Public Schools Renewal and Improvement Act of 1997

Summary: Public Schools Renewal and Improvement Act of 1997 - Establishes a procedure by which a local schools consortium shall request, through the State Governor, a declaration by the President that a public schools renewal effort is underway in its community.  Requires such request to:  (1) include the three-year plan for public schools renewal and improvement; (2) describe the nature and amount of State and local resources which have been or will be committed to such renewal and improvement; and (3) certify that State or local government obligations and expenditures will comply with all applicable matching requirements established pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the President to:  (1) make such a requested declaration; and (2) authorize the Department of Education and other Federal agencies to provide assistance under this Act.  Requires the consortium to make annual:  (1) amendments to the request to include additional initiatives and approaches to improve academic effectiveness and school safety; and (2) progress reports to the Secretary of Education. 
(Sec. 5) Sets forth required elements of such public schools renewal and improvement plans, including specification of certain adverse conditions and certain assurances. 
(Sec. 6) Authorizes the President to provide for various forms of allowable Federal assistance under this Act.  Directs the Secretary to distribute such funds and resources. 
(Sec. 7) Sets forth requirements for use of such assistance for various student-targeted resources, classroom-focused school development, accountability reforms, and other, similar types of public school reforms. 
(Sec. 8) Allows such assistance to be provided for each of FY 1998 through 2000. 
(Sec. 9) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on this Act's effectiveness. 
(Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations.  Sets forth matching requirements for States or localities, which the President may waive upon the Secretary's recommendation.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Schools Renewal and 
Improvement Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Although the majority of our Nation's elementary and 
        secondary public schools provide high quality education for our 
        children, many schools need additional resources to implement 
        immediate assistance and reform to enable them to provide a 
        basic and safe education for their students.
            (2) The Government Accounting Office recently found that 
        \1/3\ of all elementary and secondary schools in the United 
        States, serving 14,000,000 students, need extensive repair and 
        renovation.
            (3) Recent reform of under-achieving schools in a number of 
        States and school districts demonstrates that parents, 
        teachers, school administrators, other educators, and local 
        officials, given adequate resources and expertise, can succeed 
        in dramatically improving public education and creating high 
        performance schools.
            (4) Such reform efforts show that parental and community 
        involvement in those reforms is indispensable to the objective 
        of high quality, safe, and accountable schools.
            (5) Despite the successes of such reforms, public schools 
        are facing tremendous challenges in educating children for the 
        21st century. The elementary and secondary school population 
        will grow by 10 percent by the year 2005, and over the next 10 
        years, schools will need more than 2,000,000 additional 
        teachers to meet the demands of such expected enrollments.
            (6) Almost 7 of 10 Americans support increased Federal 
        assistance to our Nation's public schools, and that support 
        crosses all boundaries, including cities, towns, and rural 
        areas.
            (7) When Federal investment in public schools and children 
        has increased, test scores have improved, and high school 
        graduation rates and college enrollments have increased.
            (8) The Federal Government should encourage communities 
        that demonstrate a strong commitment to restore and reform 
        their public schools.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act to assist local 
communities that are taking the initiative--
            (1) to overcome adverse conditions in their public schools;
            (2) to revitalize their public schools in accordance with 
        local plans to achieve higher academic standards and safer and 
        improved learning environments; and
            (3) to ensure that every community public school provides a 
        quality education for all students.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Consortium.--The term ``consortium'' means a local 
        schools consortium as defined in paragraph (2).
            (2) Local schools consortium.--The term ``local schools 
        consortium'' means the local educational agency in 
        collaboration with a group composed of affected parents, 
        students, and representatives of teachers, school employees and 
        administrators, local business and community leaders and 
        representative of local higher education group working or 
        residing within the boundary of a local educational agency.
            (3) Parent.--The term ``parent'' includes any of the 
        following:
                    (A) A grandparent.
                    (B) A legal guardian.
                    (C) Any other person standing in loco parentis.
            (3) Plan.--The term ``plan'' means a 3-year public schools 
        renewal and improvement plan described in section 5.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        American Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

SEC. 4. PROCEDURE FOR DECLARATION.

