Abstract

This research was conducted to determine what explains legislative support for traditional public education in Florida based on the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions. Data from the Florida Education Association ratings for each member of the Florida House and Florida Senate for these legislative sessions was used. Information from each legislator and their district was collected and used as independent variables in this research. How does political party, gender, race, ethnicity, age, chamber, family status, leadership, experience, percentage of school age children in the district, region of the district, and population density of the district affect legislator support for traditional public education in Florida? Using SPSS software, two bivariate and two multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine which of these variables were statistically significant. When analyzing the 2017 legislative session, political party, chamber, legislative experience, and leadership were statistically significant when explaining how a member voted on legislation that effected public education in Florida. When analyzing the 2018 legislative session, political party, chamber, race, age and those legislators from the north region of Florida were found to be statistically significant factors when determining what explains legislator support for public education. Overall, political party affiliation had the greatest impact on support for traditional public education with Democrats much more supportive than Republicans. Chamber was also an important factor, with members of the Senate more supportive of traditional public education than members of the House.

Thesis Completion

2019

Semester

Summer

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Jewett, Aubrey

Co-Chair

Ilderton, Nathan

Degree

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Political Science

Degree Program

Pre-law

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

8-1-2019

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