PRINTER'S NO. 1595

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

No.

1159

Session of

2015

INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, SMUCKER, EICHELBERGER, SCARNATI,

GREENLEAF, GORDNER, FOLMER, COSTA, TEPLITZ, BREWSTER, BROWNE,

MENSCH AND AUMENT, MARCH 14, 2016

laws relating thereto," in preliminary provisions, providing

for review of the State plan required under the Every Student

Succeeds Act.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known

as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a

section to read:

Section 124. ESSA State Plan Review.--(a) The General

Assembly finds and declares as follows:

Education applications, understandings and waivers involving

education policies without involvement of or advance notice to

the General Assembly.

(3) The recent enactment of ESSA reauthorized the Elementary

and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-10, 20 U.S.C.

§ 6301 et seq.).

(4) Pursuant to section 1005 of ESSA, which amended section

1111(a)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

1965 (20 U.S.C. § 6311(a)(1)(A)), any State plan developed by

the educational agency must be done with timely and meaningful

Pennsylvania vests in the General Assembly the authority over

the policies and system of education to serve the needs of this

Commonwealth.

(7) It is the intent of the General Assembly to exercise its

authority regarding the maintenance and support of a thorough

and efficient system of public education in this Commonwealth

through the following:

(i) Timely and meaningful consultation with the department

in its development and any revision of the State plan as

provided in ESSA or its regulations.

Secretary of Education.

(b) The State plan shall be developed and transmitted in

accordance with the following:

(1) The department shall develop the State plan with timely

and meaningful consultation with the chair and minority chair of

the Education Committee of the Senate and the chair and minority

chair of the Education Committee of the House of

Representatives. The consultation shall occur throughout the

development of each major education initiative required in the

State plan by ESSA or its regulations, including, but not

(iii) Low-performing school assessment and improvement.

(iv) Vocational-career education academic assessments and

standards.

(v) School performance measures.

(2) During the development of the State plan, the

department, at a minimum, shall provide the chair and minority

chair of the Education Committee of the Senate and the chair and

minority chair of the Education Committee of the House of

Representatives with monthly updates on the development of the

State plan.

utilized in the development of the State plan.

(4) At least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the release of

any information to the public, the department shall provide to

the chair and minority chair of the Education Committee of the

Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Education

Committee of the House of Representatives a copy of the

information to be released, including the State plan made

available for public comment.

(5) At the time the department provides the State plan to

the chair and minority chair of the Education Committee of the

shall provide to the chair and minority chair of the Education

Committee of the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the

Education Committee of the House of Representatives a summary of

any revisions made to the State plan.

(7) The department shall transmit a copy of the State plan

to the chair and minority chair of the Education Committee of

the Senate and the chair and minority chair of the Education

Committee of the House of Representatives. A summary of the

State plan shall be proposed as a resolution and referred to the

Education Committee of each house.

Education Committee of each house. Upon a vote for approval or

disapproval of the Education Committee of each house, or upon

deemed approval pursuant to clause (3)(i), the resolution shall

be reported to the body of each house for its consideration.

(2) Following the report of the resolution to each house

under clause (1), the resolution shall be placed on the calendar

of each house for the next legislative day following its

receipt. Each house has ten (10) legislative days to take action

under this clause. The resolution may be approved or disapproved

during the ten (10) legislative day period by a majority of the

as to the committee or committees that fail to act.

(ii) Upon the expiration of the period for action under

clause (2), if either or both the Senate and the House of

Representatives fail to act as provided under clause (2), the

resolution shall be deemed approved as to the house or houses

that fail to act.

(4) Upon the approval or disapproval of the resolution by a

vote, or deemed approval of the resolution under clause (3)(ii),

by the Senate and the House of Representatives, the department

shall submit the State plan to the United States Secretary of

consideration of the resolution contained in the legislative

record shall be included in the submission.

(5) The department may not submit the State plan prior to

the date, or any extension thereof, established for submission

unless final disposition by each house has occurred in

accordance with this subsection.

(6) For the purpose of clause (1), continuity of session

shall be considered as broken only by an adjournment of the

General Assembly sine die.

(d) As used in this section, the following words and phrases

U.S.C. § 7861).

"ESSA." The Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95,

129 Stat. 1802).

"State plan." The State plan prepared by the department for

the Commonwealth to implement ESSA and submitted to the United

States Secretary of Education for approval, as set forth in

section 1005 of ESSA, which amended section 1111 of the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. §

6311). The term includes:

(1) Any provision within the State plan that is an election

(2) A revision of the State plan, regardless of whether the

revision is:

(i) required by the United States Secretary of Education for

approval or by amendment to ESSA or its regulations;

(ii) pursued under a waiver process authorized under ESSA;

or

(iii) required by any Federal reauthorization.

"Timely and meaningful consultation." Monthly communication

of information and materials from and discussions with the

department, exclusive of stakeholder meetings, regarding the