----------------------------------------------------------------------------


15  AN ACT concerning school districts; relating to accreditation, curriculum,
16    pupil assessments; affecting composition of school site councils; re-
17    quiring provision of certain information; authorizing the reading and
18    posting of certain documents on American history; [authorizing the
19    reading and posting of certain documents on American history;]
20    amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 72-6439 and repealing the existing
21    section.
22
23  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
24    Section 1.  K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 72-6439 is hereby amended to read as
25  follows: 72-6439. (a) In order to accomplish the mission for Kansas ed-
26  ucation, the state board of education shall design and adopt a school
27  performance accreditation system based upon improvement in perform-
28  ance that reflects high academic standards and is measurable. The state
29  board shall monitor school district participation in the system. Boards
30  shall design curriculum, set goals, and submit required data to the state
31  board. The state board shall monitor district school safety, truancy levels,
32  drop out rates, nationally normed test averages, Kansas assessment test
33  averages, and involvement of parents and the community. An accredita-
34  tion policy shall be communicated to districts by August 1998, and shall
35  be continually improved as needed.
36    (b)  The state board shall select one nationally normed test for admin-
37  istration across each district. The selected test shall have wide distribution
38  such as the Iowa test of basic skills (ITBS), the Metropolitan achievement
39  test (MAT), or the California achievement test (CAT), the national as-
40  sessment of educational progress (NAEP), or other widely distrib-
41  uted achievement tests. In addition to administration of the nationally
42  normed test, the state board of education shall provide for state assess-
43  ments in the core academic areas of mathematics, science, reading, writ-
HB 2285--Am. by HCW
                                     

 1  ing composition, social studies and social studies, and shall establish
 2  curriculum standards for such core academic areas critical thinking skills.
 3  The nationally normed test shall test the basic core academic areas. The
 4  state assessments shall be administered at three grade levels, as deter-
 5  mined by the state board reduced in scope by 50% in length of pupil
 6  testing time in comparison to 1996 Kansas assessment time. The curric-
 7  ulum standards shall be equal to the best standards and shall be reviewed
 8  at least every three years. The state board shall ensure compatibility be-
 9  tween the statewide assessments and the curriculum standards. Nothing
10  in this subsection shall be construed in any manner so as to impinge upon
11  any district's authority to determine its own curriculum state board shall
12  establish curriculum standards for the core academic areas. Such
13  standards shall be equal to the best standards and shall be re-
14  viewed at least every three years. The state assessments shall be con-
15  densed so as to omit areas and basic skills covered by the selected nation-
16  ally normed test administered at three grade levels, as determined
17  by the state board. The state board shall ensure compatibility be-
18  tween the state assessments and the curriculum standards. Noth-
19  ing in this subsection shall be construed in any manner so as to
20  impinge upon any district's authority to determine its own curric-
21  ulum.
22    (c)  The state board of education shall determine performance levels
23  on the statewide assessments, the achievement of which represents excel-
24  lence in the academic area at the grade level to which the assessment
25  applies. The state board should specify the measure of excellence both for
26  individual performance and school performance on the assessments.
27    (d)   Each school in every district shall establish a school site council
28  composed of the principal and representatives of teachers and other school
29  personnel, parents of pupils attending the school, the business community,
30  and other community groups. There shall be at least eight parents, five
31  teachers, and two business or community leaders on the council. School
32  site councils shall be responsible for providing advice and counsel in eval-
33  uating state, school district, and school site performance goals and objec-
34  tives and in determining the methods that should be employed at the
35  school site to meet these goals and objectives. The state board shall de-
36  velop simple indices to measure parental involvement and community
37  involvement, such as parent as teacher programs, mentor programs, vi-
38  tality in PTA activity and aggressiveness in formation of school-business
39  partnerships. The state board shall develop an outcome objective for pa-
40  rental and community involvement and shall encourage boards to develop
41  programs that strengthen voluntary parent participation. The indices
42  to measure parental and community involvement shall not be used
43  to measure the ability of a board to engender such involvement,
HB 2285--Am. by HCW
                                     

