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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 800

To provide for education flexibility partnerships.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 23, 1999

Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. DEAL of Georgia,

Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. DREIER, Mr. FORBES, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr.

GREENWOOD, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Ms.

HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. MALONEY of New

York, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. PETRI, Mr. SESSIONS,

Mr. SHOWS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SOUDER, Mrs. TAUSCHER,

Mr. UPTON, and Mr. WEYGAND) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide for education flexibility partnerships.

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 ‘‘Education Flexibility

5 Partnership Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) States differ substantially in demographics,

2 in school governance, and in school finance and

3 funding. The administrative and funding mecha4 nisms that help schools in 1 State improve may not

5 prove successful in other States.

6 (2) Although the Elementary and Secondary

7 Education Act of 1965 and other Federal education

8 statutes afford flexibility to State and local edu9 cational agencies in implementing Federal programs,

10 certain requirements of Federal education statutes

11 or regulations may impede local efforts to reform

12 and improve education.

13 (3) By granting waivers of certain statutory

14 and regulatory requirements, the Federal Govern15 ment can remove impediments for local educational

16 agencies in implementing educational reforms and

17 raising the achievement levels of all children.

18 (4) State educational agencies are closer to

19 local school systems, implement statewide edu20 cational reforms with both Federal and State funds,

21 and are responsible for maintaining accountability

22 for local activities consistent with State standards

23 and assessment systems. Therefore, State edu24 cational agencies are often in the best position to
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1 align waivers of Federal and State requirements

2 with State and local initiatives.

3 (5) The Education Flexibility Partnership Dem4 onstration Act allows State educational agencies the

5 flexibility to waive certain Federal requirements,

6 along with related State requirements, but allows

7 only 12 States to qualify for such waivers.

8 (6) Expansion of waiver authority will allow for

9 the waiver of statutory and regulatory requirements

10 that impede implementation of State and local edu11 cational improvement plans, or that unnecessarily

12 burden program administration, while maintaining

13 the intent and purposes of affected programs, and

14 maintaining such fundamental requirements as those

15 relating to civil rights, educational equity, and ac16 countability.

17 (7) To achieve the State goals for the education

18 of children in the State, the focus must be on results

19 in raising the achievement of all students, not proc20 ess.

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

22 In this Act:

23 (1) ATTENDANCE AREA.—The term ‘‘attend24 ance area’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘school
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1 attendance area’’ in section 1113(a)(2)(A) of the El2 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

3 (2) ED-FLEX PARTNERSHIP STATE.—The term

4 ‘‘Ed-Flex Partnership State’’ means an eligible State

5 designated by the Secretary under section

6 4(a)(1)(B).

7 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU8 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational

9 agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the

10 meaning given such terms in section 14101 of the

11 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

12 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

13 the Secretary of Education.

14 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

15 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying

17 areas.

18 SEC. 4. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP.

19 (a) EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM.—

20 (1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

22 carry out an education flexibility program under

23 which the Secretary authorizes a State edu24 cational agency that serves an eligible State to

25 waive statutory or regulatory requirements ap-
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1 plicable to 1 or more programs or Acts de2 scribed in subsection (b), other than require3 ments described in subsection (c), for the State

4 educational agency or any local educational

5 agency or school within the State.

6 (B) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall

7 designate each eligible State participating in the

8 program described in subparagraph (A) to be

9 an Ed-Flex Partnership State.

10 (2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For the purpose of this

11 subsection the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State

12 that—

13 (A)(i) has—

14 (I) developed and implemented the

15 challenging State content standards, chal16 lenging State student performance stand17 ards, and aligned assessments described in

18 section 1111(b) of the Elementary and

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for

20 which local educational agencies in the

21 State are producing the individual school

22 performance profiles required by section

23 1116(a) of such Act; or

24 (II) made substantial progress, as de25 termined by the Secretary, toward develop-
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1 ing and implementing the standards and

2 assessments, and toward having local edu3 cational agencies in the State produce the

4 profiles, described in subclause (I); and

5 (ii) holds local educational agencies and

6 schools accountable for meeting the educational

7 goals described in the local applications submit8 ted under paragraph (4); and

9 (B) waives State statutory or regulatory

10 requirements relating to education while holding

11 local educational agencies or schools within the

12 State that are affected by such waivers account13 able for the performance of the students who

14 are affected by such waivers.

