HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 5101 PCB PKA 23-01 Education
SPONSOR(S): PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, Tomkow
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS:
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
Orig. Comm.: PreK-12 Appropriations 14 Y, 0 N Bailey Potvin
Subcommittee
1) Appropriations Committee 26 Y, 0 N Bailey Pridgeon
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The bill conforms law to the appropriations provided in HB 5001, the House General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year
2023-2024 for prekindergarten through grade 12 education. Specifically, the bill:
 Conforms the calculation methodology for funding in the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) for the
Florida Virtual School and the developmental research schools to changes made by the bill.
 Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to report, as part of the determination of full -time equivalent (FTE)
membership, all students who are receiving a Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) for funding in the FEFP.
 Conforms the calculation methodology for the scholarships awarded for the FES program to the changes made by
the bill.
 Repeals the enrollment ceiling on the Group 2 education programs to include: (a) Exceptional Student Education
(ESE) Support Level IV (b) ESE Support Level V; (c) English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); and ,(d)
Secondary Career Education.
 Renames the district cost differential (DCD) to the comparable wage factor (CWF) and modifies its application by
authorizing the use of the CWF in the calculation of the base FEFP funding only when a school district’s CWF is
greater than 1.000.
 Repeals the following FEFP categoricals:
o Funding Compression and Hold Harmless;
o Sparsity Supplement; and
o Turnaround Supplemental Services Allocation.
 Repeals the following FEFP categoricals but retains the underlying funding policies:
o Instructional Materials;
o Mental Health Assistance Allocation;
o Reading Instruction Allocation; and
o Safe Schools Allocation.
 Repeals the Teacher Salary Increase Allocation but retains the requirement of $47,500 as the minimum base
salary for full-time classroom teachers.
 Deletes the inclusion of the Teacher Classroom Supply Assistance categorical in the FEFP and modifies the
underlying funding policy.
 Retains the DJJ Supplement Allocation and modifies the eligible uses of the categorical to include uses previously
only included in proviso in the General Appropriations Act.
 Retains the ESE Guaranteed Allocation and establishes a calculation methodology in law.
 Retains the State-Funded Discretionary Contribution for the Florida Virtual School and the developmental
research schools and modifies the calculation methodology of the contribution.
 Renames the Supplemental Academic Instruction categorical the Supplemental Academic and Support Services
categorical and modifies its eligible uses to include the uses previously included in the Turnaround Supp lemental
Services Allocation.
 Creates the State-Funded Discretionary Supplement and establishes its calculation methodology.
 Requires the DOE to provide a one-time, sign-on bonus to honorably discharged and retired military veterans and
retired first responders who commit to joining the teaching profession as full-time classroom teachers.
The bill provides for an effective date of July 1, 2023.
FULL ANALYSIS
This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives .
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 I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Florida Education Finance Program
Present Situation
The FEFP is the state’s formula to appropriate funds to school districts for kindergarten through grade
12 public school operations, which includes charter schools, and to fund the Family Empowerment
Scholarship (FES) program. The FEFP is composed of state and local revenues and takes into
account various factors such as the individual educational needs of students, the local property tax
base, the costs of educational programs, district cost differentials, and sparsity of student population. 1
State FEFP revenues are derived from the following three sources: 2
 General Revenue Fund – comprised of several state taxes and selected fees; the state’s sales
tax is the primary source of general revenue.
 Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) – comprised of the net proceeds from the Florida
Lottery and the tax proceeds on slot machines in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
 State School Trust Fund (SSTF) – comprised of revenue from unclaimed property that has
escheated to the state.
Local FEFP revenue is derived almost entirely from property taxes levied by Florida’s 67 counties, each
of which constitutes a school district. To participate in the state allocation of FEFP funds, a school
district must levy the millage rate set for its required local effort (RLE) from property taxes. 3 The
Legislature sets the aggregate RLE amount in the General Appropriations Act (GAA). Each school
district’s share of this amount is based on the school district’s certified property tax valuations, and
each school district’s required millage rate as established by the Commissioner of Education
(commissioner).4
In addition to the RLE millage, each school district is authorized to levy a nonvoted current operating
discretionary millage.5 The Legislature annually prescribes in the GAA the maximum amount of millage
a school may levy.6 For Fiscal Year 2022-2023, the Legislature prescribed 0.748 as the maximum
millage rate.7
The DOE is required to distribute state FEFP funds to school districts on or about the 10 th and 26th of
each month.8 For purposes of this distribution, the FEFP is calculated five times throughout the year as
follows:9
 1st Calculation (also referred to as the conference calculation) is completed by the Legislature
and used to fund the FEFP in the GAA. The July 10th FEFP distribution is based on this
calculation.
 2nd Calculation is completed upon receipt of the certified tax roll from the Department of
Revenue. The July 26th through January FEFP distributions are based on this calculation.
 3rd Calculation is completed upon receipt of school districts’ October FTE membership survey.
The January through April FEFP distributions are based on this calculation.
 4th Calculation is completed upon receipt of school districts’ February FTE membership survey.
The April through June FEFP distributions are based on this calculation.
1 Florida Department of Education, 2022-23 Funding for Florida School Districts (available at 2022-23 Funding Book (fldoe.org).
2 Id.
3 Section 1011.71(1), Florida Statutes.
4 Section 1011.62(4), Florida Statutes.
5 Supra, note 3.
6 Supra, note 3.
7 Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Appropriations Act, chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida.
