I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 995

To provide a direct check for education.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mrs. EMERSON (for herself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. HULSHOF, and Mr. TALENT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide a direct check for education.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Direct Check for Edu5 cation Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) education should be a national priority but

9 must remain a local responsibility;
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1 (2) the Federal Government’s regulations and

2 involvement often creates barriers and obstacles to

3 local creativity and reform;

4 (3) parents, teachers, and local school districts

5 must be allowed and empowered to set local edu6 cation priorities; and

7 (4) schools and education professionals must be

8 accountable to the people and children served.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

12 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given

13 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

14 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

16 the Secretary of Education.

17 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

18 the several States of the United States, the District

19 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

20 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

21 Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin

22 Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the

23 Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of

24 Palau.
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1 SEC. 4. DIRECT AWARDS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CIES.

3 (a) DIRECT AWARDS.—From amounts appropriated

4 under subsection (b) and not used to carry out subsection

5 (c), the Secretary shall make direct awards to local edu6 cational agencies in amounts determined under subsection

7 (e) to enable the local educational agencies to support pro8 grams or activities, for kindergarten through grade 12

9 students, that the local educational agencies deem appro10 priate.

11 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act

13 $3,500,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000 and

14 2001, $4,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002

15 and 2003, and $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.

16 (c) MULTIYEAR AWARDS.—The Secretary shall use

17 funds appropriated under subsection (b) for each fiscal

18 year to continue to make payments to eligible recipients

19 pursuant to any multiyear award made prior to the date

20 of enactment of this Act under the provisions of law re21 pealed under subsection (d). The payments shall be made

22 for the duration of the multiyear award.

23 (d) REPEALS.—The following provisions of law are

24 repealed:

25 (1) The Goals 2000: Educate America Act (20

26 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.).
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1 (2) Section 307 of the Department of Edu2 cation Appropriations Act, 1999.

3 (3) Title III of the Elementary and Secondary

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.).

5 (4) Part B of title VI of the Elementary and

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7331

7 et seq.).

8 (5) Part A of title X of the Elementary and

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001

10 et seq.).

11 (6) The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of

12 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).

13 (e) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—

14 (1) PER CHILD AMOUNT.—The Secretary, using

15 the information provided under subsection (f), shall

16 determine a per child amount for a year by dividing

17 the total amount appropriated under subsection (b)

18 for the year, by the total number of kindergarten

19 through grade 12 students in average daily attend20 ance in all States for the preceding year.

21 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AWARD.—

22 The Secretary, using the information provided under

23 subsection (f), shall determine the amount provided

24 to each local educational agency under this section

25 for a year by multiplying—
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1 (A) the per child amount determined under

2 paragraph (1) for the year; by

3 (B) the number of kindergarten through

4 grade 12 students in average daily attendance

5 that are served by the local educational agency

6 for the preceding year.

7 (f) CENSUS DETERMINATION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agen9 cy shall conduct a census to determine the number

10 of kindergarten through grade 12 students in aver11 age daily attendance that are served by the local

12 educational agency not later than December 1 of

13 each year.

14 (2) SUBMISSION.—Each local educational agen15 cy shall submit the number described in paragraph

16 (1) to the Secretary not later than March 1 of each

17 year.

18 (g) PENALTY.—If the Secretary determines that a

19 local educational agency has knowingly submitted false in20 formation under subsection (f) for the purpose of gaining

21 additional funds under this section, then the local edu22 cational agency shall be fined an amount equal to twice

23 the difference between the amount the local educational

24 agency received under this section, and the correct amount

25 the local educational agency would have received under
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1 this section if the agency had submitted accurate informa2 tion under subsection (f).

3 (h) DISBURSAL.—The Secretary shall disburse the

4 amount awarded to a local educational agency under this

5 Act for a fiscal year not later than July 1 of each year.

6 SEC. 5. AUDIT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct audits

8 of the expenditures of local educational agencies under

9 this Act to ensure that the funds made available under

10 this Act are used in accordance with this Act.

11 (b) SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES.—If the Secretary

12 determines that the funds made available under section

13 4 were not used in accordance with section 4(a), the Sec14 retary may use the enforcement provisions available to the

15 Secretary under part D of the General Education Provi16 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1234 et seq.).

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