Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires public and charter school to be assigned letter grades in an annual report card to demonstrate performance.

Highlights:

• Requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to produce an annual simplified school report card for each public and charter school, with the first report card to be distributed by December 1, 2014 (Sec. A). 

• Exempts schools which offer only grades lower than third grade from the provisions of this bill (Sec. A).

• Specifies that the grade must reflect the performance level of each school as compared to the standards applicable to the school (Sec. A).

• Requires the school to notify parents and the community about the contents of the report card, and requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide a direct link to the report card on the home page of its website (Sec. A).

• Authorizes the principal of each school to include a statement on the report card of up to 250 words that provides context or background information for the scores on the school’s report card (Sec. A). 

• Requires any school that scores less than 70 percent overall to submit an action plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, describing the school’s plans for improving its performance (Sec. A). 

Full Bill Text