 1  nor shall the outcome objective for parental and community in-
 2  volvement be imposed as an objective to be attained by a board.
 3    (e)  On or before January 1, 1997 in each school year, the state board
 4  of education shall prepare a public education performance report card
 5  consisting of statewide aggregated data pertaining to performance on
 6  statewide assessments and other measurable performance indicators
 7  specified by the state board as part of the accreditation system. The report
 8  card shall be designed to show comparative data over multiple years, as
 9  determined by the state board. In addition to the public education per-
10  formance report card, the state board shall prepare a school building
11  report card for each school building operated by a district and shall pro-
12  vide the board of each district with information showing the statewide
13  data and school building data, including multiple year data.
14    (f)  The state board shall provide each registered voter board with a
15  report showing five year graphical trends of their district's nationally
16  normed composite test score compared to the state average for each ap-
17  propriate grade. The report shall also include a separate five year graph-
18  ical trend of district total budgets, with administrative cost trends and
19  pupil FTE trends. Lastly, the state board shall provide five year trends
20  indicating parental and community involvement. Administrative costs
21  shall include any school district employee that does not spend a minimum
22  of six hours a 60% of their working day teaching pupils. The graphs
23  shall be made in a reader friendly manner and shall contain only the three
24  bar graphs and disclosure statement from the state board. The graphs
25  shall be mailed in September of even-numbered years. The nationally
26  normed test shall be selected on or before July 30, 1998, and shall
27  be administered for the first time after October 15, 1998. Admin-
28  istration of the test statewide shall be accomplished within a com-
29  pressed time frame, not exceeding 30 days, to ensure valid com-
30  parability. The information required to be provided school district
31  boards pursuant to this subsection shall be reported for the first
32  time in September of 2000. Such information shall be maintained
33  as public records by boards and shall be open for public inspection
34  at any reasonable time.
35    (f) (g)  Under the direction of Kansas, Inc., and subject to appropri-
36  ations therefor, a study evaluating changes in pupil performance attrib-
37  utable to the school accreditation system shall be conducted between July
38  1 and November 30, 1997. The main purpose of the study shall be to
39  ascertain, through evaluation of the 48 school districts that began imple-
40  mentation of the school performance accreditation process in the 1991-
41  92 school year, the extent of the change in pupil academic performance
42  under the system and to provide an explanation of the factors that have
43  contributed materially to the changes that have occurred. The study shall
HB 2285--Am. by HCW
                                     

 1  be based on data for the 1996-97 school year. The results of the study
 2  shall be reported to the legislature at the commencement of the 1998
 3  session. Kansas, Inc. shall convene an advisory committee for assistance
 4  in designing the study, providing direction for the conducting of research,
 5  analyzing research findings, and preparing the report of the results of the
 6  study. The advisory committee shall consist of not less than seven and
 7  not more than 11 members and shall be representative of the state board
 8  of education, teachers, school administrators, boards of education, busi-
 9  ness, and the public. Members of the advisory committee attending meet-
10  ings of the committee or subcommittee meetings authorized by Kansas,
11  Inc. shall be paid amounts provided for in subsection (e) of K.S.A. 75-
12  3223, and amendments thereto.
13    New Sec. 2.  (a)  The board of education of each school district may
14  authorize all certificated employees of the district to read and post in any
15  school building or classroom or at any school event any of the following:
16    (1)  The national motto;
17    (2)  The national anthem;
18    (3)  The pledge of allegiance;
19    (4)  The Kansas Constitution;
20    (5)  The Declaration of Independence;
21    (6)  The United States Constitution;
22    (7)  The Mayflower Compact;
23    (8)  The writings, speeches, documents and proclamations of the
24  Founding Fathers and the Presidents of the United States;
25    (9)  The writings, speeches, and documents emanating from Colonial,
26  Revolutionary and Federalist eras;
27    (10)  The writings, speeches, and documents of Leaders of the Civil
28  Rights Movement in the United States;
29    (11)  United States Supreme Court decisions; and
30    (12)  Acts of the United States Congress.
31    (b)  There shall be no exclusion of American history in this state in
32  the writings, documents and records described in subsection (a).
33    (c)  There shall be no discriminatory revision of American history or
34  heritage based on religious references in the writings, documents and
35  records described in subsection (a). The writings, documents and records
36  described in subsection (a) shall be presented in a manner which neither
37  furthers the establishment of a specific religion nor demeans any mode
38  of worship.
39    [New Sec. 2.  (a) The board of education of each school district
40  may authorize all certificated employees of the district to read and
41  post in any school building or classroom or at any school event any
42  of the following:
43    [(1)  The national motto;
HB 2285--Am. by HCW
                                     

 1    [(2)  The national anthem;
 2    [(3)  The pledge of allegiance;
 3    [(4)  The Kansas Constitution;
 4    [(5)  The Declaration of Independence;
 5    [(6)  The United States Constitution;
 6    [(7)  The Mayflower Compact;
 7    [(8)  The writings, speeches, documents and proclamations of
 8  the Founding Fathers and the Presidents of the United States;
 9    [(9)  The writings, speeches, and documents emanating from
10  Colonial, Revolutionary and Federalist eras;
11    [(10)  The writings, speeches, and documents of Leaders of the
12  Civil Rights Movement in the United States;
13    [(11)  United States Supreme Court decisions; and
14    [(12)  Acts of the United States Congress.
15    [(b)  There shall be no revision of American history or heritage
16  based on religious references in the writings, documents and re-
17  cords described in subsection (a).]
18    New Sec. 3 2 [3].  The state board of education is encouraged to
19  distribute a copy of this act, immediately after the effective date thereof,
20  to the board of education of each school district in the state. The super-
21  intendent of each such school district shall distribute copies of the act to
22  all certificated personnel of the school district.
23    Sec. 4 3 [4].  K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 72-6439 is hereby repealed.
24    Sec. 5 4 [5].  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after
25  its publication in the statute book.