NEW S SERV I C E O F F L O R I DA :
DESANTIS SIGNS BILL TO BOOST
APPRENTICESHIP EFFORTS
NSF Staff
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday a wide-
ranging education bill highlighted by efforts to
expand workforce training and apprenticeships.
The law (HB 7071), signed during an appearance at
Space Florida in Merritt Island, continues many goals
that DeSantis included in a January executive order,
which was geared toward expanding vocational and
technical training in the state. “I think it’s important
that our education system recognizes that there is
more than one way to get advanced knowledge and
skills beyond the traditional four-year brick and ivy
university,” DeSantis said. “Some of these concrete
skills are in as much demand as ever. We want to
make (sure) that our system is nimble enough to
recognize that and produce graduates that have a
capacity to earn a good living when they get out of
school.” The legislation, which passed unanimously
in the House and the Senate, seeks to create a new
pathway to high-school graduation focused on
technical and vocational training and would inject
more money into apprenticeship programs. A $90.98
billion budget DeSantis signed Friday includes $10
million he requested in the January executive order
to seed “high-quality workforce apprenticeships.”
Under the legislation signed Monday, all school
districts will be required to give students the option
to partially fulfill high-school diploma requirements
by completing two credits in work-based learning
programs and two credits in career and technical
education. Starting in the 2019-2020 school year,
students will be able to graduate using that option
with a 2.0 grade point average. Lawmakers also
voted to create a grant program at the Florida
Department of Education that would inject money
into adding new apprenticeship programs and
expanding existing programs. The department
would prioritize programs that demonstrate
“regional demand.” Other bill provisions would allow
students to substitute a computer-science credit for
a math or science credit and require school districts
to offer financial-literacy courses as electives. The
financial literacy proposal was added to the bill
in honor of the late Sen. Dorothy Hukill, who died
last year of cancer and championed the financial-
literacy issue for years.
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DITCHMEN • JUNE 2019