SCHOOL ACCREDITATION REPEAL H.B. 5659 (H-1):
FLOOR SUMMARY
House Bill 5659 (Substitute H-1 as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Representative Ken Yonker
CONTENT
The bill would repeal Section 1280 of the Revised School Code, which provides for school accreditation, and would amend the Code to delete references to that section.
(Section 1280 requires the board of a school district to ensure that each school within the district is accredited if the board does not want to be subject to various measures. A school is accredited if it is certified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction as having met or exceeded standards established for six areas of school operation: administration and school organization; curricula; staff; school plant and facilities; school and community relations; and school improvement plans and student performance.
A school that has been unaccredited for three consecutive years is subject to one or more of the following measures, as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction:
-- The State Superintendent appoint an administrator for the school.
-- A parent or guardian of a child who attends that school may send the child to any accredited public school with an appropriate grade level in the district.
-- The school must align itself with an existing research-based school improvement model or establish an affiliation for providing assistance to the school with a college or university located in Michigan.
-- The school must be closed.)
MCL 380.523 et al. Legislative Analyst: Suzanne Lowe
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill could result in some administrative savings at the Department of Education related to the removal of the requirements to annually accredit eligible schools and annually compile and report on accreditation status of schools around the State, as well as review accreditation standards. Repealing Section 1280 also would remove the requirement that the Department provide technical assistance to unaccredited schools or to schools in interim status, if requested by the board of the district. However, determination of adequate yearly progress, persistently low achieving status, teacher evaluation, pupil performance and testing, and other factors still would be required.
A local school district currently pursuing accreditation could see some savings if the accreditation process being used is a full building-level evaluation with school data collection, self-study, visitation and validation, determination of performance data to be used, and the development of a school improvement plan. Other requirements related to
the Federal No Child Left Behind determination of adequate yearly progress and State requirements for pupil testing, teacher evaluation, etc., would remain. However, if a district is undertaking specific activities related only to seeking the label of accreditation that do not also relate to the remaining State and Federal requirements, then the district could see some savings with the elimination of State accreditation.
In addition, Section 1280 specifies four measures that the State Superintendent can impose upon a school that is identified as unaccredited for three consecutive years (listed above). With the repeal of Section 1280, these four measures also would be eliminated, thereby resulting in possible fiscal implication, although, to date, no school has been identified as unaccredited by the State under the current accreditation system.
Date Completed: 12-7-12 Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.