BILL REQ. #:  H-4208.2 

Read first time 01/28/2004.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to education; adding a new section to chapter 28A.150 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds the children of Washington state need and deserve high quality public schools that will give all students the opportunity to meet the state's academic standards and gain the knowledge and skill required to be successful and contented citizens of the twenty-first century. A quality public education system is also crucial for our state's future economic success and prosperity. The legislature further finds that Washington state made a major commitment to improved public education by passing the Washington education reform act in 1993. That act established new, higher standards of academic achievement for all students. It also established new levels of accountability for students, teachers, schools, and school districts. Finally, it promised management and fiscal flexibility to school districts to help them use their ingenuity to improve student learning and help all children meet the state's new academic standards.
     The legislature intends to take the next step toward education reform by changing the basic education act to give all children the opportunity to make at least one year's worth of academic growth for each year they are enrolled in a Washington public school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.150 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning September 1, 2006, basic education includes the opportunity to attend a school in which ninety percent or more of assessed students achieve at least one year's academic gain for each year the students are enrolled in Washington's public schools. The gain shall be measured by the results of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and high school Washington assessments of student learning in reading and mathematics.
     (2) Beginning September 1, 2006, the superintendent of public instruction shall annually report to school districts information on the yearly academic gain of individual students as measured by the assessments in subsection (1) of this section. The report shall include the percentage of students in each assessed grade who achieved at or above the one hundred ten percentile of the state standard and the percentage of students who achieved at or below the eighty percentile of the state standard in reading and in mathematics on the Washington assessment of student learning.
     (3) By October 31, 2005, the superintendent of public instruction shall report to the governor and house of representatives and senate education committees on any laws that need to be amended to ensure that school districts have the tools and regulatory flexibility to provide students with a basic education that includes the requirements of subsection (1) of this section.