2007 - 2008
Adopted Platform
Children's Right to Legal Counsel
Resolved, That Florida PTA urges that the
legislature require qualified legal counsel for all children in
all proceedings governed by Chapter 39, Florida Statutes*; and
it be further
Resolved, That the Florida PTA supports the
expansion of the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program to ensure
that every child in dependency court has a guardian ad litem
(GAL).
Judicial proceedings which deal with the care, safety and
protection of children.
Items
to be Continued in Priority
For a comprehensive list of all
Florida PTA position statements, go to
www.floridapta.org
1. Go
to tab entitled Legislation
2. Under
the Legislation tab, go to
Position Statements
Adequate Public Education Funding
The Florida PTA urges the Legislature to reverse
its recent trend and adequately fund public
education.
Adequate education funding must:
A.
position Florida’s per pupil expenditures for
public elementary and secondary schools at a
minimum of 105%
of the national average;
B.
guarantee full funding of the Statutory District Cost
Differential (DCD);
C.
provide equity for local tax efforts in districts;
D.
fully fund all state mandates, e.g., transportation and E.S.O.L.
training.
E. must preclude using Florida’s Education
Enhancement Trust Fund (lottery dollars) for
basic public education funding.
Arts in Education/Essential Curricula
Florida PTA recommends every school district
place greater emphasis on arts education and increase
opportunities for student participation in the arts
incorporating the Florida Sunshine
Standard
approved by the State Board of Education.
Florida PTA urges that unless a teacher has
specialized skills in the arts or is a recognized professional
in their arts specialty, the arts be taught by teachers
certified in their specific arts
subject area and
be aligned with the National Standards (No Child Left Behind)
and the Sunshine State Standards.
The Florida PTA urges the State Legislature to include and fully
fund Arts instruction without cutting
funding from existing programs as part of the PreK - 12
curriculum at all schools.
 Assessment
and Testing
National PTA believes that
valid assessment does not consist of only a single test
score, and that at no time should a single test be considered the sole determinant of a
student's academic or work future.
Class Size Reduction
The Florida PTA urges the
Legislature to phase in maximum class size standards lower
than those mandated by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) by the
year 1999 and to establish class size standards for
Exceptional Student Education classes.
The Florida PTA urges the
Legislature to fully fund the capital, personnel and
operational cost
necessary to decrease or
maintain class sizes under these levels.
National PTA supports class
size reduction proposals that consider actual class size,
meaning the number of
students in a teacher’s room for whom that teacher is
accountable, rather than pupil/teacher ratios, which
do not accurately reflect teachers’ contacts with children.
National PTA recognizes
that class size reduction efforts will require a significant
financial commitment for recruiting, hiring, and
training qualified teachers, and increased school
facilities. However, this investment will be offset in the
long term by the money saved when the economic and social
costs associated with grade retention and dropping out of
school are reduced.
National PTA supports
parents, school administrators and faculty, community
members, and government officials working together to assure
that research-based, successful education practices
to reduce class size are
replicated in their communities until all public schools in
the country are effective schools.
Daily Recess
The Florida PTA urges the
school districts to require daily recess (defined as
supervised, active,
unstructured play) with adequate equipment and adequate
supervision of at least 20 consecutive minutes for
all elementary children.
Education
for Gifted and Talented Children
That the National PTA endorse
and support educational programs in the public schools for
those children identified as gifted and talented.
That the National PTA
prepare materials that parents might use in local school
districts to encourage schools to pursue identification of
gifted and talented children and to realize their
responsibilities to provide educational programs for these
particular youngsters.
Florida Tax Structure
The Florida PTA urges the
Legislature to increase tax revenue through tax structure reform
in order to adequately fund
services necessary to meet the educational, health, safety,
recreational, and other basic needs of Florida’s
children.
The Florida PTA urges immediate
reform of Florida’s system of sales and use taxes. Exemptions
for
products and services should be
retained only where they meet an overriding public policy
interest.
