HOUSE BILL NO. 5991
September 26, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Jaime Greene, BeGole, Rigas, Beson, Bierlein, Cavitt,
Markkanen and Hoadley and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled
"The state school aid act of 1979,"
by amending sections 11, 104, 104b, and 104c (MCL 388.1611,
388.1704, 388.1704b, and 388.1704c), sections 11 and 104 as amended
by 2024 PA 120, section 104b as amended by 2018 PA 265, and section
104c as amended by 2021 PA 48, and by adding section 104d.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 11. (1) For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024,
2 there is appropriated for the public schools of this state and
3 certain other state purposes relating to education the sum of
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1 $18,418,357,800.00 from the state school aid fund, the sum of
2 $87,900,000.00 from the general fund, an amount not to exceed
3 $72,000,000.00 from the community district education trust fund
4 created under section 12 of the Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA
5 489, MCL 12.262, an amount not to exceed $245,000,000.00 from the
6 school consolidation and infrastructure fund created under section
7 11x, an amount not to exceed $125,000,000.00 from the school
8 transportation fund created under section 22k, an amount not to
9 exceed $71,000,000.00 from the enrollment stabilization fund
10 created under section 29, an amount not to exceed $90,000,000.00
11 from the school meals reserve fund created under section 30e, an
12 amount not to exceed $18,000,000.00 from the great start readiness
13 program reserve fund created under section 32e, and an amount not
14 to exceed $240,650,000.00 from the MPSERS retirement obligation
15 reform reserve fund created under section 147b. For the fiscal year
16 ending September 30, 2025, there is appropriated for the public
17 schools of this state and certain other state purposes relating to
18 education the sum of $17,643,551,300.00 from the state school aid
19 fund, the sum of $78,830,600.00 $78,830,700.00 from the general
20 fund, an amount not to exceed $41,000,000.00 from the community
21 district education trust fund created under section 12 of the
22 Michigan trust fund act, 2000 PA 489, MCL 12.262, an amount not to
23 exceed $125,000,000.00 from the school transportation fund created
24 under section 22k, an amount not to exceed $71,000,000.00 from the
25 enrollment stabilization fund created under section 29, an amount
26 not to exceed $30,000,000.00 from the school meals reserve fund
27 created under section 30e, an amount not to exceed $18,000,000.00
28 from the great start readiness program reserve fund created under
29 section 32e, an amount not to exceed $334,100,000.00 from the
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1 MPSERS retirement obligation reform reserve fund created under
2 section 147b, and an amount not to exceed $30,000,000.00 from the
3 educator fellowship public provider fund created in section 27d. In
4 addition, all available federal funds are only appropriated as
5 allocated in this article for the fiscal years year ending
6 September 30, 2024 and September 30, 2025.
7 (2) The appropriations under this section are allocated as
8 provided in this article. Money appropriated under this section
9 from the general fund must be expended to fund the purposes of this
10 article before the expenditure of money appropriated under this
11 section from the state school aid fund.
12 (3) Any general fund allocations under this article that are
13 not expended by the end of the fiscal year are transferred to the
14 school aid stabilization fund created under section 11a.
15 Sec. 104. (1) To receive state aid under this article, a
16 district shall comply with sections 1249, 1278a, 1278b, 1279g, and
17 1280b of the revised school code, MCL 380.1249, 380.1278a,
18 380.1278b, 380.1279g, and 380.1280b, and 1970 PA 38, MCL 388.1081
19 to 388.1086. Subject to subsection (2), from the state school aid
20 fund money appropriated in section 11, there is allocated for 2024-
21 2025 an amount not to exceed $37,509,400.00 for payments on behalf
22 of districts for costs associated with complying with those
23 provisions of law. In addition, from the federal funds appropriated
24 in section 11, there is allocated for 2024-2025 an amount estimated
25 at $8,000,000.00 funded from DED-OESE, title VI, state assessment
26 funds, and from DED-OSERS, part B of the individuals with
27 disabilities education act, 20 USC 1411 to 1419, plus any carryover
28 federal funds from previous year appropriations, for the purposes
29 of complying with the every student succeeds act, Public Law 114-
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1 95.
