FL H1255

State Board of Education may create Educational Student Achievement Zones in areas with low student achievement, high poverty, geographic isolation, or military bases to address chronic student failure.

Designation criteria include chronically high dropout rates, low graduation rates among minority students, chronically low academic achievement, low standardized test scores in reading or mathematics, and high incidence of out-of-cohort students.

Commissioner of Education shall solicit proposals from educational providers with proven track records and execute 7-year contracts specifying educational services, student academic progress goals, and achievement timeframes.

Schools in zones receive a grade under the state accountability system but cannot be penalized for that grade during the first 4 academic years; student academic success must be achieved within 4 years from contract commencement.

Schools providing extended instructional time (520+ minutes per day) receive $2,000 per full-time-equivalent student; charter schools operating in zones are immediately eligible for capital outlay funds; act takes effect July 1, 2014.