HB 0703 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to student assessment; providing a popular
3	name; amending s. 1008.23, F.S.; providing a parent's
4	right to review questions and answers of his or her child
5	on specified assessment tests; providing Department of
6	Education and school district responsibilities; providing
7	penalties for noncompliance; reenacting s. 1003.49(1),
8	F.S., relating to graduation and promotion requirements
9	for publicly operated schools, to incorporate the
10	amendment to s. 1008.23, F.S., in a reference; providing
11	an effective date.
12
13	WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the education of
14	Florida's students is improved by parental involvement in the
15	education of their children, and
16	WHEREAS, parental review of academic assessment tests
17	administered to a child and the child's responses to test
18	questions will further parental involvement, NOW, THEREFORE,
19
20	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22	Section 1. This act shall be known by the popular name the
23	"Truth in Testing and A Parent's Right to Know Act."
24	Section 2. Section 1008.23, Florida Statutes, is amended
25	to read:
26	1008.23 Confidentiality of assessment instruments.--
27	(1)All examination and assessment instruments, including
28	developmental materials and workpapers directly related thereto,
29	which are prepared, prescribed, or administered pursuant to ss.
30	1003.43, 1008.22, and 1008.25 shall be confidential and exempt
31	from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and from s. 1001.52.
32	Provisions governing access, maintenance, and destruction of
33	such instruments and related materials shall be prescribed by
34	rules of the State Board of Education.
35	(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) and
36	any provision of law or rule to the contrary, a parent, who may
37	be accompanied by an individual of the parent's choosing, shall
38	have the right to review, at his or her child's school within 21
39	days after a request, the questions and answers of his or her
40	child on each section of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment
41	Test and each other state or school district required academic
42	assessment test administered to his or her child after January
43	1, 2004. The Department of Education shall take all necessary
44	steps to ensure that each such request is timely and fully
45	responded to by personnel of the department and the school
46	district in which the child is enrolled. If such a request is
47	not responded to in a timely and complete manner, the parent
48	shall be entitled to receive damages of $100 per day from the
49	department until compliance is achieved and to receive
50	reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred by the parent in
51	seeking such required compliance and payment of damages.
52	Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
53	to section 1008.23, Florida Statutes, in a reference thereto,
54	subsection (1) of section 1003.49, Florida Statutes, is
55	reenacted to read:
56	1003.49 Graduation and promotion requirements for publicly
57	operated schools.--
58	(1) Each state or local public agency, including the
59	Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of
60	Corrections, the boards of trustees of universities and
61	community colleges, and the Board of Trustees of the Florida
62	School for the Deaf and the Blind, which agency is authorized to
63	operate educational programs for students at any level of grades
64	kindergarten through 12 shall be subject to all applicable
65	requirements of ss. 1003.43, 1008.23, and 1008.25. Within the
66	content of these cited statutes each such state or local public
67	agency or entity shall be considered a "district school board."
68	Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.