South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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S. 363

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Hutto and Peeler
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22686sj07.doc

Introduced in the Senate on January 31, 2007
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Education

Summary: Education Oversight Committee

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
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   1/31/2007  Senate  Introduced and read first time SJ-9
   1/31/2007  Senate  Referred to Committee on Education SJ-9

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

1/31/2007

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND CHAPTERS 6 AND 18 OF TITLE 59, SECTIONS 59-1-450, 59-1-452, AS AMENDED, 59-1-453, 59-21-440, 59-21-600, 59-21-1210, 59-21-1220, 59-24-65, 59-24-100, 59-24-110, 59-26-20, AS AMENDED, 59-28-150, 59-28-190, 59-28-200, AS AMENDED, 59-28-210, 59-28-220, 59-29-170, 59-29-220, 59-40-70, AS AMENDED, 59-40-230, 59-50-20, AS AMENDED, 59-59-170, 59-63-65, 59-139-10, 59-139-40, 59-139-50, 59-139-60, AND 59-150-325, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, ALL CONTAINING REFERENCES TO THE EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, SO AS TO CHANGE REFERENCES FROM THE EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OR THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION OR TO DELETE THE REFERENCE; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 59-141-10 RELATING TO NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS THAT HAVE EXPIRED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Chapter 6, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"CHAPTER 6

Monitoring Implementation of Education

Improvement Program

Section 59-6-10.    (A)    In order to assist in, recommend, and supervise implementation of programs and expenditure of funds for the Education Accountability Act and the Education Improvement Act of 1984, the Education Oversight Committee is to serve as the oversight committee for these acts. The Education Oversight Committee Department of Education shall:

(1)    review and monitor the implementation and evaluation of the Education Accountability Act and Education Improvement Act programs and funding;

(2)    make programmatic and funding recommendations to the General Assembly;

(3)    report annually to the General Assembly, State Board of Education, and the public on the progress of the programs;

(4)    recommend Education Accountability Act and EIA program changes to state agencies and other entities as it considers necessary.

Each state agency and entity responsible for implementing the Education Accountability Act and the Education Improvement Act funded programs shall submit to the Department of Education Oversight Committee programs and expenditure reports and budget requests as needed and in a manner prescribed by the Education Oversight Committee department.

The committee consists of the following persons:

(1)    Speaker of the House of Representatives or his designee;

(2)    President Pro Tempore of the Senate or his designee;

(3)    Chairman of the Education and Public Works Committee of the House of Representatives or his designee;

(4)    Chairman of the Education Committee of the Senate or his designee;

(5)    Governor or his designee;

(6)    Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives or his designee;

(7)    Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate or his designee;

(8)    State Superintendent of Education or the superintendent's designee who shall be an ex officio nonvoting member;

(9)    five members representing business and industry who must have experience in business, management, or policy to be appointed as follows: one by the Governor, one by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one by the Speaker of the House, one by the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and one by the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee; and

(10)    five members representing public education teachers and principals to be appointed as follows: one by the Governor, one by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, one by the Speaker of the House, one by the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and one by the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee.

Initial appointment must be made by July 31, 1998, at which time the Governor or his designee shall call the first meeting. At the initial meeting, a chairman elected from the members representing the business and industry appointees and a vice chairman representing the education members shall be elected by a majority vote of the committee. The members appointed pursuant to items (1) through (8) may serve notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8-13-770. Their terms of office on the committee must be coterminous with their terms of office as Governor, Superintendent of Education, or members of the General Assembly.

(B)    The terms of office of the members of the Education Oversight Committee, except for the legislative members, Governor, and State Superintendent of Education, are four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify except of those first appointed the terms must be staggered as follows:

(1)    initial terms of two years shall be served by the two members of the business and industry community appointed by the chairmen of the Education Committees;

(2)    initial terms of three years shall be served by the members of the education community appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House; and

(3)    all other voting members shall serve initial four-year terms. The terms of chairman and vice chairman shall be two years. At the end of each two-year term, an election must be held for the chairmanship and vice chairmanship by majority vote of the members attending with quorum present. No member shall serve more than four consecutive years as chairman or vice chairman.

Members of the committee shall meet no less than once a quarter and annually shall submit their findings and recommendations to the General Assembly before March first of each fiscal year. The staff positions of the Education Oversight Committee and the people presently in those positions initially shall be transferred to the Education Oversight Committee as administrative staff to carry out its functions.

Section 59-6-15.    (A)    There is created the Business-Education Partnership for Excellence in Education and a permanent standing subcommittee of the partnership for the purpose of reviewing the implementation of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 and recommending other major education initiatives.

The Business-Education Partnership for Excellence in Education consists of the following persons:

(1)    Thirty-two prominent civic and business leaders of which fourteen are appointed by the Governor; six appointed by the State Superintendent of Education; three appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; three appointed by the President of the Senate; three appointed by the Chairman of the Education and Public Works Committee of the House of Representatives; and three appointed by the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Senate;

(2)    Twenty educators of which eight are appointed by the State Superintendent of Education; four appointed by the Governor; two appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; two appointed by the President of the Senate; two appointed by the Chairman of the Education and Public Works Committee of the House of Representatives; and two appointed by the Chairman of the Education Committee of the Senate;

(3)    Lieutenant Governor or his designee;

(4)    Chairman of the Committee on Children or his designee;

(5)    Chairman of the Education Oversight Committee or his designee;

(6)    The Governor and State Superintendent of Education shall serve as ex officio members.

The term of office of the members of the Business-Education Partnership must be four years except that of those first appointed an equal number must serve terms of two, three, and four years respectively as determined by lot. Except in those cases where the term of a member of the Business-Education Subcommittee has not expired, no member of the Business-Education Partnership may serve more than two consecutive terms. The number of appointments provided for in items (1) and (2) above must be reduced proportionately by the membership requirements of subsection (B).

The chairman of the Business-Education Partnership for Excellence in Education must be elected by the members of the partnership and must be chosen from among the thirty-two business and civic leaders serving on the partnership. The Business-Education Partnership must meet at the call of the chairman but not less than quarterly. The Governor must preside at all regular and special meetings of the partnership in which he is in attendance; at those meetings at which the Governor is not in attendance the State Superintendent of Education must preside, and in the absence of the Superintendent, the chairman of the partnership must preside.

The partnership in conjunction with the State Department of Education may cause to be held statewide public forums for the purpose of fostering open discussions regarding the impact of the Education Improvement Act on the state's education system and education reform in general.

(B)    The Business-Education Partnership must establish a permanent standing subcommittee called the Business-Education Subcommittee. The subcommittee must be composed of sixteen members of the Business-Education Partnership elected by the Business-Education Partnership. The composition of the subcommittee must be:

(1)    ten civic and business leaders; and

(2)    six educators.

The eighteen members serving on the Joint Business-Education Subcommittee must remain on the Business-Education Subcommittee as reconstituted on the effective date of this section. The term of office for members of the Business-Education Subcommittee must be six years except that of the initial members an equal number must serve terms of two, four, or six years respectively as determined by lot. The chairman of the subcommittee is to be elected by the members of the subcommittee and must be one of the ten civic and business leaders serving on the subcommittee. Vacancies on the subcommittee must be filled from the membership of the Business-Education Partnership by a majority vote of the members of the partnership.

Section 59-6-16.    The State Board of Education in consultation with the Business-Education Subcommittee shall appoint a leadership network of representatives from the private sector. The leadership network shall assist the State Board of Education business-education partnership program by: (1) promoting business-education partnerships, (2) evaluating business-education partnerships, (3) disseminating the benefits of business-education partnerships, and (4) formulating recommendations on goals and activities for the business-education partnership program. The leadership network shall meet at least quarterly and make regular reports to the Business-Education Subcommittee, State Board of Education, and Department of Education Oversight Committee.

Section 59-6-17.    The Business-Education Subcommittee in consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee shall study requiring school attendance as a condition of licensing for the privilege of the operation of a motor vehicle and shall provide a report to the General Assembly by January 1, 1990.

Section 59-6-20.    The State Board of Education and State Superintendent of Education must establish within the State Department of Education a special unit at the division level called the Public Accountability Division. This special unit must be eliminated on July 1, 1991. The unit head shall hold a position comparable to a deputy superintendent and must be under the direct supervision of and shall report to the State Superintendent of Education.

The deputy superintendent must provide all reports to the Governor, Education Oversight Committee, Business-Education Partnership for Excellence in Education, Business-Education Subcommittee, and State Board of Education, and respond to any inquiries for information.

The Business-Education Subcommittee shall serve as a screening committee for the selection of the unit head. The screening committee shall recommend for consideration three applicants. Final selection of the unit head must be made by the State Superintendent of Education after consulting with the Governor. All other positions must be filled following current state personnel and State Department of Education employment procedures.

The new unit is responsible for planning, monitoring, and reviewing programs developed under the Education Improvement Act and shall provide information, recommendations, and an annual assessment of the Education Improvement Act to the Governor, Education Oversight Committee, and Business-Education Subcommittee.

The operating procedures for the new unit are the same as the operating procedures for the three established divisions in the State Department of Education. The Business-Education Subcommittee shall review and approve all products produced by the new unit and make recommendations to the State Board of Education for final approval. [Reserved]

Section 59-6-30.    The State Board of Education shall provide an assessment of the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 for consideration by the Business-Education Subcommittee and the General Assembly. A special assessment shall be provided on March 1, 1985. Commencing in 1985, an annual assessment must be provided by December first of each year and an appropriate amount of funding must be provided for this purpose. The Business-Education Subcommittee shall provide a report on the assessment to the Business-Education Partnership, and the partnership shall submit its recommendations to the General Assembly prior to February first. The staff of the Business-Education Subcommittee shall serve as the primary staff to the Business-Education Partnership and may solicit the assistance of the staffs of the House Education and Public Works Committee, the Senate Education Committee, the Department of Education Oversight Committee, the Public Accountability Division, and the Governor's Office of the Governor.

Section 59-6-100.    Within the Department of Education Oversight Committee, an Accountability Division must be established to report on the monitoring, development, and implementation of the performance based accountability system and reviewing and evaluating all aspects of the Education Accountability Act and the Education Improvement Act.

The Department of Education Oversight Committee will employ, by a majority vote, for a contract term of three years an executive director for the Accountability Division. The director must be chosen solely on grounds of fitness to perform the duties assigned to him and must possess at least the following qualifications: a demonstrated knowledge of public education, experience in program evaluation, and experience in a responsible managerial capacity. No member of the General Assembly nor anyone who will have been a member for one year previously will be contracted to serve as director. The director will have the authority to employ, with the approval of the subcommittee, professional and support staff as necessary to carry out the duties of the division, which shall be separate from the administrative staff of the Department of Education Oversight Committee.

Section 59-6-110.    The division must examine the public education system to ensure that the system and its components and the EIA programs are functioning for the enhancement of student learning. The division will recommend the repeal or modification of statutes, policies, and rules that deter school improvement. The division must provide annually its findings and recommendations in a report to the Department of Education Oversight Committee no later than February first. The division is to conduct in-depth studies on implementation, efficiency, and the effectiveness of academic improvement efforts and:

(1)    monitor and evaluate the implementation of the state standards and assessment;

(2)    oversee the development, establishment, implementation, and maintenance of the accountability system;

(3)    monitor and evaluate the functioning of the public education system and its components, programs, policies, and practices and report annually its findings and recommendations in a report to the commission no later than February first of each year; and

(4)    perform other studies and reviews as required by law.

The responsibilities of the division do not include fiscal audit functions or funding recommendations except as they relate to accountability. It is not a function of this division to draft legislation and neither the director nor any other employee of the division shall urge or oppose any legislation. In the performance of its duties and responsibilities, the division and staff members are subject to the statutory provisions and penalties regarding confidentiality of records as they apply to students, schools, school districts, the Department of Education, and the Board of Education.