    (a) In General.--A request for a declaration by the President that 
a ``public schools renewal effort is underway'' shall be made by a 
local schools consortium.
    (b) Request.--The local education agency shall submit the request 
to the Governor of the State who shall, with or without comment, 
forward such request to the President not more than 30 days after the 
Governor's receipt of such request. Such request shall--
            (1) include the plan;
            (2) describe the nature and amount of State and local 
        resources which have been or will be committed to the renewal 
        and improvement of the public schools; and
            (3) certify that State or local government obligations and 
        expenditures will comply with all applicable matching 
        requirements established pursuant to this Act.
    (c) Declaration.--Based on a request made under this Act, the 
President, in consultation with the Secretary, may declare that a 
``public schools renewal effort is underway'' in such community and 
authorize the Department of Education and other Federal agencies to 
provide assistance under this Act.
    (d) Progress Reports.--The consortium shall--
            (1) amend such request annually to include additional 
        initiatives and approaches undertaken by the local educational 
        agency to improve the academic effectiveness and safety of its 
        public school system.
            (2) submit annual performance reports to the Secretary 
        which shall describe progress in achieving the goals of the 
        plan.

SEC. 5. ELEMENTS OF RENEWAL AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN.

    (a) In General.--As part of its request to the President, and in 
order to receive assistance under this section, a consortium shall 
submit a plan that includes the elements described in subsections (b) 
and (c).
    (b) Adverse Conditions.--The plan shall specify the existence of 
any of the following factors:
            (1)(A) A substantial percentage of students in the affected 
        public schools have been performing well below the national 
        average, or below other benchmarks, including State developed 
        benchmarks in such basic skills as reading, math, and science, 
        consistent with Goals 2000 and title I of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
            (B) a substantial percentage of such students are failing 
        to complete high school.
            (2) Some or all of such schools are overcrowded or have 
        physical plant conditions that threaten the health, safety, and 
        learning environment of the schools' populations.
            (3) There is a substantial shortage of certified teachers, 
        teaching materials, and technology training.
            (4) Some or all of the schools are located where crime and 
        safety problems interfere with the schools' ability to educate 
        students to high academic standards.
    (c) Assurances.--The plan shall also include assurances from the 
local educational agency that--
            (1) the plan was developed by the local schools consortium 
        after extensive public discussion with State education 
        officials, affected parents, students, teachers and 
        representatives of teachers and school employees, 
        administrators, higher education officials, other educators, 
        and business and community leaders;
            (2) describe how the consortium will use resources to meet 
        the types of reforms described in section 7;
            (3) provide effective opportunities for professional 
        development of public school teachers, school staff, 
        principals, and school administrators;
            (4) provide for greater parental involvement in school 
        affairs;
            (5) focus substantially on successful and continuous 
        improvement in the basic academic performance of the students 
        in the public schools;
            (6) address the unique responsibilities of all stake 
        holders in the public school system, including students, 
        parents, teachers, school administrators, other educators, 
        governmental officials, and business and community leaders, for 
        the effectiveness of the public school system especially with 
        respect to the schools targeted for greatest assistance;
            (7) provide for regular objective evaluation of the 
        effectiveness of the plan;
            (8) the agency will give priority to public schools that 
        need the most assistance in improving overcrowding, physical 
        problems and other health and safety concerns, readiness for 
        telecommunications equipment, and teacher training and the pool 
        of certified teachers;
            (9) ensure that funds received under this Act shall be used 
        to supplement, not supplant other non-Federal funds;
            (10) certify that the combined fiscal effort per student or 
        the aggregate expenditures within the State with respect to the 
        provision of free public education for the fiscal year 
        preceding the fiscal year for which the request for a 
        declaration is made was not less than 90 percent of such 
        combined fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for the second 
        fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the request for 
        a declaration is made; and
            (11) will address other major issues which the local 
        schools consortium determines are critical to renewal of its 
        public schools.