15 (3) STATE APPLICATION.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

17 agency desiring to participate in the education

18 flexibility program under this section shall sub19 mit an application to the Secretary at such

20 time, in such manner, and containing such in21 formation as the Secretary may reasonably re22 quire. Each such application shall demonstrate

23 that the eligible State has adopted an education

24 flexibility plan for the State that includes—
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1 (i) a description of the process the

2 State educational agency will use to evalu3 ate applications from local educational

4 agencies or schools requesting waivers of—

5 (I) Federal statutory or regu6 latory requirements as described in

7 paragraph (1)(A); and

8 (II) State statutory or regulatory

9 requirements relating to education;

10 and

11 (ii) a detailed description of the State

12 statutory and regulatory requirements re13 lating to education that the State edu14 cational agency will waive;

15 (iii) a description of specific edu16 cational objectives the State intends to

17 meet under such a plan; and

18 (iv) a description of the process by

19 which the State will measure the progress

20 of local educational agencies in meeting

21 specific goals described in subsection

22 (a)(4)(A)(iii).

23 (B) APPROVAL AND CONSIDERATIONS.—

24 The Secretary may approve an application de25 scribed in subparagraph (A) only if the Sec-
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1 retary determines that such application dem2 onstrates substantial promise of assisting the

3 State educational agency and affected local edu4 cational agencies and schools within such State

5 in carrying out comprehensive educational re6 form, after considering—

7 (i) the comprehensiveness and quality

8 of the education flexibility plan described

9 in subparagraph (A);

10 (ii) the ability of such plan to ensure

11 accountability for the activities and goals

12 described in such plan;

13 (iii) the degree to which the State’s

14 objectives described in subparagraph

15 (A)(iii)—

16 (I) are specific and measurable;

17 and

18 (II) measure the performance of

19 schools or local educational agencies

20 and specific groups of students af21 fected by waivers;

22 (iv) the significance of the State stat23 utory or regulatory requirements relating

24 to education that will be waived; and
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1 (v) the quality of the State edu2 cational agency’s process for approving ap3 plications for waivers of Federal statutory

4 or regulatory requirements as described in

5 paragraph (1)(A) and for monitoring and

6 evaluating the results of such waivers.

7 (4) LOCAL APPLICATION.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational

9 agency or school requesting a waiver of a Fed10 eral statutory or regulatory requirement as de11 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) and any relevant

12 State statutory or regulatory requirement from

13 a State educational agency shall submit an ap14 plication to the State educational agency at

15 such time, in such manner, and containing such

16 information as the State educational agency

17 may reasonably require. Each such application

18 shall—

19 (i) indicate each Federal program af20 fected and the statutory or regulatory re21 quirement that will be waived;

22 (ii) describe the purposes and overall

23 expected results of waiving each such re24 quirement;
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1 (iii) describe, for each school year,

2 specific, measurable, educational goals for

3 each local educational agency, school, or

4 group of students affected by the proposed

5 waiver; and

6 (iv) explain why the waiver will assist

7 the local educational agency or school in

8 meeting such goals.

9 (B) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—A

10 State educational agency shall evaluate an ap11 plication submitted under subparagraph (A) in

12 accordance with the State’s education flexibility

13 plan described in paragraph (3)(A).

14 (C) APPROVAL.—A State educational

15 agency shall not approve an application for a

16 waiver under this paragraph unless—

17 (i) the local educational agency or

18 school requesting such waiver has devel19 oped a local reform plan that is applicable

20 to such agency or school, respectively; and

21 (ii) the waiver of Federal statutory or

22 regulatory requirements as described in

23 paragraph (1)(A) will assist the local edu24 cational agency or school in meeting its

25 educational goals.
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1 (5) MONITORING.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

3 agency participating in the program under this

4 section shall annually monitor the activities of

5 local educational agencies and schools receiving

6 waivers under this section and shall submit an

7 annual report regarding such monitoring to the

8 Secretary.

9 (b) PERFORMANCE DATA.—Not later than

10 2 years after a State is designated as an Ed11 Flex Partnership State each such State shall

12 include performance data demonstrating the de13 gree to which progress has been made toward

14 meeting the objectives outlined in paragraph

15 (3)(A)(iii).

