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 pr - Kentucky Statutes

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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) 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. (2) (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 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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. 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. (d) 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. (e) 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. (f) 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. (g) Any state agency receiving a complaint or information which, if accurate, may identify a violation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, 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(7). (3) 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 12, 2006
History: 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.