BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to the creation of the temporary citizens' commission on school funding and education excellence; creating new sections; making appropriations; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that the common schools of Washington began to implement comprehensive performance-based education reforms in 1993 as provided in House Bill No. 1209 and subsequent legislation. The principal features of the present system for funding the operation of the common schools were enacted in 1977. The more fully schools and school districts implement performance-based educational programs, the more poorly aligned Washington's school funding and school program delivery systems become. The governor's council on education reform and funding, created by executive order in 1991, did not adopt recommendations on the redesign of the funding system to align with the performance-based instructional program model.

(2) The legislature finds that the public school funding system in Washington has developed in response to conditions requiring a substantial increase in state involvement but which have changed over time. The funding system, stressing detailed formulas and an emphasis on input measures, has become progressively rigid, resistant to change and innovation, and reflective of a distrust of the ability of school districts to efficiently and effectively manage funds and achieve educational goals. Funding decisions are increasingly based on projections, practices, and assumptions that may not be congruent with the realities of the costs of educating children. School funding crises occur cyclically. School levies fund up to eighteen percent of the average school budget, but their passage depends on supermajorities of district voters, conditions that inject further instability into the process. Recurrent local levy failures, variances in property values among districts, and real or perceived inequities in resource distribution patterns are further symptoms of profound problems. Change in such a setting, if possible at all, must occur on the margin.

(3) The legislature finds that on the eve of the twenty-first century, it is unclear in what manner and the extent to which the funding system must be changed to render it more relevant, flexible, and responsive to accommodate efforts to shift the education system to a performance-based system, render it consistent with the performance-based learning system that is under development by the commission on student learning, or increase public trust in the adequacy and effectiveness of the system.

(4) The legislature further finds that many schools and school districts in Washington have developed creative approaches to helping students achieve the essential academic learning requirements and the goals of the basic education act as codified in RCW 28A.150.210. The successes already achieved by schools and school districts on the Washington assessment of student learning constitute evidence that the experiences of schools and school districts in Washington may suggest viable strategies for designing performance-based funding programs.

(5) The legislature recognizes that as state-wide accountability systems are developed and implemented to hold students, schools, and school districts accountable for improving student performance, it is appropriate and necessary to conduct a fundamental reexamination of education funding.

(6) The legislature, therefore, finds it prudent to create a temporary commission of public citizens to study and report on state funding for education in the public schools and for this commission to complete its work and report its findings and recommendations to the legislature, governor, and the public by December 2000.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) For the purposes of this act, "commission" means the temporary citizens' commission on school funding and education excellence.

(2) The temporary citizens' commission on school funding and education excellence is created to conduct a comprehensive review of Washington's system of funding the operation of the public schools, its strengths and weaknesses, the considerations and conditions that have shaped and perpetuate it, its advantages and disadvantages, other systems and approaches that might be considered as alternatives, their advantages and disadvantages, and to develop comprehensive recommendations to the legislature concerning common school finance.

(3) The commission shall be composed of:

(a) Eleven members of the general public appointed by the governor, three of whom shall be professional educators and eight of whom may not be professional educators but shall be generally representative of the social and economic diversity of the state;

(b) One member appointed by each co-speaker of the house of representatives and one member from each major political party appointed by the president of the senate; and

(c) The superintendent of public instruction, the chair of the state board of education, and the director of the office of financial management, who shall be ex officio members of the commission.

(4) The governor shall encourage public members from across the state to apply for membership on the commission, and to include a brief statement of their interest in the commission as part of their application. These applications shall be taken into account during the selection process. The governor shall attempt to include parents and individuals with expertise in education finance.

(5) All members of the commission shall be voting members. The members of the commission shall designate two of the public members to serve as chair and vice-chair by majority vote.

(6) The commission shall conduct its business as described in section 3 of this act. The commission shall expire June 30, 2001.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) The commission shall organize and conduct a review of public school funding in Washington state through a two stage process. The first stage shall commence on the effective date of this act and conclude with the presentation of an interim report to the public, the legislature, and the governor by December 31, 1999. The commission's interim report shall describe its first year activities, its findings with respect to significant aspects of the school finance funding system, its work plan to address these aspects during the second stage of the review, including its plans with respect to public communications, hearings or meetings, its budget needs for the second stage of the study, and its preliminary recommendations. The second stage shall commence on January 1, 2000, and continue until December 31, 2000. During this stage the commission shall complete its comprehensive review and present its full report and recommendations. The commission shall serve as a resource to the education and fiscal committees of the legislature during the 2000 and 2001 legislative sessions and shall make periodic reports to these committees during the interim between sessions.

(2) During its deliberations, the commission shall review and consider:

(a) The basic education act;

(b) The recommendations of the commission on student learning;

(c) The operations of the present state funding system and the relationship of its components to the efficient and effective achievement of state goals;

(d) The relationship of the school levy program as presently constituted and its relationship to basic education, the achievement of educational goals, and its advantages and disadvantages;

(e) The steps needed to assure the public, the legislature, and the governor that schools are operating at their optimal levels of efficiency and effectiveness using performance measurements;

(f) Actual and proposed systems of operational funding and state and local interaction in place in other jurisdictions;

(g) Experiences and programs of successful comprehensive school or school districts in Washington, with a special emphasis on the results of the Washington assessment of student learning; and

(h) Should an opportunity school or similar program be established by the legislature, the per student costs, and the effectiveness of this program in improving student achievement.

(3) On the basis of the criteria in subsection (2) of this section, and other reviews as determined by the commission, including the experiences of model districts, the commission shall specify the aspects and qualities that would constitute an improved education funding system for the public schools. In making its recommendations, the commission shall consider the actual cost of providing for both the immediate and future needs of students.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The commission may employ a staff director and such other staff as it deems necessary, all of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the commission. Responsibilities for the day-to-day management of the commission staff organization may be delegated to the staff director. The commission may seek such consultant and other outside assistance as it deems necessary.

(2) The commission shall seek and may receive gifts and grants for the purposes of fulfilling its responsibilities. Public funds may be used by the commission as matching funds.

(3) The commission shall create advisory or technical committees, including those composed and representative of professional education associations, as it deems necessary to fulfill its tasks. State and local education agencies are requested to make available information to assist the commission in carrying out its assigned tasks.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The sum of fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, from the general fund to the commission for the purposes of this act.

(2) The sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, from the general fund to the commission for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. 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 takes effect immediately.