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Legislation Spells Big Change for Florida Schools
By ZAC ANDERSON
LEDGER TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE | Largely obscured by the budget and other major issues dominating the capital this year, a series of education bills on the brink of passing the Legislature could bring the biggest transformation of Florida schools in years. Measures to roll back class size restrictions, bump up the number of school vouchers, expand charter schools and mandate online classes are all expected to clear both chambers and secure the governor's approval. Add in a bill already signed by Gov. Rick Scott that ends teacher tenure and ties salaries to student test scores, and major cuts to state school spending, and education experts say Florida's public school system will undergo dramatic change. Long-time education reform advocates say 2011 may represent the full flowering of former Gov. Jeb Bush's education agenda - once bitterly contested by many state lawmakers and now expanding with relative ease in a more solidly conservative Legislature. "The import of the education bills being considered is really substantial," said Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, a former school superintendent and a strong supporter of Bush's ideas. "I think it's a sea change." Read more of this Tallahassee Ledger article here | 
