Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1414
       
       
        
       By Senator Davis
       
       
       
       
       
       5-00611A-24                                           20241414__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to education; providing a short title;
       repealing s. 1000.05(4), F.S., relating to prohibited
       training or instruction in specified concepts which
       constitutes discrimination on the basis of race,
       color, national origin, or sex; repealing s. 1000.071,
       F.S., relating to personal titles and pronouns;
       amending s. 1001.42, F.S.; prohibiting school
       districts from adopting a procedure that compels or
       authorizes school personnel to share certain
       information with a parent under certain circumstances;
       deleting a provision authorizing school districts to
       adopt procedures that permit school personnel to
       withhold certain information from a parent under
       certain circumstances; deleting a prohibition against
       classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender
       identity in specified grades; deleting an exception;
       deleting a provision requiring student support
       services to adhere to specified guidelines; amending
       s. 1001.706, F.S.; deleting a requirement for the
       Board of Governors to include in its review of state
       university missions a directive to each university
       regarding its programs for curricula that violate
       certain provisions; repealing s. 1001.92(5), F.S.,
       relating to an educational institution losing its
       eligibility for performance funding if a certain
       violation is substantiated; amending s. 1003.42, F.S.;
       requiring instruction in LGBTQ history in public
       schools; conforming a cross-reference; amending s.
       1004.06, F.S.; authorizing and encouraging Florida
       College System institutions, state universities, and
       direct-support organizations to develop programs based
       on diversity, equity, and inclusion principles;
       authorizing the expenditure of state or federal funds
       to promote such programs; deleting a prohibition
       against Florida College System institutions, state
       universities, and direct-support organizations
       expending funds on programs or activities that
       advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion or that
       promote or engage in political or social activism;
       deleting obsolete language; amending s. 1006.28, F.S.;
       providing that certain provisions relating to district
       school board duties and materials made available in
       schools do not apply to classroom libraries; revising
       requirements for resolving objections to instructional
       materials; deleting a requirement that any
       instructional material that is subject to an objection
       be removed within 5 school days; deleting a
       requirement that a school board discontinue use of an
       instructional material if certain conditions are met;
       providing that school libraries may provide materials
       and information presenting all points of view;
       providing that materials may not be proscribed or
       removed due to partisan or doctrinal disapproval;
       amending s. 1007.25, F.S.; deleting certain
       prohibitions for general education courses; providing
       an effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Freedom to Learn
Act.”
       Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 1000.05, Florida
Statutes, is repealed.
       Section 3. Section 1000.071, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
       Section 4. Paragraph (c) of subsection (8) of section
1001.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       1001.42 Powers and duties of district school board.—The
district school board, acting as a board, shall exercise all
powers and perform all duties listed below:
       (8) STUDENT WELFARE.—
       (c)1. In accordance with the rights of parents enumerated
in ss. 1002.20 and 1014.04, adopt procedures for notifying a
student’s parent if there is a change in the student’s services
or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or
physical health or well-being and the school’s ability to
provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the
student. The procedures must reinforce the fundamental right of
parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control
of their children by requiring school district personnel to
encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her
well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of
the issue with the parent. The procedures may not prohibit
parents from accessing any of their student’s education and
health records created, maintained, or used by the school
district, as required by s. 1002.22(2).
       2. A school district may not adopt procedures or student
support forms that prohibit school district personnel from
notifying a parent about his or her student’s mental, emotional,
or physical health or well-being, or a change in related
services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of
encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such
information. School district personnel may not discourage or
prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical
decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical
health or well-being. A school district may not adopt a
procedure that compels or authorizes school personnel to provide
such information to a parent if a reasonably prudent person
would believe that disclosure would result in harm to the
student, including, but not limited to, This subparagraph does
not prohibit a school district from adopting procedures that
permit school personnel to withhold such information from a
parent if a reasonably prudent person would believe that
disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as
those terms are defined in s. 39.01.
       3. Classroom instruction by school personnel or third
parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur
in prekindergarten through grade 8, except when required by ss.
1003.42(2)(n)3. and 1003.46. If such instruction is provided in
grades 9 through 12, the instruction must be age-appropriate or
developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with
state standards. This subparagraph applies to charter schools.
       4. Student support services training developed or provided
by a school district to school district personnel must adhere to
student services guidelines, standards, and frameworks
established by the Department of Education.
       5. At the beginning of the school year, each school
district shall notify parents of each health care service
offered at their student’s school and the option to withhold
consent or decline any specific service in accordance with s.
1014.06. Parental consent to a health care service does not
waive the parent’s right to access his or her student’s
educational or health records or to be notified about a change
in his or her student’s services or monitoring as provided by
this paragraph.
       4.6. Before administering a student well-being
questionnaire or health screening form to a student in
kindergarten through grade 3, the school district must provide
the questionnaire or health screening form to the parent and
obtain the permission of the parent.
       5.7. Each school district shall adopt procedures for a
parent to notify the principal, or his or her designee,
regarding concerns under this paragraph at his or her student’s
school and the process for resolving those concerns within 7
calendar days after notification by the parent.
       a. At a minimum, the procedures must require that within 30
days after notification by the parent that the concern remains
