Florida Amendment 8, School Board Term Limits, Allow State to Operate Non-Board Established Schools, and Civic Literacy Amendment (2018)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Florida Amendment 8
Flag of Florida.png
Election date
November 6, 2018
Topic
Education and Charter schools and vouchers
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Commission-referral		Origin
Legislative commission

Florida Amendment 8, the School Board Term Limits, Allow State to Operate Non-Board Established Schools, and Civic Literacy Amendment, was not on the ballot in Florida as a commission referral on November 6, 2018.[1]

A "yes" vote would have supported this amendment to:
  • establish a term limit of eight consecutive years for school board members;
  • allow the state government to operate, supervise, and control public schools not established by the school board; and
  • require the legislature to promote civic literacy in public education.
A "no" vote would have opposed this amendment to:
  • establish a term limit of eight consecutive years for school board members;
  • allow the state government to operate, supervise, and control public schools not established by the school board; and
  • require the legislature to promote civic literacy in public education.

On August 20, 2018, Amendment 8 was blocked from the ballot by a court ruling that stated the ballot title and ballot summary were misleading. The state appealed the ruling, and the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. On September 7, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling and ordered the amendment to be kept from the ballot.[2]

Overview

How did this measure get on the ballot?

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) voted 27-10 to place Amendment 8, which is composed of three constitutional amendments, on the ballot for the election. The 37-member commission, which meets every 20 years to propose changes to the Florida Constitution, is unique amongst the states. Florida is the only state with a commission empowered to refer constitutional amendments to the ballot. Republicans, including legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Scott, appointed 33 of the commissioners. Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) also served on the commission. Jorge Labarga, chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, appointed the three remaining members.

As Amendment 8 was a package of three constitutional amendments, voters would not have been able to approve or reject some, but not all, of the amendments. Voting “yes” on the ballot measure would be a vote to pass the three constitutional amendments. Voting “no” on the ballot measure would be a vote to reject the three constitutional amendments.

Measure design

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) bundled three proposed constitutional amendments as one ballot measure: Amendment 8. The proposed constitutional amendments were related to K-12 education.

School Board Term Limits Amendment

Amendment 8 would have established term limits of two consecutive four-year terms for school board members. The measure would have prohibited an individual's name from appearing on the ballot if the person had already served on the school board for eight years.[1]

As of 2018, there was no state law limiting how long a person could serve on a school board.[3]

State-Supervised Schools Amendment

As of 2018, the state constitution authorized school boards to operate, control, and supervise all free public schools within their jurisdictions. Amendment 8 would have changed the constitution to limit school boards' authority to operate, control, and supervise public schools to those established by the district school board. In other words, the measure would have allowed a different state institution to have oversight of public schools not established by school boards.[1] These non-board established schools could have included privately-organized charter schools, lab schools, collegiate high schools, and other types of schools.

Civic Literacy Amendment

Amendment 8 would have added language to the Florida Constitution stating that "education is essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people." The measure would have required the Florida State Legislature to pass laws to, according to the text, "ensure that students enrolled in public education understand and are prepared to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a constitutional republic."[1] The subject of civil literacy would have been the only K-12 education subject specified in the state constitution.[4]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:[1]

“ SCHOOL BOARD TERM LIMITS AND DUTIES; PUBLIC SCHOOLS.[5] ”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was as follows:[1]

“

Creates a term limit of eight consecutive years for school board members and requires the legislature to provide for the promotion of civic literacy in public schools. Currently, district school boards have a constitutional duty to operate, control, and supervise all public schools. The amendment maintains a school board’s duties to public schools it establishes, but permits the state to operate, control, and supervise public schools not established by the school board.[5]

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Florida Constitution

Amendment 8 would have amended Section 4 of Article IX of the Florida Constitution and add a new section to Article XII of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added and struck-through text would have been deleted:[1]

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Section 4 of Article IX

School districts; school boards.—(a) Each county shall constitute a school district; provided, two or more contiguous counties, upon vote of the electors of each county pursuant to law, may be combined into one school district. In each school district there shall be a school board composed of five or more members chosen by vote of the electors in a nonpartisan election for appropriately staggered terms of four years, as provided by law.

(b) A person may not appear on the ballot for re-election to the office of school board if, by the end of the current term of office, the person would have served, or but for resignation would have served, in that office for eight consecutive years.

(b) (c) The school board shall operate, control, and supervise all free public schools established by the district school board within the school district and determine the rate of school district taxes within the limits prescribed herein. Two or more school districts may operate and finance joint educational programs.

