FINAL BILL REPORT

2SHB 456

PARTIAL VETO

                                  C 518 L 87

BYHouse Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Representatives Spanel, Ebersole, Dellwo, Zellinsky, P. King, Wang, Holm, Valle, Haugen, Cole, Appelwick, O'Brien, Pruitt, Hine, Locke, Winsley, Rayburn, Unsoeld, Rasmussen, K. Wilson, Sprenkle, R. King, McMullen and Miller;by request of Governor Gardner)

Establishing programs to enhance students' ability to learn.

House Committe on Education

Rereferred House Committee on Ways & Means

Senate Committee on Education

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Since the 1984-85 school year, the state has funded a limited number of model dropout prevention programs in public schools and programs for teacher training in drug and alcohol education. In the 1985-87 biennium, the state of Washington initiated the Early Childhood Assistance Program to meet the needs of children from low income families.  In each of these programs, state grants do not meet the full demand for services and programs are not available in all communities.

SUMMARY:

PROJECT EVEN START. Project Even Start is established to provide adult literacy programs for parents whose basic academic skills are below eighth grade level.  These adult literacy programs will be available for the parents of children eligible for Headstart, the Early Childhood Education Program, and elementary school programs serving students below average in the basic skills of reading, language arts and mathematics.

In addition to instruction in basic skills, eligible parents will receive support services including, but not limited to, transportation and child care.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction will work cooperatively with adult literacy programs in the common schools, vocational technical institutes, community based programs, and community colleges to provide training for qualifying parents.  Existing programs should be used before new programs are funded.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction must report on effectiveness of the program by January 15, 1989.  After the initial report, biennial reports are required.

PARENTS AS A FIRST TEACHER PROGRAM. The Parents as a First Teacher Program is created to be operated as a voluntary grant-based program by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  The purpose of the program is to provide resource materials on home learning activities, private and group educational guidance and experiences for parents and children to encourage parent confidence and a positive home environment.  This voluntary enrichment program may be offered only as funds are made available for this purpose.  The program is for parents with children up to the age of three.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction must report biennially on the program to the legislature by January 15 and make information on the program available through the Educational Clearinghouse.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Department of Social and Health Services and Department of Community Development will coordinate the Parent as a First Teacher Program, Early Childhood Assistance Program and Family Independence Program.  These agencies must report to the legislature by January 15, 1990, on the implementation of the coordination of these programs.

EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. The funding for state-supported preschool programs for "at risk" children, administered by the Department of Community Development, is continued, but is not limited to an average of $2,700 per child.  Spaces are to be set aside for the children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and for the children of Native Americans living on and off reservations, to assure their participation in the program.

DROPOUT PROGRAMS. Each school district with a dropout rate in the highest 25 percent of all districts' dropout rates, must develop and maintain a comprehensive, district-wide student motivation, retention and retrieval plan.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is directed to distribute funds available for dropout prevention and retrieval programs to qualifying school districts on a per pupil basis.  Cooperatives of districts may qualify for funds if the cooperative includes one or more districts where the dropout rate is in the highest 25 percent.  Districts will be eligible to receive money for dropout programs every two years.  Funds received from subsequent applications must be used to expand the dropout program to additional grades or schools, or to initiate new dropout programs.  The grant money may not supplant existing funding. The Superintendent of Public Instruction must give priority in subsequent awards to districts that have plans and programs demonstrating effectiveness.

No district may receive more money than necessary to carry out its plan.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction must adopt rules to implement the dropout program including, but not limited to, the following: 1) requiring a district to provide an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the program; 2) requiring no less than 20 percent of the implementation grant to be used for identification and intervention programs in elementary and middle schools; 3) establishing procedures allowing school districts to claim basic education allocation funds for students attending a program under the dropout implementation program outside the regular school-year calendar to the extent that such attendance is in lieu of attendance within the regular school-year calendar; and 4) providing for evaluating the number of children within an applicant district who fail to complete their elementary and secondary education. Information on effective dropout programs shall be disseminated to all school districts and interested parties.

The School Drop Out Prevention Task Force is created.  The purpose of the task force is to make the public aware of the high number of Washington youth who drop out of school and the life-long economic impact of the decision to drop out, and to encourage all segments of the community to devise new strategies to encourage youth to remain in school.  The task force will be appointed by the governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Task force members will include representatives of business, sports, education, the media, students, the legislature and other segments of the community.

