Smaller Schools, Stronger Communities Act

Summary: Requires the Secretary, in awarding such grants, to: (1) consider the number of students served and the number, location, and size of the schools; (2) assure an equitable distribution of assistance among urban and rural areas of the Nation and of a State; and (3) give priority to LEAs that establish a target number of not more than 600 students for attendance at (or in a self-operating academic unit within) each high school, and not more than 400 for each elementary school or middle school.
Allows use of grant funds for: (1) hiring additional staff; (2) planning, feasibility studies, and architectural fees to design or remodel school facilities; and (3) other reasonable expenses. Prohibits use of grant funds to cover costs directly associated with the renovation of existing facilities or the purchase or construction of new facilities.
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Smaller Schools, Stronger 
Communities Act''.

SEC. 2. SMALLER SCHOOLS.

    Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
part:

                       ``PART L--SMALLER SCHOOLS

``SEC. 10995. FINDINGS.

    ``Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) Since World War II, the conventional wisdom among 
        educators has been that larger schools are better and 
        accordingly the number of secondary schools in the United 
        States has declined by 70 percent, while average school size 
        has grown by 5 times. But over the past few years, educators 
        have begun to question the approach that bigger schools are 
        always better.
            ``(2) The National Association of Secondary School 
        Principals (referred to in this section as the NAASP) recently 
        recommended that the high school of the 21st Century be ``much 
        more student-centered and above all much more personalized in 
        programs, support services and intellectual rigor.'' The NAASP 
        stated that students take more interest in school when they 
        experience a sense of belonging and that students benefit from 
        a more intimate setting in which their presence is more readily 
        and repeatedly acknowledged.
            ``(3) The NAASP also warns that the ``bigness'' of high 
        schools shrouds many young people ``in a cloak of anonymity'' 
        and recommends that high schools should restructure the space 
        and time of high schools so that students are no longer 
        ``invisible and melt into their surroundings''. NAASP 
        recommends that high schools change their structure to limit 
        their enrollments to self-operating units of not more than 600 
        students, either through constructing new buildings or through 
        creating ``school-within-school'' units. It also suggests 
        changing the relationship between teachers and students by 
        reducing the number of class changes students make each day and 
        allowing teachers to have more time with smaller numbers of 
        students.
            ``(4) Research shows that larger school size tends to 
        stratify students into different tracks which are often based 
        on children's educational and social backgrounds. Larger 
        schools foster inequitable educational outcomes, where there 
        are great differences between the educational achievement of 
        students within the same school.
            ``(5) Research shows that in smaller, more personalized, 
        and less bureaucratic schools, inequities between student 
        achievement are smaller and that students in smaller schools 
        perform better in the core subjects of reading, math, history, 
        and science and are more engaged in their courses. In addition, 
        smaller schools have higher attendance rates and higher 
        participation in school activities.
            ``(6) Research shows that because achievement levels in 
        smaller schools are more equitably distributed, students who 
        come from more disadvantaged economic and educational 
        backgrounds show the greatest achievement gains in smaller 
        schools.

``SEC. 10996. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to provide flexible 
challenge grants to local educational agencies to implement and 
administer plans to create smaller schools.
    ``(b) Consideration; Assurance; and Priority.--The Secretary, in 
awarding grants under this part to local educational agencies shall--
            ``(1) consider the number of students served and the 
        number, location, and size of the schools which serve such 
        students; and
            ``(2) assure, to the extent practicable, an equitable 
        distribution of assistance among urban and rural areas of the 
        United States and among urban and rural areas of a State.
            ``(3) give priority to local educational agencies that 
        establish a target number for attendance at--
                    ``(A) each high school of not more than 600 
                students or create self-operating academic units within 
                a high school of not more than 600; and
                    ``(B) each elementary school or middle school of 
                not more than 400 students.
    ``(c) Limitation.--The Secretary may award not more than $2,000,000 
to any local educational agency selected to receive a grant award under 
this part.

``SEC. 10997. APPLICATION.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) In general.--A local educational agency wishing to 
        implement smaller school plans shall apply to the Secretary for 
        a flexible challenge grant at such time and in such form as the 
        Secretary may reasonably require.
            ``(2) Application form.--The Secretary shall develop a 
        application that is simple and brief in form.
    ``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
part, a local educational agency shall submit a 5-year plan that--
            ``(1) calculates the number of students enrolled in each 
        school during the preceding school year divided by the number 
        of schools in such agency; and
            ``(2) describes how such agency plans to reduce the size of 
        its schools by creating `schools within schools,' or building 
        new schools to reduce average school sizes.

``SEC. 10998. USES OF FUNDS AND REPORTING.

    ``(a) Uses of Funds.--Funds received under this part may be used--
            ``(1) to hire additional staff;
            ``(2) for planning, feasibility studies, and architectural 
        fees to design or remodel school facilities; and
            ``(3) for any other reasonable expense, but shall not 
        include the costs directly associated with the renovation of 
        existing facilities or the purchase or construction of new 
        facilities.
    ``(b) Reporting.--Each local educational agency that receives a 
grant under this part shall report annually to the Secretary regarding 
how such funds were spent.

``SEC. 10999. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, 
$200,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and $300,000,000 for fiscal year 
2003.''.