THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY PICCOLA, DINNIMAN, EARLL, EICHELBERGER, WAUGH, RAFFERTY AND M. WHITE, JANUARY 24, 2011

REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JANUARY 24, 2011  

AN ACT

Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An

act relating to the public school system, including certain

provisions applicable as well to private and parochial

schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the

laws relating thereto," in school districts, further

providing for State Report Card; and providing for parent

petition.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Section 220(a)(2) of the act of March 10, 1949

(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,

amended July 7, 2006 (P.L.611, No.94), is amended to read:

Section 220.  State Report Card.--(a)  The department shall

create a State Report Card based on the information collected

pursuant to this section. The department:

* * *

(2)  Shall publish on its World Wide Web site the State

Report Card, providing information at the State, local education

agency and school levels. The State Report Card shall include

all of the following:

(i)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts that have achieved adequate yearly progress and the

number of schools and school districts that have not achieved

adequate yearly progress.

(ii)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts that have achieved each academic performance target

and the number of schools and school districts that have not

achieved each academic performance target.

(iii)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts in which more than five percent (5%) of the students

to whom the PSSA test was administered were enrolled in the

school district for less than two (2) school years as of the day

on which the PSSA test was administered.

(iv)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts identified under subparagraph (iii) that have achieved

each academic performance target and the number of schools and

school districts that have not achieved each academic

performance target. For the purposes of this subparagraph,

achievement of the academic performance target shall be

calculated by excluding the PSSA test score of any student who

was enrolled in the school district for less than two (2) school

years as of the day on which the PSSA test was administered.

(v)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts in which more than five percent (5%) of the students

to whom the PSSA test was administered were classified as

limited English proficient as of the day on which the PSSA test

was administered.

(vi)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts identified under subparagraph (v) that have achieved

each academic performance target and the number of schools and

school districts that have not achieved each academic

performance target. For the purposes of this subparagraph,

achievement of the academic performance target shall be

calculated by excluding the PSSA test score of any student who

was classified as limited English proficient as of the day on

which the PSSA test was administered.

(vii)  Information regarding the number of schools and school

districts in which more than sixteen percent (16%) of the

students to whom the PSSA test was administered were classified

as students with a disability as of the day on which the PSSA

test was administered.

(viii)  Information regarding the number of schools and

school districts identified under subparagraph (vii) that have

achieved each academic performance target and the number of

schools and school districts that have not achieved each

academic performance target. For the purposes of this

subparagraph, achievement of the academic performance target

shall be calculated by excluding the PSSA test score of any

student who was classified as a student with a disability as of

the day on which the PSSA test was administered.

(ix)  A list of the schools designated by the department as

persistently lowest-achieving schools. For purposes of this

subparagraph, "persistently lowest-achieving school" shall mean

a public elementary or secondary school in this Commonwealth

that is achieving within the lowest measured group of five

percent (5%) on the most recent assessment for which data is

posted on the Department of Education's public Internet website.

A "persistently lowest-achieving school" shall not include a

charter school, cyber charter school or vocational-technical

school. For purposes of this definition, "assessment" shall mean

the PSSA test, the Keystone Exam, an equivalent local assessment

or another test:

(A)  established by the State Board of Education to meet the

requirements of section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) and the No Child Left

Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425), or its

successor Federal statue; or

(B)  required to achieve other standards established by the

Department of Education for the public school or school district

under 22 Pa. Code § 403.3 (relating to single accountability

system).

* * *

Section 2.  The act is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 223.  Parent Petition.--(a)  The parents of at least

fifty-one percent (51%) of students in a school identified by

the Department of Education under section 220(a)(2)(ix) as

persistently lowest-achieving may petition the governing body of

the school to take one of the following actions:

(1)  Close the school and reassign students currently

attending the school to another school of the appropriate grade

level within the same school district that is not a persistently

lowest-achieving school.

(2)  Close the school and reopen the school as a charter

school pursuant to subsection (b)(2).

(3)  Enter into an agreement with a person or a for-profit or

nonprofit organization providing educational or other services

or with another school district for alternative management of a

school.

(b)    (1)  Where the governing body receives a petition to

close a school and reassign students under subsection (a)(1):

(i)  The governing body shall begin implementation of the

action requested in the petition not more than three (3)

business days after receipt of the petition.

(ii)    Students attending the school being closed shall be

reassigned no later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the

petition.

(2)  Where the governing body receives a petition to close

the school and reopen the school as a charter school under

subsection (a)(2) or a petition for alternative management of a

school under subsection (a)(3) the following shall apply,

notwithstanding the provisions of section 1717-A:

(i)  The intermediate unit of which the school is a member

shall appoint a committee that shall develop and issue a request

for proposals from persons, organizations or school districts to

form a charter school or provide alternative management of the

school.

(ii)  The committee shall have five (5) members consisting of

the following:

(A)  One (1) representative of the intermediate unit who

shall serve as chairperson. The intermediate unit representative

may not be an employe of the school subject to the petition or

the school district in which the school is located.

(B)  Two (2) parents of students attending the school.

(C)  Two (2) teachers employed by the school and selected by

a majority of the teachers employed by the school.

(iii)  The request for proposals shall require that any

proposal submitted include a proposed implementation schedule.

(iv)  Within ninety (90) days following the school's receipt

of the petition, a majority of the committee shall select the

winning proposal from the proposals received.

(v)  A copy of the proposal selected by the committee shall

be delivered to the governing body on the first business day

after selection of the proposal. Within five (5) business days

after receipt of the proposal, the governing body shall formally

approve the selection and begin implementing the proposal in

consultation with the individual or organization that submitted

the accepted proposal.

(3)  (i)  The Department of Education shall monitor the

governing body's implementation of the petition or an approved

proposal to ensure the implementation occurs in a timely manner.

(ii)  If the department determines that the implementation

has been subject to unreasonable delay, the department shall

order the governing body or the individual or organization that

submitted the accepted proposal to adhere to an implementation

schedule established by the department.

(c)  (1)  A governing body that receives a petition under

this section shall implement the petition unless:

(i)  the petition was filed for reasons other than improving

academic achievement or student safety; or

(ii)  the petition was not signed by the parents of fifty-one

percent (51%) of students in the school that is the subject of

the petition.

(2)  No petition shall be rejected for failure to comply with

procedural requirements developed by the Department of Education

under subsection (d)(1).

(3)  (i)  The department shall order a forfeiture of five

thousand dollars ($5,000) per day against a school district that

does not implement the petition or an approved proposal in a

timely manner as required under this section or does not comply

with the schedule imposed by the department under subsection (b)

(3).

(ii)  The department shall deduct the forfeiture from any and

all State payments made to the school district.

(d)  (1)  The Department of Education shall develop a form

for the petition permitted under subsection (a) and instructions

for filing the petition with the governing body. The form and

instructions shall be written in understandable language which

is not confusing or misleading to a person of average

intelligence. The form and instructions shall contain a

definition or explanation of terminology that would not be

ordinarily understood by a person of average intelligence.

(2)  The instructions shall be made available on the

department's publicly accessible Internet website.

(e)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede

the following:

(1)  A requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 or

any successor Federal statute.

(2)  A provision of a collective bargaining agreement in

effect on the effective date of this section.

Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.