2014 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 7 - LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH COMMISSION 7.410 Office of Education Accountability -- Deputy director of LRC to administer -- Duties of office -- Relations with other entities -- Annual research agenda -- Confidentiality of testimony, work products, and records.
Download as PDF
7.410
Office of Education Accountability -- Deputy director of LRC to
administer -- Duties of office -- Relations with other entities -- Annual
research agenda -- Confidentiality of testimony, work products, and
records.
(1)
(2)
It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide an efficient system of
common schools which shall be operated without waste, duplication,
mismanagement, and political influence. The system of schools shall have the
goal of providing all students with at least the seven (7) capacities referred to in
KRS 158.645.
(a) An Office of Education Accountability is hereby created and shall be
under the direction of the Legislative Research Commission and shall be
advised and monitored by the Education Assessment and Accountability
Review Subcommittee.
(b) The Office of Education Accountability shall be administered by a deputy
director appointed by the Legislative Research Commission upon
recommendation of the director of the Legislative Research Commission.
The deputy director shall have the qualifications set by the Commission.
The salary of the deputy director shall be set by the Commission. The
Commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the employment of
personnel necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. The
deputy director shall be subject to the direction of and report to the
director of the Legislative Research Commission.
(c) The Office of Education Accountability shall have the following duties and
responsibilities:
1.
Monitor the elementary and secondary public education system,
including actions taken and reports issued by the Kentucky Board of
Education, the Education Professional Standards Board, the
commissioner of education, the Department of Education, and local
school districts. Upon and under the direction of the Education
Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee, the
monitoring of the elementary and secondary public education
system shall also include periodic reviews of local district and
school-based decision making policies relating to the recruitment,
interviewing, selection, evaluation, termination, or promotion of
personnel. The office shall report any district or school when
evidence demonstrates a pattern of exclusionary personnel
practices relating to race or sex to the Kentucky Department of
Education, which shall then independently investigate facts raised in
or associated with the report. The results of the investigation
conducted by the department shall be forwarded to the Kentucky
Board of Education which shall conduct an investigative hearing on
the matter.
2.
Upon and under the direction of the Education Assessment and
Accountability Review Subcommittee, review the elementary and
secondary public education finance system. The review shall include
an analysis of the level of equity achieved by the funding system
and whether adequate funds are available to all school districts and
3.
4.
5.
an analysis of the weights of various education program
components developed by the Department of Education. The review
may also include recommendations for the base per pupil funding for
the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky Program and a
statewide salary schedule, and studies of other finance issues
identified by the Education Assessment and Accountability Review
Subcommittee.
Upon and under the direction of the Education Assessment and
Accountability Review Subcommittee, verify the accuracy of reports
of school, district, and state performance by conducting, requesting,
or upon approval of the Legislative Research Commission,
contracting for periodic program and fiscal audits. Upon and under
the direction of the Education Assessment and Accountability
Review Subcommittee, the Office of Education Accountability shall
monitor and verify the accuracy of reports of the Department of
Education and the Kentucky Board of Education, including but not
limited to the annual fiscal conditions of grants, categorical
programs, and other educational initiatives set forth by the General
Assembly.
Investigate allegations of wrongdoing of any person or agency,
including but not limited to waste, duplication, mismanagement,
political influence, and illegal activity at the state, regional, or school
district level; make appropriate referrals to other agencies with
jurisdiction over those allegations; and make recommendations for
legislative action to the Education Assessment and Accountability
Review Subcommittee. Upon acceptance by the subcommittee,
recommendations for legislative action shall be forwarded to the
Legislative Research Commission. The Office of Education
Accountability shall submit to the subcommittee, for each of its
regular meetings, a report that summarizes investigative activity
initiated pursuant to this subparagraph. The subcommittee may
consider each report as it determines and in its discretion. Each
report, and the consideration thereof by the subcommittee, shall be
exempt from the open records and open meetings requirements
contained in KRS Chapter 61.
Upon and under the direction of the Education Assessment and
Accountability Review Subcommittee, conduct studies, analyze,
verify, and validate the state assessment program through other
external indicators of academic progress including but not limited to
American College Test scores, Scholastic Assessment Test scores,
National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, Preliminary
Scholastic Assessment Test scores, Advanced Placement Program
participation, standardized test scores, college remediation rates,
retention and attendance rates, dropout rates, and additional
available data on the efficiency of the system of schools and
whether progress is being made toward attaining the goal of
providing students with the seven (7) capacities as required by KRS
158.645.
