HB 1373

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The PreK-12 Committee recommends the following:
2
3	Council/Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to supplemental educational services;
7	providing for student access to and provider
8	accountability for supplemental educational services in
9	Title I schools; providing definitions; providing
10	responsibilities of the Department of Education, local
11	educational agencies, providers of supplemental
12	educational services, and parents to provide additional
13	academic instruction designed to increase the academic
14	achievement of eligible students; providing criteria that
15	must be met by a provider approved by the department;
16	providing for department monitoring and evaluation of
17	provider performance; providing a complaint process for
18	determination of provider and local educational agency
19	compliance with law; providing an effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Supplemental educational services in Title I
24	schools; student access and provider accountability.--
25	(1)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:
26	(a)  "Adequate yearly progress" or "AYP" means performance
27	based on a series of performance goals that each school, each
28	local educational agency, and the state must achieve within
29	specified timeframes in order to meet the 100-percent
30	proficiency goal established by the federal No Child Left Behind
31	Act of 2001.
32	(b)  "Eligible student" means a student from a low-income
33	family who attends a Title I school in the school's second year
34	of school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, as
35	defined by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
36	(c)  "Instructor" or "tutor" means a person employed by a
37	supplemental educational service provider to deliver instruction
38	in reading, language arts, or mathematics to eligible students
39	enrolled in the provider's program.
40	(d)  "Local educational agency" or "LEA" means a local
41	board of education.
42	(e)  "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" or "NCLB" is a
43	reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
44	1965, which is the principal federal law affecting education
45	from kindergarten through high school. The NCLB is designed to
46	improve student achievement and close achievement gaps. States
47	are required to develop challenging academic standards, educate
48	all students to 100-percent proficiency by 2014, and create and
49	implement a single, statewide accountability system.
50	(f)  "Parent" means the person or persons legally
51	responsible for the guardianship of the student, including a
52	legal guardian.
53	(g)  "Supplemental educational service providers" or "SES
54	providers" are faith-based organizations, for-profit and
55	nonprofit businesses, local educational agencies, schools,
56	institutes of higher education, community groups, and regional
57	educational service agencies approved by the Department of
58	Education to provide additional academic instruction designed to
59	increase the academic achievement of eligible Title I students.
60	(h)  "Supplemental educational services" or "SES" means
61	additional academic instruction provided outside the regular
62	school day that is designed to increase the academic achievement
63	of low-income students, as defined by eligibility for free or
64	reduced-price meals, who attend qualifying schools as defined by
65	the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
66	(i)  "Title I" is the Elementary and Secondary Education
67	Act of 1965 program that focuses on improving the academic
68	achievement of disadvantaged students by ensuring that all
69	students have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to
70	obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum,
71	proficiency on challenging state academic standards and
72	assessments.
73	(2)  REQUIREMENTS.--
74	(a)  State responsibilities.--The Department of Education
75	shall:
76	1.  Consult with parents, teachers, school districts, and
77	interested members of the public to identify a large number of
78	SES providers so that parents have a wide variety of high-
79	quality choices.
80	2.  Provide and disseminate broadly an annual notice to
81	potential providers outlining the process for obtaining approval
82	to be an SES provider. There shall be at least two opportunities
83	each year for potential providers to submit their applications
84	to the department.
85	3.  Develop and apply objective criteria for approving
86	potential providers. Each provider's SES program shall:
87	a.  Include an appropriate, diagnostic assessment for use
88	in identifying a student's weaknesses and achievement gaps upon
89	which to build an individual student learning plan and learning
90	goals.
91	b.  Use targeted remediation or instruction that is aimed
92	at addressing a student's skill gaps revealed during the
93	assessment and that is based upon an individual student learning
94	plan.
95	c.  Include a post assessment linked to the diagnostic
96	assessment to determine whether student learning gains occurred
97	and to further develop a plan for either reteaching skills or
98	identifying new skills for instruction.
99	d.  Align with the Sunshine State Standards in the area of
100	reading or mathematics, or both.
101	e.  Supplement the academic program a student experiences
102	in the regular school day.
103	f.  Use high-quality, research-based instructional
104	practices that are specifically designed to increase students'
105	academic achievement.
106	4.  Maintain an updated list of approved providers.
107	5.  Exercise authority to investigate and remove providers
108	from the approved list based on evaluation results.