8 Section 1011.66, Florida Statutes.
9 Section 1011.62(1)(a), Florida Statutes.
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  5th Calculation (also referred to as the final calculation) is completed upon receipt of school
districts’ June FTE membership survey. Prior year adjustments are completed in the following
fiscal year based on a comparison of this final calculation to the 4 th calculation.
In addition to the 67 school districts, the Florida Virtual School 10 and the state’s developmental research
(laboratory) schools 11 are funded in the FEFP.
The FEFP is comprised of two main parts: (a) base FEFP funding and (b) categoricals.
The base FEFP funding is derived by multiplying the FTE in each program by the: (a) cost factor for
that program, (b) district cost differential, and (c) base student allocation. 12
Program cost factors assure that each program funded in the FEFP receives an equitable share of
funds in relation to its relative cost per student.13 Through the annual cost report, school districts report
the expenditures for each program.14 Multiplying the number of FTE students for a program by its cost
factor produces “weighted FTE.” This calculation weights the FTE to reflect the relative costs of the
programs, as represented by the program cost factors.15
The commissioner is required to annually compute the DCD for each school district. 16 The DCD is
used to increase or decrease each school district’s base FEFP funding to reflect the relative cost of
hiring comparably qualified school personnel across Florida’s school districts. To calculate the DCD,
the Florida Price Level Index is used which is a comparable wage index. The calculation is based on
wage data for hundreds of occupations across Florida’s 67 counties collected by the Florida
Department of Economic Opportunity’s Bureau of Labor Market Statistics as part of the U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics survey.17
The base student allocation (BSA) for the FEFP is determined annually by the Legislature 18 and
represents the “base” or minimum amount of funds each student generates for the school district. For
the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 FEFP, the BSA is $4,587.40.19
Based on the 3rd calculation of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 FEFP, the total base FEFP funding is $15.0
billion.
The second main part of the FEFP is referred to as categoricals which are individual allocations
provided in the FEFP. There are two types of categoricals:
 Categoricals that have either a district- or student-eligibility requirement in order for the school
district to receive the funds.
 Categoricals that have a statutorily-established funding policy that directs how the funds must
be used.
There are 17 categoricals funded in the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 FEFP.20 The following chart lists the
nine categoricals that have either a district- or student-eligibility requirement:
Categorical Statute Fiscal Year Eligibility Requirement
Established
10 Section 1002.37(3), Florida Statutes.
11 Section 1002.32(9), Florida Statutes.
12 Section 1011.62(1)(s), Florida Statutes.
13 Section 1011.62(1)(c), Florida Statutes.
14 Supra, note 1.
15 Supra, note 1.
16 Section 1011.62(2), Florida Statutes.
17 The 2022 Florida Price Level Index, January 31,2023, Jim Dewey, Director of Economic Analysis, Florida Polytechnic University .
18 Section 1011.62(1)(b), Florida Statutes.
19 Supra, note 7.
20 Supra, note 7.
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 0.748 Mills Discretionary s. 1011.62(5) 1999-2000 School districts that levy the full 0.748
Compression mills but generate an amount per
unweighted FTE that is less than the state
average per unweighted FTE.
DJJ Supplemental s. 1011.62(9) 2007-2008 Students enrolled in a juvenile justice
Allocation education program.
ESE Guaranteed s. 1011.62(1)(e) 2000-2001 Students whose level of support is less
Allocation than Support Levels IV and V and
kindergarten through grade 8 gifted
students.
Federally-Connected s. 1011.62(10) 2015-2016 School districts eligible for the federal
Student Supplement Impact Aid program.
Funding Compression & s. 1011.62(15) 2018-201921 School districts whose (a) funds per
Hold Harmless unweighted FTE in the prior fiscal year
were less than the statewide average or
(b) DCD in the current year is less than
the prior year.
Sparsity Supplement s. 1011.62(7) 1975-1976 School districts with 30,000 or fewer FTE.
State-Funded s. 1002.32(9) 1998-1999 Florida Virtual School and the six
Discretionary Contribution s. 1002.37(3)(f) developmental research schools in lieu of
the discretionary local tax revenue.
Student Transportation s. 1011.68 1981-1982 Student in kindergarten through grade 12,
migrant students, and students in
exceptional student programs below
kindergarten who are eligible to receive
transportation to school.
Turnaround Supplemental s. 1011.62(17) 2020-2021 District-managed turnaround schools
Services Allocation earning two consecutive grades of “D” or
“F”, district-managed turnaround schools
earning a grade of “C” or higher and are
no longer in turnaround status, and
schools that earn three consecutive
grades below a “C”.
Based on the 3rd calculation of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 FEFP, the total for these nine categoricals is
$2.2 billion.
This second chart lists the remaining eight categoricals that are associated with a statutorily-
established funding policy:
Categorical Statute Fiscal Year Funding Policy
Established
Class Size Reduction s. 1003.03 2003-04 Funds provided to assist school districts to
Allocation maintain required class size maximums.
Instructional Materials s. 1011.67 1978-1979 Funds provided to purchase instructional
materials to include library media
materials, science lab materials and
supplies, dual enrollment instructional
materials, and digital instructional
materials for students with disabilities.
Mental Health Assistance s. 1011.62(13) 2018-2019 Funds provided to assist school districts to
Allocation establish or expand school-based mental
health care.
Reading Instruction s. 1011.62(8) 2004-2005 Funds provided to implement
Allocation comprehensive system of reading
instruction for students enrolled in
prekindergarten through grade 12
21Section 6 of the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Implementing Bill, chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida, extends the repeal date from July 1,
2022 to July 1, 2023.
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 Categorical Statute Fiscal Year Funding Policy
Established
programs and certain students who exhibit