School Improvement Fund Bill advances for governor's signature
June 15, 2007 Issue (63k ) of Legislative Highlights

Senate Bill 318, the School Improvement Fund policy bill, was headed to the governor for action after the Senate concurred with House amendments and re-approved the bill June 13. 

SB 318 had been the subject of several weeks of intense debate in the House, which modified the bill primarily to ensure that education service districts are included in the distribution of funds.

"This bill is the policy cornerstone of the K-12 Education Coalition's original proposal," said David Williams, OSBA Legislative and Public Affairs specialist. "It makes a statement about where the state believes education dollars should be targeted."

HB 5021, the appropriation bill for the School Improvement Fund, allocates $260 million to support activities that are directly related to increases in student achievement.

Funds distributed through the School Improvement Fund are to be spent on programs to boost student achievement: 

• Early childhood support, including pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten 
• Class-size reduction, focusing on K-3 
• Summer programs, before- and after-school programs 
• Mentoring, teacher retention, professional development 
• Remediation, alternative learning, student retention 
• Services to at-risk youth 
• Programs targeting the achievement gap 
• Vocational education 
• Literacy programs 
• Other research-based student-improvement strategies approved by the State Board of Education 

SB 318 requires each district and ESD to submit an application to the State Board of Education outlining its plan for using the school-improvement money. After receiving all applications for the school year, the board would distribute the money on an ADMw basis, split on a 95.25 percent to 4.75 percent ratio between school districts and ESDs.

The added language changed the 90 percent to 10 percent expenditure ratio and requires ESDs to spend 100 percent of the school improvement funds on student achievement activities approved by the constituent school districts through the resolution process.

In the year following fund disbursement to a district, the district would need to show that the funds were spent on the programs cited in their original application.

"This bill gives both districts and ESDs a way to direct resources into specific programs aimed at improving student achievement," said Williams. "Reporting through ODE will allow us to make a strong case for the many ways districts are using increased financial investments on achievement-related programs."