S-3763

AN ACT Relating to parental choice in education; and adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature of the state of Washington, desiring to improve the quality of education available to all children, adopts this chapter to: (1) Enable parents to determine which schools best meet their children's needs; (2) empower parents to send their children to such schools; (3) establish academic accountability based on national standards; (4) reduce bureaucracy so that more educational dollars reach the classroom; (5) provide greater opportunities for teachers; and (6) mobilize the private sector to help accommodate our school age population. Therefore, all parents are hereby empowered to choose any school, public or private, for the education of their children, as provided in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The state shall annually provide a scholarship to every resident school-age child. Scholarships may be redeemed by the child's parent at any scholarship-redeeming school.

(2) The scholarship value for each child shall be the total amount of state spending per student for education in kindergarten and grades one through twelve during the preceding fiscal year, calculated on a state-wide basis, including every cost of maintaining kindergarten and elementary and secondary education.

(3) Scholarship value shall be equal for every child in any given grade. In the case of a student transferring during the school year, the scholarship shall be prorated. The legislature may award supplemental funds for reasonable transportation needs for low-income children and special needs attributable to physical impairment or learning disability. Nothing in this section prevents the use in any school of supplemental assistance from any source, public or private.

(4) If the scholarship amount exceeds the charges imposed by a scholarship-redeeming school for any year in which the student is in attendance, the surplus shall become a credit held in trust by the state for the student for later application toward charges at any scholarship-redeeming school or any institution of higher education in Washington, public or private, that meets the requirements imposed on scholarship-redeeming schools in section 3 (1) through (4) of this act. Any surplus remaining on the student's twenty-sixth birthday shall revert to the state treasury.

(5) Scholarships provided under this chapter are grants of aid to children through their parents and not to the schools in which the children are enrolled. Such scholarships do not constitute taxable income. The parents are free to choose any scholarship-redeeming school, and such selection shall not constitute a decision or act of the state or any of its subdivisions.

(6) Children enrolled in schools in Washington shall receive scholarships, if otherwise eligible, beginning with the 1993-94 school year.

(7) The superintendent of public instruction may require each public and private scholarship-redeeming school to choose and administer tests reflecting national standards for the purpose of measuring individual academic improvement. Such tests shall be scored by independent parties. Each school's composite results for each grade level shall be made public record. The amount of turnover for each school and grade level shall be part of the same public record. Results shall be tabulated and made of record no later than sixty days after being administered. Individual results shall be released only to the school and the child's parent.

(8) The school boards of school districts shall establish a mechanism consistent with federal law to allocate enrollment capacity based primarily on parental choice. Any public school that chooses to redeem scholarships shall open its enrollment capacity to children regardless of residence. Children are deemed residents of the school district in which they are enrolled for fiscal purposes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) A private school may become a scholarship-redeeming school by filing with the superintendent of public instruction a statement indicating satisfaction of the legal requirements which applied to private schools on October 1, 1991, and the requirements of this section.

(2) No school that has been found by a court of law to have discriminated on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, or national origin may redeem scholarships.

(3) To the extent permitted by the constitutions of the United States and the state of Washington, no school that has been found by a court of law to have advocated unlawful behavior, taught hatred of any person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, or gender may redeem scholarships.

(4) Private schools shall be accorded maximum flexibility to educate their students and shall be free from unnecessary, burdensome, or onerous regulation. No regulation of private schools, scholarship-redeeming or not, beyond that required by this section and that which applied to private schools on October 1, 1991, may be issued or enacted, unless approved by a three-fourths vote of the legislature or, alternatively, as to any rule pertaining to health, safety, or land use imposed by any county, city, district, or subdivision of the state, a majority vote of qualified electors within the affected jurisdiction. In any legal proceeding challenging such a regulation as inconsistent with this section, the governmental body issuing or enacting it shall have the burden of establishing that the regulation: (a) Is essential to assure the health, safety, or education of students; (b) does not unduly burden private schools or the parent of students therein; and (c) will not harass, impede, injure, or suppress private schools.

(5) Notwithstanding subsection (4) of this section, the legislature may enact civil and criminal penalties for schools and persons who engage in fraudulent conduct in connection with the solicitation of students or redemption of scholarships.

(6) Each school, public or private, may establish a code of conduct and discipline and enforce it with sanctions, including dismissal. A student who is deriving no substantial academic benefit or is responsible for serious or habitual misconduct related to the school may be dismissed.

(7) After the parent has designated the enrolling school, the state shall disburse the student's scholarship funds, excepting funds held in trust pursuant to section 2(3) of this act, in equal amounts monthly, directly to the school for credit to the parent's account. Monthly disbursals shall occur within thirty days of receipt of the school's statement of current enrollment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Within one year after the effective date of this section, the legislature shall establish an expeditious process by which public schools may become independent scholarship-redeeming schools. Such schools shall be nondistrict-related and considered common public schools as defined by the state Constitution.

(2) Except as otherwise required by the constitutions of the state of Washington or the United States, public independent scholarship-redeeming schools shall operate under laws and rules no more restrictive than those applicable to private schools under section 3 of this act.

(3) Employees of such schools shall be permitted to continue their state-funded pension and health care programs on the same terms as other similarly situated participants so long as they remain in the employ of the school.

(4) Such schools shall receive state educational appropriations, other than those authorized in section 2(3) and 4(3) of this act, only through scholarship redemption.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Charges" includes tuition, fees, books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and other educational costs.

(2) "Child" means an individual eligible to attend kindergarten or grades one through twelve in the public school system.

(3) "Parent" means any person having legal or effective custody of the child.

(4) "Qualified electors" are persons registered to vote, whether or not they vote in any particular election.

(5) The legislature may establish reasonable standards for determining the state "residency" of children.

(6) "Scholarship-redeeming school" means any school, public, independent, or private including registered home schooling located within the geographical boundaries of Washington, that meet the requirements of this chapter. No school may be compelled to become a scholarship-redeeming school. No school that meets the requirements of this chapter may be prevented from becoming a scholarship-redeeming school.

(7) "Student" means a child attending school.

(8) "Total state and local government spending" includes, but is not limited to, spending funded from all revenue sources, including the general fund, federal funds, property taxes, lottery funds, funds from state timber and natural resource sales, and local miscellaneous income such as building rental fees, but excluding special levy proceeds and charitable donations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Any action or proceeding contesting the validity of the adoption of chapter ---, Laws of 1992 (this act) or validity of any provision of it shall be commenced within six months from the effective date of this section; otherwise chapter ---, Laws of 1992 (this act) and all of its provisions shall be held valid, legal, and uncontestable.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.