Section 59-6-120.    The State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the school districts and schools shall work collaboratively with the Division of Accountability to provide information needed to carry out the responsibilities and duties of its office. The Division of Accountability may call on the expertise of the state institutions of higher learning and any other public agencies for carrying out its functions and may coordinate and consult with existing agency and legislative staff."

SECTION    2.    Chapter 18, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"CHAPTER 18

Education Accountability Act of 1998

Article 1

General Provisions

Section 59-18-100.    The General Assembly finds that South Carolinians have a commitment to public education and a conviction that high expectations for all students are vital components for improving academic achievement. It is the purpose of the General Assembly in this chapter to establish a performance based accountability system for public education which that focuses on improving teaching and learning so that students are equipped with a strong academic foundation. Accountability, as defined by this chapter, means acceptance of the responsibility for improving student performance and taking actions to improve classroom practice and school performance by the Governor, the General Assembly, the State Department of Education, colleges and universities, local school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, students, and the community.

Section 59-18-110.    The system is to:

(1)    use academic achievement standards to push schools and students toward higher performance by aligning the state assessment to those standards and linking policies and criteria for performance standards, accreditation, reporting, school rewards, and targeted assistance;

(2)    provide an annual report card with a performance indicator system that is logical, reasonable, fair, challenging, and technically defensible which furnishes clear and specific information about school and district academic performance and other performance to parents and the public;

(3)    require all districts to establish local accountability systems to stimulate quality teaching and learning practices and target assistance to low performing schools;

(4)    provide resources to strengthen the process of teaching and learning in the classroom to improve student performance and reduce gaps in performance;

(5)    support professional development as integral to improvement and to the actual work of teachers and school staff; and

(6)    expand the ability to evaluate the system and to conduct in-depth studies on implementation, efficiency, and the effectiveness of academic improvement efforts.

Section 59-18-120.    As used in this chapter:

(1)    'Oversight Committee' means the Education Oversight Committee established in Section 59-6-10. [Reserved]

(2)    'Standards based assessment' means an assessment where an individual's performance is compared to specific performance standards and not to the performance of other students.

(3)    'Disaggregated data' means data broken out for specific groups within the total student population, such as by race, gender, and family income level.

(4)    'Longitudinally matched student data' means examining the performance of a single student or a group of students by considering their test scores over time.

(5)    'Norm-referenced assessment' means assessments designed to compare student performance to a nationally representative sample of similar students known as the norm group.

(6)    'Academic achievement standards' means statements of expectations for student learning.

(7)    'Department' means the State Department of Education.

(8)    'Absolute performance' means the rating a school will receive based on the percentage of students meeting standard on the state's standards based assessment.

(9)    'Improvement performance' means the rating a school will receive based on longitudinally matched student data comparing current performance to the previous year's for the purpose of determining student academic growth.

(10)    'Objective and reliable statewide assessment' means assessments that yield consistent results and that measure the cognitive knowledge and skills specified in the state-approved academic standards and do not include questions relative to personal opinions, feelings, or attitudes and are not biased with regard to race, gender, or socioeconomic status. The assessments must include a writing assessment and multiple-choice questions designed to reflect a range of cognitive abilities beyond the knowledge level. Constructive response questions may be included as a component of the writing assessment.

(11)    'Division of Accountability' means the special unit within the oversight committee department established in Section 59-6-100.

(12)    'Formative assessment' means assessments used within the school year to analyze general strengths and weaknesses in learning and instruction, to understand the performance of students individually and across achievement categories, to adapt instruction to meet students' needs, and to consider placement and planning for the next grade level. Data and performance from the formative assessments must not be used in the calculation of school or district ratings.

Article 3

Academic Standards and Assessments

Section 59-18-300.    The State Board of Education is directed to adopt grade specific performance-oriented educational standards in the core academic areas of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies (history, government, economics, and geography), and science for kindergarten through twelfth grade and for grades nine through twelve adopt specific academic standards for benchmark courses in mathematics, English/language arts, social studies, and science. The standards are to promote the goals of providing every student with the competencies to:

(1)    read, view, and listen to complex information in the English language;

(2)    write and speak effectively in the English language;

(3)    solve problems by applying mathematics;

(4)    conduct research and communicate findings;

(5)    understand and apply scientific concepts;

(6)    obtain a working knowledge of world, United States, and South Carolina history, government, economics, and geography; and

(7)    use information to make decisions.

The standards must be reflective of the highest level of academic skills with the rigor necessary to improve the curriculum and instruction in South Carolina's schools so that students are encouraged to learn at unprecedented levels and must be reflective of the highest level of academic skills at each grade level.

Section 59-18-310.    (A)    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Board of Education, through the Department of Education, is required to develop or adopt a statewide assessment program to promote student learning and to measure student performance on state standards and:

(1)    identify areas in which students need additional support;

(2)    indicate the academic achievement for schools, districts, and the State;

(3)    satisfy federal reporting requirements; and

(4)    provide professional development to educators.

Assessments required to be developed or adopted pursuant to the provisions of this section or chapter must be objective and reliable.

(B)    The statewide assessment program in the four academic areas must include grades three through eight, an exit examination in English/language arts and mathematics, which is to be first administered in a student's second year of high school enrollment beginning with grade nine, and end-of-course tests for gateway courses awarded Carnegie units of credit in English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Beginning with the graduating class of 2010, students are required to pass a high school credit course in science and a course in United States history in which end-of-course examinations are administered to receive the state high school diploma.

(C)    While assessment is called for in the specific areas mentioned above, this should not be construed as lessening the importance of foreign languages, visual and performing arts, health, physical education, and career or occupational programs.

(D)    By March 31, 2007, the State Board of Education shall create a statewide adoption list of formative assessments aligned with the state content standards and satisfying professional measurement standards in accordance with criteria jointly determined by the Education Oversight Committee and the State Department of Education. The formative assessments must provide diagnostic information in a timely manner to all school districts for each student during the course of the school year. For use beginning with the 2007-08 school year, with funds appropriated by the General Assembly, local districts must be allocated resources to select and administer formative assessments from the statewide adoption list to use to improve student performance in accordance with district improvement plans. However, if a local district already administers formative assessments, the district may continue to use the assessments if they meet the state standards and criteria pursuant to this subsection.

(E)    The State Board of Education shall adopt a developmentally appropriate formative reading assessment for use in first and second grades to be administered initially in the 2007-08 school year. The assessment must provide opportunities for periodic formative assessment during the school year, reports that are useful for informing classroom instruction, strand, or significant groupings of standards level information about individual students, and must be compatible with best practices in reading instruction and reading research. The State Department of Education shall provide appropriate and on-going professional development to support appropriate use of the assessment.

(F)    The State Department of Education shall provide on-going professional development in the development and use of classroom assessments, the use of formative assessments and the use of the end-of-year state assessments so that teaching and learning activities are focused on student needs and lead to higher levels of student performance.

Section 59-18-320.    (A)    After the first statewide field test of the assessment program in each of the four academic areas, and after the field tests of the end of course assessments of benchmark courses, the Department of Education Oversight Committee, established in Section 59-6-10, will review the state assessment program and the course assessments for alignment with the state standards, level of difficulty and validity, and for the ability to differentiate levels of achievement, and will make recommendations for needed changes, if any. The review will be provided to the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, the Governor, the Senate Education Committee, and the House Education and Public Works Committee as soon as feasible after the field tests. The Department of Education will then report to the Education Oversight Committee no later than one month after receiving the reports on the changes made to the assessments to comply with the recommendations.

(B)    After review and approval by the Department of Education Oversight Committee, the standards-based assessment of mathematics, English/language arts, social studies, and science will be administered to all public school students to include those students as required by the 1997 reauthorization of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and by Title 1 at the end of grades three through eight. To reduce the number of days of testing, to the extent possible, field test items must be embedded with the annual assessments. In accordance with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, science assessments must be administered annually to all students in one elementary and one middle school grade. The State Department of Education shall develop a sampling plan to administer science and social studies assessments to all other elementary and middle school students. The plan shall provide for all students and both content areas to be assessed annually; however, individual students, except in census testing grades, are not required to take both tests. In the sampling plan, approximately half of the assessments must be administered in science and the other half in social studies in each class. To ensure that school districts maintain the high standard of accountability established in the Education Accountability Act, performance level results reported on school and district report cards must meet consistently high levels in all four core content areas. Beginning with the 2007 report card, the core areas must remain consistent with the following percentage weightings established and approved by the Department of Education Oversight Committee: in grades three through five, thirty percent each for English/language arts and math, and twenty percent each for science and social studies; and in grades six through eight, twenty-five percent each for English/language arts and math, and twenty-five percent each for science and social studies. The exit examination must be administered for the first time at the end of the student's second year of high school enrollment beginning with grade nine. For students with documented disabilities, the assessments developed by the Department of Education shall include the appropriate modifications and accommodations with necessary supplemental devices as outlined in a student's Individualized Education Program and as stated in the Administrative Guidelines and Procedures for Testing Students with Documented Disabilities. The State Board of Education shall establish a task force to recommend alternative evidence and procedures that may be used to allow students to meet graduation requirements even if they have failed the exit examination. The alternative evidence only may be used in the rare instances where there is compelling evidence that a student is well qualified for graduation, but extreme circumstances have interfered with passage of the exit examination and, for that reason alone, the student would be denied a state high school diploma.

(C)    After review and approval by the Education Oversight Committee, The end of course assessments of benchmark courses will be administered to all public school students as they complete each benchmark course.

(D)    Any new standards and assessments required to be developed and adopted by the State Board of Education, through the Department of Education, must be developed and adopted upon the advice and consent of the Education Oversight Committee.

Section 59-18-330.    The State Board of Education, through the State Department of Education, shall develop, select, or adapt a first-grade readiness test that is linked to the adopted grade-one academic standards and a second-grade readiness test that is linked to the adopted grade-two academic standards. The purpose of the tests is to measure individual student readiness, and they are not to be used as an accountability measure at the state level. However, the grade-two readiness test will serve as the baseline for grade-three assessment. The State Department of Education shall provide continuing teacher training to ensure the valid and reliable use of the assessments and develop a minimum statewide data collection plan to include the amount and types of evidence to be collected. Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, the readiness assessment must be modified to provide detailed information on student literacy development.

Section 59-18-340.    The State Board of Education is directed to administer annually the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) to obtain an indication of student and school performance relative to national performance levels.

Section 59-18-350.    High schools shall offer state-funded PSAT or PLAN tests to each tenth grade student in order to assess and identify curricular areas that need to be strengthened and re-enforced. Schools and districts shall use these assessments as diagnostic tools to provide academic assistance to students whose scores reflect the need for such assistance. Schools and districts shall use these assessments to provide guidance and direction for parents and students as they plan for postsecondary experiences.

Section 59-18-360.    (A)    The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee, shall provide for a cyclical review by academic area of the state standards and assessments to ensure that the standards and assessments are maintaining high expectations for learning and teaching. All academic areas must be initially reviewed by the year 2005. At a minimum, each academic area should be reviewed and updated every seven years. After each academic area is reviewed, a report on the recommended revisions must be presented to the Department of Education Oversight Committee for its consideration. After approval by the Department of Education Oversight Committee, the recommendations may be implemented. As a part of the review, a task force of parents, business and industry persons, community leaders, and educators, to include special education teachers, shall examine the standards and assessment system to determine rigor and relevancy.

(B)    Beginning with the 2005 assessment results, the State Department of Education annually shall convene a team of curriculum experts to analyze the results of the assessments, including performance item by item. This analysis must yield a plan for disseminating additional information about the assessment results and instruction and the information must be disseminated to districts not later than January fifteenth of the subsequent year.

Section 59-18-370.    The Department of Education is directed to provide assessment results annually on individual students and schools in a manner and format that is easily understood by parents and the public. In addition, the school assessment results must be presented in a format easily understood by the faculty and in a manner that is useful for curriculum review and instructional improvement. The department is to provide longitudinally matched student data from the standards based assessments and include information on the performance of subgroups of students within the school. The department must work with the Division of Accountability in developing the formats of the assessment results. Schools and districts shall be responsible for disseminating this information to parents.

