Governor Rick Scott has started unrolling his 2013 legislative priorities for education.
Scott says he wants to focus on getting kids ready for college and careers. He’s calling for money for teacher training, more money for the overall education budget, and greater access to charter schools.
“In the vein of creating more options, lets allow our school districts to do their own charters so that we have more options for our parents and our students," Scott told reporters after Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
The Governor says his education plan is a reflection of the talks he’s been having with parents, teachers and students. The plan includes pre-paid debit cards for teachers to purchase supplies .The cards would be funded by private donations. Scott also wants the state to hold off on testing changes until the state fully transitions to national education standards.
Over the past year, student test scores have fallen drastically as the state has raised the bar in an effort to prepare schools for the harder common core standards coming in 2016.
The Governor will make a formal presentation of his plans Thursday in Fort Myers.
