BILL REQ. #:  Z-1017.2 

Read first time 02/27/12.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to authorizing a five-year pilot project for up to six collaborative schools for innovation and success operated by school districts in partnership with colleges of education; amending RCW 28A.305.140, 28A.655.180, and 28A.657.050; adding new sections to chapter 28A.630 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) There are more low-achieving schools in the state seeking assistance in improving the academic outcomes of students than are being assisted using current school improvement initiatives;
     (b) Promising educator development programs provide intensive school-based, residency, and mentor experiences for those preparing for careers in teaching and educational leadership; and
     (c) Collaboration among colleges of education, schools, and communities offers unique opportunities to leverage resources, foster innovation, disseminate best practices in educator preparation and professional development, and close the educational opportunity gap for students in low-achieving schools.
     (2) Therefore, the legislature intends to authorize a pilot project where colleges of education collaborate with school districts to establish collaborative schools for innovation and success serving particularly at-risk and low-achieving students. Each collaboration is intended both to accelerate student achievement and deepen the knowledge and skills of current and future educators. The legislature intends that the initial collaborations occur in elementary schools. Pending the evaluation results of the initial pilot project, the legislature may expand the collaborations to include middle and high schools.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     As used in sections 3 through 7 of this act, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, "college of education" means an institution of higher education in Washington state that has been approved by the professional educator standards board to offer educator preparation and certification programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project is created as follows:
     (a) The school district located in western Washington with the largest number of enrolled students and the school district located in eastern Washington with the largest number of enrolled students may each enter an agreement with a college of education to participate in the pilot project; and
     (b) Any other school district in the state may enter an agreement with a college of education and submit an application to the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board as provided in section 4 of this act to participate in the pilot project.
     (2) The purpose of the pilot project is for colleges of education and school districts to collaborate to improve student and educator success by:
     (a) Developing and implementing research-based models of instruction and services that have proven to be successful in closing the educational opportunity gap and improving student learning in low-performing schools; and
     (b) Developing and implementing research-based models of educator preparation and professional development programs that have proven to be successful in building an educator workforce with the knowledge, skills, and background that aligns with the characteristics and needs of students in low-performing schools.
     (3) For each proposed pilot project, the college of education and the school district shall collaborate to select an elementary school in the district to be the collaborative school for innovation and success. The school must be among the lowest-achieving schools in the district as measured by district, state, or federal criteria, including criteria that measure the educational opportunity gap in the school, and the school must not have received state, federal, or private funds for the purpose of implementing a school improvement plan.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Each school district and college of education seeking approval to participate in the collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project, including the districts and colleges under section 3(1)(a) of this act, must submit a joint application of intent to the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board by July 1, 2012.
     (2) An application of intent must contain:
     (a) The school selected for inclusion in the pilot project and the rationale for its selection;
     (b) The research basis and theory of action proposed to close the educational opportunity gap and improve student achievement in the selected school;
     (c) The research basis and theory of action proposed to improve educator preparation and professional development in the selected school;
     (d) A preliminary plan for involving parents, community members, and school staff in the development of the innovation and success plan under section 5 of this act;
     (e) The proposed roles and responsibilities of the college of education and school district in the pilot project; and
     (f) A preliminary plan for using the results of the pilot project to improve educational programs throughout the school district and throughout the college of education.
     (3) The office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board shall jointly review the applications. The office and the board must approve but may comment and make recommendations for improvement of the applications from the districts and colleges under section 3(1)(a) of this act. The office and board shall select up to four additional applications for participation in the pilot project no later than August 1, 2012.
     (4) The selection criteria shall include, but are not limited to, the quality of the research basis for the proposed collaboration; the efficacy of the proposed strategies for closing the achievement gap, improving student achievement, and improving educator preparation in low-performing schools; and the degree of commitment displayed by the college of education and the school district to collaborate throughout the pilot project.
     (5) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate grants to the districts and colleges under section 3(1)(a) of this act, plus one of the additional selected applications, to be used for development and implementation of an innovation and success plan under section 5 of this act. The colleges of education and school districts from the remaining selected applications may participate in the collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project by complying with the provisions of sections 5 through 7 of this act, but without state funding support.
     (6) The college of education shall serve as the fiscal agent for the pilot project, unless the college is an independent institution of higher education, in which case the school district shall serve as the fiscal agent. Each college of education and school district must seek private, foundation, community, or other grant funds to leverage any supplemental state funds that may be appropriated for the purposes of the pilot project.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) After receiving approval of an application of intent, each college of education and school district must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of the students to be served by a collaborative school for innovation and success. The needs assessment must include a thorough evaluation of student needs as identified by the parents of the students served by the school, as well as the levels of support within the school community and in the external community at-large for students' academic and social emotional needs. The needs assessment must also examine elements included in an academic performance audit under RCW 28A.657.040.
