| It's the 50th anniversary of Schoolhouse Rock, the iconic set of educational videos that taught a generation about the Constitution, adverbs and more. As Florida's Legislature winds down its annual session, one Schoolhouse Rock clip keeps coming to mind. And no, it's not "I'm Just a Bill." It's "Conjunction Junction." Here's why.
— Jeffrey S. Solochek, jsolochek@tampabay.com
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| [SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK! | YouTube ] |
| In waning days of session, lawmakers create train bill to give ideas one last chance |
| After committee meetings have ended, leaving many bills undone, some lawmakers aren't satisfied with seeing their ideas wait for perhaps another year. They seek a vehicle to which they can attach their proposals for one last try. It's known as a train bill, ready for the "ands," "buts" and "ors" that can give breath to legislation left for dead, or to new last-minute concerns that hadn't been considered earlier. These frequently involve education policy. In 2021, for instance, lawmakers attached a ban on transgender females from participating in girls high school sports to a separate bill on the third to last day of session. This year is no different. House Bill 1537 began as a little noticed 66-page bill focused largely on teacher certification and preparation. It had the all-encompassing title of "Education," though, making it ripe for additions. It picked up more than 20 amendments on its way to the House floor, including some hefty issues. Among them: • A proposal to delay long-planned increases in "concordant scores" for alternate tests used as graduation requirements. • Plans to create state-backed accelerated high school courses and exams, to compete with Advanced Placement, which Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized earlier in the year.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, added an section that would allow school boards to fire members of their superintendent's executive team, if the superintendent is appointed. He drew fire for the idea, in part because some argued it was not germane to the bill topic. "It just requires a quick reading of the bill to see this is a bill about education," Fine responded, noting his amendment also was about education.
The Education Committee accepted his proposal, along with several others such as a requirement to teach Asian American history in K-12 schools and the creation of a year-round schooling program — things also found in separate legislation that members aimed to attach to this bill that appeared to have the traction needed to get to the governor's desk.
HB 1537 became, in the words of Rep. Marie Paule Woodson, D-Hollywood, a "very loaded bill." Even so, it passed the House 115-0, with members from both parties declaring it a great bill, despite disagreements they might have over individual components.
"I love bills like this," said Education Committee chairperson Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, noting how all sides came together to create a bill that "literally goes from soup to nuts" in all aspects of K-12 schooling. Rep. Michele Rayner-Goolsby, R-St. Petersburg, acknowledged during floor debate that some provisions of the bill didn't go over well with everybody. "Perfect is the enemy of the good," Rayner-Goolsby said, applauding the overall bipartisanship of the measure and the sponsors who shepherded it through. "Time will tell. I think this will do really good things for kids." Before it can, the bill still must to go to the Senate, where more changes could take place before it gets further down the track or becomes derailed. |
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