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Representative Collins unveils overhaul of A–F school grading, seeks expanded accountability
Summary
Chairwoman Collins introduced House Bill 396 to revise the state's A–F school grades: it would change weightings for achievement and growth, raise cut scores incrementally, create an accountability council and assign workforce data analysis to the Department of Workforce; members pressed on dual‑enrollment, chronic absenteeism and council membership.
Chairwoman Collins (Representative Collins) told the House Education Committee that House Bill 396 would revise the state’s existing A–F school grading system to change how achievement, growth and college/career readiness are weighted and to establish an accountability council to review data and recommend future changes.
“It is about the school grading bill. It is the A through F,” Collins said, outlining that the proposal would lower the achievement weights for 12th‑grade schools, reduce graduation’s weight from 30% to 10%, increase college‑and‑career readiness to 30%, count growth and the bottom 25% separately, and direct the Department of Workforce to collaborate with the Department of Education on outcome measures.
The bill would also require an accountability council to review collected data and recommend further adjustments, and it directs the education and workforce agencies to perform a kind of return‑on‑investment analysis on indicators. Collins said the grading scale “shall be raised 10 points” once a threshold is reached, describing the mechanism as a gradual lifting of cut scores to drive continued improvement.
Committee members pressed Collins on specifics. Representative Drummond asked why minority leaders in the Legislature were not on the proposed council; Collins said she would consider adding them and noted she had intentionally designed an odd‑numbered panel. Members also raised concerns about dual‑enrollment’s effect on reported achievement and whether schools might lose high‑achieving students from local accountability pools; Collins said the department can set parameters and that the accountability council should evaluate the quality and preparedness resulting from dual‑enrollment programs.
Members noted chronic absenteeism had been removed as a weighted indicator; Collins said the measure could remain on public report cards but that she removed its weighting because it is an attendance—not an achievement—metric.
Collins said she plans to circulate a substitute bill with changes and will continue outreach to education stakeholders. The committee did not vote on HB 396 at the meeting; Collins said she aims to provide a sub to members early next week.