SEC. 6. ALLOWABLE FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--To provide assistance under this Act, the 
President may--
            (1) direct the Department of Education, with or without 
        reimbursement, to use the authority and the resources granted 
        to it under Federal law (including personnel, educational 
        equipment and supplies, facilities, and managerial, technical, 
        and advisory services) in support of State and local assistance 
        efforts;
            (2) direct any other Federal agency to provide assistance 
        as described in paragraph (1);
            (3) coordinate such assistance provided by Federal 
        agencies; and
            (4) provide technical assistance and advisory assistance to 
        the affected local educational agency.
    (b) Distribution of Assistance Funds.--
            (1) In general.--At the direction of the President, the 
        Secretary shall distribute funds and resources provided 
        pursuant to a declaration under this Act to local educational 
        agencies selected for assistance under this Act.
            (2) Existing procedures.--The Secretary shall determine the 
        best method of distributing funds under this Act through 
        personnel and existing procedures that are used to distribute 
        funds under other elementary and secondary education programs.
    (c) Prohibition.--No provision of this Act shall be construed to 
authorize any action or conduct prohibited under the General Education 
Provisions Act.

SEC. 7. USE OF ASSISTANCE.

    Assistance provided pursuant to this Act may be used only to carry 
out a plan, and to effectuate the following and similar types of public 
school reforms:
            (1) Student-Targeted Resources.--
                    (A) Increasing and improving high-quality early 
                childhood educational opportunities.
                    (B) Providing comprehensive parent training so that 
                parents better prepare children before they reach 
                school age.
                    (C) Establishing intensive truancy prevention and 
                dropout prevention programs.
                    (D) Establishing alternative public schools and 
                programs for troubled students and dropouts, and 
                establishing other public school learning ``safety 
                nets''.
                    (E) Enhancing assistance for students with special 
                needs (including limited English proficient students, 
                English as a second language, and students with 
                disabilities).
            (2) Classroom focused school development.--
                    (A) Establishing teacher and principal academies to 
                assist in training and professional development.
                    (B) Establishing effective training links for 
                students with area colleges and universities.
                    (C) Establishing career ladders for teachers and 
                school employees.
                    (D) Establishing teacher mentor programs.
                    (E) Establishing recruitment programs at area 
                colleges and universities to recruit and train college 
                students for the teaching profession.
                    (F) Establishing stronger links between schools and 
                law enforcement and juvenile justice authority.
                    (G) Establishing stronger links between schools and 
                parents concerning safe classrooms and effective 
                classroom activities and learning.
                    (H) Establishing parent and community patrols in 
                and around schools to assist safe schools and passage 
                to schools.
                    (I) Implementing research-based promising 
                educational practices and promoting exemplary school 
                recognition programs.
                    (J) Expanding the time students spend on school-
                based learning activities and in extracurricular 
                activities.
            (3) Accountability reforms.--
                    (A) Establishing high learning standards and 
                meaningful assessments of whether standards are being 
                met.
                    (B) Monitoring school progress and determining how 
                to more effectively use school system resources.
                    (C) Establishing performance criteria for teachers 
                and principals through such entities as joint school 
                board and union staff improvement committees.
                    (D) Establishing promotion and graduation 
                requirements for students, including requirements for 
                reading, mathematics, and science performance.
                    (E) Providing for strong accountability and 
                corrective action from a continuum of options, 
                consistent with State law and title I of the Elementary 
                and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

SEC. 8. DURATION OF ASSISTANCE.

    Assistance under this Act may be provided for each of fiscal years 
1998 through 2000.

SEC. 9. REPORT.

    Not later than March 31, 2000, the Secretary shall submit a report 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the 
Senate assessing the effectiveness of this Act in assisting recipient 
local schools consortia in carrying out their plans submitted under 
this Act.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; MATCHING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Authorization.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 1998, $250,000,000; and
            (2) for fiscal year 1999, $500,000,000; and
            (3) for fiscal year 2000, such sums as may be necessary.
    (b) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Federal funds expended or obligated under 
        this Act shall be matched (in an amount equal to such amount so 
        expended or obligated) from State or local funds.
            (2) Other federal resources.--The Secretary shall, by 
        regulation and in consultation with the heads of other Federal 
        agencies, establish matching requirements for other Federal 
        resources provided under this Act.
            (3) Waiver.--Based upon the recommendation of the 
        Secretary, the President may waive paragraph (1) or (2).