H. R. 800

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

An Act

To provide for education flexibility partnerships.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education Flexibility Partnership

Act of 1999’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) States differ substantially in demographics, in school

governance, and in school finance and funding. The administrative and funding mechanisms that help schools in one State

improve may not prove successful in other States.

(2) Although the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 and other Federal education statutes afford flexibility

to State educational agencies and local educational agencies

in implementing Federal programs, certain requirements of

Federal education statutes or regulations may impede local

efforts to reform and improve education.

(3) By granting waivers of certain statutory and regulatory

requirements, the Federal Government can remove impediments for local educational agencies in implementing

educational reforms and raising the achievement levels of all

children.

(4) State educational agencies are closer to local school

systems, implement statewide educational reforms with both

Federal and State funds, and are responsible for maintaining

accountability for local activities consistent with State standards and assessment systems. Therefore, State educational

agencies are often in the best position to align waivers of

Federal and State requirements with State and local initiatives.

(5) The Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration

Act allows State educational agencies the flexibility to waive

certain Federal requirements, along with related State requirements, but allows only 12 States to qualify for such waivers.

(6) Expansion of waiver authority will allow for the waiver

of statutory and regulatory requirements that impede

implementation of State and local educational improvement

plans, or that unnecessarily burden program administration,

while maintaining the intent and purposes of affected programs,

such as the important focus on improving mathematics and

science performance under title II of the Elementary and
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Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program), and maintaining such fundamental requirements as those relating to civil rights, educational equity, and accountability.

(7) To achieve the State goals for the education of children

in the State, the focus must be on results in raising the achievement of all students, not process.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDUCATIONAL

AGENCY; OUTLYING AREA.—The terms ‘‘local educational

agency’’, ‘‘State educational agency’’, and ‘‘outlying area’’ have

the meanings given the terms in section 14101 of the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(2) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AREA; SCHOOL ATTEND- ANCE AREA.—The terms ‘‘eligible school attendance area’’ and

‘‘school attendance area’’ have the meanings given the terms

in section 1113(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

of Education.

(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 States,

the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,

and each outlying area.

SEC. 4. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP.

(a) EDUCATIONAL FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM.— (1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out an

educational flexibility program under which the Secretary

authorizes a State educational agency that serves an

eligible State to waive statutory or regulatory requirements

applicable to one or more programs described in subsection

(b), other than requirements described in subsection (c),

for any local educational agency or school within the State.

(B) DESIGNATION.—Each eligible State participating in

the program described in subparagraph (A) shall be known

as an ‘‘Ed-Flex Partnership State’’.

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

term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State that—

(A) has—

(i) developed and implemented the challenging

State content standards, challenging State student

performance standards, and aligned assessments

described in section 1111(b) of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for which local

educational agencies in the State are producing the

individual school performance profiles required by section 1116(a)(3) of such Act; or

(ii)(I) developed and implemented the content

standards described in clause (i);

(II) developed and implemented interim assessments; and

(III) made substantial progress (as determined by

the Secretary) toward developing and implementing

the performance standards and final aligned assessments described in clause (i), and toward having local
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educational agencies in the State produce the profiles

described in clause (i);

(B) holds local educational agencies and schools

accountable for meeting the educational goals described

in the local applications submitted under paragraph (4)

and for engaging in technical assistance and corrective

actions consistent with section 1116 of the Elementary

and Secondary Education Act of 1965, for the local educational agencies and schools that do not make adequate

yearly progress as described in section 1111(b)(2) of such

Act; and

(C) waives State statutory or regulatory requirements

relating to education while holding local educational agencies or schools within the State that are affected by such

waivers accountable for the performance of the students

who are affected by such waivers.