109	6.  Make available to school districts a list of available
110	approved providers in their general geographic locations.
111	7.  Develop, implement, and publicly report on monitoring
112	standards for providers to ensure the quality and effectiveness
113	of services offered by approved providers.
114	8.  Ensure that an LEA has fully met parental demands for
115	SES. In determining whether an LEA has fully met parental
116	demands for SES, the department shall consider whether an LEA
117	has:
118	a.  Appropriately notified all eligible parents of the
119	availability of SES.
120	b.  Adequately publicized options to parents through
121	multiple forums in understandable formats and languages.
122	c.  Offered parents a reasonable period of time to
123	investigate their options and submit their requests for SES.
124	9.  No later than May 1 each year, notify LEAs of the
125	specific schools that are in the second year of school
126	improvement, corrective action, or restructuring and have not
127	achieved AYP since such identification.
128	10.  Place on its Internet website a standard, downloadable
129	enrollment application to be used by parents of eligible
130	students, which must be used by all LEAs for SES enrollment
131	purposes.
132	11.  Convene an advisory committee to assist it in
133	developing regulations to guide the selection and oversight of
134	SES providers. These regulations shall be designed in order to
135	ensure that qualified providers utilize sound practices, provide
136	financial accountability, and utilize recommended or sufficient
137	metrics to best gauge provider effectiveness, such as
138	effectiveness in raising student achievement. The committee
139	shall include:
140	a.  Two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of
141	Representatives.
142	b.  Two members appointed by the President of the Senate.
143	c.  Two district school board members appointed by the
144	Governor.
145	d.  Parents appointed by the Governor.
146	e.  Seven providers representing the different types of
147	providers in the SES field, such as on-line providers and small
148	and large for-profit, nonprofit, community-based, district-
149	based, and faith-based providers, appointed by the Governor.
150
151	The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee shall chair
152	the committee and submit for approval a proposal to the
153	Legislature no later than the end of the 2007 legislative
154	session.
155	(b)  LEA responsibilities.--An LEA shall:
156	1.  No later than 90 days prior to the start of the school
157	year, notify parents of eligible students about the availability
158	of SES. Notification shall meet the following criteria:
159	a.  Be sent at least twice annually.
160	b.  Be provided in an understandable and uniform format
161	and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parents can
162	understand.
163	c.  Describe how parents may obtain services.
164	d.  Provide a minimum of 20 school days for parents to
165	select and notify the LEA regarding a selected provider.
166	e.  Create a streamlined, one-step SES parent registration
167	and provider selection process that is user friendly.
168	2.  Help parents choose a provider, if such assistance is
169	requested, making sure that such assistance is unbiased and does
170	not provide advantage for one provider over another, including
171	the LEA if such LEA is an approved provider, and obtain
172	permission from parents to release assessment data to a selected
173	provider.
174	3.  Determine and prioritize students who shall receive
175	services if not all students can be served. Determination shall
176	be made in accordance with eligibility criteria established in
177	federal law and with guidance from the United States Department
178	of Education, ensuring that prioritization does not take place
179	in advance of actual demand being documented and shall be based
180	on the 20-percent set-aside minus any actual costs associated
181	with providing transportation for public school choice pursuant
182	to subparagraph 18.
183	4.  Determine the per-student spending limit according to
184	federal law only, which amount shall not be reduced or otherwise
185	altered.
186	5.  Ensure that the opportunity to acquire SES is offered
187	to eligible students on a continuous basis or, at a minimum,
188	twice every school year, such as once at or near the start of
189	the school year and once at or near the start of each new
190	calendar year. An LEA that does not offer at least two
191	opportunities for SES enrollment shall not amend unobligated SES
192	into the general Title I budget.
193	6.  Enter into an agreement with a provider selected by the
194	parent of an eligible student no later than 45 days after the
195	beginning of the school year or within 45 days after receiving
196	notification of school improvement status. The same procedure
197	shall be followed for subsequent enrollments during the school
198	year. An LEA that does not begin to offer SES within such time
199	periods shall not amend unobligated SES funds into the general
200	Title I budget. The agreement shall include, at a minimum:
201	a.  A statement of specific achievement goals for each
202	eligible student whose parent elects to receive SES from the
203	approved provider.
204	b.  A description of how student progress will be measured.
205	c.  Progress reports for each student to whom a provider
206	gives services under the agreement.
