SB5 By Senator Dial RFD Finance and Taxation Education Rd 1 02-FEB-16

SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, the Alabama Ahead Act, commencing with the 2012-2013 school year, phased in the provision of textbooks and other instructional materials to students and teachers in electronic format through pen-enabled tablets and mobile computers. The law provides for the reassignment of the tablets and mobile computers to students, requires the State Department of Education to establish an advisory committee, and provides for a bond issue. The law authorizes the Alabama Public School and College Authority to issue bonds for the purposes of the law contingent upon a separate legislative enactment.

This bill, commencing with the 2015-2016 school year, would delete the requirement that the tablets and mobile computers be pen-enabled, would delete the phase-in provisions, would delete the reassignment provisions, would delete the requirement for the establishment of an advisory committee and would establish the Alabama Ahead Implementation Committee.

This bill would amend the Alabama Ahead Act to provide that funds be used to purchase and install, as a first priority, a high-quality standards-based broadband Wi-Fi infrastructure in every classroom in every public school; and use other funds to purchase mobile digital resources.

This bill would provide local school systems with the option of participating in the plan.

This bill would also make an appropriation of up to $75,000,000 from the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and/or the Education Trust Fund Capital Fund to the Alabama Public School and College Authority for the purpose of implementing the Alabama Ahead Act, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

To amend Sections 16-16B-1 and 16-16B-2, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the Alabama Ahead Act; commencing with the 2015-2016 school year, to delete the requirement that tablets and mobile computers be pen-enabled; to delete the phase-in provisions; to delete the reassignment provisions; to delete the requirement for the establishment of an advisory committee; to establish the Alabama Ahead Implementation Committee; to make participation by local school systems voluntary; to provide that funds be used to purchase and install a high-quality, standards-based, broadband Wi-Fi infrastructure and mobile digital computing devices to enable access to digital instructional materials in all public school classrooms in the state in lieu of textbooks for public school students; to make an appropriation of up to $75,000,000 from the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and/or the Education Trust Fund Capital Fund to the Alabama Public School and College Authority for the purpose of implementing the Alabama Ahead Act for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016; and to amend Section 14 of Act 2012-560, 2012 Regular Session, to delete the requirement that implementation of the act be contingent upon separate legislative enactment.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. Sections 16-16B-1 and 16-16B-2 of the Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§16-16B-1.

"(a) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Alabama Ahead Act.

"(b)(1) Commencing with the 2012-2013 2015-2016 school year, students in grades 9-12 shall may be provided textbooks in electronic format to the. Textbooks in electronic format may be available to schools under the jurisdiction of those local boards of education schools which choose to participate in Alabama Ahead, to the extent practicable and obtainable from the publisher, to the extent the textbooks adopted pursuant to Article 3, commencing with Section 16-36-60, of Chapter 36 of Title 16 this title, and other instructional materials through a phased-in process. and/or funding is obtainable for the following three areas:

"a. Infrastructure readiness, as a first priority pursuant to Section 2.

"b. Devices, digital content, management systems, debt service, or support.

"c. Upgrades, expansions, and maintenance.

"(2) Digital textbooks and other instructional materials provided in electronic format shall may also be provided to students to support the appropriate course or courses of study.

"(c) Where feasible, each public ninth grade student and teacher will may be provided in lieu of or in addition to hardbound textbooks and other instructional materials, in whole or in part, a pen-enabled: tablet, mobile computer, or other similar wireless electronic device for storing, reading, accessing, exploring, and interacting with digital textbooks and other instructional materials. Each student provided with a pen-enabled: tablet, mobile computer, or other similar wireless electronic device, and his or her parent or legal guardian, is responsible for maintaining the assigned device in good working order throughout the school year and for returning the device to the providing school at the end of the school year.

"(d) The following school year, the providing school shall reassign the pen-enabled: tablet, mobile computer, or other similar wireless electronic device to the students in the tenth grade public school system while continuing to provide incoming ninth grade public school students with a pen-enabled: tablet, mobile computer, or other similar wireless electronic device. This process will be repeated in participating school systems to ensure a planned roll-over of devices and continued support.

"(e)(d)(1) The Department of Education shall lead, implement, provide oversight, and administer this chapter and shall adopt such rules as necessary in accordance with an implementation plan submitted by the Alabama Ahead Implementation Committee created herein. This plan shall include, but is not limited to, the following: Minimum specifications for devices; learning management system; maintenance and support requirements of the electronic devices authorized in this chapter; current readiness of participating schools' wireless networks; professional development for teachers; application process for school systems participating. The plan shall provide funding in the following three areas:

"a. Infrastructure readiness, as a first priority pursuant to Section 2.

