H-2188              _______________________________________________

                                           SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL NO. 786

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Pruitt, L. Smith, Ebersole, Walker, Spanel, Rasmussen, Sprenkle, Holm, Peery, Todd, Holland, Winsley, Ferguson, May, Unsoeld and Silver)

Read first time 3/6/87 and passed to Committee on Rules.

AN ACT Relating to encouragement and measurement of innovative programs by school districts; and adding new sections to Title 28A RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature hereby declares its intent to encourage creative programs which will meet the needs of the children of the state of Washington in our rapidly changing society and our emerging world economy.  The legislature also recognizes its obligation to the taxpayers of the state of Washington to ensure efficiency and accountability in the school system established under Article IX, section 1 of the state Constitution.  Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a system of performance-based incentives to encourage decentralized, creative, cost-effective programming by local school districts in order to meet the goals of basic education and to help students develop the skills necessary in today's world.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     (1) Beginning in the 1988-89 school year, each school district may request from the state board of education a waiver of the requirements for:

          (a) Program hour offerings in RCW 28A.58.754(2);

          (b) The ratio of students per classroom teacher in RCW 28A.41.130;

          (c) Certificated classroom teacher contact hours in RCW 28A.41.140;

          (d) School courses in RCW 28A.05.005 through 28A.05.064.

The state board of education shall grant such waiver requests if the applicant agrees to participate in measurement of performance objectives under section 3 of this act; and

          (e) Student learning objectives.

          (2) The waiver under subsection (1) of this section shall initially be granted for a four-year period.  However, such waiver shall only apply to requirements for students enrolled in kindergarten and first grade in the first year.  The waiver shall be extended each year to include requirements for students enrolled in the next succeeding grade unless revoked under the authority granted the state board of education under section 3 of this act.

          (3) The state board of education shall revoke the waiver under subsection (1) of this section if a high level of achievement of the measurable performance objectives established under section 3 of this act are not obtained by the affected school district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     (1) By July 1, 1988, the state board of education shall develop under chapter 34.04 RCW measurable performance objectives to assess each school district that is granted a waiver under section 2 of this act.  These objectives shall measure district-wide performance in achieving the goals of the basic education system under RCW 28A.58.752, vocational skills, citizenship skills, personal skills, and higher-order thinking skills, and shall measure school attendance and dropout rates.

          (2) By January 1, 1988, the state board of education shall determine what constitutes a "high level of achievement" and report to the legislature on the definition it has adopted.  Such determination shall include:

          (a) When applicable, a measurement at the fourth grade level of district-wide performance in  achieving the goals in RCW 28A.58.754 and personal skills;

          (b) When applicable, a measurement at the eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade levels of all objectives developed by the state board of education under this section; and

          (c) Consideration of the socio-economic background of each school district's student population.

          (3) This section shall take effect on July 1, 1988, if the legislature does not reject the definition of high level achievement by the state board of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to Title 28A RCW.