Specific powers of State Board of Education.

(1) PUBLIC K-12 CURRICULAR STANDARDS.—The State Board of Education shall adopt and periodically review and revise the state academic standards in accordance with s. 1003.41.

(2) DIRECT-SUPPORT ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.—The State Board of Education shall govern issues relating to use of property, facilities, and personal services between the Department of Education and its direct-support organization and shall certify that the organization operates at all times in a manner consistent with the goals and best interest of the department, pursuant to s. 1001.24.

(3) PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATES.—The State Board of Education shall classify school services, designate the certification subject areas, establish competencies, including the use of technology to enhance student learning, and certification requirements for all school-based personnel, and prescribe rules in accordance with which the professional, temporary, and part-time certificates shall be issued by the Department of Education to applicants who meet the standards prescribed by such rules for their class of service, as described in chapter 1012. The state board shall adopt rules that give part-time and full-time nondegreed teachers of career programs, pursuant to s. 1012.39(1)(c), the opportunity to earn a reading credential equivalent to a content-area-specific reading endorsement.

(4) PROFESSIONAL TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS.—The State Board of Education shall ensure that not-for-profit, professional teacher associations that offer membership to all teachers, noninstructional personnel, and administrators, and that offer teacher training and staff development at no fee to the district, shall be given equal access to voluntary teacher meetings, be provided access to teacher mailboxes for distribution of professional literature, and be authorized to collect voluntary membership fees through payroll deduction.

(5) IDENTIFICATION OF HIGH-DEMAND TEACHER NEEDS AREAS.—The State Board of Education shall identify high-demand teacher needs areas pursuant to s. 1012.07.

(6) CAPITAL OUTLAY BOND AND MOTOR VEHICLE TAX ANTICIPATION CERTIFICATE RESOLUTIONS.—The State Board of Education shall issue bonds and approve resolutions regarding the expenditure of funds for capital projects and purposes pursuant to the State Constitution and other applicable law.

(7) ARTICULATION ACCOUNTABILITY.—The State Board of Education shall develop articulation accountability measures that assess the status of systemwide articulation processes, in conjunction with the Board of Governors regarding the State University System, and shall establish an articulation accountability process in accordance with the provisions of chapter 1008, in conjunction with the Board of Governors regarding the State University System.

(8) SYSTEMWIDE ENFORCEMENT.—The State Board of Education shall enforce compliance with law and state board rule by all school districts, early learning coalitions, and public postsecondary educational institutions, except for the State University System, in accordance with the provisions of s. 1008.32.

(9) MANAGEMENT INFORMATION DATABASES.—The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the Board of Governors regarding the State University System, shall continue to collect and maintain, at a minimum, the management information databases for state universities, and all other components of the public Early Learning-20 education system as such databases existed on June 30, 2002.

(10) COMMON PLACEMENT TESTING FOR PUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION.—The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the Board of Governors, shall develop and implement a common placement test to assess the basic communication and computation skills of students who intend to enter a degree program at any Florida College System institution or state university.

(11) MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR NONPUBLIC POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION.—The State Board of Education shall adopt minimum standards relating to nonpublic postsecondary education and institutions, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 1005.

(12) COMMON POSTSECONDARY DEFINITIONS.—The State Board of Education shall adopt, by rule, common definitions for associate in science degrees and for certificates.

(13) CYCLIC REVIEW OF POSTSECONDARY ACADEMIC PROGRAMS.—The State Board of Education shall provide for the cyclic review of all academic programs in Florida College System institutions at least every 7 years. Program reviews shall document how individual academic programs are achieving stated student learning and program objectives within the context of the institution’s mission. The results of the program reviews shall inform strategic planning, program development, and budgeting decisions at the institutional level.

(14) UNIFORM CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT ADMINISTRATIVE AND MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL.—The State Board of Education shall maintain a uniform classification system for school district administrative and management personnel that will facilitate the uniform coding of administrative and management personnel to total district employees.

(15) DISTRICT POSTSECONDARY ASSOCIATE IN APPLIED SCIENCE AND ASSOCIATE IN SCIENCE DEGREE PROGRAMS.—The State Board of Education shall provide for the review and approval of proposals by district career centers to offer associate in applied science and associate in science degree programs pursuant to s. 1007.331.