Article 5

Academic Plans For Students

Section    59-18-500.    (A)    Beginning in 1998-99 and annually thereafter, at the beginning of each school year, the school must notify the parents of the need for a conference for each student in grades three through eight who lacks the skills to perform at his current grade level based on assessment results, school work schoolwork, or teacher judgment. At the conference, the student, parent, and appropriate school personnel will discuss the steps needed to ensure student success at the next grade level. An academic plan will be developed to outline additional services the school and district will provide and the actions the student and the parents will undertake to further student success.

(B)    The participants in the conference will sign off on the academic plan, including any requirement for summer school attendance. Should a parent, after attempts by the school to schedule the conference at their convenience, not attend the conference, the school will appoint a school mentor, either a teacher or adult volunteer, to work with the student and advocate for services. A copy of the academic plan will be sent to the parents by certified mail.

(C)    At the end of the school year, the student's performance will be reviewed by appropriate school personnel. If the student's work has not been at grade level or if the terms of the academic plan have not been met, the student may be retained, he may be required to attend summer school, or he may be required to attend a comprehensive remediation program the following year designed to address objectives outlined in the academic plan for promotion. Students required to participate the following year in a comprehensive remediation program must be considered on academic probation. Comprehensive remediation programs established by the district shall operate outside of the normal school day and must meet the guidelines established for these programs by the State Board of Education. If there is a compelling reason why the student should not be required to attend summer school or be retained, the parent or student may appeal to a district review panel.

(D)    At the end of summer school, a district panel must review the student's progress and report to the parents whether the student's academic progress indicates readiness to achieve grade level standards for the next grade. If the student is not at grade level or the student's assessment results show standards are not met, the student must be placed on academic probation. A conference of the student, parents, and appropriate school personnel must revise the academic plan to address academic difficulties. At the conference it must be stipulated that academic probation means if either school work schoolwork is not up to grade level or if assessment results again show standards are not met, the student will be retained. The district's appeals process remains in effect.

(E)    Each district board of trustees will establish policies on academic conferences, individual student academic plans, and district level reviews. Information on these policies must be given to every student and parent. Each district is to monitor the implementation of academic plans as a part of the local accountability plan. Districts are to use Act 135 of 1993 academic assistance funds to carry out academic plans, including required summer school attendance. Districts' policies regarding retention of students in grades one and two remain in effect.

(F)    The State Board of Education, working with the Oversight Committee Department of Education, will establish guidelines until regulations are promulgated to carry out this section. The State Board of Education, working with the Accountability Division, will promulgate regulations requiring the reporting of the number of students retained at each grade level, the number of students on probation, number of students retained after being on probation, and number of students removed from probation. This data will be used as a performance indicator for accountability.

Article 7

Materials and Accreditation

Section 59-18-700.    The criteria governing the adoption of instructional materials shall be revised by the State Board of Education to require that the content of such materials reflect the substance and level of performance outlined in the grade specific educational standards adopted by the state board.

Section 59-18-710.    By November, 2000, the State Board of Education, working with the Department of Education and recommendations from the Accountability Division, must promulgate regulations outlining the criteria for the state's accreditation system, which must include student academic performance.

Article 9

Reporting

Section 59-18-900.    (A)    The Department of Education Oversight Committee, working with the State Board of Education, is directed to establish an annual report card and its format to report on the performance for the individual elementary, middle, high schools, and school districts of the State. The school's ratings on academic performance must be emphasized and an explanation of their significance for the school and the district must also be reported. The annual report card must serve at least four purposes:

(1)    inform parents and the public about the school's performance;

(2)    assist in addressing the strengths and weaknesses within a particular school;

(3)    recognize schools with high performance; and

(4)    evaluate and focus resources on schools with low performance.

(B)    The Oversight Committee department shall determine the criteria for and establish five academic performance ratings of excellent, good, average, below average, and unsatisfactory. Schools and districts shall receive a rating for absolute and improvement performance. Only the scores of students enrolled in the school at the time of the forty-five-day enrollment count shall be used to determine the absolute and improvement ratings. The Oversight Committee department shall establish student performance indicators which that will be those considered to be useful for assessing a school's overall performance and appropriate for the grade levels within the school.

(C)    In setting the criteria for the academic performance ratings and the performance indicators, the Education Oversight Committee department shall report the performance by subgroups of students in the school and schools similar in student characteristics. Criteria must use established guidelines for statistical analysis and build on current data-reporting practices.

(D)    The report card must include a comprehensive set of performance indicators with information on comparisons, trends, needs, and performance over time, which is helpful to parents and the public in evaluating the school. Special efforts are to be made to ensure that the information contained in the report card is provided in an easily understood manner and a reader-friendly format. This information should also provide a context for the performance of the school. Where appropriate, the data should yield disaggregated results to schools and districts in planning for improvement. The report card should include information in such areas as programs and curriculum, school leadership, community and parent support, faculty qualifications, evaluations of the school by parents, teachers, and students. In addition, the report card must contain other criteria including, but not limited to, information on promotion and retention ratios, disciplinary climate, dropout ratios, dropout reduction data, student and teacher ratios, and attendance data.

(E)    The principal, in conjunction with the School Improvement Council established in Section 59-20-60, must write an annual narrative of a school's progress in order to further inform parents and the community about the school and its operation. The narrative must cite factors or activities supporting progress and barriers which that inhibit progress. The school's report card must be furnished to parents and the public no later than November fifteenth.

(F)    The percentage of new trustees who have completed the orientation requirement provided in Section 59-19-45 must be reflected on the school district report card.

(G)    The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations outlining the procedures for data collection, data accuracy, data reporting, and consequences for failure to provide data required in this section.

Section 59-18-910.    No later than June 1, 1999, the Accountability Division must report on the development of the performance indicators criteria and the report card to the Education Oversight Committee and the State Board of Education. A second report, to include uniform collection procedures for academic standards and performance indicators, is due by September 1, 1999. No later than September, 1999, the State Department of Education shall report to the Oversight Committee the determination of the levels of difficulty for the assessments by grade and academic area. By March 1, 2000, a report on the development of baseline data for the schools is due from the division. [Reserved]

Section 59-18-920.    A charter school established pursuant to Chapter 40, Title 59 shall report the data requested by the Department of Education necessary to generate a report card. The Department of Education shall utilize this data to issue a report card with performance ratings to parents and the public containing the ratings and explaining its significance and providing other information similar to that required of other schools in this section. The performance of students attending charter schools sponsored by the South Carolina Public Charter School District must be included in the overall performance ratings of the South Carolina Public Charter School District. The performance of students attending a charter school authorized by a local school district must be reflected on a separate line on the school district's report card and must not be included in the overall performance ratings of the local school district. An alternative school is included in the requirements of this chapter; however, the purpose of an alternative school must be taken into consideration in determining its performance rating. The Department of Education Oversight Committee, working with the State Board of Education and the School to Work Advisory Council, shall develop a report card for career and technology schools.

Section 59-18-930.    Beginning in 2001 and annually thereafter the State Department of Education must issue report cards to all schools and districts of the State no later than November first. The report card must be mailed to all parents of the school and the school district. The school, in conjunction with the district board, must also inform the community of the school's report card by advertising the results in at least one South Carolina daily newspaper of general circulation in the area. This notice must be published within ninety days of receipt of the report cards issued by the State Department of Education and must be a minimum of two columns by ten inches (four and one-half by ten inches) with at least a twenty-four point bold headline.

Article 11

Awarding Performance

Section 59-18-1100.    The State Board of Education, working with the division and the Department of Education, must establish the Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards Program to recognize and reward schools for academic achievement. Awards will be established for schools attaining high levels of absolute performance and for schools attaining high rates of improvement. The award program must base improved performance on longitudinally matched student data and may include such additional criteria as:

(1)    student attendance;

(2)    teacher attendance;

(3)    student dropout rates; and

(4)    any other factors promoting or maintaining high levels of achievement and performance. Schools shall be rewarded according to specific criteria established by the division. In defining eligibility for a reward for high levels of performance, student performance should exceed expected levels of improvement. The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations to ensure districts of the State utilize these funds to improve or maintain exceptional performance according to their school's plans established in Section 59-139-10. Funds may be utilized for professional development support.

Special schools for the academically talented are not eligible to receive an award pursuant to the provisions of this section unless they have demonstrated improvement and high absolute achievement for three years immediately preceding.

Section 59-18-1110.    (A)    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school is given the flexibility of receiving exemptions from those regulations and statutory provisions governing the defined program provided that, during a three-year period, the following criteria are satisfied:

(1)    the school has twice been a recipient of a Palmetto Gold or Silver Award, pursuant to Section 59-18-1100;

(2)    the school has met annual improvement standards for subgroups of students in reading and mathematics; and

(3)    the school has exhibited no recurring accreditation deficiencies.

(B)    Schools receiving flexibility status are released from those regulations and statutory provisions referred to above including, but not limited to, regulations and statutory provisions on class scheduling, class structure, and staffing. The State Board of Education in consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee must promulgate regulations and develop guidelines for providing this flexibility by December 1, 2001.

(C)    To continue to receive flexibility pursuant to this section, a school must annually exhibit school improvement at or above the state average as computed in the school recognition program pursuant to Section 59-18-1100 and must meet the gains required for subgroups of students in reading and mathematics. A school which does not requalify for flexibility status due to extenuating circumstances may apply to the State Board of Education for an extension of this status for one year.

(D)    In the event that a school is removed from flexibility status, the school is not subject to regulations and statutory provisions exempted under this section until the beginning of the school year following notification of the change in status by the State Department of Education. Subsequent monitoring by the State Department of Education in a school that is removed from flexibility status shall not include a review of program records exempted under this section for the period that the school has received flexibility status or for the school year during which the school was notified of its removal from flexibility status.

Section 59-18-1120.    (A)    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school designated as unsatisfactory while in such status is given the flexibility of receiving exemptions from those regulations and statutory provisions governing the defined program or other State Board of Education regulations, dealing with the core academic areas as outlined in Section 59-18-120, provided that the review team recommends such flexibility to the State Board of Education.

(B)    Other schools may receive flexibility when their strategic plan explains why such exemptions are expected to improve the academic performance of the students and the plan meets the approval by the State Board of Education. To continue to receive flexibility pursuant to this section, a school must annually exhibit overall school improvement as outlined in its revised plan and must meet the gains set for subgroups of students in reading and mathematics. A school which that does not requalify for flexibility status due to extenuating circumstances may apply to the State Board of Education for an extension of this status for one year according to the provisions of Section 59-18-1110(D).

Article 13

District Accountability Systems

Section 59-18-1300.    The State Board of Education, based on recommendations of the division, must shall develop regulations requiring that no later than August, 1999, each district board of trustees must establish and annually review a performance based accountability system, or modify its existing accountability system, to reinforce the state accountability system. Parents, teachers, and principals must be involved in the development, annual review, and revisions of the accountability system established by the district. The board of trustees shall ensure that a district accountability plan be developed, reviewed, and revised annually. In order to stimulate constant improvement in the process of teaching and learning in each school and to target additional local assistance for a school when its students' performance is low or shows little improvement, the district accountability system must build on the district and school activities and plans required in Section 59-139-10. In keeping with the emphasis on school accountability, principals should be actively involved in the selection, discipline, and dismissal of personnel in their particular school. The date the school improvement reports must be provided to parents is changed to February first. Until such time as regulations pursuant to this section become effective, school district accountability systems must be developed, adopted, and implemented in accordance with State Board of Education guidelines.

The Department of Education shall offer technical support to any a district requesting assistance in the development of an accountability plan. Furthermore, the department must shall conduct a review of accountability plans as part of the peer review process required in Section 59-139-10(H) to ensure strategies are contained in the plans that shall maximize student learning. The department shall submit plans for the peer review process to the division for approval by August, 1999. School districts not having an approved plan by August 1, 1999, shall be provided a plan by the department within ninety days.