207	d.  Procedures for obtaining parental consent to release
208	assessment data to a selected provider.
209	e.  Procedures for termination of the agreement with the
210	provider based on specific and material cause and include an
211	opportunity for the provider to cure any such breach.
212	Termination for convenience clauses shall not be allowed.
213	f.  The payment process for students receiving SES, with
214	reimbursement for services to occur within 60 days following
215	submission of a complete invoice.
216	g.  Records of attendance for each student receiving SES.
217	h.  Security of information relating to students receiving
218	SES.
219	i.  The procedure for facility access for providers, using
220	a fair, transparent, and objective process, to operate on site
221	in a school or schools identified for school improvement,
222	corrective action, or restructuring, free of charge or for a
223	reasonable fee, on the same basis and terms as are available to
224	other groups that seek access to the school building.
225	j.  The process for records maintenance of a provider's SES
226	to students.
227	k.  Guidelines specifying secular, neutral, and
228	nonideological instruction and content.
229	l.  An outline of applicable federal, state, and local
230	laws, and rules and regulations required by law, in connection
231	with providing tutorial service.
232	7.  Establish monitoring procedures to ensure that
233	providers fulfill their contractual obligations. Monitoring
234	should include tracking student progress toward meeting the
235	state's academic standards.
236	8.  Select an approved provider or providers, using a fair,
237	transparent, and objective process, to operate on site in a
238	school or schools identified for school improvement, corrective
239	action, or restructuring, free of charge or for a reasonable
240	fee, on the same basis and terms as are available to other
241	groups that seek access to the school building. The LEA shall
242	not select a provider or providers based on a reduced per-
243	student amount as calculated under federal law or other criteria
244	that would otherwise be a department responsibility or
245	programmatic design criteria, such as the requirement of
246	specific student-tutor ratios.
247	9.  Enter into a compact with the provider, parent, and
248	student. The compact, which shall be maintained for monitoring
249	purposes, shall include, at a minimum:
250	a.  A notification letter to the parent of a student who is
251	eligible to receive SES from an approved provider.
252	b.  Procedures regarding how the SES provider may contact
253	schools and parents regarding available services.
254	c.  Development of a collaborative relationship with the
255	LEA to ensure that issues and concerns are handled in a timely
256	and efficient manner.
257	d.  Specific achievement goals for the student, which shall
258	be developed in consultation with the student's parent.
259	e.  An established timetable for improving the student's
260	achievement.
261	f.  Selection of a provider from the department's approved
262	provider list.
263	g.  Scheduled tutoring sessions.
264	10.  Assist the department as needed in identifying
265	potential providers within the school district.
266	11.  Provide the information the department needs to
267	monitor the quality and effectiveness of the SES offered by
268	providers as specified in federal law.
269	12.  Protect the privacy of students who receive SES. The
270	LEA shall provide achievement data of students to providers
271	serving those students.
272	13.  Notify parents immediately if a provider becomes
273	ineligible to serve as an SES provider. Notification shall
274	include the steps parents must follow in order to secure another
275	provider.
276	14.  Provide approved providers with registration forms and
277	logistical information, including the procedures parents must
278	follow in obtaining SES for their children.
279	15.  While appealing an AYP decision, continue to provide
280	services while the appeal is being resolved and a final AYP
281	determination is being made. If an appeal is granted, the LEA
282	shall continue to serve students currently receiving SES until
283	the end of the contract period but is not obligated to provide
284	SES to additional students.
285	16.  Include in a school improvement plan steps to ensure
286	that eligible students will receive SES as required by law
287	whenever a school is classified as needing improvement for a
288	second or subsequent year.
289	17.  Ensure that eligible students from any school that is
290	in the second year of school improvement, corrective action, or
291	restructuring and has not achieved AYP at least once since such
292	identification shall be offered SES before the start of the
293	school year.
294	18.  Set aside up to 20 percent of its Title I, Part A
295	allocation for SES. Before determining that an amount less than
296	20 percent of its allocation is needed for choice-related
297	transportation and SES, an LEA shall document to the department
298	that it has fully met demands for these services. An LEA must
299	document, and make publicly available, that it has:
300	a.  Appropriately notified all parents of eligible students
301	of the availability of public school choice and SES.
302	b.  Adequately publicized the options to parents in
303	understandable formats and multiple forums.
304	c.  Offered parents a reasonable period of time to
305	investigate their options and submit their requests for either
306	public school choice or SES.
