A bill creating new requirements for Florida’s single-gender school programs is headed to Gov. Rick Scott.
The first piece of standalone school choice legislation to pass this session cleared both houses of the Legislature with overwhelming support.
The bill itself would not expand single-gender programs, which are already authorized under state law. But sponsor Rep. Manny Diaz, R-Hialeah, who sponsored the legislation in the House, said it could help them receive a boost in the state budget and create a framework allowing them to grow.
The bill would require school systems offering single-gender classes to make them open to all children in their districts. It would also require them to provide training for their faculty and report comparisons of their students’ performance to the state Department of Education.
The House has proposed spending $300,000 on gender-specific programs in Duval and Broward counties in its version of the state budget, which has yet to be settled in negotiations with the Senate.
Diaz said the money would help fund professional development for teachers and administrators at the schools. As public schools gain more experience with separate male and female classes and the state studies their results, he said, the quality of the programs will improve and they will be more likely to expand into other school districts.
Eventually, he said he hopes more public school students to participate in programs like those in place at Academy Prep Center. At the Tampa private school, which recently received a visit from Congressman Eric Cantor, R-Va., students are separated by gender for core subject classes to help them focus, but the genders are mixed during other parts of the day.
“These programs will be seen as another option for parents who may not have the resources to send those kids to a private school,” Diaz said.
The Senate sponsor, Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said she attended an all-girls high school and wanted more families to have that option.
The bill was never really controversial. The closest thing to opposition it received during debate on the Senate floor was a quip from Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth.
“I can’t imagine going to school without women,” he said, before supporting the measure.
