BILL REQ. #:  H-4777.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/03/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing for elementary math specialists; amending RCW 28A.150.260; adding a new section to chapter 28A.410 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that significant changes have been made in recent years to improve Washington's mathematics standards. Additional mathematics coursework, at a more rigorous level, will be required for high school graduation. However, efforts to increase the rigor of middle and high school mathematics will ultimately not be successful unless students in elementary school are more engaged and better prepared in mathematics. Success in this objective is more likely to occur, and in a shorter time frame, if students have the opportunity to receive instruction from a teacher with special skills in both mathematics content and instructional strategies focused on the learning needs of elementary students. At least seven other states, including Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, and Arizona, have created an endorsement for elementary mathematics teachers. Therefore, the legislature intends to provide for both a staffing allocation and an endorsement pathway for elementary mathematics specialists to be deployed in schools.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.150.260 and 2009 c 548 s 106 are each amended to read as follows:
     The purpose of this section is to provide for the allocation of state funding that the legislature deems necessary to support school districts in offering the minimum instructional program of basic education under RCW 28A.150.220. The allocation shall be determined as follows:
     (1) The governor shall and the superintendent of public instruction may recommend to the legislature a formula for the distribution of a basic education instructional allocation for each common school district.
     (2) The distribution formula under this section shall be for allocation purposes only. Except as may be required under chapter 28A.165, 28A.180, or 28A.155 RCW, or federal laws and regulations, nothing in this section requires school districts to use basic education instructional funds to implement a particular instructional approach or service. Nothing in this section requires school districts to maintain a particular classroom teacher-to-student ratio or other staff-to-student ratio or to use allocated funds to pay for particular types or classifications of staff. Nothing in this section entitles an individual teacher to a particular teacher planning period.
     (3)(a) To the extent the technical details of the formula have been adopted by the legislature, the distribution formula for the basic education instructional allocation shall be based on minimum staffing and nonstaff costs the legislature deems necessary to support instruction and operations in prototypical schools serving high, middle, and elementary school students as provided in this section. The use of prototypical schools for the distribution formula does not constitute legislative intent that schools should be operated or structured in a similar fashion as the prototypes. Prototypical schools illustrate the level of resources needed to operate a school of a particular size with particular types and grade levels of students using commonly understood terms and inputs, such as class size, hours of instruction, and various categories of school staff. It is the intent that the funding allocations to school districts be adjusted from the school prototypes based on the actual number of annual average full-time equivalent students in each grade level at each school in the district and not based on the grade-level configuration of the school to the extent that data is available. The allocations shall be further adjusted from the school prototypes with minimum allocations for small schools and to reflect other factors identified in the omnibus appropriations act.
     (b) For the purposes of this section, prototypical schools are defined as follows:
     (i) A prototypical high school has six hundred average annual full-time equivalent students in grades nine through twelve;
     (ii) A prototypical middle school has four hundred thirty-two average annual full-time equivalent students in grades seven and eight; and
     (iii) A prototypical elementary school has four hundred average annual full-time equivalent students in grades kindergarten through six.
     (c) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall be based on the number of full-time equivalent classroom teachers needed to provide instruction over the minimum required annual instructional hours under RCW 28A.150.220 and provide at least one teacher planning period per school day, and based on an average class size as specified in the omnibus appropriations act. The omnibus appropriations act shall at a minimum specify:
     (i) Basic average class size;
     (ii) Basic average class size in schools where more than fifty percent of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals;
     (iii) Average class size for exploratory and preparatory career and technical education, laboratory science, advanced placement, and international baccalaureate courses; and
     (iv) Average class size in grades kindergarten through three.
     (d) The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall include allocations for the following types of staff in addition to classroom teachers:
     (i) Principals, including assistant principals, and other certificated building-level administrators;
     (ii) Teacher librarians, performing functions including information literacy, technology, and media to support school library media programs;
     (iii) Student health services, a function that includes school nurses, whether certificated instructional or classified employee, and social workers;
     (iv) Guidance counselors, performing functions including parent outreach and graduation advisor;
     (v) Professional development coaches, such as elementary mathematics specialists described in section 3 of this act;
     (vi) Teaching assistance, which includes any aspect of educational instructional services provided by classified employees;
     (vii) Office support, technology support, and other noninstructional aides;
     (viii) Custodians, warehouse, maintenance, laborer, and professional and technical education support employees; and
     (ix) Classified staff providing student and staff safety.
     (4)(a) The minimum allocation for each school district shall include allocations per annual average full-time equivalent student for the following materials, supplies, and operating costs: Student technology; utilities; curriculum, textbooks, library materials, and instructional supplies; instructional professional development for both certificated and classified staff; other building-level costs including maintenance, custodial, and security; and central office administration.
     (b) The annual average full-time equivalent student amounts in (a) of this subsection shall be enhanced based on full-time equivalent student enrollment in exploratory career and technical education courses for students in grades seven through twelve; laboratory science courses for students in grades nine through twelve; preparatory career and technical education courses for students in grades nine through twelve offered in a high school; and preparatory career and technical education courses for students in grades eleven and twelve offered through a skill center.
