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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-fourth Legislature Second Regular Session |
House: ED DPA 9-2-1-1 |
HB 2762: project rocket pilot program; appropriations
Sponsor: Representative Udall, LD 25
Committee on Appropriations
Overview
Establishes the Project Rocket Pilot Program (Program) and the Project Rocket Fund (Fund).
History
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE), subject to final adoption by the State Board of Education (SBE), is required to develop an annual achievement profile for every public school based on an A through F grade system. The annual achievement profile must include, at a minimum, the following indicators:
1) Multiple measures of academic performance or other academically relevant indicators of school quality;
2) Academic progress on the statewide assessment in English language arts and math;
3) Academic progress on English language learner assessments;
4) Progress toward college and career readiness for schools that offer instruction in grades 9-12;
5) Multiple measures of educational performance, such as graduation and attendance rates (A.R.S. § 15-241).
Provisions
Project Rocket Pilot Program and Project Rocket Fund
1.
Establishes the Program and Fund to
improve academic outcomes for all students in eligible schools. (Sec. 1)
2. Specifies schools that receive funding must prioritize resources to implement evidence-based, proven strategies to increase academic gain and graduation rates for students who are struggling academically due to socioeconomic factors. (Sec. 1)
3. States that the Fund consists of legislative appropriations, gifts, grants, donations and any other monies transferred to the Fund and that ADE may accept and spend federal monies and private grants, gifts contributions and devises. (Sec. 1)
4. Requires ADE to administer the Fund at the direction of SBE. (Sec. 1)
Project Rocket Fund Distributions
5. Directs ADE to distribute monies from the Fund to school districts and charter schools in FYs 2021, 2022 and 2023 as follows:
a) $150 per student for schools that received a letter grade of C and that have least 60% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or an equivalent measure;
b) $150 per student for schools that received a letter grade of D; and
c) $150 per student for schools that received a letter grade of F. (Sec. 1)
6. Specifies that any monies a school district or charter holder receives from the Fund must be separately accounted for in its annual financial report. (Sec. 1)
7. Requires, by July 1, 2020, an eligible school to file a notice of intent to participate with SBE. (Sec. 1)
8. Directs ADE to disburse funding to eligible schools in FY 2021 as follows:
a) 1/4 of the annual funding on SBE's receipt of the notice of intent to participate; and
b) The remainder of funding on SBE's approval of the school's improvement plan. (Sec. 1)
Improvement Plans
9. Requires a school district or charter holder of a school that received a letter grade of C or D to submit an improvement plan to improve student outcomes to SBE by October 1, 2020. (Sec. 1)
10. Specifies that a C or D school's improvement plan must also identify a mentor who can assist with academic achievement and that must:
a) Be a current or former school leader with a demonstrable record of leading a successful school improvement effort; and
b) Commit to providing regular check-ins and advice to the Project Rocket school leader (Sec. 1)
11. Allows the school district or charter holder of a C or D school to partner with an approved independent school improvement expert from the partner network list instead of identifying a mentor. (Sec. 1)
12. Requires the school district governing board or the charter school governing body of a school that received an F letter grade to establish a Project Rocket Committee (Committee) composed of:
a) A school district governing board member or charter school governing body member;
b) The school district superintendent or charter school chief administrative officer;
c) The principal of the school or principal of the charter school;
d) A teacher from the school or teacher from the charter school; and
e) The parent of a child who attends the school or the parent of a child who attends the charter school. (Sec. 1)
13. Provides that the Committee must submit an improvement plan to SBE to improve student outcomes by October 1, 2020. (Sec. 1)
14. Requires the Committee to partner with an approved independent school improvement expert from the partner network list to implement the improvement plan. (Sec. 1)
15. Requires SBE to review all improvement plans submitted within 90 days after submission. (Sec. 1)
16. Provides that a school district must attempt to align with or expand its improvement plan with any existing improvement plan it may already have. (Sec. 1)
17. Allows SBE to adopt rules, policies and procedures, including rules to establish an appeals process for a school that does not receive approval of its improvement plan. (Sec. 1)
18. Directs SBE to review each improvement plan annually. (Sec. 1)
Independent School Improvement Experts
19. Directs SBE to identify two or more approved independent school improvement experts to be included on a partner network list by August 30, 2020. (Sec. 1)
20. Specifies a state agency or any other subsidiary of the state agency is eligible for inclusion on the partner network list. (Sec. 1)
21. Outlines the requirements an independent school improvement expert must meet to be awarded a contract by SBE. (Sec. 1)
22. Requires the independent school improvement expert to provide ongoing support to the school, including:
a) Collecting and analyzing data on student achievement;
b) Recommending changes to the school to improve student achievement;
c) Monitoring the implementation of the improvement plan;
d) Providing implementation support for the improvement plan; and
e) Providing any other services required by SBE. (Sec. 1)
23. Allows a school to submit a request SBE to cancel the contract with an independent school improvement expert and select a different independent school improvement expert if the school is not demonstrating academic growth or is dissatisfied with the services. (Sec. 1)
Reporting
24. Requires each school that received monies to submit a report, by June 1 annually, to SBE that describes how the improvement plan has improved academic improvement. (Sec. 1)
25. Instructs SBE to compile each report and provide that information, by October 1, 2020 and October 1, 2021, to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSBP) and the chairpersons of the Education Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Sec. 1)
26. Directs SBE to submit a final report on the Program to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, JLBC and OSPB by December 1, 2023 that includes:
a) The schools and independent school improvement experts that participated;
b) The academic progress of schools participating; and
c) Any other necessary information to evaluate the effectiveness of the Program. (Sec. 1)
27. Allows SBE to request additional reports as needed to assess a school's progress. (Sec. 1)
Funding
28. Permits SBE to withhold monies if an improvement plan or report is not submitted. (Sec. 1)
29. States that the SBE must direct ADE to provide payments to schools on July 1 of each year, except in FY 2021. (Sec. 1)
30. Specifies that if the appropriated amount is not sufficient to fully pay each school, ADE must proportionately allocate the funding per student. (Sec. 1)
31. Appropriates $42,614,500 from the state General Fund (GF) in FYs 2021, 2022 and 2023 to the Fund. (Sec. 2)
32. Appropriates $1,000,000 and seven FTEs from the state GF in FYs 2021, 2022 and 2023 to SBE to administer the Program. (Sec. 3)
33. States that monies in the Fund are continuously appropriated. (Sec 1)
34. Exempts monies in the Fund from lapsing. (Sec. 1)
Miscellaneous
35. Repeals the Program and Fund on January 1, 2024. (Sec. 1)
36. Contains a retroactivity clause of July 1, 2020. (Sec. 3)
Amendments
Committee on Education
1. Adds that the improvement plans developed by schools that received a letter grade of C, D or F may include adjustments of teacher and principal salaries.
2. Allows each school operated by a school district or charter holder that did not receive a letter grade to receive $150 per student from the Fund if the school it feeds into receives Fund monies.
3. Increases the amount appropriated from the state GF in FYs 2021, 2022 and 2023 to the Fund to $44,567,968.
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7. Initials CH Appropriations
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