1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for an evaluation of 
  1.3             school districts' financial and academic performance 
  1.4             factors to determine the relative "return on 
  1.5             investment" in education; directing the commissioner 
  1.6             of children, families, and learning to contract with 
  1.7             an independent school evaluation services contractor 
  1.8             to perform the evaluation; appropriating money. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [SCHOOLS' ACADEMIC AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 
  1.11  EVALUATION; INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR.] 
  1.12     (a) To assist taxpayers, educators, school board members, 
  1.13  and state and local officials in realizing their commitment to 
  1.14  improving student achievement and the management of school 
  1.15  systems, the commissioner of children, families, and learning 
  1.16  shall contract with an independent school evaluation services 
  1.17  contractor to evaluate and report on the academic and financial 
  1.18  performance of the state's independent school districts using 
  1.19  six core categories of analysis: 
  1.20     (1) school district expenditures; 
  1.21     (2) students' performance outcomes based on multiple 
  1.22  indicia including students' test scores, attendance rates, 
  1.23  dropout rates, and graduation rates; 
  1.24     (3) return on resources to determine the extent to which 
  1.25  student outcomes improve commensurate with increases in district 
  1.26  spending; 
  1.27     (4) school district finances, taxes, and debt to establish 
  2.1   the context for analyzing the district's return on resources 
  2.2   under clause (3); 
  2.3      (5) students' learning environment to establish the context 
  2.4   for analyzing the district's return on resources under clause 
  2.5   (3); and 
  2.6      (6) school district demographics to establish the 
  2.7   socioeconomic context for analyzing the district's return on 
  2.8   resources under clause (3). 
  2.9      (b) In order to compare the regional and socioeconomic 
  2.10  peers of particular school districts, monitor educational 
  2.11  changes over time and identify important educational trends, the 
  2.12  contractor shall use the six core categories of analysis to: 
  2.13     (1) identify allocations of baseline and incremental school 
  2.14  district spending; 
  2.15     (2) connect student achievement with expenditure patterns; 
  2.16     (3) track school district financial health; 
  2.17     (4) observe school district debt and capital spending 
  2.18  levels; and 
  2.19     (5) measure the return on a school district's educational 
  2.20  resources. 
  2.21     (c) The contractor under paragraph (a) shall evaluate and 
  2.22  report on the academic and financial performance of all school 
  2.23  districts. 
  2.24     (d) The contractor must complete its written report and 
  2.25  submit it to the commissioner within 360 days of the date on 
  2.26  which the contract is signed.  The commissioner immediately must 
  2.27  make the report available in a readily accessible format to 
  2.28  state and local elected officials, members of the public, 
  2.29  educators, parents, and other interested individuals.  The 
  2.30  commissioner, upon receiving an individual's request, also must 
  2.31  make available all draft reports prepared by the contractor, 
  2.32  consistent with Minnesota Statutes, chapter 13. 
  2.33     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.34     $....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal 
  2.35  year 2001 to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  2.36  learning for the purpose of contracting with an independent 
  3.1   school evaluation services contractor to evaluate and report on 
  3.2   the school districts' academic and financial performance under 
  3.3   section 1. 
  3.4      Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.5      Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 2001.