S-0828

AN ACT Relating to a data collection and reporting system on children's education and well-being; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A task force is created to plan a state system for the efficient collection and reporting of data about conditions affecting the education and well-being of children. The purpose of the system is to provide school districts and local and state policymakers convenient access to demographic information from existing sources that is, to the extent feasible, consistently organized by school, school district, and other boundaries useful to the ongoing planning and evaluation of local and state programs, practices, and activities to benefit children. The Washington state institute for public policy shall coordinate and staff the task force, and may contract for technical consulting services as needed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) One representative shall be appointed to the task force created in section 1 of this act from each of the following: Office of the superintendent of public instruction, department of social and health services, department of health, employment security department, department of community development, office of financial management, the administrator for the courts, the Washington state association of counties, and the association of Washington cities.

(2) The task force shall select a chair from among its members.

(3) The task force shall seek consultation and review of its plan from the department of information services, the Washington school information processing cooperative, educational service districts, school districts, groups representing racial and ethnic minorities, and other interested parties.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The task force shall, by December 1, 1991, submit to the legislature, through the director of the Washington state institute for public policy, a plan for a state system of collecting and reporting data from existing information sources about conditions affecting the education and well-being of children. The plan shall present options and make recommendations both for activities that can be phased in over one to two years and for activities that can be phased in over three or more years. The plan shall at a minimum:

(1) Provide for the establishment, management, and administration of the system with emphasis on the efficient use of existing resources;

(2) Describe the system's inclusion of geographic information technology and linkage to the Washington school information processing cooperative, the data collection and reporting systems of state agencies that serve children, the office of financial management, the courts, and other relevant organizations;

(3) Enumerate the types of data to be made available through the system and describe how each type of data is to be collected and reported, including recommendations for any measures necessary to ensure the adequate collection and reporting of such data. Data reported shall be aggregated by school districts and other geographical units and shall include but not be limited to:

(a) Census data;

(b) Juvenile and adult employment and unemployment data by age, gender, and race or ethnicity;

(d) Reported cases of juvenile and adult crime by age, gender, and race or ethnicity;

(e) Reported cases of child abuse and neglect by age, gender, and race or ethnicity of child;

(f) Child and adult health indicators, including indicators of mental health and substance abuse, by age, gender, and race or ethnicity;

(g) Child social services participation;

(h) Free and reduced price lunch participation;

(i) Educational attainment, including rates of graduation, GED completion, and school dropout; and

(j) Student population characteristics such as age, gender, race or ethnicity, first language, disability status, and standardized test scores;

(4) Provide for the development of common data definitions and common reporting timelines;

(5) Provide a standardized means by which each school district may, at the school district's discretion, use the system to input individual-level data on student background characteristics, such as family income, parents' education, family status, mobility, grade point average, scholastic aptitude test scores, and course or competency requirements completed, and have access to that data in combination with the demographic data;

(6) Provide for appropriate confidentiality and privacy safeguards;

(7) Describe how the system may be accessed;

(8) Provide for quality control;

(9) Provide for the ongoing evaluation and modification of the system to meet the needs of the system's users; and

(9) Include a budget and timeline for implementation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The sum of forty-nine thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1993, from the general fund to the Washington institute for public policy for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act shall expire December 1, 1991.