PRINTER'S NO. 2749
No. 2107 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY BARD, ARGALL, BASTIAN, BATTISTO, M. COHEN,
FREEMAN, GRUCELA, RAMOS, SEYFERT, STEELMAN, STURLA, SURRA,
THOMAS, TIGUE AND YUDICHAK, DECEMBER 7, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, DECEMBER 7, 1999
AN ACT
1 Establishing a program for obtaining information from school
2 districts in a uniform manner to permit statistical
3 comparison; imposing additional powers and duties on the
4 Department of Education, the Auditor General and the various
5 school districts; and providing for financial penalties for
6 noncompliance.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Short title.
10 This act shall be known and may be cited as the School Report
11 Card Act.
12 Section 2. Definitions.
13 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
14 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
15 context clearly indicates otherwise:
16 "Department." The Department of Education of the
17 Commonwealth.
18 "Expulsion frequency." The total number of students excluded
19 from school by a board of education for a period exceeding ten
1 school days, which may be permanent expulsion from the school
2 rolls.
3 "Expulsion rate." The ratio of total individual students
4 expelled to the number of students enrolled in October.
5 "School." An individual building operated for educational
6 purposes by a school entity.
7 "School entity." A school district as defined in section 102
8 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the
9 Public School Code of 1949; an area vocational-technical school
10 as defined in section 1840.1 of the Public School Code of 1949
11 or a charter school operated pursuant to Article XVII-A of the
12 Public School Code of 1949.
13 "Secretary." The Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth.
14 "Suspension frequency." The total number of students
15 excluded from school for a period of from one to ten days which
16 may include in-school or out-of-school exclusions. This number
17 shall include all suspensions incurred by individual students.
18 "Suspension rate." The ratio of total individual students
19 suspended to the number of students enrolled in October.
20 Section 3. Duties of school entities.
21 (a) General rule.--Each school entity shall complete a
22 report card form for each school within its jurisdiction in
23 accordance with the provisions of this act and on a uniform form
24 prepared and furnished by the department.
25 (b) Time.--The report card form shall be completed by school
26 entities for each school year and forwarded to the department on
27 a schedule to be established by the secretary.
28 (c) Auditing.--The Auditor General shall have the right to
29 review the information submitted pursuant to this act.
30 (d) Penalty for failure to comply.--The secretary, or other
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1 school entity paying tax moneys to the school entity, upon due
2 hearing, after two weeks' written notice to the board of school
3 directors, area vocational-technical board or board of trustees
4 of a charter school affected, may withhold the payment of all
5 money due any entity out of any appropriation made by the
6 Commonwealth for any purpose which fails to comply with the
7 provisions of this act in a manner satisfactory to the
8 secretary, until such time as the report card form is filed.
9 Section 4. Contents of report card form.
10 The school report card form shall contain information for
11 each individual school and school entity, which shall assist
12 parents and taxpayers in assessing, evaluating and comparing the
13 quality of education being provided to primary and secondary
14 school students in their area and throughout this Commonwealth.
15 The secretary shall strive to make the report card user
16 friendly, shall make use of modern technology to assure wide
17 access and distribution and shall have the discretion and
18 responsibility to include all information that will assist
19 parents and taxpayers in assessing, evaluating, comparing and
20 understanding the quality of education being provided comparable
21 students in their area and in this Commonwealth. This report
22 card form shall state that the information provided is for the
23 purpose of presenting a snapshot of the applicable school or
24 school district and shall not be deemed to create a set of
25 absolutes as to the quality of education being offered in that
26 school or school district. This information shall include, but
27 not be limited to, the following where appropriate:
28 (1) Enrollment by grade level as of October.
29 (2) Number of schools in the school entity indicating
30 grade levels included.
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1 (3) Percent of low-income students.
2 (4) Number of students enrolled in English as a second
3 language course.
4 (5) Number of students enrolled in special education
5 programs and the number and percentage of these classified as
6 gifted.
7 (6) Student attendance rates as the percent of students
8 of the total enrollment present on an average each day.
9 (7) Student mobility indicated as the percent of
10 students who entered or withdrew during the school year.
11 (8) Student suspension rates and frequency of individual
12 students being suspended.
13 (9) Student expulsion rates and frequency of individual
14 students being expelled.
15 (10) Dropout rate measured as the number and percent of
16 secondary students who left school before graduation without
17 transferring to another school or institution.
18 (11) Percentage of students retained grade-to-grade.
19 (12) Actual average class size by grade level.
20 (13) Number and types of administrators, professional
21 and support staff.
