Teachers could see a pay raise and PreK-12 schools would get more funds for exceptional students under a House budget plan released by the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee.
The plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1, puts $28.4 billion towards PreK-12 schools, including $22.5 billion that's part of the Florida Education Funding Program (FEFP), the main formula for funding schools. That would be an increase of $1.5 billion, or 7%, on the current year FEFP. It represents $8,936 per student, or $217.50 more than the current year.
Most of the increase, about $1.27 billion, is dedicated to the base student allocation, which school districts have the most discretion to spend.
Other parts of the FEFP are for items the districts must spend on specific items. For instance, the House plan includes $1.25 billion to pad teacher pay, an increase of $202 million on the current year, and $1.31 billion for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) funds, or $100.5 million better than the current budget.
In higher education, the House plan has $1.5 billion for state colleges and $4.3 billion for the state university system. That includes $350 million for performance-based funding, $50 million for "pre-eminent research universities" and $25 million for a cybersecurity initiative at the University of South Florida.
There's also $616.9 million for the Bright Futures Scholarship program, a merit-based scholarship for Florida students, a $26.2 million increase on the current budget.
The plan also has $2 million for the Board of Governors for litigation expenses. The state is fighting a lawsuit brought by New College of Florida professors and students against a law passed last year banning funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs. A federal judge allowed the case to move forward without blocking the law last November.
The House is unveiling each section of the budget Wednesday, but the full text of the proposal won't be released until Friday. The Senate is following the same schedule for its spending proposal, but its education spending plan is set to be released later Wednesday afternoon.
Each chamber is expected to pass the full budget plans out of their respective appropriation committees next week before a floor vote the following week. Then they'll have until March 8, the last scheduled day of the Regular Session, to hash out the differences between the bills.
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