AN ACT Relating to government accountability; amending RCW 28A.100.017; creating new sections; making appropriations; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the government accountability act of 1990.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The legislature finds that:

(1) It must ensure a greater degree of governmental responsibility and accountability for policy and spending decisions in order to restore public confidence;

(2) It must develop focused, creative, and objective long-range planning structures and processes in order to cope with today's highly technological and information-intensive society; and

(3) A more responsible, accountable, creative, objective, future-oriented decision-making process includes the development of a dynamic vision and a corresponding set of goals and priorities to guide policy decisions and the creation of a set of assessment tools to determine whether programs funded by taxpayer dollars are successful in achieving the predetermined mission.

It is therefore the legislature's intent to have the Washington state commission for efficiency and accountability in government examine and make recommendations on processes to evaluate program effectiveness and develop a strategic planning process which will improve decision-making. It is also the legislature's intent to evaluate the effectiveness of student learning in the K-12 public school system by implementing pilot projects for outcome-based education.

EFFICIENCY COMMISSION

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The Washington state commission for efficiency and accountability in government created by chapter 480, Laws of 1987, hereafter referred to as the commission, shall perform the following in addition to its existing duties and responsibilities:

(1) Develop a plan and make recommendations for a structure, process, and methodologies to evaluate program effectiveness. The plan shall address general evaluation research techniques, data requirements, and cost estimates of various methods to evaluate the effectiveness of state-funded programs. The plan shall also identify alternatives to current program evaluation, including but not limited to the evaluation of identified programmatic outcomes.

In developing the plan, the commission shall consider the roles of the legislative budget committee, the legislative evaluation and accountability program, the joint administrative rules review committee, and any other relevant efforts or organizational units of government in making recommendations. In particular, the commission shall examine the feasibility of utilizing or adapting the sunset review process as established in the Washington sunset act of 1977 to improve the evaluation of government accountability.

(2) Develop a plan and make recommendations for the implementation of a legislative strategic planning process. Such process should identify beliefs and values inherent in services and programs funded by the state, establish a central state vision, and identify and implement goals and priorities for the adoption of public policy and the funding of state programs.

The plan shall address the role of the executive and legislative branches in developing such goals and priorities as well as how to provide citizen input. The plan shall make recommendations on the structure and process used by the legislature, including the budget-setting process, to adopt and implement such goals and priorities.

The commission shall also evaluate the goal and objective-setting process required of agencies by RCW 43.88.090(2) as part of their budget development to determine what role that process might play in an overall strategic planning process.

In developing the plan, the commission shall examine the efforts of the senate select committee on Washington 2000 and make every effort to compliment and expand on the Washington 2000 project.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The commission shall submit a preliminary report of findings and recommendations to the 1991 legislature. The commission's final report shall be submitted to the 1992 legislature. A draft of the final report shall be completed by December 1, 1991, and distributed to interested parties for comments. The final report shall be distributed and a public hearing shall be held no later than one week prior to the first day of the 1992 legislative session.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1991, from the general fund to the office of financial management for the purpose of having the Washington state commission on efficiency and accountability carry out the responsibilities specified in sections 3 and 4 of this act.

ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION

Sec. 6. Section 7, chapter 401, Laws of 1987 and RCW 28A.100.017 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((~~The superintendent of public instruction~~)) Pursuant to RCW 28A.100.019, the state board of education may select up to ten school districts, from among districts interested and submitting written grant applications, to field test the educational outcomes and related measures developed pursuant to ((~~RCW 28A.100.013~~)) section 4, chapter 401, Laws of 1987. Priority shall be given to selecting three projects from among school districts proposing to implement an outcome-based developmental model. The schools and school districts participating in the schools for the twenty-first century program under RCW 28A.100.030 through 28A.100.038 are encouraged to apply to participate in the educational outcomes field test. Such schools or school districts may satisfy the requirement for evaluation and accountability of their schools for the twenty-first century program set forth in RCW 28A.100.038(6) by means of participation in the field test.

(2) The superintendent shall select the school districts by June 30, ((~~1989~~)) 1990, and the field tests shall ((~~begin with the 1989-90 school year and~~)) conclude at the end of the 1992-93 school year.

(3) The state board of education, where appropriate, or the superintendent of public instruction, where appropriate, is authorized to grant waivers to pilot project districts from the provisions of statutes or administrative rules relating to: The length of the school year; teacher contact hour requirements; program hour offerings; student to teacher ratios; salary lid compliance requirements; the commingling of funds appropriated by the legislature on a categorical basis for such programs as, but not limited to, highly capable students, transitional bilingual instruction, and learning assistance; and other administrative rules which 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 to implement a pilot project proposal.

State rules dealing with public health, safety, and civil rights, including accessibility by the handicapped, shall not be waived. A school district may request the state board of education or the superintendent of public instruction to ask the United States department of education or other federal agencies to waive certain federal regulations necessary to fully implement the proposed pilot project.

(4) Each selected school district shall submit annually to the superintendent of public instruction a report on its field test project.

((~~(4)~~)) (5) The superintendent of public instruction and the state board of education shall report to the legislature by December 1, 1991, on the preliminary results of the field tests of educational outcomes and related measures. In preparing the preliminary report, the superintendent and the state board shall consider the state board's review of core competencies required by section 12, chapter 233, Laws of 1989. The findings of this review shall be included in the preliminary report.

(6) The superintendent of public instruction and the state board of education shall report to the legislature by ((~~January 1, 1994~~)) December 1, 1993, on the results of the field tests of the educational outcomes and related measures. The report shall include a recommendation on whether the outcomes and related measures should be implemented on a state-wide basis. The report shall also include, if the educational outcomes and related measures are judged to be beneficial, a recommendation on whether selected provisions of state statutes or regulations should be amended or repealed if such action would enhance the benefits of the educational outcomes and related measures.

(7) The superintendent of public instruction shall establish an outcome-based education pilot program advisory committee. The committee shall be composed of one representative from each of the selected school districts and a member each of the house of representatives and the senate. The duty of the committee is to provide advice to the superintendent of public instruction on the selection and conduct of the pilot projects.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The sum of eighteen thousand 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 purpose of developing a model writing assessment program at three grade levels, developing definitions and measuring key curriculum concepts and skills, determining what constitutes mastery and providing for remediation, developing a follow-up survey and training package for a study of high school graduates, and developing uniform reporting forms for data collection and display as recommended by the temporary committee on the assessment and accountability of educational outcomes.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The sum of ten thousand 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 purpose of developing and testing, in the field, an instrument which identifies successful schools.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The sum of two hundred sixty thousand 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 purpose of field testing outcome measurements in ten school districts, collecting data from the field test site, analyzing and reporting the results, and operating the outcome-based education pilot program advisory committee. No more than ten thousand dollars shall be used to operate and cover the expenses of the advisory committee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Subchapter headings as used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.