AN ACT Relating to the creation of a civic learning public-private partnership; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

(1) Create demonstration civic learning partnerships in six communities across Washington that will result in broad implementation of high quality civic learning in grades kindergarten through twelve and in expanded learning programs;

(2) Provide in-depth professional development in civic learning curricula that meets the six proven practices of civic learning established by the civic mission of schools;

(3) Establish goals and monitor benchmarks implementation of high quality civic learning for all students within the six partnerships;

(4) Create and make available open resource funding to promote this engagement;

(5) Offer regional professional development to teachers and expanded learning providers; and

(6) Establish collaborative models in civic learning between expanded learning opportunities and in-school programs in the demonstration partnerships and regional efforts.

(a) Four members of the legislature, with one member from each major caucus of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, and one member from each major caucus of the senate appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the senate;

(b) The governor or the governor's designee;

(c) The secretary of state or the secretary's designee;

(d) Three teachers to be appointed by the superintendent of public instruction, with one each representing the elementary, middle, and secondary education sectors;

(e) One representative of a statewide organization of social studies teachers;

(f) Two representatives from an organization with a history of promoting civics education and public legal education;

(g) One member from a statewide expanded learning provider to be appointed by a statewide expanded learning provider;

(h) One expanded learning provider to be appointed by the statewide expanded learning provider appointed in (g) of this subsection;

(i) A representative from the administrative office of the courts to be appointed by the administrator for the courts; and

(j) Two representatives from the office of the superintendent of public instruction, with one involved in curriculum development and one involved in teacher professional development, to be appointed by the superintendent of public instruction.

(2)(a) All members must be appointed effective August 1, 2017.

(b) Terms of appointment are two years, except the initial term of appointments under subsection (2)(d), (e), (f), and (g) is three years.

(3) The chair of the partnership must be selected by the members of the partnership from among the legislative members.

(4) To the extent funds are appropriated or are available, the partnership may hire a staff person who shall reside in the office of an agency or organization represented on the civic learning public-private partnership. Additional technical and logistical support may be provided by the agencies and organizations on the civic learning public-private partnership.

(5)(a) Legislative members of the partnership shall receive per diem and travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120.

(b) Travel and other expenses of members of the partnership shall be provided from funds available in the Washington civic learning public-private partnership account.

(c) Teachers appointed as members by the superintendent of public instruction may be paid their travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 from funds available in the Washington civic learning public-private partnership account. If the attendance of a teacher member at an official meeting of the partnership results in a need for a school district to employ a substitute, payment for the substitute may be made by the superintendent of public instruction from funds available in the Washington civic learning public-private partnership account. A school district must release a teacher member to attend an official meeting of the partnership if the partnership pays the district for a substitute or pays the travel expenses of the teacher member.

(a) Establish six demonstration civic learning partnerships with local communities to assess and implement in-depth civic learning in kindergarten through twelfth grade. High quality civic education programs must include on-site professional development, and open resources must be made available for small grants to teachers. High quality civic resource persons must contract to help the six demonstration civic learning partnerships to plan and implement extensive civic learning. Expanded learning opportunities after school and in the summer in local communities must be identified and added to the partnership and professional development and open resource opportunities. A core local team must monitor and report the level of penetration of civic learning within the schools and after-school programs;

(b) Contract or facilitate with high quality civic learning providers to offer regional and statewide civic learning professional development to K-12 teachers and providers of expanded learning opportunities;

(c) Ensure that underserved students are prioritized in the implementation, including rural, low-income, and immigrant and refugee students;

(d) Work with the office of the superintendent of public instruction to develop evaluation standards and a procedure for endorsing civic learning education curriculum that the partnership determines should be recommended for use in school districts and in expanded learning opportunities curriculum and programming;

(e) Work with the office of the superintendent of public instruction to integrate these efforts into their civic education initiative;

(f) Assist in developing academic guidelines and standards-based protocols for use by teachers and classroom volunteers who participate in delivering civic education to students in the public schools;

(g) Provide an annual report by December 1st each year to the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and the committees of the legislature with oversight over K-12 education and after-school programs; and

(h) Develop a web-based interactive tool for teaching civics, particularly state, local, and tribal government civics, in Washington state.

(2)(a) The civic learning public-private partnership must offer open resources in small grant amounts to teachers and providers of expanded learning opportunities to implement specific civic learning projects.

(b) The civic learning public-private partnership must select six school districts that are diverse geographically, size-wise, and demographically to participate as demonstration civic learning partnerships, along with expanded learning programs. These demonstration partnerships must commit to integrate six proven practices of civic learning, establish local partnerships, and monitor implementation. In exchange, the civic learning public-private partnership must provide assistance with curriculum, professional development, and monitoring in-depth implementation of high quality civic learning.

(3) State civic education standards: Six proven practices for effective civic learning and nationally recognized college, career, and civic life frameworks for social studies state standards must guide the choice and implementation of professional development for schools and after-school programs.

(4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must make a list of approved materials available to districts and districts must provide the opportunity to access standards and must publicize the availability of these materials.

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