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DLN State Report 6.21

Blog Posts21 Jun 2013

Top Highlights

Texas

Bill: SB 1365
Status: 6/14/2013 – Signed by Governor
Relevant Elements: 4, 8
Texas SB 1365 was signed by Governor Rick Perry on June 14, and goes into effect immediately. It would require each district to select four examinations for each subject that are approved by the school district board of trustees. If approved by the board, the examinations selected by a district would be required to include Advanced Placement examinations administered by the College Board and examinations administered through the College-Level Examination Program. A student who receives credit by exam in a subject area would be exempt from taking an end-of-course assessment for that subject area. Students in grades six and above would receive credit if the student scores a three or higher on the AP or a scaled score of 60 or higher on an approved CLEP test. The bill would require school districts to offer each examination for credit by examination within 30 days of receiving a written request from a student or student’s parent or guardian if the test was capable of being administered electronically and at least three times per year if the test was not offered electronically. The bill would limit exams administered electronically to a student to two per year.  See DLN’s summary of the bill for a more in depth analysis.

Bill: HB 1926
Status: 6/14/2013 E Effective immediately
Relevant Elements: 7, 8, 9
Texas HB 1926 was filed without Governor Rick Perry’s signature and goes into effect immediately. It would:

  • Prohibit a school district or open enrollment charter school from denying the request of a parent of a student to enroll the student in an electronic course offered through the state virtual school network unless certain exceptions apply such as the course is not a requirement for college admission or earning an industry certification among others.
  • Authorize an open enrollment charter school to serve as a course provider if it is able to meet certain criteria.
  • Conduct a study to assess the network capabilities of each school district.
  • Authorize the state virtual school network to enter into a reciprocity agreement with one or more states to facilitate expedited course approval.
  • Allow a school district or open-enrollment charter school to decline to pay for more than three electronic courses for a student or the equivalent during a school year. Students could enroll in additional electronic courses at their own cost.
  • Prohibit course providers from promising or providing equipment or other items of value to a student or their parent as an inducement to enroll in courses in the virtual school network.
  • Detail exceptions that would allow a school district or open-enrollment charter school to deny the request of a parent of a student to enroll the student in an electronic course.
  • Require an open enrollment charter school be rated acceptable to be eligible to act as a course provider.
  • Limit funding on a student’s enrollment to not more than three electronic courses during the year.

See DLN’s summary of the bill for a more in depth analysis.

Bills Signed

  • Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed a $37.6 billion two-year budget, HB 6704 on June 18. The budget expands gambling, preserves aid to Connecticut municipalities, includes major spending increases for science technology at the University of Connecticut and maintains the state’s safety net for social services without sweeping tax increases. It would also include the following appropriations for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 respectively:
  • Louisiana HB 115 was signed by Governor Bobby Jindal on June 14, and goes into effect August 1 of this year. The bill would give parents the power to petition to shift control of a school from a Recovery School District (RSD) back to local school authority.
  • Texas SB 2 was signed by Governor Rick Perry on June 14, and goes into effect on September 1, 2013. The bill relates to charter schools, increasing the cap on charter school licenses to 305 by 2019, allowing the state to revoke charter school licenses if the school has failed to meet required standards for three years, allow out of state operators to operate charters in Texas, as well as other charter school provisions.
  • South Carolina HB 3752 was signed by Republican Governor Nikki Haley on June 13. The bill would amend current law to enact a virtual education program, which would revamp the existing South Carolina Virtual School Program. The education program is aimed towards students seeking credit recovery, and cannot award diplomas. The program is open to public, private, and homeschool students. The bill would also remove the cap on the number of credits that a student could earn online.
    • $1.26 million for longitudinal data systems for both 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 periods.
    • $8.3 million and $6.3 million for Common Core.

State Updates

Colorado

Relevant Elements: 4, 5
Colorado State Board of Education has voted to approve a new competency based graduation guidelines policy. The State Board outlines minimum standards for high school graduation as required by HB 07-1118. Local boards of education must meet or exceed these guidelines in order for students to receive a diploma.

Louisiana

Relevant Elements: 7, 9
Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted to pay for the state’s Course Choice program beginning in 2013-2014. The expanded program will use $2 million from an oil and gas trust fund to finance online high school course offerings to public school students. The original public school funding formula was ruled unconstitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

New York

Bill: AB 7872
Status: 6/20/2013 Referred to Rules
Relevant Elements: 2, 8
New York AB 7872, sponsored by Catherine Nolan (D-37) relates to the release of personally identifiable student information. The bill is in response to the release of student data to private corporations and would allow parents and students ages 18 and older to “opt out” of sharing their personal information, unless required by court order, federal audit, or other safety reasons. The bill would require a publicly available form to allow guardians and students to opt-out of disclosure to any third party. The bill does not apply to not-for-profit or for-profit charter schools.

Bill Updates:

  • Florida HB 7009 was signed by Officers on June 17 and presented to Gov. Rick Scott. The bill creates the district innovation school of technology that would include major components of blended learning such as differentiated instruction, data-driven placement, flexible scheduling, differentiated teaching, and self-paced learning. High performing school districts would be permitted to apply for the designation. It also provides that the full implementation of online Next Generation Sunshine State Standards online assessments for all kindergarten through grade 12 public school students would be contingent upon an independent third party verifying that the technology infrastructure, connectivity, and capacity of all public schools and school districts is capable of successfully deploying and implementing the assessments.
  • Florida HB 7029 was presented to Gov. Rick Scott on June 17. The bill allows private providers to bypass the approval process and get approved on a temporary basis as well as allow out-of-state providers, which had previously been barred to come in.
  • Maine LD 1533 has passed the House and has been placed on the special appropriations table, pending enactment in the Senate as of June 19. The bill would require online providers to reapply for approval annually, allow courses to be of varying lengths and to be worth varying amounts of credit to assist in remedial course work and proficiency-based pathways to graduation, and require online providers to use survey to gauge satisfaction of its students.
  • Maine LD 671 was vetoed by Governor LePage on June 18. The bill would have required all public and virtual charter schools to operate as nonprofit organizations.
  • Maine LD 1057 has been placed on the special appropriations table in the Senate, pending enactment, in concurrence as of June 18. The bill would amend funding requirements for public charter schools.
  • Maine LD 481 has been placed on the special appropriations table in the Senate, pending enactment, in concurrence as of June 13. The bill would require all full and part time virtual charter school teachers to hold a valid teacher certification or obtain one within three years. The Department of Education and Maine Charter School Commission would determine the cost of running a virtual charter school.
  • New York SB 5252 was referred to Education on June 13. The bill would provide that school districts would be eligible for an apportionment for all technology purchases necessary to administer computer-based state assessments.