LOCAL Level Act

Summary: Learning Opportunities Created At Local Level Act or the LOCAL Level Act - Expresses the sense of Congress that state and local prerogatives over elementary and secondary education need to be preserved. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to prohibit any federal officer or employee from directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or other cooperative agreements under the ESEA:  mandating, directing, or controlling a state's, local educational agency's (LEA's), or school's specific instructional content, academic standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction; incentivizing such an entity's adoption of any specific instructional content, academic standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction; mandating a state or any subdivision thereof to spend any funds or incur any costs not paid for under the ESEA; or  conditioning the availability of financial support on a state's, LEA's, or school's adoption of any specific instructional content, academic standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction, even if such conditions are specified under any other Act.  Prohibits any funds provided to the Department of Education under the ESEA from being used by the Department directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or other cooperative agreements, to endorse, approve, develop, require, or sanction any elementary or secondary school curriculum. Prohibits conditioning any state's receipt of ESEA assistance on the approval or certification of its academic standards by the federal government. Includes in the prohibition against the use of ESEA funds on federally sponsored testing and testing materials such use on any assessment or testing materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards or any other academic standards common to a significant number of states. Prohibits the use of Race to the Top funds, provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, on such aligned assessment or testing materials.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Learning Opportunities Created At 
Local Level Act'' or the ``LOCAL Level Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Section 9527 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7907), as in effect on the day before 
        the date of enactment of this Act, prohibits the Federal 
        Government from mandating, directing, or controlling a State, 
        local educational agency, or school's curriculum, program of 
        instruction, or allocation of State and local resources, and 
        from mandating a State or any subdivision thereof to spend any 
        funds or incur any costs not paid for under such Act.
            (2) Section 9529 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7909), as in effect on the day before 
        the date of enactment of this Act, prohibits the Federal 
        Government from funding the development, pilot testing, field 
        testing, implementation, administration, or distribution of any 
        Federally sponsored national test in reading, mathematics, or 
        any other subject, unless specifically and explicitly 
        authorized by law.
            (3) Despite these prohibitions, the Secretary of Education, 
        through 3 separate initiatives, has created a system of waivers 
        and grants that influence, incentivize, and coerce State 
        educational agencies into implementing common national 
        elementary and secondary school standards and assessments 
        endorsed by the Secretary.
            (4) The Race to the Top Fund, as established by the 
        Secretary of Education under sections 14005 and 14006 of the 
        American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-
        5, 123 Stat. 282), encouraged and incentivized States to adopt 
        the Common Core State Standards developed by the National 
        Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council 
        of Chief State School Officers.
            (5) The Race to the Top assessment grants awarded to the 
        Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers 
        (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SMARTER 
        Balance) initiated the development of assessments aligned with 
        the Common Core State Standards that will, in turn, inform and 
        ultimately influence kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum 
        and instructional materials.
            (6) The conditions imposed by the Secretary of Education 
        through the flexibility waiver authority provided to the 
        Secretary pursuant to section 9401 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7861) have coerced 
        States into accepting Common Core State Standards and 
        assessments aligned with such Standards.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) States and local educational agencies should maintain 
        the rights and responsibilities of determining educational 
        curricula, programs of instruction, and assessments for 
        elementary and secondary education; and
            (2) States are sovereign entities that deserve deep and 
        abiding respect from the Federal Government, and State 
        legislatures have a responsibility to their citizens to resist 
        Federal encroachment on the constitutional autonomy of States 
        regarding education.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    Section 9527 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7907) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 9527. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL MANDATES, DIRECTION, OR 
              CONTROL.

    ``(a) In General.--An officer or employee of the Federal Government 
shall not directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or other 
cooperative agreements under this Act (including through any waiver 
provided under the Secretary's authority pursuant to section 9401)--
            ``(1) mandate, direct, or control a State, local 
        educational agency, or school's specific instructional content, 
        academic standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of 
        instruction (including through any requirement, direction, or 
        mandate to adopt the Common Core State Standards developed 
        under the Common Core State Standards Initiative or any other 
        academic standards common to a significant number of States);
            ``(2) incentivize a State, local educational agency, or 
        school to adopt any specific instructional content, academic 
        standards, assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction 
        as described in paragraph (1), which shall include providing 
        any priority, preference, or special consideration during the 
        application process based on any specific content, standards, 
        assessments, curriculum, or program;
            ``(3) mandate a State or any subdivision thereof to spend 
        any funds or incur any costs not paid for under this Act; or
            ``(4) make financial support available in a manner that is 
        conditioned upon a State, local educational agency, or school's 
        adoption of specific instructional content, academic standards, 
        assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction, (including 
        any requirement, direction, or mandate to adopt the Common Core 
        State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards 
        Initiative, any other academic standards common to a 
        significant number of States, or any assessment, instructional 
        content, or curriculum aligned to such standards), even if such 
        requirements are specified in section 14006 or 14007 of the 
        American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-
        5; 123 Stat. 281) or any other Act.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal Government directly 
or indirectly, whether through a grant, contract, or cooperative 
agreement (including through any waiver provided under the Secretary's 
authority pursuant to section 9401), to do any activity prohibited 
under subsection (a).
    ``(c) Prohibition on Endorsement of Curriculum.--Notwithstanding 
any other prohibition of Federal law, no funds provided to the 
Department under this Act may be used by the Department directly or 
indirectly, through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 
(including through any waiver provided under the Secretary's authority 
pursuant to section 9401), to endorse, approve, develop, require, or 
sanction any curriculum designed to be used in an elementary school or 
secondary school, including any curriculum aligned to the Common Core 
State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards 
Initiative, or any other academic standards common to a significant 
number of States, designed to be used in an elementary school or 
secondary school.
    ``(d) Prohibition on Requiring Federal Approval or Certification of 
Standards.--Notwithstanding title I, part A of title VI, or any other 
provision of Federal law, no State shall be required to have academic 
standards approved or certified by the Federal Government, in order to 
receive assistance under this Act.
    ``(e) Rule of Construction on Building Standards.--Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to mandate national school building standards 
for a State, local educational agency, or school.''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON FEDERALLY SPONSORED TESTING AND TESTING 
              MATERIALS.

    Section 9529 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7909) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 9529. PROHIBITION ON FEDERALLY SPONSORED TESTING AND TESTING 
              MATERIALS.

    ``(a) General Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
Federal law and except as provided in subsection (b), no funds provided 
under this Act to the Secretary or to the recipient of any award may be 
used to develop, pilot test, field test, implement, administer, or 
distribute--
            ``(1) any Federally sponsored national test or testing 
        materials in reading, mathematics, or any other subject, unless 
        specifically and explicitly authorized by law; or
            ``(2) any assessment or testing materials aligned to the 
        Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core 
        State Standards Initiative or any other academic standards 
        common to a significant number of States.
    ``(b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to international 
comparative assessments developed under the authority of section 
153(a)(5) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and administered 
to only a representative sample of pupils in the United States and in 
foreign nations.''.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF RACE TO THE TOP FUNDS FOR COMMON CORE 
              STATE STANDARDS ASSESSMENTS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds provided under 
section 14006 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 283) shall be used to develop, pilot test, 
field test, implement, administer, or distribute any assessment or 
testing materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards developed 
under the Common Core State Standards Initiative or any other academic 
standards common to a significant number of States.