Jay Collins bashes Byron Donalds on individual learning plans for everyone

TAMPA — Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins unveiled his education agenda on Monday, which includes a rebuke of a proposal by one of his opponents in the Republican race for governor — U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.

In April, Donalds said in a speech in Miami that he wants to “see that every child in the state has an individual learning plan, so we can chart their trajectory towards mastery by the time they graduate high school,” according to the Miami Herald.

Individual learning plans, or individualized education plans (IEPs), are traditionally used for students with special needs. An IEP is a written plan for the special education of students with disabilities.

Speaking before dozens of supporters during a press conference in Tampa Monday, Collins said “an IEP for everybody is not a good idea.”

“I understand the talking points, but when you get down to the facts of the matter, this plan shifts everything in a negative way,” he said. “It’s an enormous cost. Massive bureaucracy. Defeats the purpose of IEPs.”

Speaking directly to the Phoenix following his remarks, Collins added that if an individual learning plan were added for every student in Florida, “the paperwork in the system is going to be one of two things: You’re either going to hand it over to AI … or you’re going to water that down with paperwork, bureaucracy, and it’s not going to be sensible. Either way, it’s not appropriate for our education system.”

Joining Collins during his education-focused press conference was his wife Layla, who was appointed to the State Board of Education by Gov. Ron DeSantis last summer, as well as Chris and Bernadette Pello, who co-founded Livingstone Academies, three private schools in Hillsborough County that specialize in educating students with high-functioning autism, ADHD, and other learning disabilities.

“As far as putting all students on IEPs — as a mom, as a former substitute, as someone who’s been in the classroom, that is unmanageable and unfair to place on our teachers. How would they do that? It takes a year of gathering data. … What about the children that need those supports?” asked Layla Collins.

“We don’t have enough child psychologists, we don’t have enough people to give psychological evaluations, we’d have to test them for disabilities, we’d have to implement strategies, that’s not doable. What is doable is to make sure all our students have a career path,” said Chris Pello.

The Phoenix reached out to the Donalds campaign for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

Collins said his “Florida Families First” (dubbed “Operation F”) education plan would prioritize parental rights, expand school choice, and implement workforce training in Florida schools.

Following his remarks, the Phoenix asked Collins about the long-discussed proposal by the DeSantis administration to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November to substantially reduce or eliminate property taxes for homestead properties.

Rick Scott questions property tax proposal

Earlier on Monday, Florida GOP U.S. Sen. Rick Scott expressed skepticism on Fox Business whether such a proposal could be enacted without hurting vital programs.

“I’d love to get rid of property taxes,” Scott said. “Unfortunately, you’ve got to think about, okay, what you’re going to replace it with? We already are a very efficient state. So, you’ve got come up with how you are going to fund education and transportation and the environment and things like that?”

The Phoenix asked Collins whether the public has sufficient information about how a reduction in property taxes would affect the programs Scott referred to?

Collins said there needs to be “an implementation strategy” to roll out such a proposal, including a phase-in of “probably two to three years, realistically. You’ve got to give people a forewarning.”

He added that if the plan needed to be “scaled back because the math doesn’t work and the votes aren’t there, I think you go to a capped system, and then you stop at a certain denomination,” referring to the possibility of adding to the homestead exemption for property owners.

At one point during the legislative session, Florida House Republicans were poised to vote on a bill that would have gradually increased the homestead exemption for non-school property taxes by $100,000 each year for 10 years. However, the House ultimately amended that proposal and voted to end all non-school property taxes for homesteaded properties by Jan. 1, 2027.

The Senate never took up the proposal and, as the Memorial Day weekend beckons later this week, no proposal has yet to be introduced that would need to be approved by the Legislature by Aug. 1 to qualify for the November ballot.

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