sb 0219

AN ACT establishing a procedure for providing educational improvement assistance to local school districts and making an appropriation therefor.

SPONSORS: Sen. McCarley, Dist 6; Sen. Cohen, Dist 24; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20

This bill establishes a procedure for the department of education to identify local school districts which are in need of assistance and to assist in improving the overall quality of educational programs and services offered by such districts. The bill also establishes a special projects and improvement fund within the department of education and appropriates $1 to this fund for the biennium ending June 30, 2001.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

AN ACT establishing a procedure for providing educational improvement assistance to local school districts and making an appropriation therefor.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Paragraph; Adequate Public Education; Policy and Purpose Amended. Amend RSA 193-E:1 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III. Realizing that the delivery and improvement of education is the primary responsibility of the local school district, it is imperative that parents and other members of the community be actively involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating locally-developed instructional programs. Therefore, it is also the purpose of this chapter to assist school districts in identifying and using quality standards to determine and report widely on the effectiveness of the educational approaches used to meet student needs. Furthermore, in light of the shared responsibility between state and local government to provide an adequate education, it is the purpose of this chapter to establish processes by which school districts may request educational improvement assistance from the state and to authorize the department of education to deliver such assistance.

2 Adequate Public Education; Delivery of an Adequate Public Education; Local Educational Improvement Plan. RSA 193-E:3 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

193-E:3 Delivery of an Adequate Education. In order to implement New Hampshire's policy of providing all students with the opportunity to acquire an adequate education, each school district shall put in place and evaluate the assessment and performance indicators outlined in this section, which shall be collectively known as quality standards.

I. By June 30, 2002, and every 3 years thereafter, each school district, through a process involving parents, teachers, employers, and other community members, shall prepare and implement a local education improvement and assessment plan which shall be aligned with the statewide education improvement and assessment program established in RSA 193-C, and which shall be designed to improve student achievement within each school in the district. Each such plan shall be filed with the department of education. The department of education shall comment to the district on the plan in a timely fashion. At a minimum, the plan shall include the following assessment and performance indicators:

(b) School and district performance goals based on reported data on educational indicators listed in paragraph II.

(c) Procedures for aligning curriculum, instructional practices, and student and programmatic assessments, including annual reporting of results.

(h) Staff supervision and evaluation and performance-based professional development.

II.(a) Each school district shall annually demonstrate that it has met or exceeded its own school and district indicators for achievement or improvement established by the school district in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of education.

(b) By July 15, 2000, each school district shall report to the department of education its data for the previous school year on its school and district performance indicators. The requirements for data keeping and the form of the report shall be established in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of education. Performance indicators shall include the following areas:

(3) Proportion of graduating students going on to post-secondary education, military service, and the workplace; and

(4) Performance on state tests administered pursuant to RSA 193-C and other standardized tests administered at local option.

III. Each public elementary, middle, junior high, and high school in the school district shall meet the standards for school approval adopted by the state board of education.

IV. Beginning December 1, 2002, and annually thereafter, the commissioner of education shall determine the extent to which each school district is meeting its quality standards established pursuant to paragraphs I, II, and III of this section. A school district that meets or exceeds its quality standards shall be recognized in accordance with RSA 193-E:4, II. A school district that does not meet its quality standards shall be designated by the commissioner of education as a school district in need of assistance. Each year, the commissioner of education shall provide a report of such determinations to the governor and council, state board of education, speaker of the house, president of the senate, and chairs of the house and senate committees responsible for education and finance.

V. Beginning no later than December 1, 2000, and annually thereafter, the department of education shall issue a report on the condition of education statewide and on a district-by-district and school-by-school basis. This report shall include demographic and student performance data including, but not limited to, school and district performance on state tests administered pursuant to RSA 193-C, other standardized tests administered at local option by at least 25 percent of school districts, data provided under paragraph I of this section, as well as other relevant statistics. Comparisons with state averages and with the condition of each district and school in comparison with previous years shall be provided, including, but not limited to, statewide rankings of each district and school on the state tests administered pursuant to RSA 193-C and on other standardized tests administered at local option by at least 25 percent of the school districts. The report shall be organized and presented in a manner that is easily understood by the public and that assists each school board with the identification of trends, strengths, and weaknesses and the development of its local education improvement and assessment plan.

3 New Sections; Adequate Public Education; Education Improvement Assistance to Local School Districts. Amend RSA 193-E by inserting after section 3 the following new sections:

I.(a) Within 60 days of the issuance of the annual report on the condition of education as provided in RSA 193-E:3, V each school board shall provide an opportunity for public discussion of the report at a meeting of the board called for the exclusive purpose of reviewing the report. At least 7 days advance public notice shall be given.

(b) Once a school district has implemented a local educational improvement and assessment plan pursuant to RSA 193-E:3, I, this plan shall be discussed at the public meeting provided for in subparagraph I(a) of this section.