307
308	LEAs may redesignate unused SES funds for other Title I purposes
309	by the May 15 consolidated application budget amendment deadline
310	by ensuring that a minimum of 50 percent of the students
311	eligible to receive SES are served by an approved provider. LEAs
312	not meeting the 50-percent requirement shall submit to the
313	department a list of eligible students, students receiving
314	services, and otherwise eligible students on a wait list. LEAs
315	must obtain documentation from the parents of unserved, but
316	otherwise eligible, students that they decline to participate in
317	SES for that school year. LEAs that are unable to meet the 50-
318	percent requirement despite reasonable efforts to comply with
319	these provisions may submit a request to the department for
320	authorization to redesignate unused SES funds. Redesignation
321	requests shall be approved if the department finds that the LEA
322	has met the requirements of subparagraph (a)8.
323	(c)  Provider responsibilities.--The provider shall:
324	1.  Agree to negotiate directly with LEAs to determine
325	scheduled sessions per student. Cost of services shall not
326	exceed the per-student spending limit calculated by each LEA.
327	2.  Set specific achievement goals for each student, which
328	shall be developed in consultation with each student's parent.
329	3.  Provide a description of how each student's progress
330	will be measured and how each student's parent and instructors
331	will be regularly informed of that progress.
332	4.  Establish a timetable for improving each student's
333	achievement.
334	5.  Agree not to disclose to the public the identity of any
335	student eligible for or receiving SES without the written
336	permission of the student's parent.
337	6.  Agree to meet all applicable federal, state, and local
338	health, safety, and civil rights laws.
339	7.  Ensure that all instruction and content are secular,
340	neutral, and nonideological.
341	8.  Ensure that instruction is consistent with student
342	achievement goals.
343	9.  Agree to abide by the education industry association's
344	current version of the SES code of ethics.
345	(d)  Parent responsibilities.--The parent shall:
346	1.  Request SES for the student.
347	2.  Select a provider from the department's approved
348	provider list.
349	3.  Transport students to and from the place of service
350	when not provided by the provider.
351	4.  Work with the provider to set achievement goals for the
352	student.
353	5.  Maintain open communication with a provider about a
354	student's progress.
355	(e)  Provider criteria.--
356	1.  Providers shall meet the following criteria:
357	a.  Have a demonstrated record of effectiveness in
358	improving student academic achievement.
359	b.  Document that the instructional strategies used by the
360	provider are of high quality, based upon research, and designed
361	to increase student academic achievement.
362	c.  Document that services are aligned with the Sunshine
363	State Standards in the area of reading or mathematics, or both.
364	d.  Provide evidence that the provider is financially
365	sound.
366	e.  Document that the provider will provide SES consistent
367	with all applicable federal, state, and local health, safety,
368	and civil rights laws.
369	f.  Meet all requirements set forth in guidelines issued by
370	the department, including, but not limited to, reporting
371	requirements, application requirements, deadlines, timelines,
372	and standards.
373	g.  Provide instruction that is secular, neutral, and
374	nonideological.
375	2.  Providers applying for statewide provider status upon
376	request shall serve students in any LEA regardless of the
377	geographical location. Providers approved for statewide provider
378	status may be removed from the provider list if this requirement
379	is not met. Providers removed from the statewide list may
380	reapply and specify a geographical area for their service.
381	(f)  Monitoring and evaluation.--
382	1.  The department shall monitor, at least annually, all
383	providers currently serving students. Monitoring shall be
384	conducted at a representative sample of the locations at which
385	the provider serves participating students.
386	a.  The department shall schedule with the provider a
387	mutually agreeable date and time for a monitoring visit. Prior
388	to a monitoring visit, the department shall send to the
389	provider, in writing, confirmation of the scheduled date and
390	time.
391	b.  Prior to a monitoring visit, the department shall
392	notify the provider of all documentation necessary to
393	demonstrate compliance with all applicable state and federal
394	laws related to SES. The provider may request technical
395	assistance from the department in identifying the relevant
396	documents.
397	c.  A provider's performance on each monitoring standard
398	and a provider's overall performance rating shall be indicated
399	on the SES provider monitoring form. The department shall send
400	to the provider, in a timely manner, a copy of the completed
401	monitoring form that includes notes regarding items of
402	documentation that are missing or incomplete.
