Legislative Staff Release

Published: 02-Apr-2010

Lawmakers voted today to increase accountability in the state’s education system.

Under Senate Bill 2211 — by state Sen. Clark Jolley of Edmond and state Rep. Doug Cox Grove — any school district that fails to comply with state requirements for a student record system would be stripped of state funding.

“Student tracking is crucial to ensuring students who need extra attention are identified and that the right teaching strategies are developed to help those kids,” said Cox. “A school that fails to participate in the student record system is essentially turning its back on needy children.”

Current law requires schools to participate in a state student record system to allow tracking of individual progress as students make their way through the K-12 system. Each student is assigned an individual tracking number and their file includes all relevant data on test scores, attendance, and other information. The system allows the state to keep track of a student’s progress even if he or she moves to another state district.

“The student record system will provide teachers and administrators the tool most needed to develop the best education strategies for a child: concrete information,” Cox said. “Obviously, the threat to strip a school of state funding is a significant penalty, but I believe it shows the importance of the student record system.”

Cox noted that no school district is currently out of compliance, and that the enforcement measure was requested by the state Department of Education.

Senate Bill 2211 passed the House Appropriations and Budget Committee on Thursday. It will now go to the full Oklahoma House of Representatives