(16) FLORIDA COLLEGE SYSTEM INSTITUTION BACCALAUREATE DEGREE PROGRAMS.—The State Board of Education shall provide for the review and approval of proposals by Florida College System institutions to offer baccalaureate degree programs pursuant to s. 1007.33. A Florida College System institution, as defined in s. 1000.21, that is approved to offer baccalaureate degrees pursuant to s. 1007.33 remains under the authority of the State Board of Education and the Florida College System institution’s board of trustees. The State Board of Education may not approve Florida College System institution baccalaureate degree program proposals from March 31, 2014, through May 31, 2015.

(17) UNIFIED STATE PLAN FOR SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS (STEM).—The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Board of Governors and the Department of Commerce, shall adopt a unified state plan to improve K-20 STEM education and prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, and high-demand employment in STEM and STEM-related fields.

(18) PUBLIC EDUCATION CAPITAL OUTLAY.—The State Board of Education shall develop and submit the prioritized list required by s. 1013.64(4). Projects considered for prioritization shall be chosen from a preliminary selection group which shall include the list of projects maintained pursuant to paragraph (d) and the top two priorities of each Florida College System institution.

(a) The state board shall develop a points-based prioritization method to rank projects for consideration from the preliminary selection group that awards points for the degree to which a project meets specific criteria compared to other projects in the preliminary selection group. The state board shall consider criteria that evaluates the degree to which:

1. The project was funded previously by the Legislature and the amount of funds needed for completion constitute a relatively low percentage of total project costs;

2. The project represents a building maintenance project or the repair of utility infrastructure which is necessary to preserve a safe environment for students and staff, or a project that is necessary to maintain the operation of a Florida College System institution site, and for which the institution can demonstrate that it has no other funding source available to complete the project;

3. The project addresses the greatest current year need for space as indicated by increased instructional capacity that enhances educational opportunities for the greatest number of students;

4. The project reflects a ranked priority of the submitting Florida College System institution;

5. The project represents the most practical and cost-effective replacement or renovation of an existing building; or

6. For a new construction, remodeling, or renovation project that has not received a prior appropriation, the project has received, or has commitments to receive, funding from sources other than a project-specific state appropriation to assist with completion of the project; the project is needed to preserve the safety of persons using the facility; or the project is consistent with a strategic legislative or state board initiative.

(b) The project scoring the highest for each criterion shall be awarded the maximum points in the range of points within the points scale developed by the state board. The state board shall weight the value of criteria such that the maximum points awarded for each criterion represents a percent of the total maximum points. However, the state board may not weight any criterion higher than the criterion established in subparagraph (a)3.

(c) A new construction, remodeling, or renovation project that has not received an appropriation in a previous year shall not be considered for inclusion on the prioritized list required by s. 1013.64(4), unless:

1. A plan is provided to reserve funds in an escrow account, into which shall be deposited each year an amount of funds equal to 0.5 percent of the total value of the building for future maintenance;

2. There exists sufficient capacity within the cash and bonding estimate of funds by the Revenue Estimating Conference to accommodate the project within the 3-year Public Education Capital Outlay funding cycle; and

3. The project has been recommended pursuant to s. 1013.31.

(d) The state board shall continually maintain a list of all public education capital outlay projects for which state funds were previously appropriated which have not been completed. The list shall include an estimate of the amount of state funding needed for the completion of each project.

(e) The state board shall review its space need calculation methodology developed pursuant to s. 1013.31 to incorporate improvements, efficiencies, or changes. Recommendations shall be submitted to the chairs of the House of Representatives and Senate appropriations committees by October 31, 2019, and every 3 years thereafter.

(19) INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND VIEWPOINT DIVERSITY ASSESSMENT.—

(a) For the purposes of this subsection, the term:

1. “Intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” means the exposure of students, faculty, and staff to, and the encouragement of their exploration of, a variety of ideological and political perspectives.

2. “Shield” means to limit students’, faculty members’, or staff members’ access to, or observation of, ideas and opinions that they may find uncomfortable, unwelcome, disagreeable, or offensive.

(b) The State Board of Education shall require each Florida College System institution to conduct an annual assessment of the intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at that institution. The State Board of Education shall select or create an objective, nonpartisan, and statistically valid survey to be used by each institution which considers the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented and members of the college community, including students, faculty, and staff, feel free to express their beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom. The State Board of Education shall annually compile and publish the assessments by December 31 of each year, beginning on December 31, 2024. The State Board of Education may adopt rules to implement this paragraph.

(c) The State Board of Education may not shield students, faculty, or staff at Florida College System institutions from free speech protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, Art. I of the State Constitution, or s. 1004.097.