BILL REQ. #:  H-2504.1 

READ FIRST TIME 2/28/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to education system benchmarks and monitoring; adding a new section to chapter 28A.505 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 44.48 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28A.505 RCW to read as follows:
     FINANCIAL HEALTH AND MONITORING--BUDGET REVIEW AND APPROVAL PROCESS. (1) The legislature finds that the existing school district budget review system focuses on current school year budget implementation and preparation of the ensuing school year budget and does not provide a systematic look of longer-range budget issues, including any indication of impending financial problems in school districts. Parents, students, taxpayers, school employees, school administrators, and state policymakers need a financial monitoring system that considers long-term budgeting issues and commitments, and provides early warning of school district financial health concerns. Once financial concerns and issues are identified, districts should receive early, practical assistance.
     (2) The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the office of financial management shall jointly develop and implement a school district financial health and monitoring system.
     (3) The committee and the office shall identify a limited set of system measures that shall be established for a public financial reporting system, including related data collection content and processes. In identifying the measures, the committee and the office shall rely on measures developed and recommended by the government finance officers association pertaining to public schools. In addition, the committee and the office shall jointly develop a financial health outlook rating system that places school districts in one of three financial health categories based on their ratings on the financial measures.
     (4) The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the office of financial management shall present proposed system measures and a financial health outlook rating system to the governor and the legislature by November 1, 2007. Unless the legislature takes action during the 2008 legislative session to change the measures and the rating system, the financial health and monitoring system shall be implemented by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee during the 2008-09 school year.
     (5) The financial health outlook rating category of each school district shall be published annually. In addition, updates shall be published throughout the year if subsequent data to the school district's financial reporting measures cause a change in the district's financial health categorization.
     (6) Regional financial specialists employed by educational service districts shall provide progressive levels of technical assistance to school districts in the lowest two categories on the financial health outlook rating system.
     (7) The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the office of financial management shall jointly review the current school district budget submittal and approval process and develop recommendations for changes to the budget approval and financial oversight system. The recommendations shall include a system of progressive state assistance and potential interventions and oversight in school districts identified in the lowest two categories on the financial health outlook rating system, which may be implemented only with approval from the legislature through the omnibus appropriations act or by statute.
     (8) The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee and the office of financial management shall submit a report summarizing the review and reporting recommendations in subsection (7) of this section to the governor, the superintendent of public instruction, and the education and fiscal committees of the legislature by November 15, 2007.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 44.48 RCW to read as follows:
     EDUCATION DATA CENTER. (1) An education data center shall be established in the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee. The education data center shall conduct collaborative analyses of early learning, K-12, and higher education programs and education issues across the P-20 system, which includes the department of early learning, the superintendent of public instruction, the professional educator standards board, the state board of education, the state board for community and technical colleges, the workforce training and education coordinating board, the higher education coordinating board, public four-year institutions of higher education, and the employment security department. The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee may work collaboratively with the office of financial management in conducting the analyses under this section. The education data center shall be considered an authorized representative of the state educational agencies in this section under applicable federal and state statutes for purposes of receiving and processing student record data for research purposes.
     (2) The education data center shall:
     (a) Coordinate with other state education agencies to collect, compile, and analyze education data, including data on student demographics that is disaggregated by distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups, and complete P-20 research projects;
     (b) Track enrollment and outcomes through the public centralized higher education enrollment system;
     (c) Assist other state educational agencies' collaborative efforts to develop a long-range enrollment plan for higher education including estimates to meet demographic and workforce needs; and
     (d) Provide research that focuses on student transitions within and among the early learning, K-12, and higher education sectors in the P-20 system.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a reporting format and instructions for school districts to collect and submit data on student demographics that is disaggregated by distinct ethnic categories within racial subgroups so that analyses may be conducted on student achievement using the disaggregated data.
     (4) The department of early learning, superintendent of public instruction, professional educator standards board, state board of education, state board for community and technical colleges, workforce training and education coordinating board, higher education coordinating board, public four-year institutions of higher education, and employment security department shall work with the education data center to develop data sharing and research agreements, consistent with applicable security and confidentiality requirements, to facilitate the work of the center. The education data center shall make data from collaborative analyses available to the education agencies and institutions that contribute data to the education data center to the extent allowed by federal and state security and confidentiality requirements applicable to the data of each contributing agency or institution.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   Captions used in this act are not any part of the law.