¶1This ease involves the appeal of an unsuccessful constitutional challenge brought by Appellants seeking a declaration that the “Student Success Act” passed *591by the 2011 Legislature
Although the Court’s review [of a claim that a statute is unconstitutional] is de novo, statutes come clothed with a presumption of constitutionality and must be construed whenever possible to effect a constitutional outcome. As this Court has stated, ‘[sjhould any doubt exist that an act is in violation ... of any constitutional provision, the presumption is in favor of constitutionality. To overcome the presumption, the invalidity must appear beyond reasonable doubt, for it must be assumed the legislature intended to enact a valid law.’
¶2Crist v. Fla. Ass’n of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Inc., 978 So.2d 134, 139 (Fla.2008) (quoting Franklin v. State, 887 So.2d 1063, 1073 (Fla.2004) (emphasis added; citations omitted)).
¶3Appellants have not established that the legislature delegated core legislative authority to the Board of Education and intended to violate the separation of powers requirement of Article II, section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Thus, we hold that Appellants have failed to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the legislature violated the constitution by enacting the Student Success Act, and we affirm the trial court’s decision finding the Act constitutional.
¶4Under our precedent in Florida Teaching Profession-National Education Association v. Turlington, 490 So.2d 142 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), this statute confers permissible discretion to allow the Board of Education to implement a highly technical matter regarding the evaluation of teachers, not a fundamental policy decision. In Turlington, this court rejected a nondelegation challenge to a statute that was similar to the statute here in terms of the subject matter and discretion allowed to the administrative agency. In Turlington, the statute granted a range of decisions to the education agency for determining teacher evaluations for pay incentives and incentive funding for schools. Id. at 142-45. The statute in Turlington, like here, did not dictate to the Board of Education every conceivable variable to apply, but instead allowed school officials and the Board of Education to apply improvements in student test scores to determine whether a school merited the incentive status. Furthermore, this court rejected the arguments that because the statute allowed principals to “confer extra evaluation points,” it violated Article II, section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Id. at 146.
¶5Under the Student Success Act, the legislature revised certain requirements for evaluating classroom teachers and other personnel, which in part required that at least fifty percent of a teacher’s evaluation must be based on “student learning growth.” This factor of measuring student improvement is assessed statewide based on a formula adopted by the Commissioner of Education, unless the subject matter is better evaluated by an “equally appropriate formula” adopted by the local school district. §§ 1012.34(3)(a) & 1012.34(7), Fla. *592Stat. (2011).
¶6The Student Success Act requires that teacher evaluations must be based on four levels of performance: highly effective; effective; needs improvement or developing; and unsatisfactory. § 1012.34(2)(e), Fla. Stat. (2011). In addition, the Board of Education is directed to adopt rules which establish “sufficient [consistent] differentiation” in performance levels, including the student learning growth standard, which “if not met” will render a teacher’s performance level unsatisfactory. This legislation further requires that the student learning growth standard must be met before a teacher can be classified as attaining a “highly effective” or “effective” rating. § 1012.34(8), Fla. Stat. (2011). These classifications affect teachers’ eligibility for salary increases, promotions, placements, transfers and layoffs. §§ 1012.22(l)(c) & (e); 1012.28(6); 1012.33(5), Fla. Stat. (2011).
¶7The Commissioner of Education must “consult with experts, instructional personnel, school administrators, and education stakeholders in developing the criteria for the performance levels.” § 1012.34(2)(e), Fla. Stat. (2011). The critical component, student learning growth, must be developed by the Commissioner of Education, based on standardized test scores and other factors, including a student’s past academic performance. The Commissioner is prohibited from establishing different for-mulae based on gender, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
¶8When creating the student learning growth criterion, the Board of Education is not free to invent factors out of whole cloth; instead, it must utilize the described components. The statute provides that this criterion will be based on standardized test scores, where possible, and other factors, such as a student’s past performance and related measures for areas not subject to standardized test scores. We are not determining whether the statute is perfect or comprehensive in its direction to the Board of Education, but rather whether the statute grants the Board of Education “unbridled discretion” to enact fundamental policy choices. This it does not do.