The Florida PTA supports
amendments to the Florida Constitution that enhance the ability
of the
state to fully fund services to
meet the needs of Florida’s children.
Green
Schools
Florida PTA recommends the
adoption of incentive mechanisms encouraging school districts to
utilize Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
established guidelines in building and renovating schools and
encourages schools to adopt and employ green schools best
practices.
High
School Graduation, College Preparation and Access
That National PTA supports
legislation and programs intended to increase postsecondary
participation through assisting students’ secondary school
completion and postsecondary enrollment by providing academic
(which includes fine arts) services, parent and student
counseling services, and college preparatory services,
particularly those programs that will assist students with
different learning styles, low-income students, and
disadvantaged youth.
That National PTA supports
legislation and programs that foster an economically,
culturally, and ethnically diverse student population by
increasing federal grants to students and other forms of
financial aid, simplifying the application process for applying
for all forms of aid, improving and increasing access to
information on financial assistance for postsecondary education,
and expanding access to in-state tuition levels.
Indoor Air
The Florida PTA urges the
Legislature to require proactive evaluation of school buildings
for indoor
air quality and to adopt measures to improve air
quality, including raising the minimum ventilation
rate to 15 cubic feet per minute (cfm) of outside
air per occupant. PTA local units are urged to
educate communities about the causes of Indoor
Air Quality problems and about action that must be
taken or
avoided to prevent a recurrence of the problems.
Prevention
Florida PTA urges the legislature
to fully fund an array of coordinated and integrated prevention
services to help build strong
families that raise their children to be healthy, productive
adults.
Taser Guns/Stun Devices
The Florida PTA urges the Florida
Legislature to authorize an independent study on the effects of
Taser guns/stun devices on
the human body, especially children, persons with disabilities
and other vulnerabilities, provide a mechanism for
training of officers based on research, and to set clearly defined
guidelines on the use of Taser guns/stun devices as means of
necessary force and that the
use of Taser guns/stun
devices be permissible only in instances where lethal force
would otherwise be necessary.
Teacher Certification
Florida PTA supports the
certification process for public school teachers be no less
stringent than exists in
Florida Statute 1012.56 effective January 1, 2003. As follows:
the applicant must document receipt of a bachelor’s or higher degree from an accredited
institution of higher learning, or a non-accredited
institution of higher learning that the Department of Education
has identified as having a quality program resulting in a
bachelor’s degree, or higher. Each applicant seeking initial
certification must have attained at least a 2.5 overall grade
point average on a 4.0 scale in the applicant’s major field of
study. Further, each applicant must:
·
Be of good moral character
·
Be competent and capable of performing the
duties, functions, and responsibilities of an
educator.
·
Demonstrate a mastery of general knowledge
·
Demonstrate a mastery of subject area knowledge
·
Demonstrate a mastery of professional preparation and education
competence.
That the process for alternative
teacher certification be no less rigorous than that for
traditional
teacher certification.
Vouchers
The Florida PTA opposes education
voucher proposals for public and non-public preschool,
elementary, and secondary school
students.
Voucher Funded School
Accountability
While continuing to oppose
vouchers in all forms, that Florida PTA urges the Legislature to
impose strict eligibility
requirements on private institutions and nonpublic K-12 schools
receiving public dollars through any state funded
voucher, grant or scholarship programs, and at a minimum,
require them to meet the same
accountability standards at their cost as public schools,
including, but not limited to:
1. School
wide participation in any statewide assessment program, by
mandating all current
standardized
tests, i.e., FCAT and Florida Writes;
2.
Assignment of an annual school performance grade category
designation and improvement
rating, to be published in the Commissioner of Education’s
annual statewide assessment report;
3.
Compliance with Florida Public Records Laws and
requirement for independent audits to
assess how
taxpayer money is being spent.
4.
Regulations to ensure private institutions and
nonpublic schools are adequately equipped to
meet the
educational needs of their students.
Printable
Platform Items with References
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