SB 814 - This act establishes the "Education Freedom Act". The act modifies provisions relating to the statewide assessment system, school accountability report cards, and the powers and duties of the State Board of Education. This act is similar to SS/SCS/SB 85 (2023).STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (Section 160.518)
The act repeals provisions of current law that authorize the State Board of Education to develop a statewide assessment system and a standardized assessment instrument based on academic performance standards. Instead, the State Board shall develop a statewide summative assessment system that satisfies the requirements of federal law, and the State Board shall use the results of the assessments only for the purpose of compliance with federal law and the determination of performance districts in the calculation of state aid. The State Board shall not use assessment results to classify school districts and charter schools.
The act repeals a provision of current law that the statewide assessment system shall permit the academic performance of students in each school to be tracked only against prior academic performance in the same school.
Under the act, school districts and charter schools shall create, purchase, or adopt an interim assessment system that measures students' knowledge at the beginning of each school year and measures academic growth throughout the same school year. Such assessment system shall meet certain criteria outlined in the act.
The act repeals provisions of law relating to the State Board of Education's authority to suggest criteria for a school to demonstrate that its students learn the knowledge, skills, and competencies measured by the statewide assessment system at exemplary levels. The act further repeals provisions relating to "Outstanding School Waivers" that exempt certain schools from meeting requirements relating to the authority of the State Board to classify school districts.
SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT CARDS (Section 160.522)
The act repeals provisions of law authorizing the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to produce a school accountability report card for each public school district, public school building, and charter school in the state. Under the act, districts and charter schools shall report certain accountability data annually to the media, to all district and charter school patrons, and to the Department.
The act repeals provisions of law relating to the identification of priority schools that fail to meet acceptable standards of student achievement set by the State Board of Education. The act also repeals provisions relating to the identification of attendance centers that are categorized as requiring school improvement strategies.
The act repeals the requirement for school districts and charter schools to provide their school accountability report cards to legislators by December first annually, as well as the requirement for the State Board of Education to approve the inclusion of charter school data in a school district's school accountability report card.
POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (Section 161.092)
The act repeals provisions of current law authorizing the State Board of Education to classify public schools in the state and establish requirements for the schools of each class. The act provides that the State Board of Education shall identify a minimum of two national school accreditation agencies from which any district may seek to obtain accreditation. Any district accredited by at least one of these agencies shall be considered to be fully accredited for all legal purposes. The State Board may adopt a system of accreditation that school districts may utilize for accreditation purposes, but the State Board shall not use any such system to classify any district that chooses to utilize a national school accreditation agency as provided in the act.
OLIVIA SHANNON