     (5) The allocations provided under subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall be enhanced as follows to provide additional allocations for classroom teachers and maintenance, supplies, and operating costs:
     (a) To provide supplemental instruction and services for underachieving students through the learning assistance program under RCW 28A.165.005 through 28A.165.065, allocations shall be based on the percent of students in each school who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. The minimum allocation for the learning assistance program shall provide an extended school day and extended school year for each level of prototypical school and a per student allocation for maintenance, supplies, and operating costs.
     (b) To provide supplemental instruction and services for students whose primary language is other than English, allocations shall be based on the number of students in each school who are eligible for and enrolled in the transitional bilingual instruction program under RCW 28A.180.010 through 28A.180.080. The minimum allocation for each level of prototypical school shall provide for supplemental instruction based on percent of the school day a student is assumed to receive supplemental instruction and a per student allocation for maintenance, supplies, and operating costs.
     (6) The allocations provided under subsections (3) and (4) of this section shall be enhanced to provide additional allocations to support programs for highly capable students under RCW 28A.185.010 through 28A.185.030, based on two and three hundred fourteen one-thousandths percent of each school district's full-time equivalent enrollment. The minimum allocation for the programs shall provide an extended school day and extended school year for each level of prototypical school and a per student allocation for maintenance, supplies, and operating costs.
     (7) The allocations under subsections (3)(b), (c)(i), and (d), (4), and (8) of this section shall be enhanced as provided under RCW 28A.150.390 on an excess cost basis to provide supplemental instructional resources for students with disabilities.
     (8) The distribution formula shall include allocations to school districts to support certificated and classified staffing of central office administration. The minimum allocation shall be calculated as a percentage, identified in the omnibus appropriations act, of the total allocations for staff under subsections (3) and (6) of this section for all schools in the district.
     (9)(a) For the purposes of allocations for prototypical high schools and middle schools under subsections (3) and (5) of this section that are based on the percent of students in the school who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, the actual percent of such students in a school shall be adjusted by a factor identified in the omnibus appropriations act to reflect underreporting of free and reduced-price meal eligibility among middle and high school students.
     (b) Allocations or enhancements provided under subsections (3) and (4) of this section for exploratory and preparatory career and technical education courses shall be provided only for courses approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction under chapter 28A.700 RCW.
     (10)(a) This formula for distribution of basic education funds shall be reviewed biennially by the superintendent and governor. The recommended formula shall be subject to approval, amendment or rejection by the legislature.
     (b) In the event the legislature rejects the distribution formula recommended by the governor, without adopting a new distribution formula, the distribution formula for the previous school year shall remain in effect.
     (c) The enrollment of any district shall be the annual average number of full-time equivalent students and part-time students as provided in RCW 28A.150.350, enrolled on the first school day of each month, including students who are in attendance pursuant to RCW 28A.335.160 and 28A.225.250 who do not reside within the servicing school district. The definition of full-time equivalent student shall be determined by rules of the superintendent of public instruction and shall be included as part of the superintendent's biennial budget request. The definition shall be based on the minimum instructional hour offerings required under RCW 28A.150.220. Any revision of the present definition shall not take effect until approved by the house ways and means committee and the senate ways and means committee.
     (d) The office of financial management shall make a monthly review of the superintendent's reported full-time equivalent students in the common schools in conjunction with RCW 43.62.050.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.410 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The professional educator standards board shall develop standards for and adopt a specialty endorsement for elementary mathematics specialists by July 1, 2011.
     (2) An elementary mathematics specialist is a certificated elementary teacher with a specialty endorsement under this section. An elementary mathematics specialist may provide direct instruction to students using an itinerant teacher model where the specialist rotates from classroom to classroom within the school, or may serve as a coach by demonstrating best practices to the regularly assigned classroom teacher using a researched-based coaching model. The legislature encourages school districts to give a priority to schools with large numbers of students who are struggling in mathematics when assigning elementary mathematics specialists and to use a model that best meets the needs of the school.
     (3) The standards shall include demonstration of enhanced mathematics content knowledge and skills necessary to coach teachers endorsed in elementary education in:
     (a) Providing students in grades kindergarten through six with deep knowledge and understanding of the essential academic learning requirements in mathematics;
     (b) Demonstrating knowledge and skills in a variety of instructional strategies designed to engage elementary students in learning mathematics and encourage them to enjoy and be interested in the subject; and
     (c) Demonstrating knowledge and skills in instructional strategies targeted for students struggling with mathematics.
     (4) To the maximum extent possible, the additional knowledge and skills for the specialty endorsement under this section shall be performance-based and require a minimum of additional coursework. To the extent possible, any coursework required should be widely accessible to elementary teachers across the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   Section 2 of this act takes effect September 1, 2011.