Section 59-18-1310.    The strategic plans and improvement reports required of the public schools and districts in Sections 59-18-1300, 59-18-1500, and 59-20-60 are consolidated and reported as follows: district and school five-year plans and annual updates and district programmatic reports, and school reports developed in conjunction with the school improvement council to parents and constituents to include recommendations of any Education Accountability Act external review teams as approved by the State Board of Education and the steps being taken to address the recommendations, and the advertisement of this report are due on a date established by the Department of Education, but no later than April thirtieth annually; schools reviewed by external review teams shall prepare a report to the parents and constituents of the school, to be developed in conjunction with the School Improvement Council, and this report shall be provided and advertised no later than April thirtieth annually. The school report card narrative in Section 59-18-900 continues on its prescribed date.

Article 15

Intervention and Assistance

Section 59-18-1500.    (A)    When a school receives a rating of below average or unsatisfactory, the following actions must be undertaken by the school, the district, and the board of trustees:

(1)    The faculty of the school with the leadership of the principal must review its improvement plan and revise it with the assistance of the school improvement council established in Section 59-20-60. The revised plan should look at every aspect of schooling, and must outline activities that, when implemented, can reasonably be expected to improve student performance and increase the rate of student progress. The plan should provide a clear, coherent plan for professional development, which has been designed by the faculty, that which is ongoing, job related, and keyed to improving teaching and learning. A time line for implementation of the activities and the goals to be achieved must be included.

(2)    Once the revised plan is developed, the district superintendent and the local board of trustees shall review the school's strategic plan to determine if the plan focuses on strategies to increase student academic performance. Once the district board has approved the plan, it must delineate the strategies and support the district will give the plan.

(3)    After the approval of the revised plan, the principals' and teachers' professional growth plans, as required by Section 59-26-40 and Section 59-24-40, should be reviewed and amended to reflect the professional development needs identified in the revised plan and must establish individual improvement criteria on the performance dimensions for the next evaluation.

(4)    The school, in conjunction with the district board, must inform the parents of children attending the school of the ratings received from the State Board of Education and must outline the steps in the revised plan to improve performance, including the support which the board of trustees has agreed to give the plan. This information must go to the parents no later than February first. This information must also be advertised in at least one South Carolina daily newspaper of general circulation in the area. This notice must be published within ninety days of receipt of the report cards issued by the State Department of Education and must be a minimum of two columns by ten inches (four and one-half by ten inches) with at least a twenty-four point bold headline. The notice must include the following information: name of school district, name of superintendent, district office telephone number, name of school, name of principal, telephone number of school, school's absolute performance rating and improvement performance rating on student academic performance, and strategies which must be taken by the district and school to improve student performance; and.

(5)    Upon a review of the revised plan to ensure it contains sufficiently high standards and expectations for improvement, the Department of Education is to delineate the activities, support, services, and technical assistance it will make available to support the school's plan and sustain improvement over time. Schools meeting the criteria established pursuant to Section 59-18-1560 will be eligible for the grant programs created by that section.

Section 59-18-1510.    (A)    When a school receives a rating of unsatisfactory or upon the request of a school rated below average, an external review team must be assigned by the Department of Education to examine school and district educational programs, actions, and activities. The Education Oversight Committee, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall develop the criteria for the identification of persons to serve as members of an external review team which shall include representatives from selected school districts, respected retired educators, State Department of Education staff, higher education representatives, parents from the district, and business representatives.

(B)    The activities of the external review committee may include:

(1)    examine all facets of school operations, focusing on strengths and weaknesses, determining the extent to which the instructional program is aligned with the content standards, and recommendations which that draw upon strategies from those who have been successful in raising academic achievement in schools with similar student characteristics;

(2)    consult with parents, community members, and members of the School Improvement Council to gather additional information on the strengths and weaknesses of the school;

(3)    identify personnel changes, if any, that are needed at the school and/or district level and discuss such findings with the board;

(4)    work with school staff, central offices, and local boards of trustees in the design of the school's plan, implementation strategies, and professional development training that can reasonably be expected to improve student performance and increase the rate of student progress in that school;

(5)    identify needed support from the district, the State Department of Education, and other sources for targeted long-term technical assistance;

(6)    report its recommendations, no later than three months after the school receives the designation of unsatisfactory to the school, the district board of trustees, and the State Board of Education; and

(7)    report annually to the local board of trustees and state board over the next four years, or as deemed necessary by the state board, on the district's and school's progress in implementing the plans and recommendations and in improving student performance.

(C)    Within thirty days, the Department of Education must notify the principal, the superintendent, and the district board of trustees of the recommendations approved by the State Board of Education. After the approval of the recommendations, the department shall delineate the activities, support, services, and technical assistance it will provide to the school. With the approval of the state board, this assistance will continue for at least three years, or as determined to be needed by the review committee to sustain improvement.

Section 59-18-1520.    If the recommendations approved by the state board, the district's plan, or the school's revised plan is not satisfactorily implemented by the school rated unsatisfactory and its school district according to the time line developed by the State Board of Education or if student academic performance has not met expected progress, the principal, district superintendent, and members of the board of trustees must appear before the State Board of Education to outline the reasons why a state of emergency should not be declared in the school. The state superintendent, after consulting with the external review committee and with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall be granted the authority to take any of the following actions:

(1)    furnish continuing advice and technical assistance in implementing the recommendations of the State Board of Education;

(2)    declare a state of emergency in the school and replace the school's principal; or

(3)    declare a state of emergency in the school and assume management of the school.

Section 59-18-1530.    (A)    Teacher specialists on site must be assigned in any of the four core academic areas to a middle or high school in an impaired district or designated as below average or unsatisfactory, if the review team so recommends and recommendation is approved by the State Board of Education. Teacher specialists on site must be assigned at a rate of one teacher for each grade level with a maximum of five to elementary schools in impaired districts or designated as below average or unsatisfactory. The Department of Education, in consultation with the Division of Accountability, shall develop a program for the identification, selection, and training of teachers with a history of exemplary student academic achievement to serve as teacher specialists on site. Retired educators may be considered for specialists.

(B)    In order to sustain improvement and help implement the review team's recommendations, the specialists will teach and work with the school faculty on a regular basis throughout the school year for up to three years, or as recommended by the review committee and approved by the state board. Teacher specialists must teach a minimum of three hours per day on average in team teaching or teaching classes. Teacher specialists shall not be assigned administrative duties or other responsibilities outside the scope of this section. The specialists will assist the school in gaining knowledge of best practices and well-validated alternatives, demonstrate effective teaching, act as coach for improving classroom practices, give support and training to identify needed changes in classroom instructional strategies based upon analyses of assessment data, and support teachers in acquiring new skills. School districts are asked to cooperate in releasing employees for full-time or part-time employment as a teacher specialist.

(C)    To encourage and recruit teachers for assignment to below standard and unsatisfactory schools, those assigned to such schools will receive their salary and a supplement equal to fifty percent of the current southeastern average teacher salary as projected by the State Budget and Control Board, Office of Research and Analysis. The salary and supplement is to be paid by the State for three years.

(D)    In order to attract a pool of qualified applicants to work in low-performing schools, the Department of Education Oversight Committee, in consultation with the Leadership Academy of the South Carolina Department of Education, shall develop criteria for the identification, selection, and training of principals with a history of exemplary student academic achievement. Retired educators may be considered for principal specialists. A principal specialist may be hired for a school designated as unsatisfactory, if the district board of trustees chooses to replace the principal of that school. The principal specialist will assist the school in gaining knowledge of best practices and well-validated alternatives in carrying out the recommendations of the review team. The specialist will demonstrate effective leadership for improving classroom practices, assist in the analyses of assessment data, work with individual members of the faculty emphasizing needed changes in classroom instructional strategies based upon analyses of assessment data, and support teachers in acquiring new skills designed to increase academic performance. School districts are asked to cooperate in releasing employees for full-time or part-time employment as a principal specialist.

(E)    In order to attract a pool of qualified principals to work in low-performing schools, the principal specialists hired in such schools will receive their salary and a supplement equal to 1.25 times the supplement amount calculated for teachers. The salary and supplement are to be paid by the State for two years.

(F)    The supplements are to be considered part of the regular salary base for which retirement contributions are deductible by the South Carolina Retirement System pursuant to Section 9-1-1020. Principal and teacher specialists on site who are assigned to below average and unsatisfactory schools shall be allowed to return to employment with their previous district at the end of the contract period with the same teaching or administrative contract status as when they left but without assurance as to the school or supplemental position to which they may be assigned.

(G)    For retired educators drawing benefits from the state retirement system who are serving in the capacity of principal or teacher specialist on site, the earnings limitations which restrict the amount of compensation that may be earned from covered employment while drawing benefits under the state retirement system do not apply to any compensation paid to them as an on-site specialist not to exceed one year of such employment whether they are working directly for the school district or for some entity in this capacity. However, no further contributions may be made to the state retirement system related to this compensation and no additional retirement benefits or credits may be received or accrued.

(H)    Within the parameters herein, the school district will have final determination on individuals who are assigned as teacher specialists and principal specialists.

Section 59-18-1540.    Each principal continued in employment in schools in districts designated as impaired or in schools designated as below average or unsatisfactory must participate in a formal mentoring program with a principal. The Department of Education, working with the Education Oversight Committee, shall design the mentoring program and provide a stipend to those principals serving as mentors.

Section 59-18-1550.    Each teacher employed in schools designated as below average or unsatisfactory who participate in the professional development activities and the improvement actions of the school which go beyond the normal school day and year may earn credits toward recertification according to the criteria established by the State Board of Education. To receive credit, activities must be based on identified professional development needs outlined in the school's improvement plan and must include at least one of the following:

(1)    summer institute with follow-up activities;

(2)    practice of new teaching strategies with peers regularly throughout the school year;

(3)    work with peer study groups during the academic year in planning lessons; and

(4)    observing and coaching regularly in one another's classrooms.

The activities must be approved by the Department of Education and the department shall determine the amount of credit earned by the participation.

Section 59-18-1560.    (A)    The State Board of Education, working with the Accountability Division and the Department of Education, must establish grant programs for schools designated as below average and for schools designated as unsatisfactory. A school designated as below average will qualify for a grant to undertake any needed retraining of school faculty and administration once the revised plan is determined by the State Department of Education to meet the criteria on high standards and effective activities. A school designated as unsatisfactory will qualify for the grant program after the State Board of Education approves its revised plan. A grant or a portion of a grant may be renewed annually over the next three years, if school and district actions to implement the revised plan continue. Should student performance not improve, any revisions to the plan must meet high standards prior to renewal of the grant. The revised plan must be reviewed by the district and board of trustees and the State Department of Education to determine what other actions, if any, need to be taken. A grant may be extended for up to an additional two years, if the State Board of Education determines it is needed to sustain academic improvement. The funds must be expended based on the revised plan and according to criteria established by the State Board of Education. Prior to extending any grant, the Accountability Division shall review school expenditures to make a determination of the effective use of previously awarded grant funds. If deficient use is determined, those deficiencies must be identified, noted, and corrective action taken before a grant extension will be given.

(B)    The State Board of Education, working with the Department of Education and with the approval of the Education Oversight Committee, will shall develop guidelines outlining eligibility for the grant programs and methods of distributing funds which will be in effect until such time as the school ratings in Section 59-18-900(B) are implemented. In developing the eligibility guidelines, the board should consider criteria similar to that used in the former impaired district program. Until such time as regulations are promulgated, the funds shall be distributed on a per teacher basis for use only as outlined in the revised school plan.

(C)    A public school assistance fund shall be established as a separate fund within the state general fund for the purpose of providing financial support to assist poorly performing schools. The fund may consist of grants, gifts, and donations from any public or private source or monies that may be appropriated by the General Assembly for this purpose. Income from the fund shall be retained in the fund. All funds may be carried forward from fiscal year to fiscal year. The State Treasurer shall invest the monies in this fund in the same manner as other funds under his control are invested. The State Board of Education, in consultation with the commission, shall administer and authorize any disbursements from the fund. The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section.

