HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4197        FILED ON: 3/26/2014

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4094

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Keiko M. Orrall

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to ensure quality education.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4197        FILED ON: 3/26/2014

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4094

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Fourteen

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An Act to ensure quality education.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department of elementary and secondary education, herein known as the department, shall expend no funds to develop or implement the common core state standards, herein known as the standards, for Massachusetts school districts until such time as the commissioner of the department provides the general court with the following: (1) an assessment of the total funds expended since the Education Reform Act of 1993 (Chapter 71 of the Acts of 1993), herein known as the act, to develop the standards for and the assessment known as the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System; (2) an assessment of the costs to realign the educational curriculum of the commonwealth, developed pursuant to the act, to the standards adopted by the board of elementary and secondary education, herein known as the board, in 2010, including but not limited to the costs to the department, the costs to the board, and the costs to each individual school district in the commonwealth. Such costs shall include, but not be limited to: the cost of developing and implementing any new assessment, such as the Partnership for Assessment for Readiness for College and Career; professional development; teacher and administration evaluations; and any equipment, hardware, software, or technology upgrades needed for compliance with said new assessment; (3) any additional costs associated with data mapping of students in the commonwealth, as well as the administrative costs required to collect, maintain and protect the confidentiality of such data collection; (4) the procedure required to repeal the 2010 decision of the board to adopt the standards; provided further that the commissioner shall provide a report on the impacts of the adoption of the standards on the commonwealth’s current standards with particular regard to the high ranking of Massachusetts students on the National Assessment of Education Progress and international standardized tests, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. In conducting such an assessment, the commissioner shall conduct not fewer than four public hearings to receive testimony from members of the public, including parents, teachers, and administrators. The hearings shall be held in locations that provide opportunities for residents from all geographic regions of the commonwealth to testify. The commissioner shall provide a summary of the transcribed hearings. The department, in coordination with the commissioner, shall make a report to the general court on the department’s recommendations by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives on or before December 31, 2014.