Florida Gov. Announces Return To Classroom Education This Fall

MELBOURNE, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced the return of classroom learning for children in the state starting this fall under a plan that will focus on closing the achievement gap.

"Working with the Department of Education, working with the superintendents, we've been able to provide a roadmap to announce the return of our schools to on-campus instruction and to bring long-term improvements to the instructional continuity," the governor said.

He said the change will be in the best interests of both children and their parents.

"Getting back on our feet in the school year, I think, is going to be really, really important for the well being of our kids, but I also think it's important for a lot of parents who had to juggle an awful lot over these last couple months," the governor said.

DeSantis said achievement gaps are expected to significantly widen across the nation as a result of the coronavirus-inspired shift to distance learning throughout the United States.

"In Florida, we plan to work together to provide tools and strategies to close the achievement gap," DeSantis said. "Florida, I think possibly fell behind less than other jurisdictions around the country."

He said he believes Florida's distance learning programs have been among the most effective in the country, something that may be a reflection on the state's emphasis on hurricane preparedness.

"That said, having a teacher there is not going to be a substitute for that in-person instruction," the governor said of distance learning.

He said $64 million would be spent to close achievement gaps that have likely been exacerbated since Florida transitioned to distance learning in March.

"These funds will provide a four-or-five week summer program on campuses for students from K-5 who are identified with a substantive deficiency in reading based on assessments and teacher recommendations," the governor said.

DeSantis said the state's goal is to have 90 percent of students proficient in reading by 2024. The plan calls for $20 million to be spent on identifying the best reading curriculum and supplemental instruction materials to drive teaching and learning for grades K-3, which will be vetted by Just Read Florida, a statewide reading initiative that was created in 2001 by then Gov. Jeb Bush.

"We will dedicate $15 million to train and develop 2,000 highly effective reading coaches, develop and deploy strategies for in-classroom support with reading coaches and develop regional support teams to identify and assist students with reading improvement," according to DeSantis.

He said the plan also calls for more than $223 million to be spent on early learning programs.

"This includes $55 million to provide financial assistance to child care providers that remained open during the crisis with infrastructure, personnel costs, any supplies and other costs to retain a safe learning environment," the governor said.

DeSantis said the state would provide $16.9 million in funding to "high-quality child care providers" who agree to reopen as part of the Florida school reopening plan.

The state plans to spend $20.9 million on a successful transition to kindergarten program to implement summer programs for about 45,000 "rising" kindergarten students identified with limited language and emergent literacy skills.

"Forty-five million is set aside as safety net funds to make sure students don't continue to have disruptions in their education," according to the governor, who said the plan also provides $8 million to allow every graduating public school student in 2020 or 2021 to take the SAT or ACT free of charge and $5 million to expand civic literacy in schools.

"Our division of emergency management will be coordinating with school districts across the state to survey school districts on their needs for personal protective equipment and sanitation supplies and to help provide those through coordinated emergency management operations," the governor added.