16 (6) DURATION OF FEDERAL WAIVERS.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not

18 approve the application of a State educational

19 agency under paragraph (3) for a period ex20 ceeding 5 years, except that the Secretary may

21 extend such period if the Secretary determines

22 that such agency’s authority to grant waivers

23 has been effective in enabling such State or af24 fected local educational agencies or schools to

25 carry out their local reform plans.
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1 (B) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—Three years

2 after a State is designated an Ed-Flex Partner3 ship State, the Secretary shall—

4 (i) review the performance of any

5 State educational agency in such State

6 that grants waivers of Federal statutory or

7 regulatory requirements as described in

8 paragraph (1)(A); and

9 (ii) terminate such agency’s authority

10 to grant such waivers if the Secretary de11 termines, after notice and opportunity for

12 hearing, that such agency has failed to

13 make measurable progress in meeting the

14 objectives outlined in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)

15 to justify continuation of such authority.

16 (7) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WAIVERS.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law, the Secretary is

18 authorized to carry out the education flexibility pro19 gram under this subsection for each of the fiscal

20 years 2000 through 2004.

21 (b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regu22 latory requirements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) are

23 any such requirements under the following programs or

24 Acts:
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1 (1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary

2 Education Act of 1965.

3 (2) Part B of title II of the Elementary and

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

5 (3) Subpart 2 of part A of title III of the Ele6 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

7 (other than section 3136 of such Act).

8 (4) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary

9 Education Act of 1965.

10 (5) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act of 1965.

12 (6) Part C of title VII of the Elementary and

13 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

14 (7) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Tech15 nical Education Act of 1998.

16 (c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary

17 may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of

18 the programs or Acts authorized to be waived under sub19 section (a)(1)(A)—

20 (1) relating to—

21 (A) maintenance of effort;

22 (B) comparability of services;

23 (C) the equitable participation of students

24 and professional staff in private schools;
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1 (D) parental participation and involve2 ment;

3 (E) the distribution of funds to States or

4 to local educational agencies;

5 (F) the selection of schools to participate

6 in part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965, or the allocation

8 of such assistance among eligible schools, except

9 that a State educational agency may grant

10 waivers to allow schools to participate in part A

11 of title I of such Act if the percentage of chil12 dren from low-income families in the attendance

13 area of such school or who actually attend such

14 school is within 5 percentage points of the low15 est percentage of such children for any school

16 in the local educational agency that meets the

17 requirements of section 1113 of the Act.

18 (G) use of Federal funds to supplement,

19 not supplant, non-Federal funds; and

20 (H) applicable civil rights requirements;

21 and

22 (2) unless the underlying purposes of the statu23 tory requirements of each program or Act for which

24 a waiver is granted continue to be met to the satis25 faction of the Secretary.
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1 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be

2 construed to affect the authority of a State educational

3 agency that has been granted waiver authority under the

4 following provisions of law:

5 (1) Section 311(e) of the Goals 2000: Educate

6 America Act.

7 (2) The proviso referring to such section 311(e)

8 under the heading ‘‘EDUCATION REFORM’’ in the

9 Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1996

10 (Public Law 104–134; 110 Stat. 1321–229).

11 (e) ACCOUNTABILITY.—In deciding whether to ex12 tend a request for a State educational agency’s authority

13 to issue waivers under this section, the Secretary shall re14 view the progress of the State educational agency to deter15 mine if such agency—

16 (1) makes measurable progress toward achiev17 ing the objectives described in the application sub18 mitted pursuant to subsection (a)(3)(A)(iii); and

19 (2) demonstrates that local educational agencies

20 or schools affected by such waiver or authority have

21 made measurable progress toward achieving the de22 sired results described in the application submitted

23 pursuant to subsection (a)(4)(A)(iii).

24 (f) PUBLICATION.—A notice of the Secretary’s deci25 sion to authorize State educational agencies to issue waiv-
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1 ers under this section shall be published in the Federal

2 Register and the Secretary shall provide for the dissemina3 tion of such notice to State educational agencies, inter4 ested parties, including educators, parents, students, advo5 cacy and civil rights organizations, other interested par6 ties, and the public.

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