Bill Text: MS HB1117 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Common Core State Standards; provide for the repeal of.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2015-02-03 - Died In Committee [HB1117 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2015-HB1117-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2015 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representative Arnold
House Bill 1117
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE REPEAL OF THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS CURRICULUM ADOPTED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND TO PROHIBIT ANY FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION OR USE OF SUCH STANDARDS; TO RESTRICT THE USE OF THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS (PARCC), OR ANY OTHER ASSESSMENT RELATED TO OR BASED ON THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS, AS THE REQUIRED ASSESSMENT REQUIRED UNDER THE STATEWIDE TESTING PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AND THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO INITIATE PROCEDURES TO WITHDRAW FROM THE PARCC CONSORTIUM; TO PROVIDE THAT THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI SHALL RETAIN SOLE CONTROL OVER THE DEVELOPMENT, ESTABLISHMENT AND REVISION OF CURRICULUM AND ACADEMIC CONTENT STANDARDS; TO PROVIDE THAT NO CURRICULUM STANDARDS DEVELOPED OUTSIDE THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI MAY BE ADOPTED OR IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT PUBLIC HEARINGS HELD IN EACH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, A ONE-YEAR OPEN COMMENT PERIOD AND OPEN HEARINGS BEFORE A JOINT COMMITTEE COMPOSED OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEES, FOLLOWED BY AN ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE; TO IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS UPON THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION WITH REGARDS TO THE EXPENDITURE OF CERTAIN FUNDS AND DISCLOSING PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PERTAINING TO STUDENTS AND TEACHERS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-1-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
WHEREAS, academic standards are statements of what students are expected to know and to be able to do at specific grade levels, to which, the establishment of academic standards has been within the jurisdiction of each state; and
WHEREAS, in 2004, several states began collaborating on the development of common state standards in Mathematics and English Language Arts; and
WHEREAS, during the late 2000s, the National Governors Association, representing all states' chief executives, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, representing each state's top government official overseeing education, began to coordinate the effort to develop common state standards, which effort culminated in the development of the Common Core State Standards; and
WHEREAS, The State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in 2010 to replace the Mississippi Curriculum Frameworks, to provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn so that teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them, and established to be phased in over the transitional timeline adopted by the board on May 17, 2013, for full implementation beginning with the 2013-2014 scholastic term; and
WHEREAS, members of the Mississippi Legislature are cognizant that many concerns have been raised by individual Mississippians as well as various organizations within Mississippi about the adoption of the Common Core State Standards;
WHEREAS, as advocates for the public's best interest, the Legislature urges the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Board of Education to ensure that Mississippi's academic standards are thoroughly rigorous and effective for all Mississippi students; and
WHEREAS, the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Board of Education are urged to ensure that Mississippi's academic standards are adapted to the specific needs of Mississippi, and to consult with Mississippi parents, students, teachers, school administrators, school board members, representatives of institutions of higher learning and business and community leaders before adopting any new academic standards; and
WHEREAS, the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Board of Education are urged to ensure that public schools continue to maintain absolute flexibility in the curriculum that they provide under Mississippi's proud tradition of home rule; and
WHEREAS, the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Board of Education are urged to ensure that Mississippi's academic standards are not burdensome and costly to public schools, nor do they result in intrusion into student and family privacy or in the collection or reporting of additional data to the federal government; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Board" means the Mississippi Board of Education.
(b) "Common Core State Standards" means the educational standards developed for kindergarten through Grade 12 by the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
(c) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Education.
(d) "Education entity" means any agency or department of state or local government that exercises any responsibility with respect to K-12 public education in the State of Mississippi.
(e) "Personally identifiable information" shall have the same meaning as that term is given in 34 CFR Part 99.3.
(f) "State official" means any official in state or local government in Mississippi, whether elected or appointed.
SECTION 2. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the State Board of Education and the Mississippi Department of Education shall cease the implementation and use of the Common Core State Standards as of the effective date of this section. Any further action taken by the board with regard to the sustained use of Common Core State Standards is void ab initio. The K-12 math standards in effect in California on January 1, 2010, and the English Language Arts standards in effect in Texas on January 1, 2010, shall serve as the Mississippi standards for those subjects. Nor shall the board use the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), or any other assessment related to or based on the Common Core State Standards, as any of the assessments required under the curricilum established by the board under the authority granted under Section 37-1-3 and 37-16-1 et seq.