Civic literacy.—As education is essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the legislature shall provide by law for the promotion of civic literacy in order to ensure that students enrolled in public education understand and are prepared to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens of a constitutional republic.

Schedule of Article XII

Limitation on terms of office for members of a district school board.—This section and the amendment to Section 4 of Article IX imposing term limits for the terms of office for members of a district school board shall take effect on the date it is approved by the electorate, but no service in a term of office which commenced prior to November 6, 2018, will be counted against the limitation imposed by this amendment. [5]

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Florida Constitution Revision Commission wrote the ballot language for this measure.


The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 3.8, and the FRE is 82.4. The word count for the ballot title is 8, and the estimated reading time is two seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 13.8, and the FRE is 39.1. The word count for the ballot summary is 72, and the estimated reading time is 19 seconds.

In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here.

Support

8isGreat led the campaign in support of the amendment.

Supporters

Arguments

  • Erika Donalds, the chairperson of 8isGreat and a member of the Florida CRC who sponsored the proposals that became Amendment 8, wrote in a statement, "Amendment 8 is Great for Florida's future, and we are committed to communicating that message to all Floridians. As school board members, we are convinced that fresh ideas and diverse opportunities for innovation are essential to creating a system of public education that works for every student. When it comes to the policy necessary to deliver that change, Amendment 8 is Great!"[8]
  • Former state Senator Don Gaetz (R-1) said, “The intent and substance was not charter schools; it was much broader than that. Ten years ago virtual education was considered edgy, strange and suspicious, and we don’t know what form education will take 10 years from now. This envisions the need for education methods, facilities or organizations that in the future might be different from traditional schools.”[6]

Opposition

Opponents

  • Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Florida League of Women Voters
  • Sarasota County School Board[9]
  • Polk County School Board[10]
  • Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida[11]

Arguments

Patricia Brigham, League of Women Voters Florida President, said the following regarding a lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of the Florida League of Women Voters:[12]

“ If Amendment 8 remains on the ballot, there is no way that voters will realize that a yes vote could allow unaccountable political appointees or even private organizations to control where and when charter schools can be established in their county. We know that Floridians overwhelmingly support the constitutional requirement to make adequate provision for the education of all children that is ‘uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality.’ We are asking the court to ensure that voters aren’t tricked into eliminating those protections.[5] ”


The Polk County School Board unanimously passed a resolution which stated the following about the amendment:[10]

“
  • [The amendment] is not necessary, is not fair, is not desirable, and is not clearly understandable.
  • Civic literacy is well entrenched and promoted in Florida and it is not necessary to further enshrine civic literacy in the state constitution.
  • Transferring the authority to establish a public school to an individual or entity that is not elected denies taxpayers, families, and communities any means to hold the authorizing entity fiscally and programmatically accountable. [The amendment would] permit and encourage the creation of a parallel system of free public schools which threatens the state’s ability to comply with the constitutional mandate for a uniform system of free public schools.[5]
 ”

Media editorials

See also: 2018 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

Ballotpedia did not identify any media editorials in support of the amendment. If you are aware of one, please send an e-mail to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Opposition

  • The Palm Beach Post said: "This amendment, one of several advanced by the CRC, is a mash-up of three proposals with little in common except having something or other to do with education. You have to vote for all three or none at all. Voters are apt to like two of the elements: a requirement that “civic literacy” be promoted in public schools, and an eight-year limit for service on a school board. It’s the third piece that’s the problem: It would allow charter schools to be authorized by entities other than local school boards, which now make those decisions. Suddenly, the Legislature could allow any person or group or corporation, public or private, to set up charter schools or the like. And those schools would be free of oversight by the school board. This is so misleading you have to wonder if the deception was deliberate. The Leon County Circuit Court should quickly rule to strike this insult to voters from the November ballot."[13]

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

The following poll was conducted by Cherry Communications and commissioned by the Florida Chamber of Commerce to gauge voter support and opposition toward the amendments on Florida's 2018 ballot. A total of 605 likely voters were polled, including 237 Republicans, 249 Democrats, and 119 others.[14]


Support and Opposition for Amendment 8
Poll Support OpposeUndecidedMargin of errorSample size
Florida Chamber of Commerce Poll
5/25/18 - 6/2/18		 75%11%15%+/-4.0605
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Duval County School Board v. State Board of Education

In December 2008, the Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled that the Schools of Excellence Commission—a state-level organization with the power to authorize charter schools in Florida—was unconstitutional. The District Court of Appeal described the commission as "a parallel system of free public education escaping the operation and control of local elected school boards." As the bill creating the Schools of Excellence Commission prevented local school boards from controlling the charter schools, the court said the commission violated Section 4 of Article IX of the Florida Constitution.[15]

