New Accountability: SB 1 Amended in Committee

On Thursday, Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senator Mike Wilson was approved by the Senate Education Committee with amendments in a committee substitute. On Friday, the bill passed the full Senate. House Committee consideration will be the next step.

Along with some smaller changes, the amendments:

• Removed a change to the arts-based high school graduation requirement  
• Deleted a requirement for the new accountability system to include a "band of schools" approach to school improvement
• Revised the rules for identifying schools for targeted support and improvement based on weak results for student groups

To reflect the amendments, the Prichard Committee has updated its bill summary. Key issues include:

• Standards for what students know and can do
• Assessments and approaches to meeting standards
• Accountability steps to ensure progress toward meeting standards
• Other changes (including certified staff evaluations, school council changes, and Department of Education changes)

You can download the complete summary here or the full bill in its current edition here.