The 2024 Legislative Session had many victories for Florida’s kids and parents, thanks to our work at the Florida Citizens Alliance.
This year we evaluated over 130 bills related to education and children.
Some of our bigger highlights are:
- A much-needed amendment to HB 1403 (School Choice) which saved the Hope Scholarship by keeping the protections the scholarship offered in place.
- An amendment to HB 7004 (The Government School Deregulation) that mandated each school district must have a policy in place to retain students for reading deficiencies from Kindergarten to 2nd grade based on performance data and kept the 3rd-grade retention requirement in place.
- The passage of HB 3 (Online Protections for Minors) which created protections to make sure minors do not have access to obscene materials online. It also provides a pathway for parents to give children access to social media platforms for 14 and 15-year-olds and would ban damaging social media access to those under 14, which will enforce federal law.
- The passage of HB 931 (School Chaplains) which allows school districts and charter schools to create a volunteer chaplain program. Parents are provided an option for their child to see a volunteer chaplain of their choice.
- The passage of HB 1545 (Child Exploitation Offenses) which aims to crack down on the grooming that contributes to human trafficking.
All of these successes will have a positive impact on children in Florida. These laws and amendments will expand parental choice, improve education, and protect children from harm.
We could not have done this without the help of our supporters!
