Florida Citizens Alliance
2024 Bill Assessments
REAL SOLUTIONS THAT IMPROVE STUDENT LEARNING
SHAPE THE FUTURE OF FLORIDA’S EDUCATION
Bill Number | Position | Reason |
HB 109, SB 246 Conversion Charter Schools | Strongly Support | This expands upon the current law governing conversion charter schools. We have supported competition in the education marketplace and this will aid in it. |
HB 1135, SB 1238 Anti-Grooming Bill | Strongly Support | Currently under law there is not a definition for grooming, this bill would create one. We believe this definition must be created due to cases within schools of grooming but also for the protection of children outside of school. |
HB 1, SB 1788 Social Media Use for Minors | Strongly Support | Many of the bullying we have seen in schools start or are exacerbated on social media. Many fights on school properties are organized on social media. These incidents have created an unsafe environment for kids in school. Also, prolonged social media use has been linked to attention issues within the classrooms. |
HB 1129, SB 1196 Harm to Minors | Strongly Support | We believe this bill will have a positive impact on the issues we have seen arise from children being on one to one devices. |
HB 1509 School Guardians | Strongly Support | The employees of schools that participate in the Guardian program should not have their identity subject to public records. |
HB 3, SB 1792 Age Verification for Online Materials Harmful to Minors | Strongly Support | Currently any child in Florida can freely access obscene materials online even though the law is clear that a child should not be exposed to such material. This bill will stop this. |
HB 599, SB 1382 Gender Identity Employment Practices | Strongly Support | This bill builds on the work of HB 1069 last year. We believe these same protections should be expanded to all employees. |
HB 699, HB 697, SB 750, SB 752 State Legal Tender and Bullion Depository | Strongly Support | This will provide families the ability to hedge against inflation. |
HB 901, SB 1120 Display of Flags by Governmental Entities | Strongly Support | This bill would ban flags from government property including schools from having flags associated with sexual orientation, politically partisan, or other political viewpoints. We have seen flags of this nature on school campuses throughout FL and this would address that. |
HB 931, SB 1044 School Chaplains | Strongly Support | We believe this program will be beneficial to students. This program is voluntary for both parents and the chaplains. |
HB 111, SB 34 Termination of Pregnancies | Strongly Oppose | Children should be taught to respect life. This would be taking a step backwards from the current laws on the books. |
HB 131 Compulsory School Attendance | Strongly Oppose | This bill would have a negative impact on home school families and other forms of education, many of which graduate children faster from high school than 18 years old. |
HB 1403 School Choice (Bill to Remove the Hope Scholarship) | Strongly Oppose | This bill would eliminate the Hope Scholarship. We believe this needs to be amended to protect victims. |
HB 209, SB 130 Possession or Use of a Firearm in a Sensitive Location | Strongly Oppose | This would completely handicap the guardian program and make it almost impossible to implement a similar program at learning centers or schools run out of churches. |
HB 427, SB 294 Instructional Hours For Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program | Strongly Oppose | Even though VPK is voluntary, studies have shown that at this age children should spend time at home interacting with family. If this bill was to pass, it would increase the hours a child is away from the family. |
SB 120 Child Care Services | Strongly Oppose | We believe that this service needs to be offered by non-profit charity organizations not funded through the state. |
SB 1414 Education | Strongly Oppose | This bill is a step backwards from the legislation we supported last year. |
SB 1450 Protection of the Right to an Abortion | Strongly Oppose | Children should be taught to respect life. This would be taking a step backwards from the current laws on the books. |
SB 7004 Deregulation of Public Schools | Strongly Oppose | We believe this bill needs amendments. The biggest concern we have is the removal of the required retention for students that read at a level one in 3rd grade. |
HB 1045, SB 994 Student Transportation Safety | Oppose | Traffic enforcement should be handled by county courts and local law enforcement, not by the school district. |
HB 13, SB 136 Minimum Base Salary for Full-time Teachers | Oppose | We do think there needs to be a restructuring of the current pay structure for teachers based on performance, however this bill does not do that. This bill also does not really result in a pay increase for experienced teachers. |
HB 323, SB 152 Caregiving Youth | Oppose | We acknowledge the fact that some students are currently caregivers for a family member, but we believe this bill overall would have a negative impact on students. |
HB 439, SB 1318 Corporal Punishment | Oppose | Corporal punishment should be available to use in discipline measures with parental permission. |
HB 553 Career-themed Courses for Middle School | Oppose | We support career themed courses but these courses should not be expanded to middle school. |
HB 643 Prohibited Discrimination Based on Hairstyle in the Education System | Oppose | This is unnecessary due to discrimination laws in place. |
HB 857, SB 786 Youth Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation Pilot Program | Oppose | We do not believe this bill will address or help the issue of discipline and behavior in school. |