(2) Upon the effective date of this section, the State Superintendent of Public Education and the State Board of Education shall immediately initiate the procedure, outlined in the Bylaws of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (adopted April 12, 2012), to withdraw the state from such consortium. All statewide K-12 tests and assessments shall be solely owned and solely controlled by the state.
(3) The State of Mississippi shall retain sole control over the development, establishment and revision of curriculum and academic content standards. Neither the board nor any other state education entity, nor any state official, may join any consortium or any other organization when participation in that consortium or organization would cede any measure of control over any aspect of Mississippi public education to entities outside the state, nor may any such person or entity condition or delay a decision on standards or curriculum on the decision of any consortium, organization, any other state government, or the federal government. No curriculum standards developed outside the State of Mississippi, including, but not limited to, the Next Generation Science Standards, the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, the National Health Education Standards, and the National Sexuality Education Standards, and no standards that use the same model frameworks as such standards developed primarily by entities outside the State of Mississippi, may be adopted or implemented without public hearings held in each congressional district, an open comment period of one (1) year, and open hearings before a joint committee composed of the House Education Committee and Senate Education Committee, followed by an act of the Legislature. The board shall post notice of each hearing on the department's website and in a newspaper of general circulation in the respective congressional district.
(4) The State Board of Education shall provide public notice of any proposed adoption or revision of academic content standards on the department's website. The board shall request comments on the proposed changes from the general public for the time specified in subsection (3) of this section, including parents, teachers, experts on academic content standards, representatives of political, educational and faith-based organizations, and nonpartisan policy institutes.
(5) The State Superintendent of Public Education, the State
Board of Education, the department or any other state entity that deals with education shall not do any of the following:
(a) Expend any funds on construction, enhancement or
expansion of any statewide longitudinal data system designed to track students, or compile personally identifiable student
information, beyond what is necessary for basic administrative
needs, for academic evaluation of programs and student progress, or for compliance with paragragh (e) of this subsection;
(b) Share any personally identifiable information of students or teachers with any entity outside the state, except as provided in paragraph (e) of this subsection. The prohibition of this paragraph does not apply to virtual, online or hard drive file storage hosted by third parties outside of the state;
(c) Share any personally identifiable information of students or teachers with any entity that intends to use that information to develop commercial products or services or that intends to transfer the information to any other entity for use in developing commercial products or services;
(d) Share any personally identifiable information of students or teachers with any entity within the state, unless that entity is an educational agency or an institution which the state
expressly prohibits, in writing, the agency or institution from
the following:
(i) Using the information to develop commercial products or services or transferring the information to any other entity to develop commercial products or services; or
(ii) Using the transfer of information for economic or workforce development planning;
(e) Share any personally identifiable information of students or teachers with the United States Department of Education, unless all of the following apply:
(i) The sharing of information is required as a condition of receiving a federal education grant;
(ii) The United States Department of Education agrees, in writing, to all of the following:
1. To use the information only to evaluate the program or programs funded by the grant;
2. That the information will not be used for any research beyond that related to the evaluation of the program or programs funded by the grant, unless the teacher or parent or guardian of any student whose information will be used for the research affirmatively consents to that use in writing;
3. That it will not share the information with any other governmental or private entity, unless the teacher or parent or guardian of any student whose information will be shared affirmatively consents to that sharing in writing; and
4. That it will agree to destroy the information upon completion of the evaluation of the program or programs funded by the grant;
(iii) The grant or program for which the information is required is authorized by federal statute or by federal rule adopted under 5 USCS Section 500 et seq.
(6) If the United States Department of Education requires, as a condition of a federal education grant, that the grant recipient provide personally identifiable information of students or teachers in a way that does not comply with subsection (5)(e) of this section, the grant recipient shall provide the teacher or
parent or guardian of any student whose information is required
with notification that includes all of the following:
(a) That the grant recipient has been required to turn over the teacher's or student's information to the United States
Department of Education;
(b) That neither the grant recipient nor any other entity or official within the state will have control of the use or further sharing of that information; and
(c) The contact information, including telephone number and electronic mail address, of the United States Department of
Education official seeking the information.
SECTION 3. 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. However, the State Board of Education shall take no action regarding a statewide curriculum that is not consistent with the provisions of Section 2 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 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.
