HOUSE BILL REPORT

                  SB 5474

             As Reported By House Committee on:

                          Education

Title:  An act relating to a data collection and reporting system on children's education and well-being.

Brief Description:  Planning a data collection and reporting system on children.

Sponsor(s):  Senators Rinehart, Bailey, Murray, West and Bauer.

Brief History:

  Reported by House Committee on:

Education, April 4, 1991, DPA.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON

EDUCATION

Majority Report: Do pass as amended.  Signed by 10 members:  Representatives Peery, Chair; G. Fisher, Vice Chair; Cole; Dorn; Jones; Orr; Phillips; Rasmussen; Roland; and H. Sommers.

Minority Report: Do not pass.  Signed by 8 members:  Representatives Brough, Ranking Minority Member; Vance, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Betrozoff; Broback; Brumsickle; Holland; P. Johnson; and Neher.

Staff:  Robert Butts (786-7111).

Background:  The state collects data about a wide variety of factors known to affect children's readiness to learn and perform to their potential in school, including poverty, child abuse and neglect, teenage pregnancy and childbearing, and health status.  Because the data is collected by several agencies, and various programs within agencies, there is little consistency in the way the data is collected or reported.  This limits the ability of local school districts and local and state government to use the data for the planning and evaluation of intervention programs.  It also limits the ability of policy makers to use the data in making resource allocation determinations.

It has been suggested that as education reform shifts greater control of education to the local level, the ability to readily access and use state data will become increasingly important, not only for planning by local school districts, but for state efforts to hold school districts accountable for their performance.

Improvements in technologies such as geographic information technology, which allows computerized data such as census data to be fed into a computer and displayed in map form, have opened new possibilities in data reporting.  Some state agencies have met informally to discuss ways of using such technology and taking other collaborative steps to improve the collection and reporting of state data regarding children.  Such improvements may also benefit city and county governments.

Summary of Amended Bill:  A task force is created to improve the collection and reporting of data about conditions affecting the education and well-being of children.  The primary objective of the task force is to provide data aggregated by school districts for use by school districts and state and local policy makers in the planning and evaluation of local and state education programs, practices, and activities.

Task force membership shall include representatives from specified state agencies, school districts, the courts, cities, counties, and legislative staff.  The Washington State Institute for Public Policy shall coordinate and staff the task force.

The task force shall, by December 1, 1991:

(1)Identify the likely uses for demographic data on the education and well-being of children, and determine what type of data is needed, or would be useful, in the planning and evaluation of local and state education programs, practices, and activities;

(2)Determine the feasibility, cost, and actions required to aggregate the data identified in subsection (1) by school district;

(3)Determine the feasibility, cost, and actions required to report the data, ensuring that quality control and appropriate confidentiality and privacy safeguards are provided;

(4)Identify measures necessary to ensure the adequate collection and reporting of the data, including the use of common data definitions and reporting time-lines;

(5)Implement those actions that can be taken with little or no cost, and identify actions, with proposed time-lines, in which additional resources are required;

(6)Examine related issues as the task force deems appropriate; and

(7)Report to the appropriate committees of the Legislature its findings, specific actions taken to improve data collection and reporting, and what additional actions and resources are needed to further improve data collection and reporting on the well-being and education of children.

The act expires December 1, 1991.

Amended Bill Compared to Original Bill:  Membership on the task force is expanded, the duties of the task force are made more specific, the $49,000 appropriation is removed, and an emergency clause is added.

Fiscal Note:  Available.

Appropriation:  Removed.

Effective Date of Amended Bill:  The bill contains an emergency clause and takes effect immediately.  However, the bill is null and void unless funded in the budget.

Testimony For:  This information will be useful when the State and school districts consider education and social programs designed to assist children in our schools.  Now agencies only collect information for themselves: there needs to be much more sharing and collaboration in the collection and reporting of information on children.

Testimony Against:  None.

Witnesses:  Senator Rinehart; and John Kvamme, Tacoma School District.