II. A school district that has been identified pursuant to RSA 193-E:3, IV as meeting or exceeding its quality standards shall receive formal recognition from the state board of education and the governor. Any school district, school, or teacher that demonstrates a best practice worthy of recognition shall also receive formal recognition from the state board of education and the governor. Such school districts, schools, or teachers shall be eligible to apply for grants from the special projects and improvement fund administered by the department of education pursuant to RSA 193-E:8.

III.(a) A school board, in response to the annual report on the condition of education, may request from the department of education the assistance available under paragraph IV.

(1) If a school board requests assistance on behalf of a school district that has not been designated as a school district in need of assistance pursuant to RSA 193-E:3, IV, then the assistance requested under paragraph IV to be provided by the department of education shall be based on the availability of resources as determined by the commissioner of education.

(2) If a school board requests assistance on behalf of a school district that has been designated as a school district in need of assistance, then the school or district shall receive assistance from the department of education in accordance with subparagraph IV(a)(2).

(b) If a school board has received notice pursuant to paragraph VI, then the school district shall receive assistance from the department of education in accordance with subparagraph IV(a)(3).

IV. The department of education and the state board of education shall work cooperatively with school boards to provide assistance as follows:

(a)(1) Within 30 days of a school board's request for assistance pursuant to subparagraph III(a)(1), the commissioner of education may appoint a quality assurance team to review the educational programming and effectiveness of the school district. In cooperation with local officials, the team shall prepare and present a report at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local school board and to the state board of education. This report shall be issued within 4 months of the team's appointment. Based on this report, the local school board and superintendent shall, within 6 months of the issuance of the report, prepare a corrective action plan and submit it to the state board of education for approval. If the plan is not approved, the local school board may revise the plan and resubmit it to the state board. The school board may decide to implement the corrective action plan on its own, through the use of a technical assistance advisor, or through the use of a peer review team. Any such decision shall be included in the corrective action plan.

(2) Within 30 days of a school board's request for assistance pursuant to subparagraph III(a)(2), the commissioner of education shall appoint a quality assurance team to review the educational programming and effectiveness of the school district. In cooperation with local officials, the team shall prepare and present a report at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local school board and to the state board of education. This report shall be issued within 4 months of the team's appointment. Based on this report, the local school board and superintendent shall, within 6 months of the issuance of the report, prepare a corrective action plan and submit it to the state board of education for approval. The school board may decide to implement the corrective action plan on its own, through the use of a technical assistance advisor, or through the use of a peer review team. Any such decision shall be included in the corrective action plan.

(3) Within 30 days of the issuance of a notice to a school board pursuant to paragraph VI, the commissioner of education shall appoint a quality assurance team to review the educational programming and effectiveness of the school district. In cooperation with local officials, the team shall prepare and present a report at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the local school board and to the state board of education. This report shall be issued within 4 months of the team's appointment. Based on this report, the local school board and superintendent shall, within 6 months of the issuance of the report, prepare a corrective action plan and submit it to the state board of education for approval. The school board may decide to implement the corrective action plan on its own, through the use of a technical assistance advisor, or through the use of a peer review team. Any such decision shall be included in the corrective action plan.

(b) If the state board of education does not approve a corrective action plan submitted in accordance with subparagraphs IV(a)(2) or IV(a)(3), then the commissioner of education shall work with the local school board and superintendent to revise the corrective action plan. If the local school board and superintendent do not revise the corrective action plan within 2 months or the state board of education does not approve the revised corrective action plan, then the commissioner of education shall submit in a timely manner a corrective action plan, including methods for implementing it, to the state board of education for approval without further action of the local school board.

(c) If an approved corrective action plan includes the use of a technical assistance advisor, then the commissioner of education shall appoint a technical assistance advisor who is authorized to access the state special projects and improvement fund to provide assistance to local school district staff in the implementation of the corrective action plan until the goals of the corrective action plan are met.

(d) If an approved corrective action plan includes the use of a peer review team, then the commissioner of education shall name a peer review team consisting of one person appointed by the chairperson of the local school board, one person appointed by the chairperson of the state board of education, and a third member chosen by the local school board and state board of education appointees to advise the school district's superintendent and the local school board relative to the implementation of the corrective action plan until the goals of the corrective action plan are met.

V. If, by the time of the annual school district meeting or by April 30 in a city with a dependent school department, the school board of a school district in which a school district has been designated as a school district in need of assistance pursuant to RSA 193-E:3, IV has not submitted a request for assistance under paragraph III, then the legislative body of the school district may vote to direct the school board to submit a request for assistance under paragraph III. If a majority of the legislative body votes in favor of requesting assistance, then that assistance shall be requested and provided in accordance with paragraphs III and IV.

VI. A school board shall have one year from the date that a school district has been designated as a school district in need of assistance pursuant to RSA 193-E:3, IV to remedy identified problems at the local level. If the school district is designated as a school district in need of assistance and the school board does not request assistance under paragraph III within one year of such designation, then on December 1 of the year following the designation, if the school district continues to be designated as a school district in need of assistance, the commissioner of education shall issue a notice to the school board and shall initiate a process for providing assistance pursuant to subparagraph IV(a)(3), without further action of the school board.