403	2.  The department shall develop specific procedures to
404	annually evaluate all providers that have served students for 2
405	or more consecutive years in reading, language arts, or
406	mathematics. These procedures shall:
407	a.  Account for, and be fair to, providers that serve both
408	large and small populations of students and that use varying
409	methods of instruction.
410	b.  Be fair and sensitive enough to record gains of
411	individual students, especially students whose achievement level
412	is several grades behind grade level.
413	c.  Isolate the effects of SES from other variables that
414	might affect a student's achievement using regression analysis,
415	comparison groups, or other valid and reliable statistical
416	means.
417	d.  Collect qualitative data on parental satisfaction with
418	provider services.
419	e.  Include safeguards against potential conflicts of
420	interests when the LEA is also an approved provider and is
421	involved in provider monitoring and evaluation.
422	3.  If the department determines that a provider has failed
423	to contribute to increasing the academic proficiency of students
424	for 2 or more consecutive years in reading, language arts, or
425	mathematics in a specific LEA, the department shall remove the
426	provider from the approved provider list for that LEA.
427	4.  The provider shall have the opportunity to appeal the
428	department's decision to the State Board of Education. The
429	provider may reapply to the department for approval after a 1-
430	year waiting period.
431	5.  The department shall require an LEA to submit:
432	a.  The parental notification letters the LEA has developed
433	and utilized to inform parents of eligible students.
434	b.  At least twice during the school year, updated
435	information on how many students in the LEA are eligible for SES
436	and how many students make use of SES.
437	c.  How much money, in total dollars and per student, is
438	being spent by the LEA on SES.
439	(g)  Complaint process.--
440	1.  The department shall monitor complaints from parents,
441	students, SES providers, school districts, and other individuals
442	to determine whether LEAs and SES providers are in compliance
443	with the applicable state and federal laws, rules, regulations,
444	and guidance governing the provision of SES. The department
445	shall annually provide a summary report to the State Board of
446	Education.
447	2.  An organization or individual may file with the
448	department a signed, written complaint setting forth allegations
449	of noncompliance. The written complaint shall include, at a
450	minimum:
451	a.  A clear statement of the allegation.
452	b.  A summary of the facts upon which the allegation is
453	based.
454	c.  Any documentation supporting the allegation.
455	d.  The complainant's contact information, including the
456	name of an individual complainant or an authorized
457	representative of the complainant organization and the address
458	and telephone number of the individual or representative.
459	3.  Complaints received from an organization or individual
460	shall be signed and addressed in writing to the department.
461	4.  The department shall acknowledge, in writing, its
462	receipt of a complaint within 15 business days.
463	5.  The department shall, in a timely manner, commence an
464	investigation of the allegations set forth in the complaint and
465	make an independent determination as to whether the allegations
466	warrant further review or action.
467	6.  If necessary, the department may conduct an onsite
468	visit to clarify any issues raised by the complaint. An onsite
469	investigation team may examine relevant records and conduct
470	interviews of relevant persons to determine whether there has
471	been a violation of any applicable state or federal law, rule,
472	regulation, or guideline.
473	7.  The department shall send written notification to all
474	appropriate parties of the steps necessary to resolve the
475	complaint, including technical assistance activities,
476	negotiations, and corrective actions to achieve compliance. This
477	notification may include specific requirements and timelines
478	that must be met in order to ensure that providers other than
479	LEAs continue to receive SES funds from the LEA. LEAs that are
480	providers shall meet the requirements in order to ensure that
481	funds equal to the amount of their SES set-aside are available
482	in the department's grants accounting system.
483	8.  Upon conclusion of the department's investigation, the
484	department shall take appropriate action to remedy violations of
485	applicable laws, rules, regulations, or guidelines, including
486	removal of a provider from the approved provider list.
487	9.  If the department makes the decision to remove a
488	provider from the approved provider list, the LEA shall be
489	notified no later than 10 business days after the department's
490	action. Each provider notified of the decision shall have the
491	right to appeal such decision prior to its becoming final.
492	10.  If an LEA does not comply with providing SES to
493	eligible students within the established timeframe, the
494	department shall withhold funds equal to the amount of the LEA's
495	SES set-aside funds until the LEA complies.
496	11.  If funds are withheld from an LEA for not providing
497	SES to eligible students within the specified timeframe, the
498	department may enter into agreements with providers in lieu of
499	the LEA.
500	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.