     (2) The college of education and the school district must develop an innovation and success plan for the school in collaboration with school staff, parents, and community members.
     (3) The innovation and success plan must include:
     (a) The proposed program for instruction, wraparound support services, resource deployment, and professional development that has been developed based on the comprehensive needs assessment;
     (b) A family and community engagement strategy that builds support among students and parents for high achievement for all students in culturally appropriate ways;
     (c) Professional learning communities among school staff and higher education faculty that are focused on identifying and responding to emergent student learning needs;
     (d) Intensive preparation of teacher and principal candidates using research-based practices and a particular focus on skill development to improve learning for English language learners, highly mobile and homeless students, students with disabilities, and other students with special learning needs;
     (e) Identification of the metrics that will be used to assess student achievement and skill development, both while the students are enrolled in elementary school and after they continue into middle school, and specific goals for improvement of these outcomes over the term of the pilot project, including but not limited to such metrics as attendance, grade-level retention, student growth, disciplinary incidents, course completion and grades, and performance on classroom-based assessments;
     (f) Identification of the metrics that will be used to assess educator skill development, both for preservice and certificated educators, and specific goals for improvement of these outcomes over the term of the pilot project;
     (g) Identification of private and community partners to provide wraparound services, technology, mentoring, or other enhancements for the students in the school;
     (h) Identification of waivers to be requested from the state board of education under RCW 28A.305.140 or from the superintendent of public instruction under RCW 28A.655.180;
     (i) Identification of any modifications to approved educator preparation programs or other waivers to be requested from the professional educator standards board;
     (j) Identification and completion of any modifications to school district collective bargaining agreements necessary to implement the innovation and success plan, using the procedures under RCW 28A.657.050(3); and
     (k) A proposed budget based on funding and resources available to the pilot project.
     (4) Each college of education and school district must submit a completed innovation and success plan to the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board by March 15, 2013.
     (5) The office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board must notify each college of education and school district by May 1, 2013, whether the innovation and success plan has been approved. If the plan is not approved, the reasons must be specified in writing and the college of education and school district must be provided an opportunity to revise and resubmit the plan within thirty days. The office and the board may provide technical assistance in revising a plan.
     (6) School districts are encouraged to assign teachers, principals, and other staff to a collaborative school for innovation and success who express an interest, commitment, and qualifications to participate in the pilot project. School districts are also encouraged to permit the transfer of existing school staff to another school in the district if the staff do not wish to participate in the pilot project.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Approved innovation and success plans shall be implemented in each collaborative school for innovation and success pilot project over a five-year period beginning in the 2013-14 school year through the 2017-18 school year.     
     (2) Each pilot project shall submit an annual progress report to the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board by December 1st. The report must describe the best practices and new approaches being used at the collaborative school for innovation and success, lessons learned, adjustments planned and implemented, suggestions for expanding use of best practices to a larger scale, and other results from the collaborative experience of the pilot project. The office and board shall compile and summarize the reports in a standard format and forward them to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 28A.630 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to funds appropriated specifically for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall contract with a northwest educational research organization to conduct an evaluation of the collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project using quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify successful practices in improving student and educator outcomes. The organization shall submit a preliminary evaluation by December 1, 2015, and a final evaluation by September 1, 2018, to the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board.
     (2) Based on the experience of the participants and the evaluation results, the office of the superintendent of public instruction and the professional educator standards board shall recommend whether the pilot project should be modified, continued, and expanded to include other elementary schools in the state, or expanded to include middle and high schools. The office and the board shall submit their recommendations and the final report of the pilot project to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2018.

Sec. 8   RCW 28A.305.140 and 2011 c 260 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The state board of education may grant waivers to school districts from the provisions of RCW 28A.150.200 through 28A.150.220 on the basis that such waiver or waivers are necessary to:
     (a) Implement successfully a local plan to provide for all students in the district an effective education system that is designed to enhance the educational program for each student. The local plan may include alternative ways to provide effective educational programs for students who experience difficulty with the regular education program; ((or))
     (b) Implement an innovation school or innovation zone designated under RCW 28A.630.081; or
     (c) Implement a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project approved under section 4 of this act.
     (2) The state board shall adopt criteria to evaluate the need for the waiver or waivers.

Sec. 9   RCW 28A.655.180 and 2011 c 260 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The state board of education, where appropriate, or the superintendent of public instruction, where appropriate, may grant waivers to districts from the provisions of statutes or rules relating to: The length of the school year; student-to-teacher ratios; and other administrative rules that in the opinion of the state board of education or the opinion of the superintendent of public instruction may need to be waived in order for a district to implement a plan for restructuring its educational program or the educational program of individual schools within the district or to implement an innovation school or innovation zone designated under RCW 28A.630.081 or to implement a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project approved under section 4 of this act.
