Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1998

Summary: Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1998 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for use by public schools to develop or expand gifted and talented education programs through one or more of the following activities:  (1) professional development programs; (2) technical assistance; (3) innovative programs and services; and (4) emerging technologies, including distance learning. 
Sets forth requirements for grant applications, allotment to States, and reporting. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gifted and Talented Students 
Education Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Gifted and talented students give evidence of high 
        performance capability in specific academic fields, or in areas 
        such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership 
        capacity, and require services or activities not ordinarily 
        provided by a school in order to fully develop such 
        capabilities. These children are from all cultural, racial, and 
        ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups; some have 
        disabilities and for some, English is not their first language. 
        Many of these students have been historically underrepresented 
        in gifted education programs.
            (2) Because gifted and talented students generally are more 
        advanced academically, are able to learn more quickly and study 
        in more depth and complexity than others their age, their 
        special educational needs require opportunities and experiences 
        that are different from those generally available in regular 
        education programs.
            (3) There currently is no Federal requirement to identify 
        or serve the Nation's approximately 3,000,000 gifted and 
        talented students.
            (4) While some States and school districts allocate 
        resources to educate gifted and talented students, other do 
        not. Additionally, State laws and State and local funding, 
        identification, and accountability mechanisms vary widely, 
        resulting in a vast disparity of services for this special-
        needs population.
            (5) If the United States is to compete successfully in the 
        global economy, it is important that more students achieve to 
        higher levels, and that highly capable students receive an 
        education that prepares them to perform the most highly 
        innovative and creative work necessary in today's workplace.
            (6) The performance of twelfth-grade advanced students in 
        the United States on the Third International Mathematics and 
        Science Study (TIMSS) was among the lowest in the world. In 
        each of 5 physics content areas and in each of 3 math content 
        areas, the performance of physics and advanced mathematics 
        students in the United States was among the lowest of 
        participating countries.
            (7) Typical elementary school students with academic gifts 
        and talents have already mastered 35 to 50 percent of the 
        school year's content in several subject areas before the year 
        begins.
            (8) In 1990, fewer than 2 cents out of every $100 spent on 
        elementary and secondary education in the United States was 
        devoted to providing challenging programming for the Nation's 
        gifted and talented students.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to 
States to support programs, classes, and other services designed to 
meet the needs of the Nation's gifted and talented students in 
elementary and secondary schools.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION AND ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to provide grants to 
States for use by public schools to develop or expand gifted and 
talented education programs through one or more of the following 
activities:
            (1) Professional development programs.--States may expend 
        funds to develop and implement programs to address State and 
        local needs for inservice training programs for general 
        educators, specialists in gifted and talented education, 
        administrators, school counselors, or other personnel at the 
        elementary and secondary levels.
            (2) Technical assistance.--A State may make materials and 
        services available through State regional education service 
        centers, universities, colleges, or other entities.
            (3) Innovative programs and services.--States may support 
        innovative approaches and curricula used by school districts, 
        individual schools, or consortia of schools or school 
        districts.
            (4) Emerging technologies.--States may provide funds to 
        provide challenging, high-level course work to individual 
students or groups of students in schools and school districts that do 
not have the resources to otherwise provide the courses through new and 
emerging technologies, including distance learning. Funds may be used 
to develop curriculum packages, compensate distance-learning educators, 
or for other relevant purposes, but may not be used for the purchase or 
upgrading of technological hardware.
    (b) State Infrastructure Costs.--Not more than 10 percent of the 
total amount received under this Act may be used for State educational 
agency administrative costs, such as facilitating the coordination of 
gifted and talented education programs and services, disseminating 
information and materials to teachers and parents, creating State 
gifted education advisory boards, and administering funds received 
under this Act.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--To be eligible to receive a grant award under this 
Act, a State educational agency shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time and in such form and manner as the Secretary may 
reasonably require.
    (b) Contents.--The application shall include assurances that--
            (1) funds received under this Act shall be used to support 
        gifted and talented students in public schools, including 
        students from all economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds, 
        students of limited English proficiency, gifted students with 
        disabilities and highly gifted students;
            (2) not less than 90 percent of the funds received by the 
        State will be distributed to public schools within the State; 
        and
            (3) funds received under this Act shall be used only to 
        supplement, but not supplant, the amount of State and local 
        funds expended for the specialized education and related 
        services provided for the education of gifted and talented 
        students.
            (4) States shall develop and implement program assessment 
        models to evaluate educational effectiveness and ensure program 
        accountability.
    (c) Approval.--To the extent funds are made available for this Act, 
the Secretary shall approve an application of a State educational 
agency if such application meets the requirements of this section.

SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT TO STATES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), of the total 
amount made available for this Act, the Secretary shall award to each 
State an amount that bears the same relation to the total amount as the 
number of children ages 5 through 18 in the State for the preceding 
academic year bears to the total number of all such children in all 
States for such year.
    (b) Minimum Award.--If sufficient funds are made available for this 
Act for each State to receive $1,000,000 in each fiscal year, each 
State that meets the requirements of this Act shall receive not less 
than $1,000,000 each fiscal year.
    (c) Ratable Reduction.--If the amount made available for this Act 
is insufficient to allocate the amount specified in subsection (b), the 
allocation shall be ratably reduced for each State.

SEC. 6. REPORTING.

    The State educational agency shall submit a report to the Secretary 
beginning one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and each 
subsequent year that describes the number of students served and the 
activities supported with funds provided under this Act. The report 
shall include a description of the measures taken to comply with the 
accountability requirements of section 4.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``gifted and talented'' has the meaning such 
        term has under State law or as such term is defined by the 
        State or local educational agency, or in the case of a State 
        that does not have a law that defines the term and the State or 
        local educational agency has not defined the term, the term has 
        the meaning given such term under section 14101(16) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. 8801(16)).
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Education.
            (3) The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States and the 
        District of Columbia.
            (4) The term ``State educational agency'' has the same 
        meaning given such term under section 14101(28) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. 8801(28)).

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $160,000,000 to carry out 
this Act for each of the fiscal years 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.