Section 59-18-1570.    (A)    When a district receives a rating of below average, the State Superintendent, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall appoint an external review committee to study educational programs in that district and identify factors affecting the performance of the district. The review committee must:

(1)    examine all facets of school and district operations, focusing on strengths and weaknesses, determining the extent to which the instructional program is aligned with the content standards and shall make recommendations which draw upon strategies from those who have been successful in raising academic achievement in schools with similar student characteristics;

(2)    consult with parents and community members to gather additional information on the strengths and weaknesses of the district;

(3)    identify personnel changes, if any, that are needed at the school and/or district level and discuss such findings with the board;

(4)    work with school staff, central offices, and local boards of trustees in the design of the district's plan, implementation strategies, and professional development training that can reasonably be expected to improve student performance and increase the rate of student progress in the district;

(5)    identify needed support from the State Department of Education and other sources for targeted long-term technical assistance;

(6)    report its recommendations, no later than three months after the district receives the designation of unsatisfactory, to the superintendent, the district board of trustees, and the State Board of Education; and

(7)    report annually over the next four years to the local board of trustees and state board, or as deemed necessary by the state board, on the district's and school's progress in implementing the plans and recommendations and in improving student performance.

(B)    Within thirty days, the Department of Education must notify the superintendent and the district board of trustees of the recommendations approved by the State Board of Education. Upon the approval of the recommendations, the Department of Education must delineate the activities, support, services, and technical assistance it will provide to support the recommendations and sustain improvement over time. The external review committee must report annually to the local board of trustees and the state board over the next four years, or as deemed necessary by the state board, on the district's progress in implementing the recommendations and improving student performance.

(C)    The review committee shall be composed of State Department of Education staff, representatives from selected school districts, higher education, and business.

Section 59-18-1580.    (A)    If recommendations approved by the State Board of Education are not satisfactorily implemented by the school district according to the time line developed by the State Board of Education, or if student performance has not made the expected progress and the school district is designated as unsatisfactory, the district superintendent and members of the board of trustees shall appear before the State Board of Education to outline the reasons why a state of emergency must not be declared in the district.

(B)    The state superintendent, with the approval of the State Board of Education, is granted authority to:

(1)    furnish continuing advice and technical assistance in implementing the recommendations of the State Board of Education to include establishing and conducting a training program for the district board of trustees and the district superintendent to focus on roles and actions in support of increases in student achievement;

(2)    mediate personnel matters between the district board and district superintendent when the State Board of Education is informed by majority vote of the board or the superintendent that the district board is considering dismissal of the superintendent, and the parties agree to mediation;

(3)    recommend to the Governor that the office of superintendent be declared vacant. If the Governor declares the office vacant, the state superintendent may furnish an interim replacement until the vacancy is filled by the district board of trustees. District boards of trustees negotiating contracts for the superintendency shall include a provision that the contract is void should the Governor declare that office of superintendency vacant pursuant to this section. This contract provision does not apply to any existing contracts but to new contracts or renewal of contracts; and

(4)    declare a state of emergency in the school district and assume management of the school district.

(C)    The district board of trustees may appoint at least two nonvoting members to the board from a pool nominated by the Education Oversight Committee and the State Department of Education. The appointed members shall have demonstrated high levels of knowledge, commitment, and public service, must be recruited and trained for service as appointed board members by the Education Oversight Committee and the State Department of Education, and shall represent the interests of the State Board of Education on the district board. Compensation for the nonvoting members must be paid by the State Board of Education in an amount equal to the compensation paid to the voting members of the district board.

Section 59-18-1590.    To assist schools and school districts as they work to improve classroom practice and student performance, the Department of Education must increase the delivery of quality technical assistance services and the assessment of instructional programs. The department may need to reshape some of its organization and key functions to make them more consistent with the assistance required by schools and districts in developing and implementing local accountability systems and meeting state standards. The Department of Education must:

(1)    establish an ongoing state mechanism to promote successful programs found in South Carolina schools for implementation in schools with similar needs and students, to review evidence on instructional and organizational practices considered to be effective, and to alert schools and classroom teachers to these options and the sources of training and names of implementing schools;

(2)    provide information and technical assistance in understanding state policies, how they fit together, and the best practice in implementing them; and

(3)    establish a process for monitoring information provided for accountability and for assessing improvement efforts and implementation of state laws and policies, which focuses on meeting the intent and purpose of those laws and policies.

Section 59-18-1595.    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and in order to provide assistance at the beginning of the school year, schools may qualify for technical assistance based on the criteria established by the Department of Education Oversight Committee for school ratings and on the most recently available end-of-year assessment scores. In order to best meet the needs of low-performing schools, the funding provided for technical assistance under the Education Accountability Act may be reallocated among the programs and purposes specified in this section. The State Department of Education shall establish criteria for reviewing and assisting schools that will be rated unsatisfactory using a tiered system with the lowest-performing schools receiving highest priority. Not to exceed the statewide total number of specialists stipulated by the Education Accountability Act, the highest priority school assistance shall include a year-long technical assistance team that may include a lead principal or curriculum specialist, or both. All specialists shall have a demonstrated record of success in their field and shall be entitled to the incentives and benefits of a teacher specialist. Technical assistance for below average schools shall be provided to the extent possible in order of need. The State Department of Education shall provide information on the technical assistance strategies and their impact to the State Board of Education, the Education Oversight Committee, the Senate Education Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House of Representatives Education and Public Works Committee, and the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee annually.

Article 17

Public Information

Section 59-18-1700.    (A)    An on-going public information campaign must be established to apprise the public of the status of the public schools and the importance of high standards for academic performance for the public school students of South Carolina. A special committee shall must be appointed by the Chairman of the State Superintendent of Education Oversight Committee to include two committee members representing business and two representing education and others representing business, industry, and education. The committee shall plan and oversee the development of a campaign, including public service announcements for the media and other such avenues as deemed appropriate for informing the public. The plan must be reported to the Governor, the Senate Education Committee, and the House Education and Public Works Committee by March 15, 1999.

(B)    A separate fund within the state general fund will be established to accept grants, gifts, and donations from any public or private source or monies that may be appropriated by the General Assembly for the public information campaign. Members of the Oversight Committee representing business Department of Education will solicit donations for this fund. Income from the fund shall be retained in the fund. All funds may be carried forward from fiscal year to fiscal year. The State Treasurer shall invest the monies in this fund in the same manner as other funds under his control are invested. The Oversight Committee department shall administer and authorize any disbursements from the fund. Private individuals and groups shall must be encouraged to contribute to this endeavor.

Article 19

Miscellaneous

Section 59-18-1910.    The State Board of Education shall establish grant programs to fund homework centers in schools and districts designated as below average and unsatisfactory. Until such time as these ratings are established, all schools in districts declared to be impaired are eligible to receive funding on a per pupil basis. Schools receiving such designations must provide centers that go beyond the regular school hours where students can come and receive assistance in understanding and completing their school work schoolwork. Funds provided for these centers may be used for salaries for certified teachers and for transportation costs. Homework centers meeting the criteria established by the board shall receive funds as appropriated by the General Assembly. For 1998-99, of the funds appropriated for assessment, up to five hundred thousand dollars shall be used for homework centers.

Section 59-18-1920.    (A)    The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education, shall establish a grant program to encourage school districts to pilot test or implement a modified school year or school day schedule. The purpose of the grant is to assist with the additional costs incurred during the intersessions for salaries, transportation, and operations, or for additional costs incurred by lengthening the school day. For a district to qualify for a grant, all the schools within a specific feeder zone or elementary-to-middle-to-high-school attendance area, must be pilot testing or implementing the modified year or day schedule. Districts declared to be impaired will have priority in obtaining such grants.

(B)    To obtain a grant, a district shall submit an application to the state board in a format specified by the Department of Education. The application shall include a plan for implementing a modified year or day that provides the following: more time for student learning, learning opportunities that typically are not available in the regular student day, targeted assistance for students whose academic performance is significantly below promotion standards, more efficient use of facilities and other resources, and evaluations of the impact of the modified schedule. Local district boards of trustees shall require students whose performance in a core subject area, as defined in Section 59-18-300, is the equivalent of a 'D' average or below to attend the intersessions or stay for the lengthened day and receive special assistance in the subject area. Funding for the program is as provided by the General Assembly in the annual appropriations act. Each grant award for program pilot testing or implementation may not exceed a three-year period.

Section 59-18-1930.    The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall provide for a comprehensive review of state and local professional development to include principal leadership development and teacher staff development. The review must provide an analysis of training to include what professional development is offered, how it is offered, the support given to implement skills acquired from professional development, and how the professional development enhances the academic goals outlined in district and school strategic plans. The oversight committee department shall recommend better ways to provide and meet the needs for professional development, to include the use of the existing five contract days for in service. Needed revisions shall must be made to state regulations to promote use of state dollars for training which that meets national standards for staff development.

Upon receipt of the recommendations from the comprehensive review of state and local professional development, The State Department of Education shall develop an accountability system to ensure that identified professional development standards are effectively implemented. As part of this system the department shall provide information on the identified standards to all principals and other professional development leaders. Training for all school districts in how to design comprehensive professional development programs that are consistent with the standards shall also be a part of the implementation. A variety of staff development options that address effective teaching and assessment of state academic standards and workforce preparation skills shall be included in the information provided to principals and other professional development leaders to ensure high levels of student achievement."

SECTION    3.    Section 59-1-450 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-1-450.    The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education and in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall promulgate regulations for establishing parenting/family literacy programs to support parents in their role as the principal teachers of their preschool children. The programs must provide parent education to parents and guardians who have children ages birth through five years and who choose to participate in the programs and must include intensive and special efforts to recruit parents or guardians whose children are at risk for school failure. The program or programs also should include developmental screening for children and offer parents of children from birth through five years opportunities to improve their education if the parents do not possess a high school diploma or equivalent certificate.

The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education and after consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall promulgate regulations to implement parenting/family literacy programs in all school districts or consortia of school districts. Priority must be given to serving those parents whose children are considered at risk for school failure according to criteria established by the State Board of Education. From funds appropriated for the programs, an adequate number of those parenting programs funded under the Target 2000 Act shall receive priority in funding for fiscal years 1993-94 and 1994-95 and must be funded at no less than the level received in fiscal year 1992-93 contingent upon their agreeing to provide technical assistance to other districts and schools planning and implementing parenting/family literacy programs in concert with the Department of Education's technical assistance process required in this chapter. Only those projects whose evaluations show them to be most effective may be selected based on criteria developed by the State Department of Education in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee.

Beginning in fiscal year 1995-96 for districts with Target 2000 Act parenting programs and in fiscal year 1993-94 for all other school districts and district consortia, funding must be allocated to districts and consortia serving more than two thousand pupils on a base amount of not less than forty thousand dollars with any additional appropriation to be distributed based on the number of free and reduced-price lunch-eligible students in grades one through three in a district or consortium relative to the total free and reduced-price lunch-eligible students in grades one through three in the State. The programs developed in each district and consortium may draw upon lessons learned from parenting programs funded under this section.

The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education, in developing the regulations for this program shall consult with representatives of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Department of Social Services, the South Carolina State Library, and Health and Human Services Finance Commission, and with adult education and early childhood specialists. In developing the regulations, the State Board and State Department of Education shall consider the guidelines developed for the Target 2000 Act parenting programs and any available evaluation data.

By December, 1993, the chairman of the Human Services Coordinating Council shall convene a committee consisting of supervisors of programs dealing with early childhood and parenting from the Department of Education, Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Department of Social Services, the South Carolina State Library, and the Health and Human Services Finance Commission; at least one representative from each of these agencies who administer these programs at the county and district level; and adult education and early childhood specialists. The Executive Director of the Finance Commission shall chair this committee. By July 1, 1994, this committee shall report to the Department of Education Oversight Committee and the Joint Committee on Children ways to better coordinate programs for parenting and literacy and recommend changes to each agency's state regulations or provisions of law which would better promote coordination of programs. The Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Department of Social Services, and the Health and Human Services Finance Commission shall direct their employees at the county and district levels to cooperate with school district officials in establishing parenting/family literacy programs."