SB 1430 Social Media Protection for Minors | Oppose | We believe SB 1788 is a better bill. |
SB 166 Protections for Public Employees Who Use Medical Marijuana as Qualified Patients | Oppose | This is an unnecessary change to statute. Currently, an employee can seek an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act if the employer has a policy that forbids medical marijuana use. |
SB 300 Universal Free School Breakfast and Lunch Program | Oppose | The breakfast and lunch program in many counties is currently being underutilized. Many counties that have participated in one of these programs must also reserve a certain amount of money because it is a reimbursement program. |
SB 52, HB 65 Anaphylaxis in Public Schools | Oppose | We believe the content of this bill has already been addressed in existing law. |
SB 7002 Deregulation of Public Schools/School District Finance and Budgets | Oppose | We oppose as currently written. |
SB 928 Required Instruction in the History of the Holocaust and the History of African Americans | Oppose | We do not oppose the content of the instruction but rather the requirement of this education and increased regulation on private schools. |
HB 1139, SB 1192 Required Instruction in History of African Americans | Support | History should be taught without biases and we believe this bill will aid in that. |
HB 123 Child Water Safety Requirements | Support | This bill allows for greater child safety from drowning. |
HB 139, SB 546 Access to High School Sports | Support | This is an update in alignment to bills signed into law last year. |
HB 1473, SB 1356 School Safety | Support | We support the bill but we believe there needs to be an amendment to require all school districts to implement the full Guardian program. |
HB 197, SB 896 Health Care Practitioners and Massage Therapy | Support | This bill relates to stopping human/sex trafficking. |
HB 255, SB 252 Psychiatric Treatments | Support | Children should not be exposed to treatments of this nature. |
HB 305, SB 312 Offenses Involving Children | Support | This aligns the statute to the overall understanding that a minor is someone under 18. |
HB 441, SB 432 Cardiac and Medical Emergencies on School Grounds | Support | This adds a layer to student and staff safety at schools especially. |
HB 465, SB 470 Postsecondary Education Students | Support | We have seen many violent activities on Florida College Campuses of late surrounding the attack on Israel. We believe this bill will help address these violent activities. |
HB 483 Education (Computer Science) | Support | Computer Science is a program that can use expansion in Florida. |
HB 545, SB 530 Florida High School Athletic Association Student Eligibility Requirements | Support | This expands upon the work done last year on High school Sports Leagues and creating competition. |
HB 917 Career and Technical Education | Support | Career and technical education is an important component to expand to allow students to have my choice in their career aspirations. |
HB 929, SB 916 School Readiness Program | Support | This bill we provided needed reforms to the school readiness program. |
HJR 331, SJR 1060, SB 1062, HB 333 Assessments for School District Levies | Support | School districts should be on the same playfield as other county agencies and not get special tax assessments. |
SB 114 College Applications | Support | This is to codify the Supreme Court’s holding last session that race-based admission decisions violate the Constitution. |
SB 394, HB 399 School Employees | Support | A school should know the background of a potential employee. In particular this is important because almost all students are minors. |
SB 766 Luring or Enticing Children | Support | The activity listed in this bill should be strengthened. |
SB 796 Combating Human Trafficking | Support | Florida ranks as one of the highest states for human trafficking and with the amount of children trafficked we welcome legislation that will address this. |
SB 996 Virtual Instruction | Support | We believe this bill will expand education options for families. |
HB 1027 Single-Sex Student Organizations | Support | Male and female student organizations should be protected based on biological fact. |
Florida Scholarship
We believe that your child deserves the best education available. With this in mind, we have created this list of scholarship opportunities available for Florida students. Scholarships are available for children experiencing bullying, in need of help with reading or disabilities, for low income families and more. One of these scholarships could potentially be your child’s ticket into a school that will challenge them towards their highest potential!
The Hope Scholarship
The Hope Scholarship is for Florida public school students in grades K-12 who have been bullied, harassed, assaulted, threatened and/or other violent acts. It allows that student to transfer to a private school of their choice or another public school.
The best part about this scholarship is that the parent deems their own eligibility. That means, if you believe that your child has been threatened, intimidated, or harassed by a teacher, fellow student, or school employee, you immediately qualify for up to $8,000 to send your child to a private school today!
Microschool
FLCA’s Microschool initiative encourages Christian churches and families in Florida to adopt a God-centered approach to education and explore public school alternatives. Through strategic partnerships with respected providers like My Fathers World, Classical Conversations, Freedom Project Academy, and Foundation for American Christian Education, FLCA aims to empower families with a wide range of educational choices that reflect their faith and values, paving the way for transformative learning experiences.