I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1185 

To allow a State to submit a State management decision to the Secretary 

of Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement of students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mrs. LESKO (for herself and Mrs. MILLER of Illinois) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To allow a State to submit a State management decision 

to the Secretary of Education to combine certain funds 

to improve the academic achievement of students. 

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; PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Make Education Local Act of 2023’’. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are as fol7 lows: 

8 (1) To give States and local communities added 

9 flexibility and control to determine how to improve 


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1 academic achievement and implement education pol2 icy. 

3 (2) To reduce the administrative costs and com4 pliance burden of Federal education programs in 

5 order to focus Federal resources on improving aca6 demic achievement. 

7 (3) To ensure that States and communities are 

8 accountable to the public and to parents for advanc9 ing the academic achievement of all students, espe10 cially disadvantaged children. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro13 vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 

14 given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 

15 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 7801 et seq.). 

17 (2) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 

18 (A) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘ac19 countability’’ means that public schools are an20 swerable to parents and other taxpayers for the 

21 use of public funds and shall report student 

22 academic progress to parents and taxpayers 

23 regularly. 

24 (B) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 

25 meaning given such term in section 1122(e) of 


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1 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6332(e)). 

3 (C) STATE MANAGEMENT DECISION.—The 

4 term ‘‘State management decision’’ means a de5 cision by a State, as determined by State Au6 thorizing Officials or by referendum, to assume 

7 full management responsibility for the expendi8 ture of Federal funds for certain eligible pro9 grams for the purpose of advancing, on a more 

10 comprehensive and effective basis, the edu11 cational policy of such State. 

12 (D) STATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS.—The 

13 term ‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the 

14 State officials who shall authorize the submis15 sion of a State management decision, and any 

16 amendments thereto, on behalf of the State. 

17 Such officials shall include not less than two of 

18 the following: 

19 (i) The Governor of the State. 

20 (ii) The highest elected education offi21 cial of the State, if any. 

22 (iii) The legislature of the State. 

23 (E) STATE DESIGNATED OFFICER.—The 

24 term ‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the 

25 person designated by the State Authorizing OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1185.IH H1185

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1 ficials to submit to the Secretary, on behalf of 

2 the State, a State management decision, and 

3 any amendments thereto, and to function as the 

4 point-of-contact for the State for the Secretary 

5 and others relating to any responsibilities aris6 ing under this Act. 

7 SEC. 2. STATE MANAGEMENT DECISION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub9 mit to the Secretary a State management decision permit10 ting the State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated 

11 basis to manage the expenditure of such funds to advance 

12 the educational policy of the State. 

13 (b) PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR CONSOLIDATION AND

14 PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 (1) SCOPE.—A State may choose to include 

16 within the scope of the State management decision 

17 of the State any program for which Congress makes 

18 funds available to the State if the program is for a 

19 purpose described in the Elementary and Education 

20 Secondary Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State 

21 may not include any program funded pursuant to 

22 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

23 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 

24 (2) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to 

25 a State pursuant to a State management decision 


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1 under this Act shall be used for any educational pur2 pose permitted by State law of the State submitting 

3 a State management decision. 

4 (3) REMOVAL OF FISCAL AND ACCOUNTING

5 BARRIERS.—Each State educational agency that op6 erates under a State management decision under 

7 this Act may modify or eliminate State fiscal and ac8 counting barriers that prevent local educational 

9 agencies and schools from easily consolidating funds 

10 from other eligible Federal, State, and local sources 

11 in order to improve educational opportunities and re12 duce unnecessary fiscal and accounting require13 ments. 

14 (c) CONTENTS OF DECISION.—Each State manage15 ment decision shall contain— 

16 (1) a list of eligible programs that are subject 

17 to the State management decision; 

18 (2) an assurance that the submission of the 

19 State management decision has been authorized by 

20 the State Authorizing Officials, specifying the iden21 tity of the State Designated Officer; 

22 (3) the duration of the State management deci23 sion; 

24 (4) an assurance that the State will use fiscal 

25 control and fund accounting procedures; 


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1 (5) an assurance that the State will meet the 

2 requirements of applicable Federal civil rights laws 

3 in carrying out the State management decision and 

4 in consolidating and using the funds under the State 

5 management decision; 

6 (6) an assurance that in implementing the 

7 State management decision the State will seek to ad8 vance educational opportunities for the disadvan9 taged; 

10 (7) a description of the plan for maintaining di11 rect accountability to parents and other citizens of 

12 the State; 

13 (8) an assurance that in implementing the 

14 State management decision, the State will seek to 

15 use Federal funds to supplement, rather than sup16 plant, State education funding; and 

17 (9) a description of how the State will address 

18 persistently failing public schools. 

