PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Section 1G of chapter 15 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition is hereby amended by inserting after the words “following areas:” in line 2 the following: “school and district accountability, intervention, and technical assistance”

SECTION 2. Said section 1G is further amended by inserting after the word “balance:” in line 22 the following new paragraphs:

“The members of the advisory council on school and district accountability, intervention, and technical assistance shall consist of 9 voting members. Of the members recommended by the commissioner and appointed by the board, 1 shall be from a list of 3 nominees offered by the massachusetts association of school superintendents, 1 shall be from a list of 3 nominees offered jointly by the massachusetts teachers association and the massachusetts federation of teachers, 1 shall be from a list of three nominees offered by the massachusetts secondary school administrators’ association, 1 shall be from a list of three nominees offered by the massachusetts elementary school principals’ association, and the remaining members recommended by the commissioner and appointed by the board shall represent a balance of individuals with a demonstrated record of achievement or academic expertise in the areas of: education administration; education finance and management; the utilization of student achievement data to improve instruction and administration; the conduct or utilization of school and district audits and evaluations; educator evaluation and professional development; or other areas of expertise in key areas of education reform contained in chapter 71 of the acts of 1993.

The council shall meet no less than 4 times annually to review and advise the department and board on the policies and practices of both the office of educational quality and accountability established in section 55A of this chapter and the office of accountability and targeted assistance, or any successor office within the department. The council shall assist the two offices to coordinate and support their respective missions and shall have the opportunity to review and comment on all regulations relative to these program areas prior to board approval.

SECTION 3. Section 55A of chapter 15, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition is hereby amended by striking in line 3, the words “but not subject to its control” and is further amended by striking in line 4, the words “an independent” and replacing it with the word “a” and is further amended in line 5 by inserting between the words “schools” and “and school districts” the following: “charter schools”.

SECTION 4. Said section 55A of chapter 15, as so appearing, is further amended by striking lines 7 through 45, inclusive, and is further amended by striking in lines 46 and 47, the words “the council shall employ a director and establish the salary for the director” and replacing them with the words “the department shall employ a director who shall be appointed by the commissioner” and is further amended by striking in line 54, the words “chairman of the council” and replacing it with the word “department”.

SECTION 5. Said section 55A of chapter 15, as so appearing, is further amended in line 60 by inserting after the figure “1993.” the following: “The office shall share a common advisory council with the office of accountability and targeted assistance as provided for in section 1G of chapter 15. The office shall otherwise operate independently of the accountability and targeted assistance office but shall exchange information and coordinate its activities with that office under the common direction of the deputy commissioner.” and by striking the figure “24” and replacing it with the figure “40”.

and in line 61 by inserting after the words “audits annually.” the following: “, not less than 75% of which shall be in districts whose students achieve at low levels either in absolute terms or relative to districts that educate similar student populations. The remainder of the audits shall be divided equally between those districts whose students achieve at high levels relative to their peers and a number of districts chosen at random. In establishing the schedule of audits to be conducted in any calendar year, the office shall coordinate with other entities in the department to ensure that a school or district is not subject to multiple comprehensive audits by departmental entities or accrediting bodies within a 9-month period unless the board specifically votes to do so on an emergency basis.”

and in lines 63 through 69 by striking the following: “(2) investigate allegations of any breach of academic integrity in the administration of any assessments administered by the department of education; (3) undertake inspections of schools and school districts to determine the quality of instruction, the performance of administrative, instructional and other staff and make recommendations about the school and school district goals and performance;” and inserting in place thereof the following: “(2) undertake inspections of schools, charter schools, and school districts to evaluate efforts to improve and support the quality of instruction and administration, and make recommendations about the school and school district goals and plans to achieve those goals;

and in line 69 by removing the figure “(4)” and replacing it with the figure “(3)”:

and in line 71 by removing the figure “(5)” and replacing it with the figure ”(4)”:

and in lines 74 through 77 by removing the following: “(6) review the impact of unanticipated growth in enrollments and the cost of special education on municipal education budgets, where applicable including, but not limited to, the impact of said costs on other areas of appropriation within the municipal budget;” and inserting in place thereof the following: “(5) compile, on a bi-annual basis, a list of best practices from the list of audits conducted over the 2-year period and distribute the compiled list to all school districts in the commonwealth” and in line 77 by removing the figure “(7)” and replacing it with the figure “(6)”:

and in line 79 by removing the figure “(8)” and replacing it with the figure “(7)”:

and in line 79 by inserting after the words “student achievement.” the following: “(8) assist and support the department and board in carrying out the activities necessary to implement sections 1J and 1K of chapter 69. (9) provide information to the office of accountability and targeted assistance in support of their technical assistance efforts to schools and districts.”

SECTION 6. Said section 55A of chapter 15, as so appearing, is further amended in line 83 by inserting after the word “district”, the following:

“In establishing protocols for the conduct of school or district audits and in conducting such audits, the office shall, to the extent practicable, minimize the administrative burden on schools and districts by using existing, recently compiled, or readily available data sources.”

and in line 86 by inserting before the words “The council”, the following words: “Each school district and charter school shall file with the office by October 1^st each year a copy of its current personnel contracts and collective bargaining agreements in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner.”

SECTION 7. Said section 55A of chapter 15, as so appearing, is further amended by striking in lines 86 and 90 the word “council” and replacing it with the word “department” and is further amended by striking in line 90, the word “its” and replacing it with the words “the office’s”.

SECTION 8. Said section 55A of chapter 15, as so appearing, is further amended in line 90 by inserting after the words “its findings” the following: “, audit reports,”

and by striking lines 92 through 96, inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following words: “local public library in the districts that have been audited, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the joint committee on education, and the house and senate committees on ways and means.”

SECTION 9. The department of education is hereby authorized, subject to appropriation, to contract for a comprehensive review of professional development activities and evaluation procedures for educators throughout the Commonwealth. The review shall include a review of all professional development programs funded by federal, state, local, district, and private sources. The review shall include all programs adopted, implemented, and filed with the commissioner of education in fulfillment of the requirements of section 38Q of Chapter 71. Based on the information gathered in the review process, the department shall work with its contractor and educational administrators and teachers to develop a plan for coordinated statewide professional development, including the promotion of replicable models that have demonstrated record of success in promoting student achievement and success as well as a plan for the elimination of duplicative or unsuccessful programs. The department shall also make recommendations for the maintenance of a registry at the department of education and on its department world wide web site of all such professional development services and providers, public and private, including a qualitative evaluation of each service and provider. The contracted review of evaluation procedures shall include a review of all procedures adopted by schools and districts in fulfillment of the requirements of section 38 of chapter 71, including an analysis of the alignment of those procedures with the guidelines established by the board of education pursuant to section 1B of Chapter 69. The department shall file a report with the chairs of the joint committee on education and the house and senate committees on ways and means not later than 8 months subsequent the required appropriation. Said report shall include any legislative recommendations to improve and coordinate educator evaluations and professional development efforts in the commonwealth.