BILL REQ. #:  H-1584.2 

Read first time 02/11/09.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to millennium schools; adding a new section to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that there is a critical and urgent need for a new model of innovation in public education that confronts and solves the staggering problem of persistent inequity in educational outcomes for students from different demographic groups.
     (2) This model, to be called millennium schools, will provide a new kind of educational opportunity for students in demographic groups that are currently overrepresented in measures such as school disciplinary sanctions, failure to meet state academic standards, failure to graduate, enrolled in special education, enrolled in underperforming schools, and who are underrepresented in advanced placement courses, honors programs, college preparatory classes, and college enrollment and completion.
     (3) Millennium schools will be located in communities, with particular emphasis on urban areas, where there are the largest concentrations of students who face the economic and cultural barriers that place them in these underachieving demographic groups.
     (4) The new model will offer intensive, rigorous, and supportive learning that is extremely culturally competent and that prepares these students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. It will integrate the full array of evidence-based practices that have been shown to reduce demographic disparities in achievement, and to increase graduation rates, participation in advanced placement, and college enrollment and completion.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.300 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall award a one-time planning grant to design and create a phased-in implementation plan for up to three millennium schools. The schools shall be implemented on a pilot basis beginning in the 2011-12 school year, in areas with high concentrations of students who statistically lag behind in achievement.
     (2) A millennium school is a school that provides all of the following programs or activities:
     (a) Preparation of students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math;
     (b) Integration of best practices;
     (c) Early outreach to parents to help them provide birth-to-three stimulation and early learning for infants and toddlers as well as early learning programs for children that begin at age three;
     (d) Parent involvement to build high expectations and planning for postsecondary education;
     (e) Rigorous curriculum for grades K-12 that includes advanced placement programs and dual enrollment options to encourage and allow students to earn college credits while still enrolled in high school;
     (f) Instructional strategies that address multiple learning styles and cultural contexts;
     (g) Highly qualified teachers;
     (h) Technology to assist in learning, data tracking, and analysis as well as school management;
     (i) Transition assistance to ensure that all students leave high school prepared for college-level work without remediation;
     (j) Partnerships with local businesses that will provide career exploration, mentoring, technology, and other support as well as professional development for teachers; and
     (k) After school enrichment programs, including programs such as MESA, to increase science and math skills as well as knowledge of emerging industries.
     (3) The recipient of the grant under this section shall report to the governor, the legislature, and the office of the superintendent of public instruction by September 1, 2010, on its progress and plans for implementation of millennium schools.