(3) STATE APPLICATION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational agency

desiring to participate in the educational flexibility program

under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such

information as the Secretary may reasonably require. Each

such application shall demonstrate that the eligible State

has adopted an educational flexibility plan for the State

that includes—

(i) a description of the process the State educational agency will use to evaluate applications from

local educational agencies or schools requesting

waivers of—

(I) Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A); and

(II) State statutory or regulatory requirements

relating to education;

(ii) a detailed description of the State statutory

and regulatory requirements relating to education that

the State educational agency will waive;

(iii) a description of clear educational objectives

the State intends to meet under the educational flexibility plan;

(iv) a description of how the educational flexibility

plan is consistent with and will assist in implementing

the State comprehensive reform plan or, if a State

does not have a comprehensive reform plan, a description of how the educational flexibility plan is coordinated with activities described in section 1111(b) of

the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

(v) a description of how the State educational

agency will evaluate, (consistent with the requirements

of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965), the performance of students in the schools

and local educational agencies affected by the waivers;

and

(vi) a description of how the State educational

agency will meet the requirements of paragraph (8).

(B) APPROVAL AND CONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary

may approve an application described in subparagraph (A)
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only if the Secretary determines that such application demonstrates substantial promise of assisting the State educational agency and affected local educational agencies and

schools within the State in carrying out comprehensive

educational reform, after considering—

(i) the eligibility of the State as described in paragraph (2);

(ii) the comprehensiveness and quality of the

educational flexibility plan described in subparagraph

(A);

(iii) the ability of the educational flexibility plan

to ensure accountability for the activities and goals

described in such plan;

(iv) the degree to which the State’s objectives

described in subparagraph (A)(iii)—

(I) are clear and have the ability to be

assessed; and

(II) take into account the performance of local

educational agencies or schools, and students,

particularly those affected by waivers;

(v) the significance of the State statutory or

regulatory requirements relating to education that will

be waived; and

(vi) the quality of the State educational agency’s

process for approving applications for waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described

in paragraph (1)(A) and for monitoring and evaluating

the results of such waivers.

(4) LOCAL APPLICATION.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agency or

school requesting a waiver of a Federal statutory or regulatory requirement as described in paragraph (1)(A) and

any relevant State statutory or regulatory requirement

from a State educational agency shall submit an application

to the State educational agency at such time, in such

manner, and containing such information as the State educational agency may reasonably require. Each such application shall—

(i) indicate each Federal program affected and each

statutory or regulatory requirement that will be

waived;

(ii) describe the purposes and overall expected

results of waiving each such requirement;

(iii) describe, for each school year, specific, measurable, educational goals for each local educational

agency or school affected by the proposed waiver, and

for the students served by the local educational agency

or school who are affected by the waiver;

(iv) explain why the waiver will assist the local

educational agency or school in reaching such goals;

and

(v) in the case of an application from a local

educational agency, describe how the local educational

agency will meet the requirements of paragraph (8).

(B) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—A State

educational agency shall evaluate an application submitted
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under subparagraph (A) in accordance with the State’s

educational flexibility plan described in paragraph (3)(A).

(C) APPROVAL.—A State educational agency shall not

approve an application for a waiver under this paragraph

unless—

(i) the local educational agency or school requesting

such waiver has developed a local reform plan that

is applicable to such agency or school, respectively;

(ii) the waiver of Federal statutory or regulatory

requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A) will

assist the local educational agency or school in reaching

its educational goals, particularly goals with respect

to school and student performance; and

(iii) the State educational agency is satisfied that

the underlying purposes of the statutory requirements

of each program for which a waiver is granted will

continue to be met.

(D) TERMINATION.—The State educational agency shall

annually review the performance of any local educational

agency or school granted a waiver of Federal statutory

or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A)

in accordance with the evaluation requirement described

in paragraph (3)(A)(v), and shall terminate any waiver

granted to the local educational agency or school if the

State educational agency determines, after notice and an

opportunity for a hearing, that the local educational agency

or school’s performance with respect to meeting the

accountability requirement described in paragraph (2)(C)

and the goals described in paragraph (4)(A)(iii)—

(i) has been inadequate to justify continuation of

such waiver; or

(ii) has decreased for two consecutive years, unless

the State educational agency determines that the

decrease in performance was justified due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances.

