Senate Bill 2249

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS TO DEVELOP AND RECOMMEND NEW CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT STANDARDS FOR THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS BASED ON NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKS; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMISSION SHALL BE LOCATED ADMINISTRATIVELY IN THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO CONSIDER THE NEW MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS STANDARDS RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMISSION; TO DIRECT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO REMOVE THE COMMON CORE COPYRIGHT AND ANY REFERENCES TO THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE AND CAREER READY STANDARDS; TO PROVIDE FOR STUDENT CONFIDENTIALITY; TO AMEND SECTION 37-1-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) There is hereby established the Mississippi Commission on College and Career Readiness (commission). The commission shall be located administratively in the offices of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning but shall exercise all its prescribed statutory powers independently of the board of trustees.

(2) The commission shall be composed of nine (9) members as follows:

(a) Two (2) members appointed by the Governor. The Governor shall consider, but is not limited to, appointing representatives from the following groups: parents of students enrolled in the public schools, certified elementary teachers, certified middle school teachers, certified high school teachers, and curriculum directors with expertise in curriculum and standards from K-Grade 12;

(b) Two (2) members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor shall consider, but is not limited to, appointing representatives from the following groups: parents of students enrolled in the public schools, certified elementary administrators, certified middle school administrators, certified high school administrators, and mathematics and English language arts curriculum experts for K-Grade 12;

(c) Two (2) members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker shall consider, but is not limited to, appointing representatives from the following groups: parents of students enrolled in the public schools, local school board members or superintendents from local school districts, professors from the mathematics department or the English department of a Mississippi university or college, teacher or administrator with a Mississippi community college, or the business community;

(d) Two (2) members of the State Board of Education; and

(e) One (1) member appointed by the President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of High Learning.

Commission appointees shall be citizens of Mississippi who have a demonstrated expertise in the development or implementation of educational standards, who are qualified to assure the alignment of standards to college and career readiness. The commission shall be as fairly balanced as reasonably possible with members from each of the congressional districts.

(3) Members of the commission shall be appointed by the appointing authority prescribed in subsection (2) of this section within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this act. The initial appointments shall be for four (4) years with subsequent appointments to be made for four (4) years by the appointing authority prescribed in subsection (2) of this section. No person shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms.

(4) The commission shall hold its first meeting no later than September 1, 2015, upon the call of the President of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, and shall organize for business, select a chairman who shall serve a term of two (2) years and may be re-elected, and shall adopt bylaws for conducting business and issuing reports. Members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenditures incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the commission.

(5) The commission shall meet upon the call of the chairman. A quorum of the commission shall be seven (7) members. Any vacancy on the commission shall be filled by the appointing authority.

(6) To the extent that funds are available, the commission may contract for professional, clerical and consultant services. The commission may also contract with an entity who has an excellent national reputation in the area of school standards and assessments to facilitate the work of the commission. Professional and clerical staff positions for the commission may be filled by persons whose services are loaned to the commission to fulfill the work of the commission.

(7) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall provide meeting rooms, office space, equipment and supplies to the commission and shall be reimbursed from the commission's budget, to the extent that funds are available.

(8) Upon the request of the commission, all state departments and agencies and local governments and their subdivisions shall furnish the commission with any information in their possession or available to them.

(9) The commission shall do the following:

(a) Recommend additional academic standards or propose changes to existing academic standards to the State Board of Education. The academic level of the new and revised standards shall be at least as high as current standards and maintain the independence of the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards.

(b) Recommend to the State Board of Education research-based formative assessments aligned to proposed changes and modifications to the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards that would also reduce the number of high-stakes assessments administered to public schools.

(c) Consider the impact on educators, including the need for professional development, when making any of the recommendations required in this section.

(d) Review relevant research on the subject area and identify areas in the standards where revision is appropriate.

(e) Examine curriculum standards for the subject area adopted by other states.

(f) Collect feedback on the standards from teachers, parents and other citizens and make feedback available to the public via Internet posting.

