Bill > A1654

Introduced Session

This bill directs the Commissioner of Education to establish an innovation schools program. An innovation school will be a public school operating within a school district for the purpose of improving school performance and student achievement through increased autonomy and flexibility. An innovation school could be established as a new school or as a conversion of an existing public school. The commissioner will provide guidance on the development of innovation schools and will provide planning grants and technical assistance to eligible applicants. An innovation school will have increased autonomy and flexibility in one or more areas including curriculum, budget, school schedule and calendar, staffing policies and procedures, school district policies and procedures, and professional development. An innovation school must be authorized by the board of education and will operate in accordance with an innovation plan that articulates its authorized areas of autonomy and flexibility. The innovation plan will be developed by faculty and school leaders, and school leaders will be responsible for meeting the terms of the plan. The innovation plan may also be developed by an external partner, and in that case the external partner will be responsible for meeting the terms of the plan. The innovation plan will be based on student outcomes data including student achievement on Statewide assessments An innovation school may be established by parents, teachers, parent-teacher organizations, principals, superintendents, boards of education, teacher unions, institutions of higher education, non-profit community-based organizations, non-profit business or corporate entities, non-profit charter school operators, non-profit education management organizations, educational collaboratives, consortia of these groups, and non-profit entities authorized by the commissioner. The bill details the information that must be included in an application to establish an innovation school, including: whether the school will be a new school or the conversion of an existing school; the external partners, if any, that will be involved in the school; the overall vision for the school; an assessment of the autonomy and flexibility that the applicant seeks; and the specific needs or challenges the school will be designed to address. The application will be submitted to the superintendent of the school district who, within 30 days, will convene a screening committee. The committee will be composed of the superintendent or a designee, a member of the board of education, and a representative of the local collective bargaining unit for teachers. The screening committee will review the application and, in the case of a new innovation school, prepare an impact statement on how the innovation school will affect the children and faculty in the district. Within 30 days of receiving an application, the committee will decide, on the basis of a two-thirds vote, to accept or reject the application, or return the application to the applicant for revision. Upon the acceptance of an application by the screening committee, the applicant will form an innovation plan committee, of not more than 11 persons, to develop the innovation plan. Each innovation plan committee must include the applicant, the superintendent, a member of the board of education, a parent of a child enrolled in the school, or in the case of a new school a parent of a child enrolled in the district, a principal employed by the district, and two teachers employed by the district. The innovation plan for a proposed innovation school must include a curriculum plan, a budget plan, a school schedule plan, a staffing plan, a policy and procedures plan, and a professional development plan. The bill stipulates that the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements applicable to teachers and other school staff in the school district will be in operation in the innovation school, except to the extent that the provisions are waived or modified under the innovation plan. In the case of a school conversion, the applicant will submit the school conversion plan to the teachers in the school for approval. A two-thirds vote of the teachers will be required to approve the plan. In the case of a new school, the applicant, the superintendent, and the local union representative will negotiate waivers or modifications to the applicable collective bargaining agreement. The approved innovation plan will be submitted to the board of education and the board will hold at least one public hearing on the plan. After the public hearing, but not more than 60 days after the receipt of the plan, the board of education will vote on whether or not to authorize the innovation school for a period of not more than five years. Each innovation school will be evaluated by the superintendent at least annually. The superintendent will transmit the evaluation to the board of education and the commissioner. The bill outlines actions that the board of education may take if it determines that the innovation school has not met the goals of the innovation plan including plan modification, the limit or suspension of one or more components of the plan, or termination of the school's authorization. At the end of the five-year authorization period, the innovation school may petition the board of education to extend authorization for an additional period of not more than five years.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Pam Lampitt (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document