SECTION    4.    Section 59-1-452(B) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 49 of 2005, is further amended to read:

"(B) Committee members shall serve three-year terms except that of those initially appointed, four shall serve initial terms of one year, four shall serve initial terms of two years, and four shall serve initial terms of three years, these initial terms to be determined by lot at the first meeting of the committee. A member of the committee may not serve on the Education Improvement Act Education Oversight Committee, the Business-Education Partnership for Excellence in Education, or the Business-Education Subcommittee while serving on the committee created under this section. A committee member shall attend at least eighty percent of the meetings of the committee in each fiscal year or be replaced. A vacancy must be filled in the manner of original appointment."

SECTION    5.    Section 59-1-453 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-1-453.    For the purposes of the Target 2000-School Reform for the Next Decade Act (1989 Act No. 194), the Department of Education Oversight Committee, as provided for in Section 59-6-10, shall serve as the oversight committee for the provisions of the Target 2000-School Reform for the Next Decade Act (1989 Act No. 194). The Education Oversight Committee shall oversee the planning, development, and implementation of the provisions as contained in Target 2000 and shall monitor the expenditures of the funds appropriated. Each state agency and entity responsible for implementing Target 2000 funded programs must submit annually to the Department of Education Oversight Committee programs and expenditure reports and budget requests in a manner prescribed by the Department of Education Oversight Committee."

SECTION    6.    Section 59-21-440 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-21-440.    The State Department of Education shall provide a monthly report to the State Board of Education, the Education Oversight Committee, the Committee on Financing Excellence, and the Education-Business Partnership on approved expenditures and compliance with the tax reduction requirement."

SECTION    7.    Section 59-21-600 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-21-600.    Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 59-21-540, and in order to insure adequate educational services for trainable mentally handicapped pupils and profoundly mentally handicapped pupils in South Carolina school districts, the State Board of Education, upon the recommendation of the Education Oversight Committee, through the State Department of Education shall develop a Regulation for distribution of funds appropriated by the General Assembly for this purpose."

SECTION    8.    Section 59-21-1210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-21-1210.    The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee, shall develop and implement a campus incentive program to reward faculty members who demonstrate superior performance and productivity. Funds for the campus incentive program must be provided by the General Assembly in the annual general appropriations act."

SECTION    9.    Section 59-21-1220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-21-1220.    The campus incentive program must be developed based on the following guidelines:

(1)    exceptional improvement in or the maintenance of superior student performance, with consideration given to rewarding schools which demonstrate exceptional improvement or maintenance of superior performance by all the groups of students at various levels of performance;

(2)    the school must have met or surpassed the goals and strategies outlined in its school improvement report;

(3)    no faculty member may receive funds under the incentive program unless all the established eligibility criteria are met;

(4)    faculty, for the purposes of this program, includes principals, assistant principals, vocational education directors, special education teachers, kindergarten teachers, classroom teachers, librarian/media specialists, guidance counselors, psychologists, school nurses, aides, and others as determined by the advisory committee;

(5)    consideration must be given to using part of each campus incentive reward for faculty use for school improvement for such activities as research, planning meetings, curriculum development, where faculty are paid for their time and effort, and for allowing faculty to consider such uses of the faculty incentive reward;

(6)    no later than August 1, 1991, a campus incentive advisory committee must be appointed to advise on the development and implementation of the program. The advisory committee must be appointed, after receiving nominations, as set forth in this item, and consists of six at-large members, three appointed by the Governor and three appointed by the State Superintendent of Education, and the following members appointed by the State Board of Education:

(i)        one school board member;

(ii)    two elementary teachers;

(iii)    two middle or junior high school teachers;

(iv)    two secondary school teachers;

(v)    one elementary school principal;

(vi)    one middle or junior high school principal;

(vii)    one secondary school principal;

(viii)one district superintendent;

(ix)    one guidance counselor;

(x)    one assistant principal; and

(xi)    one teacher's aide.

The State Board of Education shall request:

(a)    each statewide professional teacher organization to nominate at least two qualified continuing contract teachers for each teacher position on the committee;

(b)    a statewide organization representing administrators (principals and superintendents) to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the administrator positions on the committee;

(c)    a statewide organization to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the guidance counselor position on the committee;

(d)    a statewide organization representing school boards to nominate at least two qualified candidates for the school board position on the committee.

Each nominating organization shall seek qualified candidates from the entire pool of persons eligible to serve and shall make nominations to the state board based on merit and without regard to membership in the nominating organization.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that funds for the campus incentive program must be distributed to districts on a per pupil basis but with a minimum amount per faculty member in schools qualifying for the program reward; however, the advisory committee may recommend an alternative distribution method. The per pupil allocation must be based on the one hundred thirty-five day count of average daily membership for the preceding fiscal year.

The State Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee, shall develop regulations to ensure that the campus incentive funds are used in an appropriate manner and to establish a procedure for redistributing funds from districts that do not require all of their allocations. The General Assembly shall determine each year in the general appropriations act the amount of campus incentive funds, which must be included in the calculation of the South Carolina average teacher salary.

To enable school faculties to undertake needed work in the area of school improvement and planning, and such activities as research, curriculum development, coordination of courses, and special projects, or other activities the faculty may wish to undertake for improving student performance, development, and learning and coordination of services with other social and health agencies, the General Assembly shall set aside in the annual general appropriations act other campus incentive funds which must be used by the school districts and any interested schools to compensate faculty for their time and effort. The State Board of Education shall promulgate guidelines that ensure that the districts of the State utilize these funds in an appropriate manner and to establish a procedure for redistributing funds from districts that do not require all of their allocation."

SECTION    10.    Section 59-24-65 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-24-65.    The State Department of Education shall establish a Principals' Executive Institute (PEI) with the funds appropriated for that purpose.

(1)    A task force appointed by the State Superintendent of Education shall begin on or before July 1, 1999, to design this program so that the first class of participants shall begin during school year 1999-2000. The task force shall include, but is not limited to, representatives from the State Department of Education, business leaders, university faculty, district superintendents, school principals, South Carolina Teachers of the Year, representatives from professional organizations, members of the Education Oversight Committee, and appropriate legislative staff.

(2)    The purpose of the PEI is to provide professional development to South Carolinas principals in management and school leadership skills.

(3)    By January 1, 2000, the State Board of Education shall establish regulations governing the operation of the PEI.

(4)    The focus of the first year of the Principals' Executive Institute shall be to serve the twenty-seven principals from impaired schools and other experienced principals as identified by the South Carolina Leadership Academy of the Department of Education and as approved by the local public school districts which employ such principals.

(5)    The creation of the Principals' Executive Institute shall not duplicate the State Department of Educations Leadership Academy programs but shall provide intensive, in-depth training in business principles and concepts as they relate to school management and the training and developmental programs for principals mandated under the 1998 Education Accountability Act."

SECTION    11.    Section 59-24-100 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-24-100.    The State Board of Education acting with the assistance of the Department of Education Oversight Committee shall cause to be developed and implemented a school principal incentive program to reward school principals who demonstrate superior performance and productivity. Funds for school principal incentive programs must be provided by the General Assembly in the annual general appropriation act."

SECTION    12.    Section 59-24-110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-24-110.    The school principal incentive program must be developed based on the following guidelines:

(1)    The State Board of Education shall identify incentive criteria in school year 1984-85. The State Board shall cause no more than three programs to be developed or selected in nine school districts in school year 1985-86. Pilot testing of no more than these three programs must occur in nine school districts, designated by the State Board upon the recommendation of the Department of Education Oversight Committee, in school year 1986-87 and by regulation implemented statewide beginning with school year 1987-88.

(2)    No school principals shall receive funds under the incentive program unless the individual meets or exceeds all eligibility standards set out in the district's program.

(3)    Prior to the 1987-88 school year, the State Board, with the assistance of an advisory committee it appoints, and acting through the State Department of Education, shall establish by regulation an incentive program for rewarding and retaining principals who demonstrate superior performance and productivity.

(4)    The incentive program shall include: (a) evaluation for instructional leadership performance as it related to improved student learning and development; (b) evaluation by a team which includes school administrators, teachers, and peers; (c) evidence of self-improvement through advanced training; (d) meaningful participation of school principals in the development of the plan; and (e) working with student teachers whenever possible.

(5)    Funds for the school principal incentive program must be distributed to the school districts of the State on a per principal basis. Principal incentive rewards may not exceed five thousand dollars a principal.

The State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations that ensure that the districts of the state utilize the funds in an appropriate manner and establish a procedure for redistributing funds from districts that do not require all of their allocations."

SECTION    13.    Section 59-26-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 307 of 2004, is further amended to read:

"Section 59-26-20.    The State Board of Education, through the State Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education shall:

(a)    develop and implement a plan for the continuous evaluation and upgrading of standards for program approval of undergraduate and graduate education training programs of colleges and universities in this State;

(b)    adopt policies and procedures which that result in visiting teams with a balanced composition of teachers, administrators, and higher education faculties;

(c)    establish program approval procedures which shall assure that all members of visiting teams which review and approve undergraduate and graduate education programs have attended training programs in program approval procedures within two years prior to service on such teams;

(d)    render advice and aid to departments and colleges of education concerning their curricula, program approval standards, and results on the examinations provided for in this chapter;

(e)    adopt program approval standards so that all colleges and universities in this State that offer undergraduate degrees in education shall require that students successfully complete the basic skills examination that is developed in compliance with this chapter before final admittance into the undergraduate teacher education program. These program approval standards shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1)    A student initially may take the basic skills examination during his first or second year in college.

(2)    Students may be allowed to take the examination no more than four times.

(3)    If a student has not passed the examination, he may not be conditionally admitted to a teacher education program after December 1, 1996. After December 1, 1996, any person who has failed to achieve a passing score on all sections of the examination after two attempts may retake for a third time any test section not passed in the manner allowed by this section. The person shall first complete a remedial or developmental course from a post-secondary institution in the subject area of any test section not passed and provide satisfactory evidence of completion of this required remedial or developmental course to the State Superintendent of Education. A third administration of the examination then may be given to this person. If the person fails to pass the examination after the third attempt, after a period of three years, he may take the examination or any sections not passed for a fourth time under the same terms and conditions provided by this section of persons desiring to take the examination for a third time.

Provided, that in addition to the above approval standards, beginning in 1984-85, additional and upgraded approval standards must be developed, in consultation with the Commission on Higher Education, and promulgated by the State Board of Education for these teacher education programs.

(f)    administer the basic skills examination provided for in this section three times a year;

(g)    report the results of the examination to the colleges, universities, and student in such form that he will be provided specific information about his strengths and weaknesses and given consultation to assist in improving his performance;

(h)    adopt program approval standards so that all colleges and universities in this State that offer undergraduate degrees in education shall require that students pursuing courses leading to teacher certification successfully complete one semester of student teaching and other field experiences and teacher development techniques directly related to practical classroom situations;

(i)        adopt program approval standards whereby each student teacher must be evaluated and assisted by a representative or representatives of the college or university in which the student teacher is enrolled. Evaluation and assistance processes shall be locally developed or selected by colleges or universities in accordance with State Board of Education regulations. Processes shall evaluate and assist student teachers based on the criteria for teaching effectiveness developed in accordance with this chapter. All college and university representatives who are involved in the evaluation and assistance process shall receive appropriate training as defined by State Board of Education regulations. The college or university in which the student teacher is enrolled shall make available assistance, training, and counseling to the student teacher to overcome any identified deficiencies;

(j)        the Commission on Higher Education, in consultation with the State Department of Education and the staff of the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, shall develop a loan program whereby talented and qualified state residents may be provided loans to attend public or private colleges and universities for the sole purpose and intent of becoming certified teachers employed in the State in areas of critical need. Areas of critical need shall include both geographic areas and areas of teacher certification and must be defined annually for that purpose by the State Board of Education. The definitions used in the federal Perkins Loan Program shall serve as the basis for defining 'critical geographical areas'. The recipient of a loan is entitled to have up to one hundred percent of the amount of the loan plus the interest canceled if he becomes certified and teaches in an area of critical need. Should the area of critical need that the loan recipient is teaching in be reclassified during the time of cancellation, the cancellation shall continue as though the critical need area had not changed. Additionally, beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, a teacher with a teacher loan through the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation shall qualify, if the teacher is teaching in an area newly designated as a critical needs area (geographic or subject, or both). Previous loan payments shall not be reimbursed. The Department of Education and the local school district shall be responsible for annual distribution of the critical needs list. It shall be the responsibility of the teacher to request loan cancellation through service in a critical needs area to the Student Loan Corporation by November 1.