¶9The statute provides the Board of Education with sufficient direction to implement the technical aspects of the law in accordance with the legislature’s express policy goals to “promote enhanced academic success and funding efficiency of educational delivery systems by aligning responsibility with accountability ... [and to ensure that the] guiding principles for Florida’s K-20 education system are ... student-centered in every facet [and] provide[ ] for local operational flexibility while promoting accountability for student achievement and improvement.” §§ 1000.02(1) & (2), Fla. Stat. (2011) (emphasis added). In addition to these overarching principles, in section 1012.34(l)(a), the legislature states that its purpose in evaluating teachers and other personnel is to “increasef ] student learning growth by improving the quality of instructional ... services in the public schools of the state....”
¶10In the seminal case defining the parameters of the nondelegation doctrine, Askew v. Cross Key Waterways, the statute allowed the Administrative Commission to select certain areas of the state for more stringent environmental, economic and growth regulations, and by doing so, gave the Commission unbridled discretion to choose large areas of the state for these *593more stringent regulations. 372 So.2d 913 (Fla.1978). The court emphasized that the statute was deficient, because it would not be subject to meaningful judicial review. Id. at 918-19. The court further emphasized that while a law can allow an agency to “flesh out” a legislative policy under Article II, section 3, that law cannot allow the agency to “flesh out” what it has “first conceived”; that is, the statute will not pass constitutional muster if it allows the agency the unfettered discretion to enact policy and then implement that policy. Id. at 920.
¶11Here, the statute does not confer on the Board of Education the power to “conceive” or enact the policy. Quite the opposite. Rather, the Board is directed to implement a detailed teacher evaluation plan that includes standardized test scores.
¶12In addition to our own precedent in Turlingtonand the test established under Cross Key Waterways, under the authority of Avatar Development Corporation v. State, 723 So.2d 199 (Fla.1998), Brown v. Apalachee Regional Planning Council, 560 So.2d 782 (Fla.1990), and Microtel, Inc. v. Florida Public Service Commission, 464 So.2d 1189 (Fla.1985), this statute passes constitutional muster.
¶13In Brown, the supreme court recognized that under the nondelegation doctrine, the legislature may delegate certain decisions to administrative agencies, where “given the highly technical nature of the, [Development of Regional Impact] review process, details relating to the imposition of a cost-based review fee can be viewed as a technical matter of implementation rather than a fundamental policy decision.” 560 So.2d at 785 (emphasis added). This is a pragmatic view which properly shows respect to the legislative branch, which cannot be expected to include every technical aspect in a complex act. The statute here certainly qualifies for this deference. Furthermore, section 1012.34, Florida Statutes, provides the Board of Education with detailed parameters to implement the student learning growth criterion for teacher evaluations. The legislature, not the Board of Education, directed that this criterion include standardized test results, annual student improvement, and non-standardized data utilized by local school boards.
¶14Whether the statute could assign more instructions to the Board is not the test for this court to apply. Rather, the well-established test is whether the statute confers “unfettered discretion” and fundamental policy decisions on an agency of the executive branch. See Avatar, 723 So.2d at 202. This statute does not.
¶15The supreme court’s decision in Avatar is particularly instructive, as that decision rejected a nondelegation argument, where the statute at issue imposed criminal liability based on a violation of a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Protection. 723 So.2d at 199. There, the appellant argued that the statute violated the separation of powers, because it conferred the power to define the crime on DEP, which defines and imposes permit conditions. Id. at 202-03. In rejecting the appellant’s arguments, the supreme court reiterated what it held in Cross Key Waterways and Brown, that “the sufficiency of adequate standards depends on the complexity of the subject matter and the ‘degree of difficulty involved in articulating finite standards.’” Avatar, 723 So.2d at 207. Here, the legislature did not confer unbridled discretion on the Board of Education to define student learning growth, but specified factors or tools the Board of Education must and may utilize to define this critical component of the statutory plan. Thus, the legislature made the fundamental policy decision and properly allowed the Board of Education to imple*594ment the technical aspects of that policy-decision.
¶16In Microtel, the supreme court upheld a statute that directed the Public Service Commission to authorize intrastate long distance telephone service against a non-delegation claim. 464 So.2d at 1191. As the court noted, “the legislature made the ‘fundamental and primary policy decision’ that there be competition in long distance telephone service.” Id.The statute at issue delegated to the Public Service Commission the duty to determine the qualifications of the applicant, “which may include a detailed inquiry into the ability of the applicant to provide service, a detailed inquiry into the territory and facilities involved, and a detailed inquiry into the existence of service from other sources....” Id. at n. 1. The statute did not limit the Public Service Commission from requiring other information from the applicant; in fact, the statute did not even mandate that the Public Service Commission require the above information, stating that the Commission “may” require such information from the applicant. There, the legislature conferred broad discretion on the Public Service Commission, just as the statute here confers broad discretion on the Board of Education. But in neither case did the legislature violate Article II, section 3 of the Florida Constitution by delegating fundamental policy decisions.
