Honor Roll
The Foundation for Florida’s Future honors the courageous lawmakers who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in advancing bold reforms to make education in Florida a model for the nation.
Senator JD Alexander
As chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator JD Alexander faced the toughest economic outlook the state has seen in recent history. Despite declining state dollars and evergrowing costs, Alexander made funding education a priority. In particular, he made funding what works in education a priority. With successful programs like School Recognition – which rewards schools for improving – on the cutting block, Alexander worked to ensure that programs that improve student learning remain a priority in Florida.
Senator Anitere Flores
As a member of the Digital Learning Council, it was no surprise that Senator Anitere Flores entered the 2011 session with a bill to expand the scope of digital learning in Florida’s education system. Spurred by the desire to provide all children with a customized education, Flores sponsored the “Digital Learning Now Act,” which will enable districts to use technology to offer rich course offerings to students across the state, provide more virtual learning options to students and breakdown unnecessary barriers that restrict digital learning in Florida.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos
Senate President Mike Haridopolos proved that he is not afraid of meaningful education reforms. Whether it was charter schools, digital learning or teacher quality, Haridopolos led the Senate in a legislative session that culminated in the most comprehensive package of education reforms in the past decade. As Senate President, Haridopolos worked to maintain education funding as a priority in one of Florida’s toughest budget years.
Senator Gary Siplin
Senator Gary Siplin proved in 2011 that education reform is a bipartisan issue – earning him his second spot on our Honor Roll. Supporting issues like teacher quality, charter schools and vouchers for disabled students, Siplin put the students of his district before his party. Thanks to his and our bold Legislature’s efforts, more of Florida’s students will receive the quality education they deserve.
Senator John Thrasher
Senator John Thrasher has been a courageous leader of education reform for over a decade. This year, inspired by a wave of education documentaries like Waiting for Superman and The Lottery, Thrasher introduced one of the most innovative charter school bills in the nation. Last year, more than 37,000 students were turned away from high-quality charter schools due to enrollment caps. Thanks to Senator Thrasher’s efforts, Florida’s best charter schools will be given more autonomy to expand to meet the growing demand for high-quality charter schools in the state.
Senator Stephen Wise
A driving force behind education reform for decades, this session Senator Wise led the Florida Senate in passing a historic bill to modernize the teaching profession in Florida. His work began well before the 2011 session started with public workshops, hearings and meetings. The bill, known as the “Student Success Act,” improves the way Florida evaluates, retains and rewards teachers across the state and was proudly the first legislation passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Scott.
Representative Leonard Bembry
This session, Representative Leonard Bembry proved Florida’s students are his priority by separating from many within his party to vote for education reform. Bembry’s support for digital learning, charter schools and vouchers for students with disabilities and students in failing schools will improve education for students in his district and throughout Florida.
Representative Michael Bileca
In his first legislative session, businessman Michael Bileca decided to make education his priority, studying the issues and sponsoring two school choice bills. As sponsor of McKay Scholarship and Opportunity Scholarship expansions, Representative Bileca challenged the status quo and offered more educational choices to students with disabilities and those trapped in failing public schools.
Speaker of the House Dean Cannon
Speaker of the House Dean Cannon didn’t waste any time advancing reforms to further improve the quality of education in Florida. Cannon played an instrumental role in passing a bill to enhance and expand digital learning for Florida’s students. Also under his leadership, the Florida House passed a series of education policies ranging from teacher quality to vouchers for disabled students with no less than a supermajority voting in favor of each measure. With such strong reforms this year, we look forward to the Legislature building on these policies in 2012.
Representative Erik Fresen
As chairman of the K-20 Competitiveness Committee, Representative Erik Fresen spent the months leading up to session working with the House and Senate to produce an improved version of the teacher legislation vetoed in 2010. His dedicated work helped create a bill that modernizes Florida’s teaching profession. This landmark bill was passed by a more than two-thirds vote of the House.
Representative Kelli Stargel
As chairwoman of the K-20 Innovation Committee, Representative Kelli Stargel truly lived up to the name of her committee. Two of the most innovative education bills in the past decade – relating to charter schools and digital learning – were created and passed under her leadership. Thanks to the work of Representative Stargel and her committee, more students will have access to digital learning and high-quality charter schools next year.