Beginning July 1, 2000, the loan must be canceled at the rate of twenty percent or three thousand dollars, whichever is greater, of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance for each complete year of teaching service in either an academic critical need area or in a geographic need area. The loan must be canceled at the rate of thirty-three and one-third percent, or five thousand dollars, whichever is greater, of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance for each complete year of teaching service in both an academic critical need area and a geographic need area. Beginning July 1, 2000, all loan recipients teaching in the public schools of South Carolina but not in an academic or geographic critical need area are to be charged an interest rate below that charged to loan recipients who do not teach in South Carolina.

Additional loans to assist with college and living expenses shall be made available for talented and qualified state residents attending public or private colleges and universities in this State for the sole purpose and intent of changing careers in order to become certified teachers employed in the State in areas of critical need. These loan funds also may be used for the cost of participation in the critical needs certification program pursuant to Section 59-26-30(A)(8). Such loans must be cancelled under the same conditions and at the same rates as other critical need loans.

In case of failure to make a scheduled repayment of any installment, failure to apply for cancellation of deferment of the loan on time, or noncompliance by a borrower with the intent of the loan, the entire unpaid indebtedness including accrued interest, at the option of the commission, shall become immediately due and payable. The recipient shall execute the necessary legal documents to reflect his obligation and the terms and conditions of the loan. The loan program, if implemented, pursuant to the South Carolina Education Improvement Act, is to be administered by the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. Funds generated from repayments to the loan program must be retained in a separate account and utilized as a revolving account for the purpose that the funds were originally appropriated. Appropriations for loans and administrative costs incurred by the corporation are to be provided in annual amounts, recommended by the Commission on Higher Education, to the State Treasurer for use by the corporation. The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall review the loan program annually and report to the General Assembly;.

Notwithstanding another provision of this item:

(1)    For a student seeking loan forgiveness pursuant to the Teacher Loan Program after July 1, 2004, 'critical geographic area' must be defined as a school that:

(a)    has an absolute rating of below average or unsatisfactory;

(b)    has an average teacher turnover rate for the past three years that is twenty percent or higher; or

(c)    meets the poverty index criteria at the seventy percent level or higher.

(2)    After July 1, 2004, a student shall have his loan forgiven based on those schools or districts designated as critical geographic areas at the time of employment.

(3)    The definition of critical geographic area must not change for a student who has a loan, or who is in the process of having a loan forgiven before July 1, 2004.

(k)    for special education in the area of vision, adopt program approval standards for initial certification and amend the approved program of specific course requirements for adding certification so that students receive appropriate training and can demonstrate competence in reading and writing braille;

(l)        adopt program approval standards so that students who are pursuing a program in a college or university in this State, which leads to certification as instructional or administrative personnel shall complete successfully training and teacher development experiences in teaching higher order thinking skills;

(m)    adopt program approval standards so that programs in a college or university in this State, which lead to certification as administrative personnel must include training in methods of making school improvement councils an active and effective force in improving schools;

(n)    the Commission on Higher Education in consultation with the State Department of Education and the staff of the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation, shall develop a Governor's Teaching Scholarship Loan Program to provide talented and qualified state residents loans not to exceed five thousand dollars a year to attend public or private colleges and universities for the purpose of becoming certified teachers employed in the public schools of this State. The recipient of a loan is entitled to have up to one hundred percent of the amount of the loan plus the interest on the loan canceled if he becomes certified and teaches in the public schools of this State for at least five years. The loan is canceled at the rate of twenty percent of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance for each complete year of teaching service in a public school. However, beginning July 1, 1990, the loan is canceled at the rate of thirty-three and one-third percent of the total principal amount of the loan plus interest on the unpaid balance for each complete year of teaching service in both an academic critical need area and a geographic need area as defined annually by the State Board of Education. In case of failure to make a scheduled repayment of any installment, failure to apply for cancellation or deferment of the loan on time, or noncompliance by a borrower with the purpose of the loan, the entire unpaid indebtedness plus interest is, at the option of the commission, immediately due and payable. The recipient shall execute the necessary legal documents to reflect his obligation and the terms and conditions of the loan. The loan program must be administered by the South Carolina Student Loan Corporation. Funds generated from repayments to the loan program must be retained in a separate account and utilized as a revolving account for the purpose of making additional loans. Appropriations for loans and administrative costs must come from the Education Improvement Act of 1984 Fund, on the recommendation of the Commission on Higher Education to the State Treasurer, for use by the corporation. The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall review this scholarship loan program annually and report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly. For purposes of this item, a 'talented and qualified state resident' includes freshmen students who graduate in the top ten percentile of their high school class, or who receive a combined verbal plus mathematics Scholastic Aptitude Test score of at least eleven hundred and enrolled students who have completed one year (two semesters or the equivalent) of collegiate work and who have earned a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. To remain eligible for the loan while in college, the student must maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale."

SECTION    14.    Section 59-28-150 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-28-150.    The State Superintendent of Education shall:

(1)    promote parental involvement as a priority for all levels from pre-K through grade 12, with particular emphasis at the middle and high school levels where parental involvement is currently least visible;

(2)    designate a Department of Education staff position whose specific role is to coordinate statewide initiatives to support school and district parental involvement;

(3)    collect and disseminate to districts and schools practices shown by research to be effective in increasing parental involvement at all grade levels;

(4)    provide parental involvement staff development training for district and school liaisons, as needed;

(5)    provide technical assistance relating to parental involvement training to districts and schools;

(6)    sponsor statewide conferences on best practices;

(7)    identify, recommend, and implement ways to integrate programs and funding for maximum benefit to enhance parental involvement;

(8)    enroll the Department of Education as a state member of national organizations which promote proven parental involvement frameworks, models, and practices and provide related services to state and local members;

(9)    promote and encourage local school districts to join national parental involvement organizations; and

(10)    monitor and evaluate parental involvement programs statewide by designing a statewide system which will determine program effectiveness and identify best practices and report evaluation findings and implications to the General Assembly, State Board of Education, and Department of Education Oversight Committee."

SECTION    15.    Section 59-28-190 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-28-190.    The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall survey parents to determine if state and local efforts are effective in increasing parental involvement. This information shall be used in the public awareness campaign required by the Education Accountability Act to promote the importance of parental involvement. The campaign shall include:

(1)    advice for parents on how to help their children be successful in school and the importance of nurturing their children's skills and abilities;

(2)    requests to employers, state agencies, entities, community groups, nonprofit organizations, and faith communities that work with children and families to distribute and display parent advice and other pertinent parent information;

(3)    promotion of the benefits of increased productivity, loyalty, and sense of community which that result from parent-friendly workplace policies;

(4)    ideas and encouragement to employers to adopt parent-friendly workplace policies and to provide information on the importance of parents to a child's academic success;

(5)    recognition of businesses and employers where parent-friendly policies have been adopted; and

(6)    recognition of agencies and faith communities that have supported and increased parental involvement."

SECTION    16.    Section 59-28-200 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 254 of 2006, is further amended to read:

"Section 59-28-200.    The Department of Education Oversight Committee and the State Superintendent of Education shall develop and publish jointly informational materials for distribution to all public school parents and to teachers. The informational materials for distribution shall include:

(1)    an explanation of the grade-level academic content standards and advice on how parents can help their children achieve the standards and the relationship of the standards to the state assessments; and

(2)    printed information about the standards and advice relative to parental involvement in their children's education for visible display and use in every public school K-12 classroom."

SECTION    17.    Section 59-28-210 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-28-210.    The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall disseminate the informational materials prepared pursuant to Section 59-28-200 to all districts and schools."

SECTION    18.    Section 59-28-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-28-220.    The Department of Education Oversight Committee, in cooperation with representatives of the Department of Commerce, the Department of Revenue, and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, shall develop recommendations for employer tax credits as incentives to:

(1)    provide parent-employee release time for parent-teacher conferences or attendance at their children's academic-related events without loss of pay; and

(2)    develop workplace policies which that enable parents to improve their literacy, assist their children with academics, and become more involved in their child's education as a result of employers working with local school officials.

Recommendations shall be reported to the Senate Finance and Education Committees, House Ways and Means Committee, and the House Education and Public Works Committee no later than January 1, 2001."

SECTION    19.    Section 59-29-170 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-29-170.    Not later than August 15, 1987, gifted and talented students at the elementary and secondary levels must be provided programs during the regular school year or during summer school to develop their unique talents in the manner the State Board of Education must specify and to the extent state funds are provided. The Department of Education Oversight Committee shall study the implementation of this section and report its findings to the General Assembly by July 1, 1986. By August 15, 1984, the State Board of Education shall promulgate regulations establishing the criteria for student eligibility in Gifted and Talented Programs. The funds appropriated for Gifted and Talented Programs under the Education Improvement Act of 1984 must be allocated to the school districts of the State on the basis that the number of gifted and talented students served in each district bears to the total of all those students in the State. However, districts unable to identify more than forty students using the selection criteria established by regulations of the State Board of Education shall receive fifteen thousand dollars annually.     Provided, further, school districts shall serve gifted and talented students according to the following order of priority:

(1)    grades 3-12 academically identified gifted and talented students not included in the state-funded Advanced Placement Program for eleventh and twelfth grade students;

(2)    after all students eligible under priority one are served, students in grades 3-12 identified in one of the following visual and performing arts areas: dance, drama, music, and visual arts must be served; and

(3)    after all students eligible under priorities one and two are served, students in grades 1 and 2 identified as academically or artistically gifted and talented must be served. All categories of students identified and served shall be funded at a weight of .30 for the base student cost as provided in Chapter 20 of this title. Where funds are insufficient to serve all students in a given category, the district may determine which students within the category shall be served. Provided, further, no district shall be prohibited from using local funds to serve additional students above those for whom state funds are provided."

SECTION    20.    Section 59-29-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-29-220.    The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the South Carolina Arts Commission, shall plan and develop discipline-based arts education curricula in the visual arts, music, dance, and drama, which complies with the State Department of Education discipline-based arts education curriculum framework. The State Board of Education shall cause the arts education curricula to be pilot tested in selected school districts during 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-93 and shall provide teacher in-service training programs for arts specialists and classroom teachers.

After pilot testing, the State Board of Education shall establish regulations related to in-service training and curriculum development in cooperation with the Arts in Basic Curriculum Steering Committee and after consultation with the Department of Education Oversight Committee. These regulations shall encourage innovation and flexibility and reflect the integrity of instruction required by each arts discipline. These regulations must be developed in cooperation with school and district-level teachers and administrators.

Funds for the program must be used by the school districts to:

(1)    plan, develop, and implement discipline-based arts education curricula in the visual arts, music, dance, or drama compatible with the State Department of Education discipline-based arts education curriculum framework;

(2)    provide teacher in-service training programs for arts specialists or appropriate classroom teachers or both which are approved by the State Department of Education working with the state's colleges and universities;

(3)    hire certified arts specialists or contract with professional artists approved by the South Carolina Arts Commission to assist certified arts specialists or appropriate classroom teachers or both in planning, developing, and implementing discipline-based arts education curricula.