unresolved, the school district must either resolve the concern
or provide a statement of the reasons for not resolving the
concern.
       b. If a concern is not resolved by the school district, a
parent may:
       (I) Request the Commissioner of Education to appoint a
special magistrate who is a member of The Florida Bar in good
standing and who has at least 5 years’ experience in
administrative law. The special magistrate shall determine facts
relating to the dispute over the school district procedure or
practice, consider information provided by the school district,
and render a recommended decision for resolution to the State
Board of Education within 30 days after receipt of the request
by the parent. The State Board of Education must approve or
reject the recommended decision at its next regularly scheduled
meeting that is more than 7 calendar days and no more than 30
days after the date the recommended decision is transmitted. The
costs of the special magistrate shall be borne by the school
district. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules,
including forms, necessary to implement this subparagraph.
       (II) Bring an action against the school district to obtain
a declaratory judgment that the school district procedure or
practice violates this paragraph and seek injunctive relief. A
court may award damages and shall award reasonable attorney fees
and court costs to a parent who receives declaratory or
injunctive relief.
       c. Each school district shall adopt and post on its website
policies to notify parents of the procedures required under this
subparagraph.
       d. Nothing contained in this subparagraph shall be
construed to abridge or alter rights of action or remedies in
equity already existing under the common law or general law.
       Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
1001.706, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       1001.706 Powers and duties of the Board of Governors.—
       (5) POWERS AND DUTIES RELATING TO ACCOUNTABILITY.—
       (a) The Legislature intends that the Board of Governors
shall align the missions of each constituent university with the
academic success of its students; the existing and emerging
economic development needs of the state; the national reputation
of its faculty and its academic and research programs; the
quantity of externally generated research, patents, and
licenses; and the strategic and accountability plans required in
paragraphs (b) and (c). The Board of Governors shall
periodically review the mission of each constituent university
and make updates or revisions as needed. Upon completion of a
review of the mission, the board shall review existing academic
programs for alignment with the mission. The board shall include
in its review a directive to each constituent university
regarding its programs for any curriculum that violates s.
1000.05 or that is based on theories that systemic racism,
sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the
institutions of the United States and were created to maintain
social, political, and economic inequities. The mission
alignment and strategic plan must consider peer institutions at
the constituent universities. The mission alignment and
strategic plan must acknowledge that universities that have a
national and international impact have the greatest capacity to
promote the state’s economic development through: new
discoveries, patents, licenses, and technologies that generate
state businesses of global importance; research achievements
through external grants and contracts that are comparable to
nationally recognized and ranked universities; the creation of a
resource rich academic environment that attracts high-technology
business and venture capital to the state; and this generation’s
finest minds focusing on solving the state’s economic, social,
environmental, and legal problems in the areas of life sciences,
water, sustainability, energy, and health care. A nationally
recognized and ranked university that has a global perspective
and impact must be afforded the opportunity to enable and
protect the university’s competitiveness on the global stage in
fair competition with other institutions of other states in the
highest Carnegie Classification.
       Section 6. Subsection (5) of section 1001.92, Florida
Statutes, is repealed.
       Section 7. Paragraph (g) of subsection (2) of section
1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (v) is
added to that subsection, to read:
       1003.42 Required instruction.—
       (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
approved methods of instruction, the following:
       (g)1. The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the
systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other
groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of
humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an
investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the
ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an
examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful
person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity
in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting
democratic values and institutions, including the policy,
definition, and historical and current examples of anti
Semitism, as described in s. 1000.05(7) s. 1000.05(8), and the
prevention of anti-Semitism. Each school district must annually
certify and provide evidence to the department, in a manner
prescribed by the department, that the requirements of this
paragraph are met. The department shall prepare and offer
standards and curriculum for the instruction required by this
paragraph and may seek input from the Commissioner of
Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education or from any state
or nationally recognized Holocaust educational organizations.
The department may contract with any state or nationally
recognized Holocaust educational organizations to develop
training for instructional personnel and grade-appropriate
classroom resources to support the developed curriculum.
       2. The second week in November shall be designated as
“Holocaust Education Week” in this state in recognition that
November is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, widely recognized
as a precipitating event that led to the Holocaust.
       (v) The study of LGBTQ history in Florida and the LGBTQ
community’s contributions to the United States, which may
include important United States Supreme Court cases, such as
Obergefell v. Hodges and Windsor v. United States; the Florida
Legislative Investigation Committee; and the tragedy at Pulse
Nightclub.

The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
Instructional programming that incorporates the values of the
recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
initiative meets the requirements of paragraph (u).
       Section 8. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 1004.06,
Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
       1004.06 Prohibited expenditures.—
       (2) A Florida College System institution, state university,
Florida College System institution direct-support organization,
or state university direct-support organization may, and is
encouraged to, develop programs and campus activities anchored
in the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Programs
and courses may not expend any state or federal funds to
promote, support, or maintain any such programs or campus
activities that:
       (a) Violate s. 1000.05; or
       (b) Advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or
promote or engage in political or social activism, as defined by
rules of the State Board of Education and regulations of the
Board of Governors.

Student fees to support student-led organizations are permitted