H-32                 _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1248

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Rust, Schoon, Rayburn, Winsley, Rasmussen, Peery, Spanel, Cole, R. King, Kremen, Pruitt, P. King and Brumsickle

Read first time 1/18/89 and referred to Committees on Education/Appropriations (2/17/89).

AN ACT Relating to education; adding a new section to chapter 28A.100 RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.100 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The academic improvement award program is hereby created to provide both financial incentives and creative freedom to faculty members of individual schools to improve their students' test scores in the basic academic skills of reading, math, and language.  Schools shall participate on a voluntary basis.

          (2) Awards shall be made as follows:

          (a) For nonhigh schools, a baseline score shall be established by compiling a three-year historical median for the three years preceding the year of the award from each school on student test scores from a currently used standardized academic achievement test chosen by the superintendent of public instruction.  The test shall be administered to the nonhigh school students in the year of the award.  The results of that test shall be compared with that school's historical median.

          (b) For high schools, a baseline score shall be established by compiling a three-year historical median for the three years preceding the year of the award by assigning a score based on results of a basic skills standardized test chosen by the superintendent of public instruction and establishing the number of dropouts for each high school.  In the year of the award, the superintendent of public instruction shall use an "improvement formula" calculated by adding the percentage of improvement of scores on the standardized test and the percentage of decrease in dropouts.

          (c) Awards shall be made based on the greatest improvement over an individual school's historical median.

          (d) Awards shall be given to one high school and one nonhigh school in each of the eight congressional districts in the state showing the greatest improvement in the district.  Each of the winning schools shall be awarded fifty dollars per student with a maximum of fifty thousand dollars per school.  The school showing the greatest improvement throughout the state shall receive an additional five thousand dollars.  A winning elementary school shall give one-half of its winnings to be divided equally among its feeder schools.  If no such schools exist, the elementary school shall keep the entire award.

          (3) Recipient schools shall decide how to spend their awards:  PROVIDED, That awards shall not be used to raise the salaries of existing faculty or administration.

          (4) School districts shall encourage contributions from private sources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The sum of one million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.  Of the one million dollars appropriated, two hundred thousand dollars may be spent only if matched by private contributions.