¶17The decisions finding a violation of the nondelegation doctrine are readily distinguishable from the statute here. In Florida Department of State, Division of Elections v. Martin, 916 So.2d 763 (Fla.2005), for example, the statute at issue gave the Department of State no direction or guidance in deciding whether to allow a candidate’s withdrawal from consideration. In fact, that statute provided, “The Department of State may in its discretion allow such a candidate to withdraw after the 4.2nd day before an election upon receipt of a written notice, sworn to under oath, that the candidate will not accept the nomination or office for which he or she qualified.” Id. at 767 (italicized emphasis supplied; bolded emphasis added). As the supreme court recognized, this statute “does not articulate any factors to be considered in determining whether withdrawal should be granted or denied, nor does it indicate the legislative purpose to be served....” Id. at 771.
¶18Here, the discretion granted to the Board of Education is guided by a detailed direction from the legislature, in addition to stated policies designed to improve teacher and student performance. The legislature does not attempt to delegate its core policy functions.
¶19The trial court’s opinion upholding the constitutionality of the Student Success Act is AFFIRMED.
¶20. Chap. 2011-1, Laws of Fla.; § 1012.34, Fla. Stat. (2011). In addition to their claim that the statute violated the separation of powers provision of Article II, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, Appellants also challenged the statute's constitutionality under Article I, section 6 of the Florida Constitution, as a violation of their right to engage in collective bargaining; this was also rejected by the trial court, and that ruling is not challenged on appeal.
¶21. The Commissioner of Education approved a formula for measuring student learning growth, and the State Board of Education initiated .rulemaking to implement the formula, but no rule has yet been adopted.
¶22concurring with opinion.
¶23I fully concur in Judge Thomas’s opinion, which finds no constitutional violation under the theory that the complex teacher performance statute at issue, section 1012.34, Florida Statutes, on its face violates separation of powers principles. Art. II, § 3, Fla. Const. I write to supplement his opinion with the entire statutory text and to point out that the complexity of the *595legislative policy at issue makes the need for flexibility even more important.
¶24The teachers’ claim is that the State Board of Education has “unbridled discretion” in implementing the statute due to its abject lack of guidance. In its written order, the trial court rejected this claim, finding that Florida Teaching Profession-National Education Association v. Turlington, 490 So.2d 142, 146 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), had already “addressed this issue” of whether proper delegation existed. The trial court noted that minimum standards and guidelines are required when the Legislature gives administrative discretion to another branch, the “specificity of which is dependent upon the subject’s complexity.” The court then discussed the applicable constitutional test, closely reviewed the complex statute and its subsections (in the appendix below), and held that the “Legislature provided sufficient guidelines” to avoid an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to the executive branch.
¶25Almost thirty years ago in Turlington, a similar teacher performance statute was alleged to be an unlawful, standardless delegation of legislative authority. This Court, however, affirmed the constitutionality of that statute. The teacher performance statute in Turlingtoncreated the “Merit Schools Program,” which included a “State Master Teacher Program” that authorized payment of incentive awards “to superior teachers who voluntarily document their fulfillment of statutory eligibility criteria.” The Board was “directed to adopt rules for this program” and did so by setting forth “extensive criteria governing the performance evaluations and subject area examinations required by the program” as well as “subject area examinations” to be approved by the Board. Turlington, 490 So.2d at 144-45.
¶26The constitutional question was whether the statute permitted the “unrestricted exercise of discretion by officials of the Department of Education.” Id. at 146. Concluding the statute did not, this Court noted that the statute “confers permissible administrative discretion ... to administer new and innovative programs, but they do not enable officials to ‘say what the law is.’ ” Id.Notably, the “failure” of the Department to initially approve a plan under the statute was deemed unimportant, this Court noting that the statute permitted a range of potential plans and a “balance” had to be struck between the interests of the teachers and the Department. No specific plan was constitutionally required; time and flexibility were necessary to get input from affected persons and entities.