22 (14) Number of students per administrator.
23 (15) Number of teachers per administrator.
24 (16) Number of students per teacher.
25 (17) Teacher absenteeism represented as the percent of
26 teacher contractual days that permanent contractual teachers
27 were absent for personal reasons (sick, sick family,
28 vacation, personal, etc.).
29 (18) Number of teacher and professional staff
30 contractual days dedicated to professional development
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1 activities.
2 (19) Listing of professional development and classroom
3 preparation and research opportunities provided for
4 instructional staff.
5 (20) Listing of academic and support programs,
6 opportunities and/or initiatives offered and/or actively
7 supported in the district. Examples include: academic
8 courses, tutorial programs, school-to-work activities, Title
9 I services, honors courses, foreign language courses, after
10 school programs or clubs, interscholastic sports, chorus and
11 band, free breakfast and/or lunch programs, intramural sports
12 and work study programs.
13 (21) Identification of commercial standardized tests
14 used, if any, by grade level administered.
15 (22) Name of the school entity's contact person for
16 further information concerning the locally utilized
17 assessment system.
18 (23) The percent of faculty possessing Bachelor's,
19 Master's and Doctoral degrees.
20 (24) The average years of teaching experience.
21 (25) Percentage of instructors teaching under emergency
22 certification.
23 (26) Percentage of instructors teaching a particular
24 grade or subject matter without proper certification as
25 provided for in Article XII of the act of March 10, 1949
26 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, and
27 22 Pa. Code, Ch. 49 (relating to certification of
28 professional personnel).
29 (27) Percentage of instructional days being taught by
30 short-term or long-term substitutes and percentage of
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1 substitutes not properly certified to teach in the area to
2 which they are assigned.
3 (28) Length of school year broken down by number of
4 instructional days and number of contractual days for
5 professional employees.
6 (29) Length of the school day.
7 (30) Number of charter schools operating in the district
8 and the total number of resident students attending charter
9 schools.
10 (31) Type of kindergarten program offered, part-time or
11 full day.
12 (32) For the graduating senior class, the percent of
13 seniors pursuing various post-high school options, including
14 four-year college/university, two-year college, other post-
15 secondary school or military service.
16 (33) Habitual truancy as measured by the number of
17 students reported as truant pursuant to section 1354 of the
18 Public School Code of 1949.
19 (34) Technology and library resources, including:
20 (i) The number of titles of books, periodicals,
21 pamphlets, maps, videotapes, films, software and other
22 electronic media in the school's libraries.
23 (ii) The number of computers available for student
24 use and of these the number equipped with CD-Rom
25 capabilities.
26 (iii) An inventory of the availability of Internet,
27 broadcast and cable television equipment available in the
28 school, teacher workrooms, classrooms, computer labs and
29 library or media centers.
30 (35) Fiscal components including, but not limited to,
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1 the following:
2 (i) Classroom instructional costs.
3 (ii) Instructional support costs.
4 (iii) Administrative costs.
5 (iv) Subject-related costs.
6 (v) Technology costs.
7 (vi) Special education costs.
8 (vii) Total outstanding long-term debt.
9 (viii) Revenues by source.
10 (ix) Total funds available.
11 (x) Professional development.
12 (xi) Transportation costs.
13 (xii) Facilities and plant operations.
14 The costs listed in this provision will include costs per
15 pupil and salaries and benefits information.
16 (36) School safety indicators:
17 (i) Number of incidents occurring on school grounds,
18 or at school-sponsored activities, referred to law
19 enforcement personnel which resulted in charges being
20 filed by the school entity.
21 (ii) Number of incidents reported pursuant to
22 section 1303-A(b) of the Public School Code of 1949.
23 (37) Percent of 11th-grade and 12th-grade students
24 taking the college entrance Examination Board Advance
25 Placement Test.
26 (38) Percent of 11th-grade and 12th-grade students
27 taking the College Entrance Examination Board Advance
28 Placement Test scoring above three.
29 (39) Percent of students of the total enrollment in
30 grades 11 and 12 who take the Scholastic Achievement Test
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1 (SAT) and ACT test.
2 (40) Percent of those students taking the SAT/ACT tests
3 who scored in the upper quartile; percentage of those taking
4 the SAT/ACT who scored in the lowest quartile.
5 (41) Actual district average score on the SAT.
6 (42) Pertinent data from the Pennsylvania System of
7 School Assessment (PSSA), including the number of special
8 education students who took the test and the number of
9 students whose parents requested excusal from the test
10 pursuant to 22 Pa. Code § 5.4(4) or its successor.
