Signed by Governor Jay Inslee

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires a superintendent to take action in certain schools.

Highlights:

• Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually identify schools “in need of improvement” and to identify a subset that are the persistently lowest-achieving schools in the state, beginning December 1, 2013 and occurring each December thereafter (Sec. 3).

• Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt criteria necessary to identify schools “in need of improvement” including, but not limited to, the academic achievement and high school graduation rate of students who take the state’s assessment in reading or English language arts and mathematics (Sec. 3).

• Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt criteria necessary to identify whether a school “in need of improvement” is also a persistently lowest-achieving school that includes a school’s lack of progress over a number of years and the resources available to implement the required action plan (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes a required action school district to consult with the Superintendent of Public Instruction in developing its required action plan (Secs. 5 & 6).

• Requires the required action plan for school districts with multiple persistently lowest-achieving schools to include separate plans for each school as well as a plan for how the district will support the schools collectively (Secs. 5 & 6).

• Establishes a “level 2” designation for school districts with 1 or more schools that have remained as persistently lowest-achieving schools for more than 3 years and have not demonstrated “significant” improvement or progress, despite implementation of a required action plan (Sec. 11).

• Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the school district board of directors to develop a level 2 required action plan that explicitly addresses the reasons why the original required action plan did not succeed in improving student achievement (Sec. 11).

• Requires the school district to implement the actions specified in the level 2 required action plan, which may include, but is not limited to, the following actions (Sec. 11):
• The assignment or reassignment of personnel;
• The reallocation of resources; or
• The use of specified curriculum or instructional strategies.

• Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to recommend to the State Board of Education that a school district be released from assignment of level 2 of the required action process if the following requirements are met (Sec. 11):
• The school district has implemented the level 2 required action plan for 3 years;
• The school district has made progress, as defined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction; and
• The school district no longer has a school that is identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.

• Establishes the “Education Accountability System Oversight Committee” to provide ongoing monitoring of the outcomes of the system of recognition, support, and actions for schools and school districts established in this bill (Sec. 13).

Full Bill Text