HOUSE BILL 135

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Rebecca Dow

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE; CREATING AN OPPORTUNITY AND EQUITY INDEX TO MORE ACCURATELY REFLECT THE AT-RISK POPULATION OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL; DETERMINING AT-RISK PROGRAM UNITS AT THE PUBLIC SCHOOL LEVEL AND REQUIRING THAT GENERATED FUNDING BE DISTRIBUTED TO EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL THAT GENERATED THE FUNDING; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

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

     SECTION 1. Section 22-8-23.3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1997, Chapter 40, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

     "22-8-23.3. AT-RISK PROGRAM UNITS--OPPORTUNITY AND EQUITY INDEX.--

          [A. A school district is eligible for additional program units if it establishes within its department-approved educational plan identified services to assist students to reach their full academic potential. A school district receiving additional at-risk program units shall include a report of specified services implemented to improve the academic success of at-risk students. The report shall identify the ways in which the school district and individual public schools use funding generated through the at-risk index and the intended outcomes. For purposes of this section, "at-risk student" means a student who meets the criteria to be included in the calculation of the three-year average total rate in Subsection B of this section. The number of additional units to which a school district is entitled under this section is computed in the following manner:

                At-Risk Index x MEM = Units

where MEM is equal to the total district membership, including early childhood education, full-time-equivalent membership and special education membership and where the at-risk index is calculated in the following manner:

Three-Year Average Total Rate x 0.30 = At-Risk

Index.]

          A. Each public school shall be eligible for additional at-risk program units to be administered through the school districts in which they are located, unless they are state-chartered charter schools, in which case the additional units shall be allocated to and administered solely by the charter school.

          B. Each public school receiving additional at-risk program units shall include a report of specified services implemented to improve the academic success of at-risk students. The report shall identify the ways in which each public school used funding generated through the at-risk index and the intended outcomes.

          C. A school district that passes the money through to each public school shall oversee fund administration to public schools under its jurisdiction and reporting for which the school district may withhold an administrative reserve in an amount not to exceed two percent of money received for purposes of administration and an amount not to exceed three percent of money received to establish a reserve for addressing emergency actions required for significantly underperforming public schools that received at-risk funding.

          D. For purposes of this section, "at-risk student" means a student who meets the criteria to be included in the calculation as specified in Subsection G of this section.

          E. The number of additional units to be allocated to each public school under this section is:

At-Risk Units = (Three-Year Averaged Opportunity and Equity Index) x MEM

where MEM is equal to the total public school membership, including early childhood education, full-time-equivalent membership and special education membership. The three-year averaged opportunity and equity index is determined as shown in Subsection H of this section.

          F. The sum of the index x MEM for all public schools shall equal the total at-risk funding available for distribution in any given year.

          [B.] G. To calculate the [three-year average total rate] input demographic elements for each public school that are required to calculate the opportunity and equity index, the department shall compute [a] three-year [average of the school district's] averages for specified demographic elements to include:

                (1) the measure the department uses for each public school's percentage of membership [used to determine its Title 1 allocation, a three-year average of] considered to be economically disadvantaged;

                (2) the percentage of membership classified as English language learners using criteria established by the office for civil rights of the United States department of education [and a three-year average of];

                (3) the percentage of student mobility [The department shall then add the three-year average rates. The number obtained from this calculation is the three-year average total rate];

                (4) the percentage of students classified as students with disabilities in accordance with Part B of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and reported through the state equalization guarantee distribution; and

                (5) the combined percentages of those demographic subgroups classified as minorities to include Native American, Hispanic, African Americans and Pacific Islanders, and any other similar subgroup whose end-of-year state summative test performance indicates significantly lower proficiency than Caucasian and Asian students.

          H. To calculate the opportunity and equity index using a canonical correlation routine, the department shall:

                (1) use the demographic elements (input variables) described in Subsection G of this section as the input variables to the canonical correlation with these inputs being the three-year average of the fraction of each public school's student population qualifying in the respective demographic population groups;

                (2) pair each public school's demographic elements with the overall public schools' proficiency percentages for end-of-year state testing in English language arts, mathematics and science averaged over the same three years for each school (output variables);

                (3) perform the canonical correlation operation using the input and output variables as provided in Paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection to obtain the optimized correlation for all public schools between the public schools' demographic elements and students' end-of-year performance; and

                (4) calculate the opportunity and equity index using the sum of the weighted demographic element inputs as calculated by the canonical correlation routine for all public schools. The correlation results in a canonical input vector of weighted demographics (U) and a canonical output vector of weighted performance values (V). The input vector (U) will have values for each public school, and these become the opportunity and equity index values after they are subtracted from 1.0 and then linearly scaled to 1.0 for the maximum value (the highest at-risk school) to the minimum (for the lowest at-risk school). Each public school will now have a scaled opportunity and equity index value proportional to the degree of its demographically correlated at-risk level.

          [C.] I. The department shall recalculate the [at risk] opportunity and equity index for each public school [district] every year. If there are no uninterrupted longitudinal end-of-year summative test scores, then for the first year of the opportunity and equity index calculation, the last available three-year input and output variables averages shall be used. If there has been a gap of more than two years, then the newest one-year input and output variables shall be used with subsequent two-year and then three-year averaging of input and output variables.

          [D.] J. For purposes of this section, "services" means research-based or evidence-based social, emotional or academic interventions, such as:

                (1) case management, tutoring, reading interventions and after-school programs that are delivered by social workers, counselors, teachers or other professional staff;

                (2) culturally relevant professional and curriculum development, including those necessary to support language acquisition, bilingual and multicultural education;

                (3) additional compensation strategies for high-need schools;

                (4) whole school interventions, including school-based health centers and community schools;

                (5) educational programming intended to improve career and college readiness of at-risk students, including dual or concurrent enrollment, career and technical education, guidance counseling services and coordination with post-secondary institutions; and

                (6) services to engage and support parents and families in the education of students.

          K. No public school's funding shall change because of increased performance. Only a change in the opportunity and equity index, MEM or statutorily determined money allocation can cause funding changes.

          L. Additional funding shall be allocated to the department for the creation of the canonical correlation program, any restructuring of input data required for the canonical correlation and incidental expenditures required to implement the opportunity and equity index."

     SECTION 2. APPROPRIATION.--One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the public education department for expenditure in fiscal year 2022 to develop and implement the opportunity and equity index in the 2022-2023 school year. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2022 shall revert to the general fund.

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