19 (d) MINIMUM DURATION.—The duration of the State 

20 management decision shall— 

21 (1) be greater than or equal to 5 years; and 

22 (2) be less than or equal to 10 years. 

23 (e) REVIEW, IMPLEMENTATION, AND RECOGNITION

24 BY THE SECRETARY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review 

2 the State management decision received from the 

3 State Designated Officer not more than 60 days 

4 after the date of receipt of such decision, and shall 

5 approve, with respect to permitting the State to re6 ceive the funds described in subsection (a), such 

7 State management decision unless the State man8 agement decision fails to meet the requirements 

9 under subsection (c). 

10 (2) RECOGNITION BY OPERATION OF LAW.—If 

11 the Secretary fails to take action within the time 

12 specified in paragraph (1), the State management 

13 decision, as submitted, shall be deemed to be ap14 proved. 

15 (f) AMENDMENT TO STATE MANAGEMENT DECI16 SION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State Authorizing Offi18 cials may direct the State Designated Officer to sub19 mit amendments to a State management decision 

20 that is in effect. Such amendments shall be sub21 mitted to the Secretary and considered by the Sec22 retary in accordance with subsection (e). 

23 (2) AMENDMENTS AUTHORIZED.—A State man24 agement decision that is in effect may be amended 

25 to— 


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1 (A) expand the scope of such State man2 agement decision to encompass additional eligi3 ble programs; 

4 (B) reduce the scope of such State man5 agement decision by excluding coverage of a 

6 Federal program included in the original State 

7 management decision; 

8 (C) modify the duration of such State 

9 management decision; or 

10 (D) achieve such other modifications as the 

11 State Authorizing Officials deem appropriate. 

12 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment shall 

13 specify an effective date. Such effective date shall 

14 provide adequate time to assure full compliance with 

15 Federal program requirements relating to an eligible 

16 program that has been removed from the coverage of 

17 the State management decision by the proposed 

18 amendment. 

19 (4) TREATMENT OF PROGRAM FUNDS WITH20 DRAWN FROM STATE MANAGEMENT DECISION.—Be21 ginning on the effective date of an amendment exe22 cuted under paragraph (2)(B), each program re23 quirement of each program removed from the State 

24 management decision shall apply to the State’s use 

25 of funds made available under the program. 


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1 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY FOR RESULTS OF PUBLIC EDU2 CATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State operating under a 

4 State management decision under this Act shall inform 

5 parents and the general public regarding the student 

6 achievement assessment system, demonstrating student 

7 progress relative to the State’s determination of student 

8 proficiency, as described in paragraph (2), for the purpose 

9 of public accountability to parents and taxpayers. 

10 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State shall determine 

12 and establish an accountability system to ensure ac13 countability under this Act. 

14 (2) ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.—Any account15 ability system established by a State pursuant to 

16 paragraph (1) shall— 

17 (A) be focused on the academic achieve18 ment of students; and 

19 (B) include a system, as determined by the 

20 State, of evaluating the academic achievement 

21 and progress of students. 

22 (c) REPORT ON STUDENT PROGRESS.—Not later 

23 than 1 year after the effective date of the State manage24 ment decision, and annually thereafter, a State shall, in 

25 a format acceptable to such State, disseminate widely to 


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1 parents and the general public a report that describes stu2 dent progress. The report shall include— 

3 (1) student performance data disaggregated by 

4 various student groups, as determined by the State; 

5 (2) a description of other high-quality school 

6 options available to parents in the State; and 

7 (3) a description of how the State has used 

8 Federal funds to improve academic achievement, re9 duce achievement disparities between various stu10 dent groups, and improve educational opportunities. 

11 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

13 (b), the amount that a State with a State management 

14 decision may expend for administrative expenses shall be 

15 limited to 1 percent of the aggregate amount of Federal 

16 funds made available to the State through the eligible pro17 grams included within the scope of such State manage18 ment decision. 

19 (b) STATES NOT CONSOLIDATING FUNDS UNDER

20 PART A OF TITLE I.—If the State management decision 

21 does not include within its scope part A of title I of the 

22 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

23 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), the amount spent by the State on 

24 administrative expenses shall be limited to 3 percent of 


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1 the aggregate amount of Federal funds made available to 

2 the State pursuant to such State management decision. 

3 SEC. 5. EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

4 Each State consolidating and using funds pursuant 

5 to a State management decision under this Act shall pro6 vide for the participation of private school children and 

7 teachers in the activities assisted under the State manage8 ment decision in the same manner as participation is pro9 vided to private school children and teachers under section 

10 8501 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881). 

Æ 


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