AZ HB2481

Directs the state board of education to adopt a menu of local academic standards that school districts may choose to use instead of state academic standards, beginning in the 2018-2019 school year for grades 9-12 and 2019-2020 for grades 3-8.

Allows local education agencies to request that their existing academic standards be added to the menu with state board approval, subject to annual evaluation by the state board.

Requires academic standards on the menu to be high quality, meet or exceed state standards, be equatable for state accountability programs, and be validated by a third-party evaluator approved by the state board.

Prohibits school districts with a letter grade of D or F from selecting alternative standards and requires them to continue using statewide minimum academic standards.

Mandates that local education agencies include the name of selected academic standards in their school report card and provide assessment scores tied to those standards to the department of education.