The Joint Legislative Study Committee on Formula Funding shall review whether or not arts education should be given a weighting under the Education Finance Act, if appropriate, recommend a weighting, and report to the Department of Education Oversight Committee by December 1, 1990. The General Assembly shall phase in the arts education program and funding for the arts education program after piloting over three years in substantially equal annual intervals."

SECTION    21.    Section 59-40-70(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 274 of 2006, is further amended to read:

"(A)    The Charter School Advisory Committee must be established by the State Board of Education to review charter school applications for compliance with established standards that reflect the requirements and intent of this chapter. Members must be appointed by the State Board of Education unless otherwise indicated.

(1)    The advisory committee shall consist of eleven members as follows:

(a)    South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools, the president or his designee and one additional representative from the association;

(b)    South Carolina Association of School Administrators, the executive director or his designee;

(c)    South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the executive director or his designee and one additional representative from the chamber;

(d)    South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, the chair or a business designee a representative from the Department of Education;

(e)    South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the chair or his designee;

(f)    South Carolina School Boards Association, the executive director or his designee;

(g)    South Carolina Alliance of Black Educators, the president or his designee; and

(h)    one teacher and one parent to be appointed by the State Superintendent of Education.

(2)    As an application is reviewed, a representative from the board of trustees from which the committee is seeking sponsorship and a representative of the charter committee shall serve on the advisory committee as ex officio nonvoting members. If the applicant indicates a proposed contractual agreement with the local school district in which the charter school is located, a representative from the local school board of trustees of that district shall serve on the advisory committee as an ex officio, nonvoting member.

(3)    Appointing authorities shall give consideration to the appointment of minorities and women as representatives on the committee.

(4)    The committee shall establish bylaws for its operation that must include terms of office for its membership.

(5)    An applicant shall submit the application to the advisory committee and one copy to the school board of trustees of the district from which it is seeking sponsorship. In the case of the South Carolina Public Charter School District, the applicant shall provide notice of the application to the local school board of trustees in which the charter school will be located for informational purposes only. The advisory committee shall receive input from the school district in which the applicant is seeking sponsorship and shall request clarifying information from the applicant. An applicant may submit an application to the advisory committee at any time during the fiscal year and the advisory committee, within sixty days, shall determine whether the application is in compliance. An application that is in compliance must be forwarded to the school district from which the applicant is seeking sponsorship with a letter stating the application is in compliance. The letter also shall include a recommendation from the Charter School Advisory Committee to approve or deny the charter. The letter must specify the reasons for its recommendation. This recommendation is nonbinding on the school board of trustees. If the application is in noncompliance, it must be returned to the applicant with deficiencies noted. The applicant may appeal the decision to the State Board of Education."

SECTION    22.    Section 59-40-230(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 274 of 2006, is amended to read:

"(A)    The South Carolina Public Charter School District must be governed by a board of trustees consisting of not more than eleven members:

(1)    two appointed by the Governor;

(2)    one appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(3)    one appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate; and

(4)    seven to be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the:

(a)    South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools and one additional representative from the association;

(b)    South Carolina Association of School Administrators;

(c)    South Carolina Chamber of Commerce;

(d)    South Carolina Department of Education Oversight Committee;

(e)    South Carolina School Boards Association;

(f)    South Carolina Alliance of Black Educators.

The nine members appointed by the Governor pursuant to this subsection are subject to advice and consent of the Senate. Membership of the committee must reflect representatives from each of the entities in item (A)(4) or their designee as reflected in their recommendation.

Each member of the board of trustees shall serve terms of three years, except that, for the initial members, two appointed by the Governor, one by the Speaker of the House, and one by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, shall serve terms of one year and three appointed by the Governor shall serve terms of two years. A member of the board may be removed after appointment pursuant to Section 1-3-240. In making appointments, every effort must be made to ensure that all geographic areas of the State are represented and that the membership reflects urban and rural areas of the State as well as the ethnic diversity of the State."

SECTION    23.    Section 59-50-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 84 of 2005, is further amended to read:

"Section 59-50-20.    The school is governed by a board of directors composed of sixteen members, as follows:

(1)    one member from each congressional district, appointed by the Governor;

(2)    six members from the State at large, appointed by the Governor;

(3)    the Chairman of the Education Oversight Committee or his designee a representative from the Department of Education who serves ex officio;

(4)    the State Superintendent of Education or his designee who serves ex officio;

(5)    the Executive Director of the Commission on Higher Education or his designee who serves ex officio; and

(6)    the chairman of the school's foundation board or his designee who serves ex officio.

Members appointed by the Governor serve for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Members receive mileage, subsistence, and per diem allowed by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions.

In making the appointments, the Governor shall seek to obtain the most qualified persons from business, industry, and the educational and arts communities."

SECTION    24.    Section 59-59-170(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 88 of 2005, is amended to read:

"(A)    There is created the Education and Economic Development Coordinating Council. The council is comprised of the following members representing the geographic regions of the State and must be representative of the ethnic, gender, rural, and urban diversity of the State:

(1)    State Superintendent of Education or his designee;

(2)    Executive Director of the South Carolina Employment Security Commission or his designee;

(3)    Executive Director of the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education or his designee;

(4)    Secretary of the Department of Commerce or his designee;

(5) Executive Director of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce or his designee;

(6)    Executive Director of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education or his designee;

(7)    the following members who must be appointed by the State superintendent of Education:

(a)    a school district superintendent;

(b)    a principal;

(c)    a school guidance counselor;

(d)    a teacher; and

(e)    the director of a career and technology center;

(8)    the following members who must be appointed by the Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education:

(a)    the president or provost of a research university;

(b)    the president or provost of a four-year college or university; and

(c)    the president of a technical college;

(9)    ten representatives of business appointed by the Governor, at least one of which must represent small business. Of the representatives appointed by the Governor, five must be recommended by state-wide organizations representing business and industry. The chair is to be selected by the Governor from one of his appointees;

(10)    Chairman of the Education Oversight Committee or his designee a representative from the Department of Education;

(11)    a member from the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; and

(12)    a member from the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore.

Initial appointments must be made by October 1, 2005, at which time the Governor shall call the first meeting. Appointments made by the Superintendent of Education, and the Governor are to ensure that the demographics and diversity of this State are represented."

SECTION    25.    Section 59-63-65 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-63-65.    School districts which that choose to reduce class size to fifteen to one in grades one through three shall be eligible for funding for the reduced pupil-teacher ratios from funds provided by the General Assembly for this purpose. Funding for schools in districts designated as impaired or for schools rated as unsatisfactory on the accountability ratings will receive priority in the distribution of funds. Funding for the impaired district schools and schools ranked unsatisfactory will be allocated based on the average daily membership in grades one through three in those schools for implementing reduced class size of fifteen to one in those grades. Other school districts will receive funding allocated based on free and reduced lunch eligible students. Local match is required for the lower ratio funding based on the Education Finance Act formula. Boards of trustees of each school district may implement the lower pupil-teacher ratios on a school by school, grade by grade, or class by class basis. District boards of trustees implementing the reduced ratios must establish policies to give priority to reduce the ratios in schools with the highest number of students eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program, and these students must be given priority in implementing the reduced class size. Unobligated funds from state appropriations which become available to a district during a fiscal year shall be redistributed to fund additional teachers on a prorated basis.

Districts choosing to implement the reduced class size must track the students served in classes with a 15:1 ratio for three years so that the impact of smaller class size can be evaluated. The Department of Education, working with the Accountability Division, will develop a plan for evaluating the impact of this initiative and report to the Education Oversight Committee no later than December 1, 2001. School districts must document the use of these funds to reduce class size and the State Department of Education will conduct audits to confirm appropriate use of class size reduction funding.

As used in this section, 'teacher' refers to an employee possessing a professional certificate issued by the State Department of Education whose full-time responsibility is instruction of students. Pupil-teacher ratio is based on average daily membership.

Portable or other temporary classroom space may be used to meet any facilities needs for reducing class size to fifteen to one, and notwithstanding the provisions of Section 59-144-30, funding derived from the Children's Education Endowment Fund may be used to acquire such portable or temporary facilities."

SECTION    26.    Section 59-139-10(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(A)    The State Board of Education, through the Department of Education and in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall develop and implement regulations requiring that beginning in school year 1993-94 and by school year 1994-95, each school district, in coordination with its schools, and each school in the district shall design a comprehensive, long-range plan with annual updates to carry out the purposes of this chapter. To that end, the plans shall:

(1)    establish an early childhood initiative which integrates the planning and direction of the half-day program for four-year-olds established in Section 59-5-65, the parenting program established in Section 59-1-450, the early childhood assistance program established in Section 59-139-20, school practices in kindergarten through grade three, and any other federal, state, or district programs for preschool children in the district in order to better focus on the needs of this student population;

(2)    develop an academic assistance initiative to support students with academic difficulties in grades four through twelve so they are able to progress academically and move through school with their peers; and

(3)    provide staff training, upon appropriation of funds by the General Assembly for this purpose, to prepare and train teachers and administrators in the teaching techniques and strategies needed to implement the district and school plan."

SECTION    27.    Section 59-139-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-139-40.    By December, 1993, the State Board of Education, through the Department of Education and in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall develop criteria for the monitoring of the district and school plans and the implementation of the plans required in this chapter."

SECTION    28.    Section 59-139-50 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-139-50.    By September, 1993, the Department of Education, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the Education Oversight Committee, shall develop a written plan outlining the process for providing technical assistance to districts in designing their overall plans and implementing those plans, including compiling and disseminating research on effective practice and contracting with recognized groups for providing expertise to the districts and schools in the areas addressed by this chapter."

SECTION    29.    Section 59-139-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-139-60.    The State Board of Education, through the State Department of Education and in consultation with the Education Oversight Committee, shall establish an assessment system to evaluate the degree to which the purposes of this chapter are met. To that end, the State Board of Education, through the Department of Education shall:

(1)    develop or adapt a developmentally appropriate assessment program to be administered to all public school students by the end of grade three that is designed to measure a student's strengths and weaknesses in skills required to perform academic work considered to be at the fourth grade level. Information on each student's progress and on areas in need of improvement must be provided to the student's parent and fourth grade teacher. Aggregated information on student progress must be given to the students' kindergarten through third grade schools so that deficiencies in the schools' academic programs can be addressed;

(2)    review the performance of students on the eighth grade basic skills assessment test and performance on the exit examination pursuant to Section 59-30-10, or their equivalent, for progress in meeting the skill levels required by these examinations. Student data must be aggregated by the schools the students attended so that programs' deficiencies can be addressed;

(3)    review the data on students' overage for grade in each school at grades four and nine;

(4)    monitor the performance of schools and districts so that continuing weaknesses in the programs preparing students for the fourth grade, ninth grade, and exit examination shall receive special assistance from the Department of Education; and

(5)    propose other methods or measures for assessing how well the purposes of this chapter are met."

SECTION    30.    Section 59-150-325(A)(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(1)    There is created as a committee, the South Carolina Education Lottery Oversight Committee, to be composed of twelve members. The members of the committee must be appointed as follows: the Speaker of the House of Representatives appoints three members, one of whom must be the Chairman of the House Education and Public Works Committee; the President Pro Tempore of the Senate appoints three members, one of whom must be the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee; the Chairman of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education appoints three members; and the Chairman of the South Carolina State Superintendent of Education Oversight Committee appoints three members. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate must each appoint one co-chairman from the membership of the South Carolina Education Lottery Oversight Committee. The oversight committee must periodically, but at least annually, inquire into and review the operations of the commission and review and evaluate the success with which the commission is accomplishing its statutory duties and functions as provided in this chapter. The oversight committee must also hold an annual public hearing and may conduct an independent audit or investigation of the commission as necessary."

SECTION    31.    Section 59-141-10 of the 1976 Code is repealed.

SECTION    32.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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