(5) OVERSIGHT AND REPORTING.—

(A) OVERSIGHT.—Each State educational agency

participating in the educational flexibility program under

this section shall annually monitor the activities of local

educational agencies and schools receiving waivers under

this section.

(B) STATE REPORTS.—

(i) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The State educational

agency shall submit to the Secretary an annual report

on the results of such oversight and the impact of

the waivers on school and student performance.

(ii) PERFORMANCE DATA.—Not later than 2 years

after the date a State is designated an Ed-Flex Partnership State, each such State shall include, as part of

the State’s annual report submitted under clause (i),

data demonstrating the degree to which progress has

been made toward meeting the State’s educational

objectives. The data, when applicable, shall include—

(I) information on the total number of waivers

granted for Federal and State statutory and regulatory requirements under this section, including
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the number of waivers granted for each type of

waiver;

(II) information describing the effect of the

waivers on the implementation of State and local

educational reforms pertaining to school and student performance;

(III) information describing the relationship

of the waivers to the performance of schools and

students affected by the waivers; and

(IV) an assurance from State program managers that the data reported under this section

are reliable, complete, and accurate, as defined

by the State, or a description of a plan for

improving the reliability, completeness, and

accuracy of such data as defined by the State.

(C) SECRETARY’S REPORTS.—The Secretary, not later

than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act

and annually thereafter, shall—

(i) make each State report submitted under

subparagraph (B) available to Congress and the public;

and

(ii) submit to Congress a report that summarizes

the State reports and describes the effects that the

educational flexibility program under this section had

on the implementation of State and local educational

reforms and on the performance of students affected

by the waivers.

(6) DURATION OF FEDERAL WAIVERS.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not approve the

application of a State educational agency under paragraph

(3) for a period exceeding 5 years, except that the Secretary

may extend such period if the Secretary determines that

such agency’s authority to grant waivers—

(i) has been effective in enabling such State or

affected local educational agencies or schools to carry

out their State or local reform plans and to continue

to meet the accountability requirement described in

paragraph (2)(C); and

(ii) has improved student performance.

(B) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—Three years after the date

a State is designated an Ed-Flex Partnership State, the

Secretary shall review the performance of the State educational agency in granting waivers of Federal statutory

or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A)

and shall terminate such agency’s authority to grant such

waivers if the Secretary determines, after notice and an

opportunity for a hearing, that such agency’s performance

(including performance with respect to meeting the objectives described in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)) has been inadequate

to justify continuation of such authority.

(C) RENEWAL.—In deciding whether to extend a request

for a State educational agency’s authority to issue waivers

under this section, the Secretary shall review the progress

of the State educational agency to determine if the State

educational agency—
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(i) has made progress toward achieving the

objectives described in the application submitted

pursuant to paragraph (3)(A)(iii); and

(ii) demonstrates in the request that local educational agencies or schools affected by the waiver

authority or waivers have made progress toward

achieving the desired results described in the application submitted pursuant to paragraph (4)(A)(iii).

(7) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WAIVERS.—Notwithstanding any

other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized to carry

out the educational flexibility program under this section for

each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2004.

(8) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Each State educational

agency seeking waiver authority under this section and each

local educational agency seeking a waiver under this section—

(A) shall provide the public with adequate and efficient

notice of the proposed waiver authority or waiver, consisting of a description of the agency’s application for the

proposed waiver authority or waiver in a widely read or

distributed medium, including a description of any

improved student performance that is expected to result

from the waiver authority or waiver;

(B) shall provide the opportunity for parents, educators, and all other interested members of the community

to comment regarding the proposed waiver authority or

waiver;

(C) shall provide the opportunity described in subparagraph (B) in accordance with any applicable State law

specifying how the comments may be received, and how

the comments may be reviewed by any member of the

public; and

(D) shall submit the comments received with the

agency’s application to the Secretary or the State educational agency, as appropriate.

