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REFERENCE TITLE: selective admissions requirements; schools; prohibition |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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HCR 2029 |
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Introduced by Representative Parker B
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A Concurrent Resolution
enacting and ordering the submission to the people of a measure relating to student admissions.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:
1. Under the power of the referendum, as vested in the Legislature, the following measure, relating to student admissions, is enacted to become valid as a law if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:
AN ACT
AMENDING TITLE 15, CHAPTER 1, ARTICLE 1, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES, BY ADDING SECTIONS 15-111.01 AND 15-111.02; AMENDING TITLE 15, CHAPTER 13, ARTICLE 2, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES, BY ADDING SECTIONS 15-1626.02 AND 15-1626.03; RELATING TO SELECTIVE STUDENT ADMISSIONS.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding sections 15-111.01 and 15-111.02, to read:
15-111.01. Selective admissions process; criteria; posting; reporting requirements
A. On or before august 1, 2025, and each year THEREAFTER, each public school that has a selective admission process shall post on its website a list of all information used by the public school or representatives of the public school to evaluate applications for admission from prospective students. The list must include any of the following information that the public school uses or may use during the admissions process:
1. The prospective student's academic performance, including grade point average, standardized test scores and class rank.
2. The prospective student's extracurricular activities, including community service and leadership experience.
3. Any writings authored by the prospective student, including personal essays and statements of purpose.
4. Letters recommending the prospective student for admission to the public school.
5. The prospective student's special talents, achievements or awards.
6. The prospective student's Socioeconomic background and other diversity-related considerations.
7. Whether a parent or other family member of the prospective student attended or graduated from the public school.
8. Financial or in-kind donations made to the public school by the prospective student or any person, including a business or family member, who is associated with the prospective student.
9. Any other information that may be used or considered for evaluating an application for admission from a prospective student.
B. On or before august 1, 2025, and each year THEREAFTER, Each public school that has a selective admission process shall report to the department of education:
1. all information used by the public school or representatives of the public school during the previous school year for evaluating applications for admission from prospective students.
2. The weight or significance assigned to each piece of information, if applicable.
3. Any changes made to the admissions process, including changes to the information that is collected or used, the criteria that are applied by the public school or its representatives for the purpose of evaluating applications for admission and the weight or significance that is assigned to each piece of information.
C. The department of education shall compile and summarize the information reported pursuant to subsection B of this section and annually post the consolidated report on the Department's website. The consolidated report shall provide an overview of the information that is used by public schools for selective admissions in this state and of the relative importance of each piece of information, if available.
15-111.02. Selective admission process; requirements; prohibition; civil remedies; burdens of proof; definitions
A. A public school that has a selective admissions process shall:
1. grant or deny applications for admission without considering the prospective student's religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
2. ensure that policies and standards adopted pursuant to section 15-816.01 comply with this section.
B. A public school that has a selective admissions process may not:
1. Discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
2. Use a facially neutral factor that, when considered alone or together with other facially neutral factors, correlates with religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin for the purpose of discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
3. Collect information about a prospective student's religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin during the admissions process unless the collection is required by federal law. If federal law requires the public school to collect information described in this paragraph, the public school must remove the information from the application materials that are provided to any individual who evaluates or has decision-making authority over applications for admission.
C. A public school does not violate subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section by using one or more traditional academic success factors that the public school knows may result in a disparate impact by religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin. An individual who alleges that a public school used one or more traditional academic success factors for a purpose that violates subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section must prove that the challenged traditional academic success factors were manipulated, weighted or otherwise used with the specific intent of discriminating against or granting preference to an individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
D. Notwithstanding section 15-816.07, the following persons may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin any violation of this section by any public school, school employee or administrator or to recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs:
1. The attorney general.
2. A person who was adversely affected by a violation of this section.
E. In an action brought under subsection D of this section, if the court finds that a violation of this section occurred, the court shall award the aggrieved person injunctive relief for the violation and shall award reasonable court costs and reasonable attorney fees. The court shall also award damages of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
F. A person shall bring an action for a violation of this section within one year after the date the cause of action accrues. For the purpose of calculating the one-year limitation period, each day that the violation persists or each day that a policy in violation of this section remains in effect constitutes a new violation of this section and shall be considered a day that the cause of action has accrued.
g. If an individual who alleges that a public school violated subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section establishes prima facie proof of the violation using statements, statistical evidence, projections or other evidence, the public school must prove both of the following:
1. The challenged facially neutral factor or factors were selected solely for a lawful purpose.
2. The challenged facially neutral factor or factors were not used for the purpose of discriminating against or granting preference to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
h. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Facially neutral factor" includes any of the following:
(a) Caps, quotas or target numbers for the number of admitted students from one or more regional schools or feeder schools.
(b) A prospective student's zip code.
(c) Geographic or socioeconomic information about a prospective student.
(d) Peer-group characteristics within one or more regional schools, feeder schools or zoned schools.