2 (2) The results of each test administered as part of the
3 Michigan student test of educational progress (M-STEP) or a state-
4 administered assessment system described in section 104d, including
5 tests administered to high school students, must include an item
6 analysis, if an item analysis is available, that lists all items
7 that are counted for individual pupil scores and the percentage of
8 pupils choosing each possible response. The department shall work
9 with the center to identify the number of students enrolled at the
10 time assessments are given by each district. In calculating the
11 percentage of pupils assessed for a district's scorecard, the
12 department shall use only the number of pupils enrolled in the
13 district at the time the district administers the assessments and
14 shall exclude pupils who enroll in the district after the district
15 administers the assessments.
16 (3) The department shall distribute federal funds allocated
17 under this section in accordance with federal law and with
18 flexibility provisions outlined in Public Law 107-116, and in the
19 education flexibility partnership act of 1999, Public Law 106-25.
20 (4) The department may recommend, but may not require,
21 districts to allow pupils to use an external keyboard with tablet
22 devices for online M-STEP testing , or for online testing for a
23 state-administered assessment system described in section 104d,
24 including, but not limited to, open-ended test items such as
25 constructed response or equation builder items.
26 (5) Notwithstanding section 17b, the department shall make
27 payments on behalf of districts, intermediate districts, and other
28 eligible entities under this section on a schedule determined by
29 the department.
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1 (6) From the allocation in subsection (1), there is allocated
2 an amount not to exceed $500,000.00 for 2024-2025 for the operation
3 of an online reporting tool to provide student-level assessment
4 data in a secure environment to educators, parents, and pupils
5 immediately after assessments are scored. The department and the
6 center shall ensure that any data collected by the online reporting
7 tool do not provide individually identifiable student data to the
8 federal government.
9 (7) As used in this section:
10 (a) "DED" means the United States Department of Education.
11 (b) "DED-OESE" means the DED Office of Elementary and
12 Secondary Education.
13 (c) "DED-OSERS" means the DED Office of Special Education and
14 Rehabilitative Services.
15 Sec. 104b. (1) In order to To receive state aid under this
16 article, a district shall must comply with this section and shall
17 must administer the Michigan merit examination to pupils in grade
18 11, and to pupils in grade 12 who did not take the complete
19 Michigan merit examination in grade 11, as provided in this
20 section. The Michigan merit examination consists of a college
21 entrance test, work skills test, and the either of the following:
22 (a) The summative assessment known as the Michigan student
23 test of educational progress (M-STEP)
24 (b) If a district is enrolled in a pilot program under section
25 104d, a state-administered assessment system described in section
26 104d.
27 (2) For the purposes of this section, the department of
28 technology, management, and budget shall contract with 1 or more
29 providers to develop, supply, and score the Michigan merit
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1 examination. The Michigan merit examination shall must consist of
2 all of the following:
3 (a) Assessment instruments that measure English language arts,
4 mathematics, reading, and science, and are used by the majority of
5 colleges and universities in this state for entrance purposes. This
6 may include 1 or more writing components. In selecting assessment
7 instruments to fulfill the requirements of this subdivision, the
8 department may consider the degree to which those assessment
9 instruments are aligned to this state's content standards.
10 (b) One or more tests from 1 or more test developers that
11 assess a pupil's ability to apply at least reading and mathematics
12 skills in a manner that is intended to allow employers to use the
13 results in making employment decisions. The department of
14 technology, management, and budget and the superintendent shall
15 ensure that any test or tests selected under this subdivision have
16 all the components necessary to allow a pupil to be eligible to
17 receive the results of a nationally recognized evaluation of
18 workforce readiness if the pupil's test performance is adequate.
19 (c) A social studies component.
20 (d) Any other component that is necessary to obtain the
21 approval of the United States Department of Education to use the
22 Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the no child left
23 behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, or the every student
24 succeeds act, Public Law 114-95.
25 (3) In addition to all other requirements of this section, all
26 of the following apply to the Michigan merit examination:
27 (a) The department of technology, management, and budget and
28 the superintendent shall ensure that any contractor used for
29 scoring the Michigan merit examination supplies an individual
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1 report for each pupil that will identify for the pupil's parents
2 and teachers whether the pupil met expectations or failed to meet
3 expectations for each standard, to allow the pupil's parents and
4 teachers to assess and remedy problems before the pupil moves to
5 the next grade.
6 (b) The department of technology, management, and budget and
7 the superintendent shall ensure that any contractor used for
8 scoring, developing, or processing the Michigan merit examination
9 meets quality management standards commonly used in the assessment
10 industry, including at least meeting level 2 of the capability
11 maturity model developed by the Software Engineering Institute of
12 Carnegie Mellon University for the first year the Michigan merit
13 examination is offered to all grade 11 pupils and at least meeting
14 level 3 of the capability maturity model for subsequent years.
