5243-S2.E AMH ED MCLA 840

E2SSB 5243 - H COMM AMD

By Committee on Education

NOT CONSIDERED

On page 1, line 7, after "credit" insert "and other rigorous"

On page 1, line 13, after "year;" strike "and"

On page 1, line 16, after "year" insert "; and

(d) More school districts are offering innovative advanced courses such as in computer science, aerospace manufacturing, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics"

On page 2, beginning on line 5, after "(1)" strike all material through "must" on line 6 and insert "Each school district board of directors is encouraged to"

On page 3, beginning on line 4, strike all of section 3 and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28A.320 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the academic acceleration incentive program is established as provided in this section. The intent of the legislature is that the funds awarded under the program be used to support teacher training, curriculum, technology, examination fees, and other costs associated with offering dual credit courses to high school students.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section on a competitive basis to provide one-time grants for high schools to expand the availability of dual credit courses. To be eligible for a grant, a school district must have adopted an academic acceleration policy as provided under section 2 of this act. In making grant awards, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must give priority to grants for high schools with a high proportion of low-income students and high schools seeking to develop new capacity for dual credit courses rather than proposing marginal expansion of current capacity.

(3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate half of the funds appropriated for the purposes of this section to school districts as an incentive award for each student who earned dual high school and college credit, as described under subsection (4) of this section, for courses offered by the district's high schools during the previous school year. School districts must distribute the award to the high schools that generated the funds. The award amount for low-income students eligible to participate in the federal free and reduced-price meals program who earn dual credits must be set at one hundred twenty-five percent of the base award for other students. A student who earns more than one dual credit in the same school year counts only once for the purposes of the incentive award.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the following students are considered to have earned dual high school and college credit in a course offered by a high school:

(a) Students who achieve a score of three or higher on an AP examination;

(b) Students who achieve a score of four or higher on an examination of the international baccalaureate diploma programme;

(d) Students who successfully complete a course through the college in the high school program under RCW 28A.600.290 and are awarded credit by the partnering institution of higher education; and

(e) Students who satisfy the dual enrollment and class performance requirements to earn college credit through a tech prep course.

(5) If a high school provides access to online courses for students to earn dual high school and college credit at no cost to the student, such a course is considered to be offered by the high school. Students enrolled in the running start program under RCW 28A.600.300 do not generate an incentive award under this section."

On page 5, after line 8, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If specific funding for purposes of section 3 of this act, referencing section 3 of this act by bill or chapter and section number, is not provided by June 30, 2013, in the omnibus operating appropriations act, section 3 of this act is null and void."

Correct the title.

EFFECT: Makes the following changes to the underlying bill:

· Asserts that more districts are offering innovative advanced courses in addition to dual credit courses, and that the intent of the bill is to reduce barriers for students to enroll in rigorous advanced courses.

· Encourages, rather than requires, school districts to adopt an Academic Acceleration Policy as specified in the bill.

· Removes the Incentive Program that provides grants based on the lowest 25 percent of high schools in terms of dual credit enrollment and provides awards based on the top 10 percent of high schools in terms of growth in dual credit enrollment(including in Running Start).

· Instead, provides grants through the Incentive Program on a competitive basis to expand availability of dual credit courses to high schools that have adopted the Academic Acceleration Policy, with a priority for low-income schools and schools seeking to develop new capacity.

· Also provides awards through the Incentive Program to high schools based on overall dual credit enrollment (not including Running Start).

· Adds a null & void clause to the Incentive Program.

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