     (2) School districts may use the application process in RCW 28A.305.140 to apply for the waivers under this section.

Sec. 10   RCW 28A.657.050 and 2010 c 235 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The local district superintendent and local school board of a school district designated as a required action district must submit a required action plan to the state board of education for approval. Unless otherwise required by subsection (3) of this section, the plan must be submitted under a schedule as required by the state board. A required action plan must be developed in collaboration with administrators, teachers, and other staff, parents, unions representing any employees within the district, students, and other representatives of the local community. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a district with assistance in developing its plan if requested. The school board must conduct a public hearing to allow for comment on a proposed required action plan. The local school district shall submit the plan first to the office of the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines. After the office of the superintendent of public instruction has approved that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines, the local school district must submit its required action plan to the state board of education for approval.
     (2) A required action plan must include all of the following:
     (a) Implementation of one of the four federal intervention models required for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant, for those persistently lowest-achieving schools that the district will be focusing on for required action. However, a district may not establish a charter school under a federal intervention model without express legislative authority. The intervention models are the turnaround, restart, school closure, and transformation models. The intervention model selected must address the concerns raised in the academic performance audit and be intended to improve student performance to allow a school district to be removed from the list of districts designated as a required action district by the state board of education within three years of implementation of the plan;
     (b) Submission of an application for a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the superintendent of public instruction;
     (c) A budget that provides for adequate resources to implement the federal model selected and any other requirements of the plan;
     (d) A description of the changes in the district's or school's existing policies, structures, agreements, processes, and practices that are intended to attain significant achievement gains for all students enrolled in the school and how the district intends to address the findings of the academic performance audit; and
     (e) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at a school identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school, which include improving mathematics and reading student achievement and graduation rates as defined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction that enable the school to no longer be identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.
     (3)(a) For any district designated for required action, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 10, 2010, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan. For any district applying to participate in a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project under section 4 of this act, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after the effective date of this section must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement an innovation and success plan.
     (b) If the school district and the employee organizations are unable to agree on the terms of an addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, the parties, including all labor organizations affected under the required action plan, shall request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint an employee of the commission to act as a mediator to assist in the resolution of a dispute between the school district and the employee organizations. Beginning in 2011, and each year thereafter, mediation shall commence no later than April 15th. All mediations held under this section shall include the employer and representatives of all affected bargaining units.
     (c) If the executive director of the public employment relations commission, upon the recommendation of the assigned mediator, finds that the employer and any affected bargaining unit are unable to reach agreement following a reasonable period of negotiations and mediation, but by no later than May 15th of the year in which mediation occurred, the executive director shall certify any disputed issues for a decision by the superior court in the county where the school district is located. The issues for determination by the superior court must be limited to the issues certified by the executive director.
     (d) The process for filing with the court in this subsection (3)(d) must be used in the case where the executive director certifies issues for a decision by the superior court.
     (i) The school district shall file a petition with the superior court, by no later than May 20th of the same year in which the issues were certified, setting forth the following:
     (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the school district and its principal representative;
     (B) The name, address, and telephone number of the employee organizations and their principal representatives;
     (C) A description of the bargaining units involved;
     (D) A copy of the unresolved issues certified by the executive director for a final and binding decision by the court; and
     (E) The academic performance audit that the office of the superintendent of public instruction completed for the school district in the case of a required action district, or the comprehensive needs assessment in the case of a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project.
     (ii) Within seven days after the filing of the petition, each party shall file with the court the proposal it is asking the court to order be implemented in a required action plan or innovation and success plan for the district for each issue certified by the executive director. Contemporaneously with the filing of the proposal, a party must file a brief with the court setting forth the reasons why the court should order implementation of its proposal in the final plan.
     (iii) Following receipt of the proposals and briefs of the parties, the court must schedule a date and time for a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be limited to argument of the parties or their counsel regarding the proposals submitted for the court's consideration. The parties may waive a hearing by written agreement.
     (iv) The court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in a required action plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school district's academic performance audit, and allows for the award of a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the district from the office of the superintendent of public instruction to implement one of the four federal intervention models. In the case of an innovation and success plan, the court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in the plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school's comprehensive needs assessment. The court's decision must be issued no later than June 15th of the year in which the petition is filed and is final and binding on the parties; however the court's decision is subject to appeal only in the case where it does not allow the school district to implement a required action plan consistent with the requirements for the award of a federal school improvement grant or other federal funds for school improvement by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (e) Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees incurred under this statute.
     (f) Any party that proceeds with the process in this section after knowledge that any provision of this section has not been complied with and who fails to state its objection in writing is deemed to have waived its right to object.
     (4) All contracts entered into between a school district and an employee must be consistent with this section and allow school districts designated as required action districts to implement one of the four federal models in a required action plan.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   Sections 1 through 10 of this act expire June 30, 2019.