AN ACT Relating to school grading and choice; amending RCW 28A.655.110 and 28A.657.110; adding a new section to chapter 28A.657 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:

(1)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must grant the request of a student's parent or guardian for the student to enroll in and attend a common school in accordance with the provisions of this section if the student:

(i) Spent the prior school year in attendance at a common school that received a grade, under section 2 of this act of "F" or three consecutive grades of "D," and the student's attendance occurred during a school year in which such designation was in effect;

(ii) Was in attendance elsewhere in the common school system and has been assigned to a school with the designation described in this subsection (1)(a) for the next school year; or

(iii) Was notified that he or she has been assigned to a common school with the designation described in this subsection (1)(a) for the next school year.

(b) For purposes of continuity of educational choice, the permission granted under this section must remain in effect until the student graduates from high school.

(2) A school district must, for each student who meets the criteria in subsection (1)(a) of this section:

(a) Notify the parent or guardian of the student of all options available under this section upon receiving a designation described in subsection (1)(a) of this section;

(b) Provide the parent or guardian of the student with an opportunity to enroll the student in a higher performing common school within the district that has received a grade of "C" or higher in the preceding school year;

(c) Provide the student with the opportunity to continue attendance in the higher performing common school's feeder pattern until the student graduates from high school; and

(d) If the parent or guardian of the student chooses to enroll the student in a higher performing common school in the district, incur the cost of transporting the student to the chosen school.

(3)(a) The parent or guardian of a student who meets the criteria in subsection (1)(a) of this section may, as an alternative to the school district offer under subsection (2)(b) of this section, choose to enroll the student in and transport the student to a higher performing common school in any school district in the state that has enrollment capacity.

(b) The school district selected by the parent or guardian under (a) of this subsection must accept the student and report the enrollment of the student to the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

(c) If the parent or guardian of a student who meets the criteria in subsection (1)(a) of this section enrolls the student in another school district, in accordance with this subsection (3), the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall, if funds are appropriated for this specific purpose, distribute to the student's resident school district funding to compensate the district for the funding lost due to the student's transfer.

(4) This section does not apply to a student who is enrolled in a school operating for the purposes of providing educational services to youth in education programs for juvenile inmates, under chapters 28A.193 and 28A.194 RCW.

Sec. 2.  RCW 28A.655.110 and 2010 c 235 s 703 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Beginning with the 1994-95 school year, to provide the local community and electorate with access to information on the educational programs in the schools in the district, each school shall publish annually a school performance report and deliver the report to each parent with children enrolled in the school and make the report available to the community served by the school. The annual performance report shall be in a form that can be easily understood and be used by parents, guardians, and other members of the community who are not professional educators to make informed educational decisions. As data from the assessments in RCW 28A.655.060 becomes available, the annual performance report should enable parents, educators, and school board members to determine whether students in the district's schools are attaining mastery of the student learning goals under RCW 28A.150.210, and other important facts about the schools' performance in assisting students to learn. The annual report shall make comparisons to a school's performance in preceding years, student performance relative to the goals and the percentage of students performing at each level of the assessment, a comparison of student performance at each level of the assessment to the previous year's performance, and information regarding school-level plans to achieve the goals.

(2) The annual performance report shall include, but not be limited to: (a) A brief statement of the mission of the school and the school district; (b) enrollment statistics including student demographics; (c) expenditures per pupil for the school year; (d) a summary of student scores on all mandated tests; (e) a concise annual budget report; (f) student attendance, graduation, and dropout rates; (g) the performance of the school and the school district on the Washington achievement index developed under RCW 28A.657.110; (h) information regarding the use and condition of the school building or buildings; (((h))) (i) a brief description of the learning improvement plans for the school; (((i))) (j) a summary of the feedback from parents and community members obtained under RCW 28A.655.115; and (((j))) (k) an invitation to all parents and citizens to participate in school activities.

(3) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop by June 30, 1994, and update periodically, a model report form, which shall also be adapted for computers, that schools may use to meet the requirements of subsections (1) and (2) of this section. In order to make school performance reports broadly accessible to the public, the superintendent of public instruction, to the extent feasible, shall make information on each school's report available on or through the superintendent's internet web site.

Sec. 3.  RCW 28A.657.110 and 2013 c 159 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) By November 1, 2013, the state board of education shall propose rules for adoption establishing an accountability framework that creates a unified system of support for challenged schools that aligns with basic education, increases the level of support based upon the magnitude of need, and uses data for decisions. The board must seek input from the public and interested groups in developing the framework. Based on the framework, the superintendent of public instruction shall design a comprehensive system of specific strategies for recognition, provision of differentiated support and targeted assistance, and, if necessary, requiring intervention in schools and school districts. The superintendent shall submit the system design to the state board of education for review. The state board of education shall recommend approval or modification of the system design to the superintendent no later than January 1, 2014, and the system must be implemented statewide no later than the 2014-15 school year. To the extent state funds are appropriated for this purpose, the system must apply equally to Title I, Title I-eligible, and non-Title I schools in the state.

(2)(a) The state board of education shall develop a Washington achievement index to identify schools and school districts for recognition, for continuous improvement, and for additional state support. The index shall be based on criteria that are fair, consistent, and transparent. Performance shall be measured using multiple outcomes and indicators including, but not limited to, graduation rates and results from statewide assessments. The index shall be developed in such a way as to be easily understood by both employees within the schools and school districts, as well as parents and community members. It is the legislature's intent that the index provide feedback to schools and school districts to self-assess their progress, and enable the identification of schools with exemplary performance and those that need assistance to overcome challenges in order to achieve exemplary performance.

(3) The state board of education, in cooperation with the office of the superintendent of public instruction, shall annually recognize schools for exemplary performance as measured on the Washington achievement index. The state board of education shall have ongoing collaboration with the educational opportunity gap oversight and accountability committee regarding the measures used to measure the closing of the achievement gaps and the recognition provided to the school districts for closing the achievement gaps.

(4) In coordination with the superintendent of public instruction, the state board of education shall seek approval from the United States department of education for use of the Washington achievement index and the state system of differentiated support, assistance, and intervention to replace the federal accountability system under P.L. 107-110, the no child left behind act of 2001.

(5) The state board of education shall work with the education data center established within the office of financial management and the technical working group established in RCW 28A.290.020 to determine the feasibility of using the prototypical funding allocation model as not only a tool for allocating resources to schools and school districts but also as a tool for schools and school districts to report to the state legislature and the state board of education on how the state resources received are being used.

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