¶27Turlingtonhas exceptionally close parallels to this case. And the statute at issue, section 1012.34, has at least as much detail and parameters as was upheld in Turlington, as Judge Thomas explains, and as the trial court concluded in its order. Section 1012.34(2) provides detailed requirements for evaluation systems. The statute has sufficient detail and guidance to reflect the Legislature’s policy decision that the evaluation of student learning growth be based on the factors in subsection (7), and that the evaluation system provide for differentiated performance levels under the factors in subsection (3)(a) to be implemented by rule via subsection (8).
¶28Reading subsection (8) in isolation and independent from the remainder of the statute is a no — no under the principle that statutes must be read as a whole. See Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 167 (2012) (“Perhaps no interpretative fault is more common than the failure to follow the whole-text canon, which calls on the judicial interpreter to consider the entire text, in view of its structure and of the physical and logical relation of its many parts.”); see also Stephen Breyer, *596Active Liberty 101 (Vintage Books 2006) (“An overly literal reading of a text can too often stand in the way” of “translat[ing] the popular will into sound policy”). Rather than “unbridled discretion,” or an ability to operate in a wholly unrestricted way that sets a new and untethered legislative policy, section 1012.34 overall provides sufficient guidance and constraints to channel the Board of Education’s actions and prevent it from operating in a wholly unchecked manner. Subsection (8)’s delineation of categories for rulemaking purposes is part and parcel of the overall legislative policy, reflected in section 1012.34, to evaluate the performance of duties and responsibilities of educational personnel in a structured, detailed, and comprehensive way. This is a wonkish and gruelingly detailed undertaking that involves technical, methodological, and scientific expertise that, legislators (and courts) lack, but which is assisted by public input.
¶29Given the complexity of the legislative policy goals, which have only increased since the time of Turlington(as Judge Benton’s opinion makes evident), the statute provides constitutionally . adequate guidance and constraints to prevent the Board from wandering too far afield. Of course, the statute could be written in even greater detail and complexity, as Judge Thomas notes. But Turlingtonand related cases from our supreme court allow for a degree of leeway in the implementation of “innovative” and complex programs (such as the one at issue) if the Legislature provides “reasonable guidance,” which it has.
¶30History is replete with legal battles over the murkiness of standards, a good example being litigation in which competitors *597fought for a decade about what percentage of peanuts was necessary to call their products “peanut butter.”
¶31. That the Board, or indeed any agency, seeks input from the public on a complex topic during the rulemaking process is neither a failing nor a concession that statutory guidance is lacking; instead, it is a requisite — and oftentimes helpful — step that can help fine-tune a proposed rule and give affected persons an inclusive point of entry. That one bullet point on one power-point slide presented at one rule-making workshop asks for public input on the standard to be adopted in utilizing highly complex Value-Added Models (VAM) for evaluating and classifying teachers does not move the chains up-field on the teachers’ constitutional challenge, particularly given the hefty burden of proof that applies.
¶32. Section 120.52(8), which in a 1996 statutory rewrite narrowed the administrative power of agencies in their rule-making functions, has no relevance in this constitutional challenge. The statute was not mentioned by the parties and the plaintiff-teachers do not claim that the Board has adopted a rule that is invalid under section 120.52(8). Instead, the only issue presented is the facial constitutionality of the challenged statute under separation of powers principles. The outcome of this constitutional case is controlled by Turlingtonand similar non-delegation cases, not by a 1996 statutory change to administrative rule-making. Stated differently, the judicially-established test for the constitutionality of a statute is unaffected by the legislatively-adopted change to section 120.52(8).
¶33. See Food Standard Innovations: Peanut Butter’s Sticky Standard, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, at http://www.fda.gov/About FDA/WhatWeDo/History/ProductRegulation/ ucm 132911 .htm. In describing the FDA’s experience in proposing a standard in 1961 that peanut butter be recognized as at least 90 percent peanuts and allowing for additional sweeteners,
Three competitive brands of peanut butter then entered the standards battle: Skippy, Jif, and Peter Pan. The public evidentiary hearing alone, a small fragment in the decade long process, took twenty weeks and produced a transcript of nearly 8,000 pages. A prominent attorney on the case wryly observed that the peanut butter standards ‘put many lawyers’ children through college’. Participants began to feel that they were close to arguing about the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin when it became clear that the disagreement between the industrial protagonists was over a mere 3 per cent difference in proposed peanut content. In the end, the gov-emment did prevail as the U.S. Appeals Court affirmed the FDA order setting standards for peanut butter at no less than 90 percent for peanuts and no more than 55 percent fat. The court found the Commissioner’s findings to be based upon substantial evidence and the promulgation of such standards within his authority.