I. By June 30, 2002, and every 3 years thereafter, the state board of education through a process that provides opportunities for public input from parents, employers, educators, and other citizens shall review and update the statewide education improvement plan developed in accordance with RSA 193-C that describes how the department of education will help schools and school districts improve student achievement. The plan shall include goals and strategies for the delivery of technical assistance and professional development, the sharing of best practices, the modification or expansion of existing programs, and the establishment of new programs.

II.(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, no later than June 30, 2003, and every 5 years thereafter, the state board of education shall review and update school approval standards based on input from parents, employers, educators and other citizens.

(b) The state board of education shall work with a joint select committee of the house and senate education committees, whose members shall be appointed by the speaker of the house and the president of the senate, to identify amendments that should be made to the school approval standards to reflect the provisions of RSA 193-E. Further, any proposed amendments shall consider the recommendations of the adequate education and education financing commission established in RSA 198:49 and should be reviewed by the house and senate education committees, which may submit comments on the proposed amendments to the state board of education. The state board of education shall consider such recommendations and comments in adopting amendments to the school approval standards pursuant to RSA 541-A.

III. Beginning no later than January 1, 2002 the commissioner of education shall ensure that the state curriculum frameworks adopted under RSA 193-C shall be reviewed on a staggered, 5-year cycle such that no more than 2 frameworks are being reviewed at the same time. In order to provide reliable annual comparisons of data at the school and district levels, the statewide improvement and assessment program shall be expanded to include more than the 3 grades required under RSA 193-C:6.

IV. No later than June 30, 2004, and every 3 years thereafter, the state board of education shall review, and update as necessary, the format and information included in the report required pursuant to RSA 193-E:3.

V. No later than January 1, 2001, the state board of education shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, establishing the requirements for data keeping and the form of the report as required in RSA 193-E:3, II.

VI. No later than June 30, 2001, the state board of education shall adopt rules for the development and implementation of the local education improvement and assessment plan required under RSA 193-E:3, I.

VII. No later than June 30, 2001, the state board of education shall adopt rules for the establishment of assessment and performance indicators required under RSA 193-E:3, II.

VIII. No later than December 1, 2002, the state board of education shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, for the approval of corrective action plans as required by RSA 193-E:4, IV(a).

IX. The department of education shall implement credible procedures to review compliance with school approval standards.

(e) One member of the house finance committee, appointed by the speaker of the house.

(f) One member of the senate finance committee, appointed by the senate president.

II. The chair of the oversight committee shall rotate biennially between the chairperson of the house education committee and the chairperson of the senate education committee. The first chairperson shall be the chairperson of the house education committee. A member shall only serve while a member of the general court. The members shall not be compensated but shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when carrying out their duties.

III. The oversight committee shall examine the goals, purposes, organization, operation, and financing of the state's program to provide a constitutionally adequate education, and it shall evaluate and make recommendations for the continued provisions and improvement of the program.

IV. The oversight committee shall review the development and implementation of the program to ensure that they are in accordance with legislative policy.

V. The oversight committee shall submit a report to the general court by June 30, of each even-numbered year. Copies of the report shall be submitted to the governor, the senate finance and education committees, the house finance and education committees, the department of education, the department of revenue administration and to any other individual or organization as the committee deems advisable.

193-E:7 Special Projects and Improvement Fund. A special projects and improvement fund is hereby established in the department of education and continually appropriated to the department. The department of education shall use moneys appropriated for this fund to provide grants to school districts pursuant to RSA 193-E:4, II. The department of education shall also use moneys appropriated for this fund to support the implementation of approved corrective action plans. The technical assistance advisor assigned to work in school districts pursuant to RSA 193-E:4, IV(c) shall be authorized to access this fund in accordance with procedures established by the department of education.

4 Appropriation. The sum of $1 for the biennium ending June 30, 2001 is hereby appropriated to the department of education for the purposes of the special projects and improvement fund established in RSA 193-E:8 as inserted by section 3 of this act. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

5 Repeal. RSA 194:23-d, relative to state financial aid to elementary schools and high schools which are approved by the state board of education, is repealed.

The Department of Education stated this bill, as amended by the Senate, will increase state and local expenditures and local revenue by an indeterminable amount in FY 2002 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county expenditures or state and county revenue.

The Department states this bill establishes a special projects and district improvement fund that is continually appropriated to the Department. The fund will provide grants to school districts to disseminate best practices throughout the state. In addition, the fund will be used to support implementation of approved corrective action plans. Finally, the technical assistance advisor assigned to work in a school district will be authorized to access the fund. The number of school districts which may exceed the standards or that may need to develop corrective action plans is unknown. The Department is unable to estimate what level of staffing, consultant services and grant awards may be required to carry out the provisions of this bill, therefor, the Department is unable to determine the precise fiscal impact of this bill.