By Sascha Cordner
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-992203.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – A group of Florida lawmakers are working to craft a bill that would not only provide education for children in the juvenile detention centers, but base the program on performances and outcomes. As Sascha Cordner reports, legislators hope to transform the way juvenile offenders get educated in the system.
Republican Senator Stephen Wise of Jacksonville is the chair of the Senate Education Committee, which is drafting a committee bill that would reform the way kids in state detention centers are educated so they can later have careers. Wise says the next step is hearing input from those who will run this new juvenile justice education program:
" and clarify who's doing what to who and why are they doing it to you. And, what are those performances? When do they go into effect? How do they do it and so forth. A lot of it is DJJ, how do they put the students, if you will, in their facilities and at what age groups should you mix them and get a 50 bed facility? And, do you mix middle school with high school?"
Under the proposal, if a district or school involved in educating kids in the Department of Juvenile Justice receives two failed ratings in a 3-year time period, the department has the right to prevent them from educating juvenile offenders.