middle and high school levels.
The bill would also create an Artificial Intelligence Task Force to discuss what role artificial intelligence should play in public school education.
A senator from Fort Pierce filed a bill to require all classrooms with a non-verbal student in it for at least half the school day to install a video camera.
Parents would be told about the camera in advance, and recordings would be used in investigations of abuse or neglect of a student.
A Senator from the Panhandle is backing the ‘Heartcharged Act,’ requiring at least one A-E-D at every school in the state.
It would have to be easy to access and schools will have annual training for staff and students on how to use it.
A Senator from Palm Beach is bringing a few education ideas to the table.
She’s proposing the ‘Save Our Teachers Act,’ which would drastically raise the minimum wage for teachers from $47,500 to $65,000 per year.
She’d also like to make school lunches free for all students at all age levels, no matter their household income – requiring districts to advertise the free lunch option to its students and report how many are using it.
The legislative session just got underway this week and will last about two months.
We should see just how many of these bills become law in early March.