HB 5101 - Education Funding (2014)

• Education Finance: Establishes procedures for depositing gross receipts tax revenues into the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund and requires monthly transfers to the State Board of Administration for timely bond principal and interest payments.

• Florida College System Baccalaureate Restrictions: Prohibits the State Board of Education from approving new Florida College System institution baccalaureate degree program proposals from March 31, 2014 through May 31, 2015; restricts St. Petersburg College from establishing new baccalaureate programs during the same period.

• Digital Classrooms Initiative: Creates a Florida digital classrooms allocation within the Florida Education Finance Program to support technology integration in K-12 classroom instruction; requires school districts to develop and submit digital classrooms plans for approval by the Department of Education.

• Higher Education Programs: Authorizes New College of Florida to establish a 2-year master's degree program in data science and analytics; establishes the Florida Center for Cybersecurity within the University of South Florida; creates the Florida National Merit Scholar Incentive Program providing financial awards to high-achieving students.

• Library Services and Distance Learning: Replaces the Florida Virtual Campus with the Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative and the Complete Florida Plus Program at the University of West Florida to manage statewide distance learning course catalogs and online student support services.