15 (c) The department of technology, management, and budget and
16 the superintendent shall ensure that any contract for scoring,
17 administering, or developing the Michigan merit examination
18 includes specific deadlines for all steps of the assessment
19 process, including, but not limited to, deadlines for the correct
20 testing materials to be supplied to schools and for the correct
21 results to be returned to schools, and includes penalties for
22 noncompliance with these deadlines.
23 (d) The superintendent shall ensure that the Michigan merit
24 examination meets all of the following:
25 (i) Is designed to test pupils on this state's content
26 standards in all subjects tested.
27 (ii) Complies with requirements of the no child left behind act
28 of 2001, Public Law 107-110 or the every student succeeds act,
29 Public Law 114-95.
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1 (iii) Is consistent with the code of fair testing practices in
2 education prepared by the Joint Committee on Testing Practices of
3 the American Psychological Association.
4 (iv) Is factually accurate. If the superintendent determines
5 that a question is not factually accurate and should be excluded
6 from scoring, the state board and the superintendent shall ensure
7 that the question is excluded from scoring.
8 (4) A district shall include on each pupil's high school
9 transcript all both of the following:
10 (a) For each high school graduate who has completed the
11 Michigan merit examination under this section, the pupil's scaled
12 score on each subject area component of the Michigan merit
13 examination.
14 (b) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at
15 school each school year during high school and the total number of
16 school days in session for each of those school years.
17 (5) The superintendent shall work with the provider or
18 providers of the Michigan merit examination to produce Michigan
19 merit examination subject area scores for each pupil participating
20 in the Michigan merit examination. To the extent that the
21 department determines that additional test items beyond those
22 included in the college entrance component of the Michigan merit
23 examination are required in a particular subject area, the
24 department shall ensure that all test items in that subject area
25 are scaled and merged for the purposes of producing a Michigan
26 merit examination subject area score. The superintendent shall
27 design and distribute to districts, intermediate districts, and
28 nonpublic schools a simple and concise document that describes the
29 scoring for each subject area and indicates the scaled score ranges
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1 for each subject area.
2 (6) The Michigan merit examination shall must be administered
3 in each district during the last 12 weeks of the district's school
4 year. The superintendent shall ensure that the Michigan merit
5 examination is scored and the scores are returned to pupils, their
6 parents or legal guardians, and districts by not later than the
7 beginning of the pupil's first semester of grade 12. The returned
8 scores shall must indicate at least the pupil's scaled score for
9 each subject area component and the range of scaled scores for each
10 subject area. In reporting the scores to pupils, parents or legal
11 guardians, and schools, the superintendent shall provide standards-
12 specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's
13 performance on the Michigan merit examination.
14 (7) A district shall administer the complete Michigan merit
15 examination to a pupil only once and shall not administer the
16 complete Michigan merit examination to the same pupil more than
17 once. If a pupil does not take the complete Michigan merit
18 examination in grade 11, the district shall administer the complete
19 Michigan merit examination to the pupil in grade 12. If a pupil
20 chooses to retake the college entrance examination component of the
21 Michigan merit examination, as described in subsection (2)(a), the
22 pupil may do so through the provider of the college entrance
23 examination component and the cost of the retake is the
24 responsibility of the pupil unless all of the following are met:
25 (a) The pupil has taken the complete Michigan merit
26 examination.
27 (b) The pupil meets the income eligibility criteria for free
28 breakfast, lunch, or milk, as determined under the Richard B.
29 Russell national school lunch act, 42 USC 1751 to 1769i.1769j.
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1 (c) The pupil has applied to the provider of the college
2 entrance examination component for a scholarship or fee waiver to
3 cover the cost of the retake and that application has been denied.
4 (d) After taking the complete Michigan merit examination, the
5 pupil has not already received a free retake of the college
6 entrance examination component paid for either by this state or
7 through a scholarship or fee waiver by the provider.
8 (8) The superintendent shall ensure that the length of the
9 Michigan merit examination and the combined total time necessary to
10 administer all of the components of the Michigan merit examination
11 are the shortest possible that will still maintain the degree of
12 reliability and validity of the Michigan merit examination results
13 determined necessary by the superintendent. The superintendent
14 shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of time that
15 schools are required to set aside for pupils to answer all test
16 questions on the Michigan merit examination does not exceed 8 hours
17 if the superintendent determines that sufficient alignment to
18 applicable Michigan merit curriculum