SENATE BILL 209

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION; ENACTING THE CYBER ACADEMY ACT; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 6 of this act may be cited as the "Cyber Academy Act"."

     Section 2. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Cyber Academy Act:

          A. "course provider" means a person that supplies educational course content for distance learning courses;

          B. "cyber academy" means the department's collaborative program that offers distance learning courses to all local distance learning sites;

          C. "distance learning course" means an educational course that is taught where the student and primary instructor are separated by time or space and linked by technology;

          D. "distance learning student" means a student who is enrolled in one or more distance learning courses for credit;

          E. "learning management system" means a software application that facilitates online instruction and interaction between teachers and distance learning students;

          F. "local distance learning site" means a school district or charter school that offers and grants credit for distance learning courses to distance learning students enrolled in the school district or charter school;

          G. "primary enrolling district" means the school district or charter school in which the distance learning student is enrolled;

          H. "regional host" means an educational institution or other person selected by the cyber academy to coordinate the delivery of distance learning courses within a broad geographic region of the state; and

          I. "service center" means the single central facility where administrative and management functions of the cyber academy are physically located in New Mexico."

     Section 3. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] CYBER ACADEMY CREATED.--The "cyber academy" program is created in the department. The cyber academy is a collaborative program among the department, the higher education department, telecommunications networks and representatives of other state agencies engaged in providing distance education. The cyber academy shall provide distance learning courses for grades six through twelve and professional development for teachers, instructional support providers and school administrators."

     Section 4. A new section of the Public School code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] DEPARTMENT RULES.--The department shall promulgate rules to carry out the provisions of the Cyber Academy Act."

     Section 5. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] CYBER ACADEMY--DUTIES.--The cyber academy shall:

          A. establish a distance learning course delivery system that is efficient and cost-effective and that uses a statewide service center and regional hosts to provide approved distance learning courses;

          B. select regional hosts based on pre-existing experience and capacity to facilitate the delivery of distance educational programs, including public post-secondary educational institutions, regional education cooperatives and school districts;

          C. provide technical and program support to regional hosts and local distance learning sites;

          D. ensure that all distance learning courses offered by course providers are taught by highly qualified teachers and meet state academic content and performance standards;

          E. provide for reasonable and equitable means to allocate the costs of distance learning courses among the cyber academy, the course providers and the school districts whose students are enrolled in a distance learning course;

          F. give first priority to the delivery of distance learning courses for credit to distance learning students who have the greatest need because of geographic location or circumstances in which a school district may have difficulty delivering essential course instruction due to financial restraints or lack of highly qualified teachers; provided that in fiscal year 2008 the cyber academy shall include, among those distance learning students who are determined to have the greatest need, distance learning students served by school districts that are members of regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine;

          G. ensure that the cyber academy's learning management system is compatible with school district and department data collection, analysis and reporting systems;

          H. ensure that all infrastructure, hardware and software in the cyber academy are maintained to educational technology adequacy standards, including compliance with all rules governing privacy and confidentiality of student records for secure record storage;

          I. offer distance learning courses to distance learning students;

          J. offer professional development via distance learning, using a learning management system;

          K. assist the council on technology in education in its development of the statewide plan required by Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978, including a short- and long-range cyber academy plan;

          L. define and coordinate the roles and responsibilities of the collaborating agencies to establish a distance learning governance and accountability framework; and

          M. conduct an annual evaluation and provide an annual report to the department and the legislature that includes a detailed report of expenditures; a description of services provided, including the number and location of local distance learning sites, public schools and distance learning students served; the courses offered; the credits generated by local distance learning sites; and student and teacher accountability reporting data."

     Section 6. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS.--A student must be enrolled in a public school and must have the permission of the student's local distance education learning site to enroll in a distance learning course. A distance learning student shall only be counted in the student's primary enrolling district for the purpose of determining the membership used to calculate a school district's state equalization guarantee. A student shall have only one primary enrolling district."

     Section 7. Section 22-15A-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 96, Section 7) is amended to read:

     "22-15A-7. COUNCIL DUTIES.--The council shall:

          A. advise the bureau on implementation of the provisions of the Technology for Education Act;

          B. work with the bureau to conduct periodic assessments of the need for educational technology in the public school system and make recommendations to the [state board] department on how to meet those needs;

          C. promote the collaborative development and implementation of educational technologies, projects and practices to enhance instruction capabilities;

          D. develop and recommend to the [state board] department a statewide plan to infuse educational technology into the public school system in support of state and national education goals, including a cyber academy plan for distance learning; and

          E. provide assistance to the bureau in review of school district technology plans."

     Section 8. TEMPORARY PROVISION--EVALUATION OF REGIONAL EDUCATION COOPERATIVE DISTANCE LEARNING NETWORKS.--A network developed by regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine shall serve as a regional host in fiscal year 2008. The cyber academy shall provide a preliminary report to the governor and the legislature by January 1, 2008 on the quality and cost-effectiveness of the provision of distance learning courses by the regional education cooperatives. At the end of fiscal year 2008, the cyber academy shall prepare a final report on the quality and cost-effectiveness of services provided, including whether the services increased the rigor of school district and charter school curricula, and make recommendations for the expansion to other regional education cooperatives.

     Section 9. APPROPRIATIONS.--

          A. Eight million five hundred thousand dollars ($8,500,000) is appropriated from the computer systems enhancement fund to the higher education department for expenditure in fiscal year 2008 to fund the infrastructure for a sustainable statewide support system for distance learning in New Mexico, including purchase of equipment, software, materials and contractual services. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the computer systems enhancement fund.

          B. Two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,250,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the following agencies for expenditure in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 to support the creation of the New Mexico cyber academy:

                (1) one million four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($1,450,000) to the higher education department for program administration, information technology services and maintenance costs; and

                (2) eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) to the public education department to be allocated as follows:

                     (a) six hundred thirty thousand dollars ($630,000) for initial program costs for the New Mexico cyber academy for program administration, professional development, curriculum development and purchase and operating costs;

                     (b) one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000) for distribution to regional education cooperatives three, eight and nine for distance learning networks to facilitate the exchange of courses and teaching services, and to enable member public schools to offer their students more rigorous and more relevant courses, including offering algebra I to middle school students, and to offer their teachers and administrators expanded professional development opportunities. The regional education cooperative distance learning networks may serve as regional hosting sites for the New Mexico cyber academy, and shall conduct an annual evaluation of the quality and cost-effectiveness of its provision of distance learning. If the evaluation of the distance learning networks indicates that they are providing quality distance education, increased rigor in curricula and are cost-effective, the department may replicate distance learning networks in the remaining regional education cooperatives;

                     (c) fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for distribution to Rio Rancho public schools for the Rio Rancho cyber academy to fund its operation and the expansion of its course offerings; and

                     (d) four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for distribution to school districts to support distance learning.

          C. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining of the appropriations in Subsection B of this section at the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.

     Section 10. RECOMPILATION.--Section 22-13-27 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 162, Section 2) is recompiled into the Cyber Academy Act.