6.
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
Make periodic reports to the Education Assessment and
Accountability Review Subcommittee as directed by the
subcommittee. Upon acceptance by the subcommittee, the reports
shall be forwarded to the Legislative Research Commission.
7.
Make periodic reports to the Legislative Research Commission as
may be directed by the Commission.
8.
Prepare an annual report, which shall consist of a summary of the
status and results of the current year annual research agenda
provided in paragraph (d) of this subsection, a summary of
completed investigative activity conducted pursuant to subparagraph
4. of this paragraph, and other items of significance as determined
by the Education Assessment and Accountability Review
Subcommittee. The annual report shall be submitted to the
Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee.
Upon acceptance by the subcommittee, the annual report shall be
submitted to the Governor, the Legislative Research Commission,
and the Kentucky Board of Education.
On or before December 1 of each calendar year, the Education
Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee shall adopt the
annual research agenda for the Office of Education Accountability. The
annual research agenda may include studies, research, and
investigations considered to be significant by the Education Assessment
and Accountability Review Subcommittee. Staff of the Office of Education
Accountability shall prepare a suggested list of study and research topics
related to elementary and secondary public education for consideration by
the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee in
the development of the annual research agenda. An adopted annual
research agenda shall be amended to include any studies mandated by
the next succeeding General Assembly for completion by the Office of
Education Accountability.
The Office of Education Accountability shall have access to all public
records and information on oath as provided in KRS 7.110. The office
shall also have access to otherwise confidential records, meetings, and
hearings regarding local school district personnel matters. However, the
office shall not disclose any information contained in or derived from the
records, meetings, and hearings that would enable the discovery of the
specific identification of any individual who is the focus or subject of the
personnel matter.
In compliance with KRS 48.800, 48.950, and 48.955, the Finance and
Administration Cabinet and the Governor's Office for Policy and
Management shall provide to the Office of Education Accountability
access to all information and records, other than preliminary work papers,
relating to allotment of funds, whether by usual allotment or by other
means, to the Department of Education, local school districts, and to other
recipients of funds for educational purposes.
Any state agency receiving a complaint or information which, if accurate,
may identify a violation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990,
(3)
1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, shall notify the office of the complaint or
information.
(h) The Office of Education Accountability may contract for services as
approved by the Legislative Research Commission pursuant to KRS
7.090(8).
The provisions of KRS 61.878 or any other statute, including Acts of the 1992
Regular Session of the General Assembly to the contrary notwithstanding, the
testimony of investigators, work products, and records of the Office of
Education Accountability relating to duties and responsibilities under
subsection (2) of this section shall be privileged and confidential during the
course of an ongoing investigation or until authorized, released, or otherwise
made public by the Office of Education Accountability and shall not be subject
to discovery, disclosure, or production upon the order or subpoena of a court or
other agency with subpoena power.
Effective:July 15, 2014
History: Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 75, sec. 10, effective July 15, 2014. -Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 170, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended
2002 Ky. Acts ch. 143, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky.
Acts ch. 437, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 362,
sec. 6, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 296, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 1994 (amendment void, see 9/2/94 LRC Note). -- Amended
1992 Ky. Acts ch. 270, sec. 1, effective April 7, 1992. -- Created 1990 Ky. Acts
ch. 476, Pt. II, sec. 92, effective July 13, 1990; and ch. 518, sec. 10, effective
July 13, 1990.
Legislative Research Commission Note (9/2/94). By letter of September 2, 1994,
the Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, acting under KRS
48.500, advised the Reviser of Statutes of his determination "that no funds
appropriated by the Executive Branch Appropriations Act for the 1995-96
biennium can be identified as having been appropriated for the purpose of
implementing Sections 1 to 7 of House Bill No. 616, Chapter (296), Acts of the
1994 Regular Session of the General Assembly." Accordingly, the amendment
to this statute contained in 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 296 is void under sec. 3(8) of that
Act and has not been codified into the statute.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Kentucky may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.