Florida House Passes Bill to Implement Federal ESEA Waiver

Tallahassee, Florida – Today, the Florida House passed PCB EDC 12-01 to implement the waiver Florida received from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Florida’s comprehensive reforms, including its leading accountability system, earned greater flexibility to continue improving the quality of education for Sunshine State students.

“I thank members of the House for advancing this proposed committee bill to implement Florida’s ESEA waiver,” said Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future. “This legislation accepts regulatory relief from federal accountability in exchange for advancing real reform.  Under this bill, Florida will move towards a single system that clearly reports student progress, provides intensive support for struggling schools and advances Florida’s proven accountability system. The Foundation looks forward to working with Florida’s lawmakers to create legislation maintaining the high standards that won the federal waiver.

Education in Florida has dramatically improved during the past decade, but our work is far from finished. The Foundation looks forward to continuing our work with members of the Florida Legislature to improve education and student achievement in the Sunshine State.