SENATE BILL REPORT

                  ESSB 6559

              As Passed Senate, February 14, 2000

Title:  An act relating to notification of the availability of programs leading to college credit.

Brief Description:  Notifying parents of school programs leading to college credit.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Senators Kohl‑Welles, Swecker, McAuliffe, Finkbeiner, Eide, Hochstatter, Bauer, Zarelli, Goings, Rasmussen, Oke, Winsley and Roach).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Education:  2/2/2000 [DPS].

Passed Senate, 2/14/2000, 46-0.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 6559 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass.

  Signed by Senators McAuliffe, Chair; Eide, Vice Chair; Bauer, Brown, Goings, Hochstatter, Rasmussen and Zarelli.

Staff:  Susan Mielke (786-7422)

Background:  There are five programs currently offered in Washington schools in which a high school student may earn college credit: Advance Placement, College in the High School, International Baccalaureate, Tech-Prep, and Running Start.

Currently there is no statutory requirement that high schools notify parents of programs that lead to college credit.  There are joint rules adopted by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, and the Higher Education Coordinating Board which require school districts to annually provide information on the Running Start program to 10^th and 11^th grade students and their parents.

Summary of Bill:  Beginning with the 2000-01 school year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction must notify high schools of entities offering programs leading to college credit, if the superintendent has knowledge of such entities and if the cost of reporting these entities is minimal.  Beginning in the 2000-01 school year, high schools must annually publish and deliver to parents information concerning the program entrance requirements and the availability of programs leading to college credit that are offered in the school.  The published information must also include information of other public or private entities offering such programs if the high school has knowledge of the entities and the cost of reporting this additional information is minimal.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  We need to do better getting information to students and parents about the availability of high school courses that can provide college credit.  Better information will increase the numbers of students in the programs and the diversity of students who participate in these programs.  These programs can improve the future of students who participate in them.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  PRO:  Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, prime sponsor; Jevra Bashey, Bellevue School District.

House Amendment(s):  The Superintendent of Public Instruction must notify all public schools that include ninth grade students (instead of just high schools) of the names and contact information of entities offering programs leading to college credit.  Public schools that include ninth grade students (instead of just high schools) may deliver the information by mail.  Running Start, tech-prep, skills centers, and college in the high school are added to the list of program information which must be distributed.  The language that the schools must report only "if the cost of reporting the information if minimal" is deleted.