"b. Devices, digital content, management systems, debt service, or support.

"c. Upgrades, expansions, and maintenance.

"(2) The plan shall provide that any system that chooses to participate in Alabama Ahead shall submit an application to the State Department of Education, which shall be forwarded to the Alabama Ahead Implementation Committee.

"(f) On or before October 1, 2012, and prior to implementation of this section, the State Department of Education shall provide a copy of the proposed implementation plan to the Chair of the Senate Education Policy Committee and the Chair of the House of Representatives Education Policy Committee.

"(g) The State Department of Education shall establish an advisory committee to assist in the implementation of this chapter. The membership of the committee shall include, but not be limited to, the House of Representatives and Senate sponsors of the primary legislation establishing the Alabama Ahead Act, a member of the House of Representatives as appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and a member of the Senate as appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

"(h) The membership shall be inclusive and shall reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state.

"(e) There is created the Alabama Ahead Implementation Committee. The Implementation Committee shall consist of the Chair of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, the Chair of the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee, two members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, two members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Secretary of Information Technology, the State Superintendent of Education, or his or her designee, the Coordinator of Technology Initiatives of the State Department of Education, and the President of the School Superintendents of Alabama. The responsibility of the Implementation Committee shall be to oversee the implementation of the Alabama Ahead Act. The oversight provided by the Implementation Committee shall include, but not be limited to: (1) confirming the appropriateness of applications submitted to the State Department of Education by evaluating the progress of each applicant; (2) determining whether funds should be released to or withheld from applicants; and (3) providing oversight and administration of implementation.

"(f) Ex officio members of the Implementation Committee shall include representatives of the Alabama Technology Network, the Alabama Virtual Library, the Alabama Supercomputer Authority, Alabama Public Television, select members of the Alabama Educational Technology Association (AETA) who have experience and knowledge in the administration and management of school networks, and additional members who have experience in school networks and technology applications.

"(g) Under no circumstances shall any member of the Implementation Committee be entitled to receive funding from this chapter, either as a grantee or a vendor.

"(h) The membership of the Committee shall be inclusive and reflect the racial, gender, geographic, urban/rural, and economic diversity of the state."

§16-16B-2.

"(a) Wherever used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"(1) "1965 Act" means Act No. 243 enacted at the 1965 First Special Session of the Legislature, codified as Title 16, Chapter 16.

"(2) "1971 Acts" means Act No. 94 enacted at the 1971 First Special Session of the Legislature, Act No. 2428 enacted at the 1971 Regular Session of the Legislature, and Act No. 56 enacted at the 1971 Second Special Session of the Legislature.

"(3) "1973 Act" means Act No. 1277 enacted at the 1973 Regular Session of the Legislature as amended by Act No. 73 enacted at the 1975 Third Special Session of the Legislature and Act No. 1223 enacted at the 1975 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(4) "1978 Act" means Act No. 138 enacted at the 1978 Second Special Session of the Legislature, as amended by Act No. 79-41 enacted at the 1979 Special Session of the Legislature and Act No. 81-827 enacted at the 1981 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(5) "1985 Act" means Act No. 85-943 enacted at the 1985 Second Special Session of the Legislature.

"(6) "1990 Act" means Act No. 90-280 enacted at the 1990 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(7) "1995 Act" means Act No. 95-752 enacted at the 1995 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(8) "1998 Act" means Act No. 98-373 enacted at the 1998 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(9) "1999 Act" means Act No. 99-348 enacted at the 1999 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(10) "2001 Act" means Act No. 2001-668 enacted at the 2001 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(11) "2002 Act" means Act No. 2002-240 enacted at the 2002 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(12) "2003 Act" means Act No. 2003-436 enacted at the 2003 Second Special Session of the Legislature.

"(13) "2007 Act" means Act No. 2007-414 enacted at the 2007 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(14) "Authority" means Alabama Public School and College Authority.

"(15) "Bonds" (except where that word is used with reference to bonds issued under another act) means those bonds, other than Refunding Bonds, issued under the provisions of this chapter.

"(16) "Computer equipment and software" means pen-enabled: tablets, mobile computers, or similar wireless electronic devices for storing, reading, accessing, exploring, and interacting with digital textbooks and other instructional material as well as software necessary for such equipment, learning management system, and equipment necessary to support wireless local area networks.

"(17) "Digital textbooks" means an interactive, multimedia electronic book or digital resources that can be used creatively by learners.

