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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1170

To provide demonstration grants to local educational agencies to enable the

agencies to extend the length of the school year.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. TORRICELLI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide demonstration grants to local educational agencies

to enable the agencies to extend the length of the school

year.

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

3 SECTION 1. SCHOOL YEAR EXTENSION DEMONSTRATION

4 GRANTS.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

6 (1) the length of the academic year at most ele7 mentary and secondary schools in the United States

8 consists of approximately 175 to 180 academic days,

9 while the length of the academic years at elementary

10 and secondary schools in a majority of the other in-
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1 dustrialized countries consists of approximately 190

2 to 240 academic days;

3 (2) eighth-grade students from the United

4 States have scored lower, on average, in mathe5 matics than students in Japan, France, and Canada;

6 (3) various studies indicate that extending the

7 length of the academic year at elementary and sec8 ondary schools results in a significant increase in ac9 tual student learning time, even when much of the

10 time in the extended portion of the academic year is

11 used for increased teacher training and increased

12 parent-teacher interaction;

13 (4) in the final 4 years of schooling, students

14 in schools in the United States are required to spend

15 a total of 1,460 hours on core academic subjects,

16 which is less than half of the 3,528 hours so re17 quired in Germany, the 3,280 hours so required in

18 France, and the 3,170 hours so required in Japan;

19 (5) American students’ lack of formal schooling

20 is not counterbalanced with more homework as only

21 29 percent of American students report spending at

22 least 2 hours on homework per day compared to half

23 of all European students;

24 (6) extending the length of the academic year

25 at elementary and secondary schools will lessen the
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1 need for review, at the beginning of an academic

2 year, of course material covered in the previous aca3 demic year; and

4 (7) in 1994, the Commission on Time and

5 Learning recommended that school districts keep

6 schools open longer to meet the needs of children

7 and communities.

8 (b) DEMONSTRATION GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education,

10 from amounts appropriated under subsection (d) for

11 a fiscal year, shall award demonstration grants to

12 local educational agencies to—

13 (A) enable the local educational agencies to

14 extend the length of the school year;

15 (B) study the feasibility of an effective

16 method for extending learning time within or

17 beyond the school day or year, including con18 sultation with other schools or local educational

19 agencies that have designed or implemented ex20 tended learning time programs;

21 (C) conduct outreach to and consult with

22 community members, including parents, stu23 dents, and other stakeholders, such as tribal

24 leaders, to develop a plan to extend learning
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1 time within or beyond the school day or year;

2 and

3 (D) research, develop, and implement

4 strategies, including changes in curriculum and

5 instruction, for maximizing the quality and per6 centage of common core learning time in the

7 school day and extending learning time during

8 or beyond the school day or year.

9 (2) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term

10 ‘‘common core learning time’’ means high-quality,

11 engaging instruction in challenging content in the

12 core academic subjects of English, mathematics,

13 science, foreign languages, civics and government,

14 economics, arts, history, and geography.

15 (c) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency desir16 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application

17 to the Secretary of Education at such time, in such man18 ner, and accompanied by such information as the Sec19 retary may require. Each application shall describe—

20 (1) the activities for which assistance is sought;

21 (2) any study or other information-gathering

22 project for which funds will be used;

23 (3) the strategies and methods the applicant

24 will use to enrich and extend learning time for all

25 students and to maximize the percentage of common
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1 core learning time in the school day, such as block

2 scheduling, team teaching, longer school days or

3 years, and extending learning time through new dis4 tance-learning technologies.

5 (4) the strategies and methods the applicant

6 will use, including changes in curriculum and in7 struction, to challenge and engage students and to

8 maximize the productiveness of common core learn9 ing time, as well as the total time students spend in

10 school and in school-related enrichment activities;

11 (5) the strategies and methods the applicant in12 tends to employ to provide continuing financial sup13 port for the implementation of any extended school

14 day or school year;

15 (6) with respect to any application seeking as16 sistance for activities described in subsection

17 (b)(1)(A), a description of any feasibility or other

18 studies demonstrating the sustainability of a longer

19 school year;

20 (7) the extent of involvement of teachers and

21 other school personnel in investigating, designing,

22 implementing and sustaining the activities assisted

23 under this section;

24 (8) the process to be used for involving parents

25 and other stakeholders in the development and im-
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1 plementation of the activities assistance under this

2 section;

3 (9) any cooperation or collaboration among

4 public housing authorities, libraries, businesses, mu5 seums, community-based organizations, and other

6 community groups and organizations to extend en7 gaging, high-quality, standards-based learning time

8 outside of the school day or year, at the school or

9 at some other site;

10 (10) the training and professional development

11 activities that will be offered to teachers and others

12 involved in the activities assisted under this section;

13 (11) the goals and objectives of the activities

14 assisted under this section, including a description of

15 how such activities will assist all students to reach

16 State standards;

17 (12) the methods by which the applicant will

18 assess progress in meeting such goals and objectives;

19 and

20 (13) how the applicant will use funds provided

21 under this section in coordination with funds pro22 vided under other Federal laws.

23 (d) DURATION.—A grant under this section shall be

24 awarded for a period of 3 years.

25 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

2 appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000

3 for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

4 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary of Edu5 cation shall use not less than 70 percent of the

6 amount appropriated for each fiscal year under

7 paragraph (1) to award grants to applicants that

8 want to extend the school year.

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