AN ACT Relating to the state board of education; amending RCW 28A.04.010 and 28A.04.040; creating new sections; and repealing RCW 28A.04.020, 28A.04.030, 28A.04.050, 28A.04.060, 28A.04.065, 28A.04.070, and 28A.04.080.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the state board of education, as a body comprising lay representatives of the people of the state, should have the dominant role in determining state educational policy; the relationship between the board and the superintendent of public instruction should represent a balance between public control and professional expertise; and the lines of authority and accountability for both formulating and implementing educational policy should be clear and unambiguous. The legislature further finds that the governor, as the chief elected executive of the state, should have a direct voice in public education, the largest single program of the state. The present manner of selection of board members, by vote of local school directors in each congressional district, neither involves the governor, nor, except by proxy, the citizens of the state. It is therefore the intent of the legislature to make the state board of education an appointive body by the governor.

Sec. 2. Section 28A.04.010, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as amended by section 1, chapter 179, Laws of 1980 and RCW 28A.04.010 are each amended to read as follows:

The state board of education shall be comprised of ((~~two~~)) one member((s)) from each congressional district of the state((~~, not including any congressional district at large, elected by the members of the boards of directors of school districts thereof, as hereinafter in this chapter provided,~~)) appointed by the governor and one ((~~nonvoting~~)) member ((elected at large, as hereinafter in this chapter provided, by the members of the boards of directors of all private schools in the state meeting the requirements of RCW 28A.02.201, as now or hereafter amended)) representing the state appointed by the governor. The terms of the initial appointed members shall be staggered. Thereafter, all members shall serve for terms of six years.

Sec. 3. Section 28A.04.040, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 7, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. and RCW 28A.04.040 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((Candidates for membership on the state board of education shall file declarations of candidacy with the superintendent of public instruction on forms prepared by the superintendent. Declarations of candidacy may be filed by person or by mail not earlier than the first day of September, or later than the sixteenth day of September. The superintendent of public instruction may not accept any declaration of candidacy that is not on file in his office or is not postmarked before the seventeenth day of September, or if not postmarked or the postmark is not legible, if received by mail after the twenty-first day of September.)) No person employed in any school, college, university, or other educational institution or any educational service district superintendent's office or in the office of superintendent of public instruction shall be eligible for membership on the state board of education and each member ((~~elected who is not representative of the private schools in this state and thus not running-at-large~~)) must be a resident of the congressional district from which ((~~he was elected~~)) the member was appointed except for one member who shall represent the state as a whole. No member of a board of directors of a local school district or private school shall continue to serve in that capacity after having been ((~~elected~~)) appointed to the state board.

(2) The prohibitions against membership upon the board of directors of a school district or school and against employment, as well as the residence requirement, established by this section, are conditions to the eligibility of state board members to serve as such which apply throughout the terms for which they have been ((~~elected or~~)) appointed. Any state board member who hereafter fails to meet one or more of the conditions to eligibility shall be deemed to have immediately forfeited his or her membership upon the board for the balance of his or her term: PROVIDED, That such a forfeiture of office shall not affect the validity of board actions taken prior to the date of notification to the board during an open public meeting of the violation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The legislative budget committee by December 31, 1986, shall review the statutes and administrative rules governing the state board of education's purpose and operations and those of the superintendent of public instruction and recommend changes as necessary to reflect the board's role in policy and decision-making and the superintendent's role in the administration of the rules of the state board and in providing advice and assistance to the local schools and school districts and the educational service districts. Any recommendations for changes in statutes shall be submitted to the legislature in January, 1986.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

(1) Section 28A.04.020, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess., section 1, chapter 38, Laws of 1981 and RCW 28A.04.020;

(2) Section 28A.04.030, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess., section 1, chapter 7, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. and RCW 28A.04.030;

(3) Section 28A.04.050, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess., section 2, chapter 38, Laws of 1981 and RCW 28A.04.050;

(4) Section 28A.04.060, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess., section 25, chapter 283, Laws of 1969 ex. sess., section 2, chapter 19, Laws of 1975, section 5, chapter 179, Laws of 1980, section 3, chapter 38, Laws of 1981 and RCW 28A.04.060;

(5) Section 1, chapter 19, Laws of 1975, section 6, chapter 179, Laws of 1980 and RCW 28A.04.065;

(6) Section 28A.04.070, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. and RCW 28A.04.070; and

(7) Section 28A.04.080, chapter 223, Laws of 1969 ex. sess. and RCW 28A.04.080.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The terms of the members of the state board of education as of the effective date of this act shall expire as soon as their successors are appointed by the governor.