"(18) "Government securities" means any bonds or other obligations which as to principal and interest constitute direct obligations of, or are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America, including obligations of any federal agency to the extent such obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America and any certificates or any other evidences of an ownership interest in such obligations of, or unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America or in specified portions thereof (which may consist of the principal thereof or the interest thereon).

"(19) "Infrastructure" means the hardware and software resources that enable network connectivity, communication, operations, and management.

"(19)(20) "Legislature" means the Legislature of Alabama.

"(21) "SEND" means the Smart Education Networks by Design recommendations set out by the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) in 2014.

"(22)(22) "State" means the State of Alabama.

"(23)(23) "Trust fund" means the Education Trust Fund, formerly designated as the Alabama Special Educational Trust Fund, the name of which was changed to the Education Trust Fund, effective October 1, 1996, pursuant to Act No. 95-264 enacted at the 1995 Regular Session of the Legislature.

"(24) "Wi-Fi" means a wireless networking technology that allows computers and other devices to communicate over a wireless signal.

"(25) "WIRED" means Wireless Infrastructure Renovation for Education plan, the approved standards-based funding model developed by the Alabama Educational Technology Association (AETA), which shall be the minimum requirement for all school systems.

"(26) "WLAN" means a wireless local area network.

"(b) Nouns and pronouns when used in this chapter shall be deemed to include both singular and plural and all applicable genders."

Section 2. Section 16-16B-2.1 is added to the Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows:

(a)(1) Contingent on funding, during the 2015-2016 school year, local school systems shall begin installing sufficient, high quality broadband WiFi infrastructure and, where possible, mobile digital devices to enable access to digital instructional materials and, to the extent practicable, textbooks in electronic format.

(2) In order to accomplish subdivision (1), the following priorities are established:

a. Wireless infrastructure: The first priority for the expenditure of Alabama Ahead Act funds is the establishment of a high-quality, standards-based wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure capable of providing all teachers and students with sufficient WiFi broadband access in all classrooms and common areas of schools, where feasible as described in WIRED.

b. Upon installation and approval of the standards-based wireless infrastructure, local school systems may use the remaining funds available to those local school systems for the purposes established pursuant to the provisions of this act. To expend these funds, an application shall be submitted to the Educational Technology Department of the State Department of Education.

c. Other network technology: If the wireless networks of a local school system satisfy the requirements of the Implementation Committee, funds shall be spent to further enhance digital learning environments within the schools of that school system and may include technologies such as:

1. Support and warranty services.

2. Optional hardware and software to manage or enhance the digital learning environment.

d. Network debt. Funds may be used for retiring debt for a network brought into compliance with the standards; or, for networks previously installed that satisfy the standards established by the Implementation Committee.

(b) Any application for funds shall be submitted and signed by the technology coordinator, the superintendent, and the chief school financial officer of the local school system. The application shall include a component for the professional development of teachers.

(c) Implementation plan: School systems shall apply for their portion of the Alabama Ahead Act funding through the State Department of Education. Applications for funding shall include all of the following:

a. Technology plan: An approved technology plan as required of all school systems as part of the Foundation Program.

b. Infrastructure readiness report: School systems shall provide an infrastructure readiness report describing each school's WLAN as well as the systems used to manage these networks.

c.1. Accountability in the use of funds: At least every six months until the project is complete, the State Department of Education shall provide a report to the Implementation Committee detailing the progress of local school systems in meeting the 24-month goal of a statewide implementation.

2. The State Department of Education shall include WLAN infrastructure functionality in its monitoring standards as part of the ongoing accountability of this investment.

Section 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 29-9-5, Code of Alabama 1975, there is hereby appropriated an amount up to $75,000,000 from the Education Trust Fund Budget Stabilization Fund and/or the Education Trust Fund Capital Fund to the Alabama Public School and College Authority for the purpose of implementing the Alabama Ahead Act, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016. Funds shall be made available on a per pupil basis pursuant to the ratio prescribed by the State Department of Education.

Section 4. Section 14 of Act 2012-560, 2012 Regular Session, is amended to read as follows:

"Section 14. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third second month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law. Sections 2 to 12, inclusive, shall be implemented only upon separate legislative enactment providing a specific date for implementation."

Section 5. This act shall become effective on the first day of the second month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law. Section 3 shall become effective October 1, 2015, following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Alabama Ahead Act

Education

Schools

Education Department

Board of Education, City

Board of Education, County

Board of Education, State

Acts Amended

Code Amended