11 (43) Pertinent data from other assessment or achievement
12 tests given to students to assess or measure achievement gain
13 and that yield valid individual student performance
14 indicators within a grade or subject.
15 Section 5. Duties of department.
16 (a) Form.--The department shall prepare a uniform report
17 card form, including uniform fiscal component definitions,
18 submit the proposed form to the chairman and minority chairman
19 of the Education Committee of the Senate and the chairman and
20 minority chairman of the Education Committee of the House of
21 Representatives for review and comment, and distribute that form
22 to each school entity no later than April 15 of each school
23 year. The form shall include a description of each indicator
24 written in plain English.
25 (b) Statewide comparisons.--Upon receipt of the completed
26 report card information from the individual school entities, the
27 department shall compile Statewide comparison data for the
28 school year for which data is reported and the prior two school
29 years, including:
30 (1) A comparison of Statewide averages to the individual
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1 school and school district as a whole.
2 (2) A comparison of averages of demographically similar
3 schools.
4 (3) A description of what constitutes an educationally
5 significant difference in each test score reported.
6 (c) Districtwide summary.--The department shall prepare a
7 comprehensive districtwide summary for each school entity based
8 on the information obtained under this section, including all
9 school entities within the geographic boundaries of the district
10 required to submit information under this act.
11 (d) Release of final report.--No later than January 1
12 following the school year for which report card data has been
13 furnished by school entities, except that for the 2000-2001
14 school year when the date shall be February 1, the department
15 shall furnish each school entity with its completed report card
16 and those of each school within its jurisdiction to include
17 information as specified in section 4, Statewide comparisons as
18 specified in subsection (b) and the districtwide summary as
19 provided in subsection (c).
20 Section 6. Dissemination of report card.
21 (a) Parents.--No later than March 1, except for the 2000-
22 2001 school year when the date shall be April 1, each school
23 entity shall distribute the applicable report card to parents or
24 guardians of pupils enrolled at the school. These report cards
25 may be included in normal school communications to parents or
26 guardians and need not be mailed separately. The school entity
27 shall include with this distribution a copy of the school
28 entity's policies adopted in compliance with 22 Pa. Code §
29 4.4(d) (relating to general policies). A copy of its most recent
30 report card shall be displayed by each school in a central
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1 location accessible to the public.
2 (b) General public.--
3 (1) School entities shall publicize the availability of
4 the districtwide summary provided by the department pursuant
5 to section 5(c) by causing an advertisement to be placed in a
6 newspaper of general circulation no later than March 1,
7 except for the 2000-2001 school year when the date shall be
8 April 1.
9 (2) The advertisement shall contain the following
10 information:
11 (i) That each resident shall be entitled to receive
12 a copy of the districtwide summary.
13 (ii) That copies can be obtained by calling (name of
14 school district) at (telephone number) during the hours
15 of (hours of operation).
16 (3) Copies of the districtwide summary shall be made
17 available to residents upon request at no charge to the
18 taxpayer. No later than March 1, except for the 2000-2001
19 school year when the date shall be April 1, following the
20 release of report cards to individual school entities by the
21 department, each school entity shall hold a public meeting to
22 present an overview of the full contents of the report card
23 to the general public. This public meeting may be part of a
24 regularly scheduled meeting of the entity's board of
25 directors. At least two weeks' advance notice shall be given
26 of this meeting stating the time, place and purpose.
27 (c) General Assembly.--The department shall forward a copy
28 of the Statewide results of the school report card to the
29 chairperson and minority chairperson of the Education Committee
30 of the Senate and the chairperson and minority chairperson of
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1 the Education Committee of the House of Representatives.
2 Section 7. Cause of action.
3 Nothing in this act shall create a statutory cause of action
4 for educational malpractice by students, parents or guardians.
5 Section 8. School profiles.
6 Upon implementation of the provisions of this act, the school
7 report cards provided for in this act shall replace the existing
8 school profiles and shall fulfill the requirements pertaining to
9 the development of school profiles pursuant to 22 Pa. Code
10 (relating to student testing), Chapter 3 or its successor.
11 Section 9. Participation by nonpublic schools.
12 Upon request to the department by the principal of a
13 nonpublic school as defined in section 971-A(2) of the act of
14 March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code
15 of 1949, such school shall be included in the provisions of this
16 act.
17 Section 10. Additional requirements.
18 The secretary shall have and may exercise all power and
19 authority necessary to the proper administration and
20 implementation of this act and shall have authority to establish
21 requirements necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.
22 Section 11. Effective date.
23 This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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