(g) Issue its recommendation to the State Board of Education, the Governor and the appropriate committees of the Legislature not later than January 1, 2016.

SECTION 2. (1) Academic standards adopted by the State Board of Education shall continue to be named and referred to as the "Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards," reflecting emphasis on Mississippi's needs and priorities.

(2) The State Board of Education shall remove the Common Core copyright and any references to the Common Core Standards from the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards to ensure Mississippi's sovereign right to modify standards to best meet the needs of Mississippi's citizens.

(3) The State Board of Education shall ensure that no official, employee, agency or board of the state shall enter into any agreement, memorandum of understanding, or contract with any federal agency or private entity which in any way cedes or limits state discretion or control over the development, adoption or revision of the Mississippi College and Career Ready Standards and related student assessments in the public school system, including, but not limited to, agreements, memoranda of understanding and contracts in exchange for funding for public schools and programs.

SECTION 3. No personally identifiable data on students' or their families' religions, political party affiliations, biometric information or voting histories shall be collected, tracked, housed, reported or shared with the federal government. No personally identifiable student data shall be collected for the purpose of the development of commercial products or services.

SECTION 4. Section 37-1-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-1-3. (1) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations and set standards and policies for the organization, operation, management, planning, budgeting and programs of the State Department of Education.

(a) The board is directed to identify all functions of the department that contribute to or comprise a part of the state system of educational accountability and to establish and maintain within the department the necessary organizational structure, policies and procedures for effectively coordinating such functions. Such policies and procedures shall clearly fix and delineate responsibilities for various aspects of the system and for overall coordination of the total system and its effective management.

(b) The board shall establish and maintain a system-wide plan of performance, policy and directions of public education not otherwise provided for.

(c) The board shall effectively use the personnel and resources of the department to enhance technical assistance to school districts in instruction and management therein.

(d) The board shall establish and maintain a central budget policy.

(e) The board shall establish and maintain within the State Department of Education a central management capacity under the direction of the State Superintendent of Public Education.

(f) The board, with recommendations from the superintendent, shall design and maintain a five-year plan and program for educational improvement that shall set forth objectives for system performance and development and be the basis for budget requests and legislative initiatives.

(2) (a) The State Board of Education shall adopt and maintain a curriculum and a course of study to be used in the public school districts that is designed to prepare the state's children and youth to be productive, informed, creative citizens, workers and leaders, and it shall regulate all matters arising in the practical administration of the school system not otherwise provided for. Provided, however, that the State Board of Education shall take no action regarding a statewide curriculum and course of study prior to receiving the recommendations of the Mississippi Commission on College and Career Readiness as provided in Section 1 of this act.

(b) Before the 1999-2000 school year, the State Board of Education shall develop personal living and finances objectives that focus on money management skills for individuals and families for appropriate, existing courses at the secondary level. The objectives must require the teaching of those skills necessary to handle personal business and finances and must include instruction in the following:

(i) Opening a bank account and assessing the quality of a bank's services;

(ii) Balancing a checkbook;

(iii) Managing debt, including retail and credit card debt;

(iv) Completing a loan application;

(v) The implications of an inheritance;

(vi) The basics of personal insurance policies;

(vii) Consumer rights and responsibilities;

(viii) Dealing with salesmen and merchants;

(ix) Computing state and federal income taxes;

(x) Local tax assessments;

(xi) Computing interest rates by various mechanisms;

(xii) Understanding simple contracts; and

(xiii) Contesting an incorrect billing statement.

(3) The State Board of Education shall have authority to expend any available federal funds, or any other funds expressly designated, to pay training, educational expenses, salary incentives and salary supplements to licensed teachers employed in local school districts or schools administered by the State Board of Education. Such incentive payments shall not be considered part of a school district's local supplement as defined in Section 37-151-5(o), nor shall the incentives be considered part of the local supplement paid to an individual teacher for the purposes of Section 37-19-7(1). MAEP funds or any other state funds shall not be used to provide such incentives unless specifically authorized by law.

(4) The State Board of Education shall through its actions seek to implement the policies set forth in Section 37-1-2.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.