2. "Traditional academic success factor" means academic grades, academic records, extracurricular activities, achievements that are relevant to academic success, academic recommendations by teachers or school officials or standardized test scores that are not normed for different demographic reference groups.
15-1626.02. Admissions decisions; criteria; posting; reporting requirements; definition
A. On or before august 1, 2025, and each year THEREAFTER, each public postsecondary institution shall post on its website a list of all information used by the public postsecondary institution or representatives of the public postsecondary institution to evaluate applications for admission from prospective students. The list must include any of the following information that the public postsecondary institution uses or may use during the admissions process:
1. The prospective student's academic performance, including grade point average, standardized test scores and class rank.
2. The prospective student's extracurricular activities, including community service and leadership experience.
3. Any writings authored by the prospective student, including personal essays and statements of purpose.
4. Letters recommending the prospective student for admission to the public school.
5. The prospective student's special talents, achievements or awards.
6. The prospective student's Socioeconomic background and other diversity-related considerations.
7. Whether a parent or other family member of the prospective student attended or graduated from the public postsecondary institution.
8. Financial or in-kind donations made to the public postsecondary institution by the prospective student or any person, including a business or family member, who is associated with the prospective student.
9. Any other information that may be used or considered for evaluating an application for admission from a prospective student.
B. On or before august 1, 2025, and each year THEREAFTER, Each public postsecondary institution shall report to the Arizona board of regents:
1. all information used by the public postsecondary institution or representatives of the public postsecondary institution during the previous school year for evaluating applications for admission from prospective students.
2. The weight or significance assigned to each piece of information, if applicable.
3. Any changes made to the admissions process, including changes to the information that is collected or used, the criteria that are applied by the public postsecondary institution or its representatives for the purpose of evaluating applications for admission and the weight or significance that is assigned to each piece of information.
C. The Arizona board of regents shall compile and summarize the information reported pursuant to subsection B of this section and annually post the consolidated report on the Arizona board of regent's website. The consolidated report shall provide an overview of the information that is used by public postsecondary institutions for admissions and of the relative importance of each piece of information, if available.
D. For the purposes of this section, "public postsecondary institution" means either:
1. A university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents.
2. A community college as defined in section 15-1401 that has a selective admissions process.
15-1826. Admissions decisions; requirements; prohibition; civil remedies; burdens of proof; definitions
A. A public postsecondary institution shall grant or deny applications for admission without considering the prospective student's religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
B. A public postsecondary institution may not:
1. Discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
2. Use a facially neutral factor that, when considered alone or together with other facially neutral factors, correlates with religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin for the purpose of discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
3. Collect information about a prospective student's religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin during the admission process unless the collection is required by federal law. If federal law requires the public postsecondary institution to collect information described in this paragraph, the public postsecondary institution must remove the information from the application materials that are provided to any individual who evaluates or has decision-making authority over applications for admission.
C. A public postsecondary institution does not violate subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section by using one or more traditional academic success factors that the public postsecondary institution knows may result in a disparate impact by religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin. An individual who alleges that a public postsecondary institution used one or more traditional academic success factors for a purpose that violates subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section must prove that the challenged traditional academic success factors were manipulated, weighted or otherwise used with the specific intent of discriminating against or granting preference to an individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
D. The following persons may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin any violation of this section by a public POSTSECONDARY institution, a faculty member or an administrator or to recover reasonable court costs and reasonable attorney fees:
1. The attorney general.
2. A person who was adversely affected by a violation of this section.
E. In an action brought under subsection D of this section, if the court finds that a violation of this section occurred, the court shall award the aggrieved person injunctive relief for the violation and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The court shall also award damages of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
F. A person shall bring an action for a violation of this section within one year after the date the cause of action accrues. For the purpose of calculating the one-year limitation period, each day that the violation persists or each day that a policy in violation of this section remains in effect constitutes a new violation of this section and shall be considered a day that the cause of action has accrued.
g. If an individual who alleges that a public postsecondary institution violated subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section establishes prima facie proof of the violation using statements, statistical evidence, projections or other evidence, the public postsecondary institution must prove both of the following:
1. The challenged facially neutral factor or factors were selected solely for a lawful purpose.
2. The challenged facially neutral factor or factors were not used for the purpose of discriminating against or granting a preference to any individual student or group of prospective students on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, ethnicity, ancestry or national origin.
h. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Facially neutral factor" includes any of the following:
(a) Caps, quotas or target numbers for the number of admitted students from one or more regional schools or feeder schools.
(b) A prospective student's zip code.
(c) Geographic or socioeconomic information about a prospective student.
(d) Peer-group characteristics within one or more regional schools, feeder schools or zoned schools.
2. "public postsecondary institution" means either:
(a) A university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents.
(b) A community college as defined in section 15-1401 that has a selective admissions process.
3. "Traditional academic success factor" means academic grades, academic records, extracurricular activities, achievements that are relevant to academic success, academic recommendations by teachers or school officials or standardized test scores that are not normed for different demographic reference groups.
2. The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at the next general election as provided by article IV, part 1, section 1, Constitution of Arizona.