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) signed the legislation to enact the Schools of Excellence Commission in 2006. Charlie Crist, who was a Republican governor in 2008, decided not to appeal Duval County School Board v. State Board of Education to the Florida Supreme Court.[16]

Path to the ballot

See also: Florida Constitution Revision Commission, 2018 proposals

The Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) referred the constitutional amendment to the ballot for the general election on November 6, 2018.[17] The Florida CRC is a 37-member commission provided for in the state constitution that reviews and proposes changes to the Florida Constitution. The CRC refers constitutional amendments directly to the ballot for a public vote, which makes the commission unique amongst the states. Florida is the only state with a commission empowered to refer constitutional amendments to the ballot. The CRC convenes every 20 years.

Proposal 6003

In the CRC, the ballot measure was known as Proposal 6003. The measure needed to receive the vote of 22 commissions. On April 16, 2018, a total of 27 members (72.97 percent) voted "yes" on Proposal 6002. Ten members (27.03 percent) voted "no" on the proposal.[17]

Proposal 10, Proposal 43, and Proposal 71 were combined to create Proposal 6003.[17]

The following table illustrates how individual commissioners voted on Proposal 6003:[18]

Proposal 10

Commissioner Don Gaetz was the lead sponsor of Proposal 10. The proposal was designed to require the promotion of civic literacy in public education. On March 20, 2018, Proposal 10 was approved 25 to seven with five commissioners not voting.[20] Proposal 10 needed to receive a simple majority vote of the commissioners to move forward.

Proposal 43

Commissioner Erika Donalds was the lead sponsor of Proposal 43. The proposal was designed to establish a term limit of eight years for school board members. On March 21, 2018, Proposal 43 was approved 27 to six with four commissioners not voting.[21] Proposal 43 needed to receive a simple majority vote of the commissioners to move forward.

Proposal 71

Commissioner Erika Donalds was the lead sponsor of Proposal 71. The proposal was designed to provide that school boards control all public schools established by the school district, not all public schools. On March 21, 2018, Proposal 43 was approved 27 to eight with two commissioners not voting.[22] Proposal 71 needed to receive a simple majority vote of the commissioners to move forward.

Lawsuits

Florida League of Women Voters v. Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner

  
Lawsuit overview
Issue: Whether the amendment violates the single subject rule, whether ballot language is misleading
Court: Filed in Second Judicial Circuit in Leon County, Florida
Ruling: Ruled in favor of plaintiffs, removing Amendment 8 from the ballot. Appealed to the Supreme Court. On September 7, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling.[2]
Plaintiff(s): Filed by Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of Florida League of Women VotersDefendant(s): Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner
Plaintiff argument:
The measure combines three separate and unrelated measures into one, so voters must either reject or approve all three; the ballot language is misleading and therefore the measure should not be placed on the ballot.		Defendant argument:
The ballot language is clear; Florida voters are entitled to vote on the amendment.

  Source: SPLC Center, Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief

Patricia Brigham, League of Women Voters Florida President, said, “If Amendment 8 remains on the ballot, there is no way that voters will realize that a yes vote could allow unaccountable political appointees or even private organizations to control where and when charter schools can be established in their county. We know that Floridians overwhelmingly support the constitutional requirement to make adequate provision for the education of all children that is ‘uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality.’ We are asking the court to ensure that voters aren’t tricked into eliminating those protections.”[23]

In the court filing, lawyers for the League of Women Voters wrote “The purpose of Revision 8 is to allow the Legislature to … remove from local school boards their current constitutional authority and duty to directly authorize and supervise public schools and … allow that authority to be given to one or more unspecified public or private entities but the title and summary of Revision 8 obscure the first purpose and affirmatively mislead voters on the second."[24]

A lawyer for Detzner wrote that "Amendment 8 suffers from none of these defects, and this Court should reject Plaintiffs' attempt to interfere with the amendment process, which attempt stems primarily from their disagreement with Amendment 8 as a matter of policy... the ballot title and summary for Amendment 8 provide ample notice to the voters using clear an unambiguous language, the Florida Electorate is entitled to vote on the amendment."[25]

On August 20, 2018, Judge John Cooper ruled that Amendment 8 must be removed from the ballot. The decision stated that the ballot language for Amendment 8 "fails to inform voters of the chief purpose and effect of this proposal."[26] The state appealed the ruling, and the Florida Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.[27]

On September 7, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the amendment could not appear on the ballot.[2]

State profile

Demographic data for Florida
 FloridaU.S.
Total population:20,244,914316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):53,6253,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:76%73.6%
Black/African American:16.1%12.6%
Asian:2.6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:2.4%3%
Hispanic/Latino:23.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:86.9%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.3%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$47,507$53,889
Persons below poverty level:19.8%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Florida

Florida voted Republican in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, four are located in Florida, accounting for 1.94 percent of the total pivot counties.[28]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Florida had three Retained Pivot Counties and one Boomerang Pivot County, accounting for 1.66 and 4.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respsectively.