YOUTH SUBSTANCE ABUSE ACT. The serious impact of alcohol and drug abuse on a child's self concept and ability to learn is recognized. The Youth Substance Abuse Program is created to help students develop skills to make decisions on the use of drugs and alcohol, to achieve and maintain a drug-free educational environment and to aid school districts in the development and implementation of comprehensive drug and alcohol policies including the issues of prevention, intervention and aftercare.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction must adopt rules and distribute funds for the planning, development and implementation of educational and disciplinary policies relating to drug use.  The programs must address the issues of prevention, intervention and aftercare activities.

Each participating school district must establish a community substance abuse advisory committee, including representatives of school district instructional staff, students, parents, state and local government, law enforcement personnel and the county coordinator of alcohol and drug treatment.  The advisory committee will assist in coordinating school district programs and services with programs and services available in the community.

The district must submit procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of the programs implemented by the school district.

Joint applications to operate a cooperative program may be made by school districts.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is directed to appoint a statewide advisory committee on substance abuse composed of certificated and noncertificated school employees, administrators, parents, school directors, and representatives of the bureau of alcohol and substance abuse, the traffic safety commission and county coordinators of alcohol and drug treatment.  The committee's functions include advising the Superintendent of Public Instruction on matters of program development, coordination and evaluation.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction must disseminate information on effective drug and alcohol programs to all school districts and interested parties.

If any parts of the Youth Substance Abuse Act are in conflict with federal requirements which are prescribed as a condition of the allocation of federal funds,  the conflicting provisions of the state act are inoperative.

COMMUNITY SCHOOL SUPPORT. School districts are directed to develop school involvement programs to encourage and accommodate the participation in school activities of persons interested and involved with school age children.  The school district may seek suggestions on the activities from local business, community organizations and governmental agencies and may enter into agreements with these entities to encourage employee participation.

State employees may use up to 20 hours of their sick leave to participate in a school involvement program during their normal work hours.

GIFTED EDUCATION. Commencing with the 1987-88 school year, supplementary funds provided by the state for education of gifted children may fund programs for not less than 2 percent but not to exceed 3 percent of the district's full-time equivalent enrollment.

ELEMENTARY COUNSELOR GRANT PROGRAM. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant funds to school districts for the implementation of an elementary school counseling program.  Funding for this program is limited to funds appropriated for this purpose by the legislature.  Grants may provide one elementary counselor for schools with over 300 students and one half-time counselor for schools with less than 300 students.  School districts and school buildings within school districts may enter into cooperative arrangements for these services.  The total contract time for persons hired under these grants must be provided in the school building to which the counselor is assigned to assure that the counselor is aware of the nature and problems of the children and families to be served. Applications for funding are to be filed with the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  The application must include a commitment from the district to adopt a comprehensive elementary school counseling plan, a definition of the relationship of this program to community services, methods of program evaluation, policies on confidentiality and notification of parents, procedures for making referrals to community and state agencies and the scope of services to be provided.

MENTAL SPORTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE. A Mental Sports Advisory Committee is created to promote the development of cognitive skills and educational competitions, to sponsor tournaments and demonstrations of mental sports and to encourage tourism.  The five-member committee with members representing chess players, checkers players, bridge players, go players and scholastic olympiads must report to the legislature and the Superintendent of Public Instruction on its activities in sponsoring demonstrations and tournaments for mental sports.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.  Businesses that donate tangible personal property to public or private schools may receive a tax benefit.

Educational clinics are recognized as an important part of the educational system and as playing an important part in providing educational programs for dropouts.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction is directed to distribute to educational clinics funds allocated for this purpose. The legislature encourages school districts to explore cooperation with educational clinics.

A two-year pilot block grant program is created to allow 20 school districts to develop and implement their own plans for elementary counselling, drug abuse programs, dropout prevention and student motivation and retention programs.  A report must be made to the legislature on the effectiveness of these programs by January 1, 1990.

School districts may contract with the University of Washington to provide education for highly academically capable high school students in an early entrance program.  The school district may authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction to allocate the basic education allocation for these students to the University of Washington for instruction necessary to fulfill the high school graduation requirements for these students.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      House 93   5

      Senate    27    22(Senate amended)

      House 87   3(House concurred)

EFFECTIVE:July 26, 1987

Partial Veto Summary:  Provisions creating the Parents as First Teacher Program, Elementary Counselor Grant Program, Community School Support Program, expansion of Gifted Education and tax exemptions for the donation of property to schools are vetoed.  (See VETO MESSAGE)