More Florida coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 6003," accessed April 16, 2018
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Florida Watchdog, "Amendmetn 8 struck, three others stay on ballot," accessed September 8, 2018
  3. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 43 Analysis," accessed April 19, 2018
  4. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 10 Analysis," accessed April 19, 2018
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 NWF Daily News, "Amendment 8 ballot question bundles up controversy," accessed July 23, 2018
  7. ↑ Ballotpedia staff writer, "Email correspondence with Stacey Selleck, digital director of U.S. Term Limits," June 19, 2018
  8. ↑ Tampa Bay, "Florida school board term limit backers jump start campaign for Amendment 8," accessed July 15, 2018
  9. ↑ Herald Tribune, "Charter school amendment triggers School Board dispute," accessed July 23, 2018
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Ledger, "School Board lashes out against Amendment 8," accessed August 29, 2018
  11. ↑ Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida, "2018 Ballot Amendments Recommendations," accessed October 14, 2018
  12. ↑ SPLC, "SPLC sues to block misleading Fla. ballot measure that would reduce local control over new public schools," accessed July 15, 2018
  13. ↑ Palm Beach Post, "Editorial: Court should strike misleading Amendment 8 from the ballot," accessed July 24, 2018
  14. ↑ Sunshine State News, "Poll Points to Trouble for Many Ballot Proposals," accessed July 24, 2018
  15. ↑ Florida First District Court of Appeal, "Duval County School Board v. State Board of Education," December 2, 2008
  16. ↑ Wall Street Journal, "A Charter Setback in Florida," January 7, 2009
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 6003," accessed April 16, 2018
  18. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 6003 Vote," April 16, 2018
  19. ↑ Stargel was a subsititute commissioner for Jose “Pepe” Armas
  20. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 10," accessed April 16, 2018
  21. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 43," accessed April 16, 2018
  22. ↑ Florida Constitution Revision Commission, "Proposal 71," accessed April 16, 2018
  23. ↑ SPLC, "SPLC sues to block misleading Fla. ballot measure that would reduce local control over new public schools," accessed July 15, 2018
  24. ↑ News 4 Jax,"Charter schools oversight at heart of lawsuit against Amendment 8," accessed August 13, 2018
  25. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Florida Amendment 8 challenge stems from policy disagreement, not wording problems, secretary of state argues," accessed August 15, 2018
  26. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Judge orders Amendment 8 be removed from Florida ballot," August 20, 2018
  27. ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Florida Supreme Court to hear Amendment 8 ballot case," accessed August 24, 2018
  28. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
v • e
2018 ballot measures
I&R States
 • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Florida • Idaho • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • South Dakota • Utah • Washington
Non I&R States
Political topics
 • Abortion‎ • Administration of government‎ • Bond issues‎ • Business regulation‎ • Campaign finance‎ • Civil and criminal trials‎ • Civil rights‎ • Civil service‎ • Constitutional conventions‎ • Constitutional language‎ • County and municipal governance‎ • Definition of a corporation‎ • Direct democracy measures‎ • Education‎ • Elections and campaigns‎ • Energy‎ • Environment‎ • Federal constitutional issues‎ • Forests and parks‎ • Gambling‎ • Government accountability‎ • Healthcare‎ • Housing‎ • Hunting and fishing‎ • Labor and unions‎ • Law enforcement‎ • LGBT issues‎ • Marijuana‎ • Natural resources‎ • Pension‎ • Property‎ • Redistricting measures‎ • State and local government budgets, spending and finance‎ • State executive official measures‎ • State judiciary‎ • State legislatures measures‎ • Statehood‎ • Suffrage‎ • Supermajority requirements‎ • Taxes‎ • Term limits‎ • Tobacco‎ • Tort law‎ • Transportation‎ • Veterans‎ • Water‎ • Welfare‎
Other
Flag of Florida
v • e
State of Florida
Tallahassee (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Florida_Amendment_8,_School_Board_Term_Limits,_Allow_State_to_Operate_Non-Board_Established_Schools,_and_Civic_Literacy_Amendment_(2018)&oldid=10223342"