(b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regulatory requirements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) are any such requirements

for programs carried out under the following provisions:

(1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965 (other than subsections (a) and (c) of section 1116

of such Act).

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

Education Act of 1965.

(3) Subpart 2 of part A of title III of the Elementary

and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (other than section 3136

of such Act).

(4) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965.

(5) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education

Act of 1965.

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

Education Act of 1965.

(7) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education

Act of 1998.

(c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary and the State

educational agency may not waive under subsection (a)(1)(A) any

statutory or regulatory requirement—

(1) relating to—
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(A) maintenance of effort;

(B) comparability of services;

(C) equitable participation of students and professional

staff in private schools;

(D) parental participation and involvement;

(E) distribution of funds to States or to local educational agencies;

(F) serving eligible school attendance areas in rank

order under section 1113(a)(3) of the Elementary and

Secondary Education Act of 1965;

(G) the selection of a school attendance area or school

under subsections (a) and (b) of section 1113 of the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, except

that a State educational agency may grant a waiver to

allow a school attendance area or school to participate

in activities under part A of title I of such Act if the

percentage of children from low-income families in the

school attendance area of such school or who attend such

school is not less than 10 percentage points below the

lowest percentage of such children for any school attendance area or school of the local educational agency that

meets the requirements of such subsections (a) and (b);

(H) use of Federal funds to supplement, not supplant,

non-Federal funds; and

(I) applicable civil rights requirements; and

(2) unless the underlying purposes of the statutory requirements of the program for which a waiver is granted continue

to be met to the satisfaction of the Secretary.

(d) TREATMENT OF EXISTING ED-FLEX PARTNERSHIP STATES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (3)

and (4), this section shall not apply to a State educational

agency that has been granted waiver authority under the provisions of law described in paragraph (2) for the duration of

the waiver authority.

(2) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—The provisions of law referred

to in paragraph (1) are as follows:

(A) Section 311(e) of the Goals 2000: Educate America

Act.

(B) The proviso referring to such section 311(e) under

the heading ‘‘EDUCATION REFORM’’ in the Department of

Education Appropriations Act, 1996 (Public Law 104–134;

110 Stat. 1321–229).

(3) SPECIAL RULE.—If a State educational agency granted

waiver authority pursuant to the provisions of law described

in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (2) applies to the

Secretary for waiver authority under this section—

(A) the Secretary shall review the progress of the State

educational agency in achieving the objectives set forth

in the application submitted pursuant to section 311(e)

of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act; and

(B) the Secretary shall administer the waiver authority

granted under this section in accordance with the requirements of this section.

(4) TECHNOLOGY.—In the case of a State educational agency

granted waiver authority under the provisions of law described

in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (2), the Secretary

shall permit a State educational agency to expand, on or after
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the date of the enactment of this Act, the waiver authority

to include programs under subpart 2 of part A of title III

of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (other

than section 3136 of such Act).

(e) PUBLICATION.—A notice of the Secretary’s decision to

authorize State educational agencies to issue waivers under this

section, including a description of the rationale the Secretary used

to approve applications under subsection (a)(3)(B), shall be published in the Federal Register and the Secretary shall provide

for the dissemination of such notice to State educational agencies,

interested parties (including educators, parents, students, and

advocacy and civil rights organizations), and the public.

SEC. 5. FLEXIBILITY TO DESIGN CLASS SIZE REDUCTION PROGRAMS.

Section 307 of the Department of Education Appropriations

Act, 1999, is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(2), by inserting ‘‘(except as provided

in subsection (c)(2)(D))’’ before the period; and

(2) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end the following:

‘‘(D) If a local educational agency has already reduced

class size in the early grades to 18 or fewer children and

intends to use funds provided under this section to carry out

professional development activities, including activities to

improve teacher quality, then the State shall make the award

under subsection (b) to the local educational agency without

requiring the formation of a consortium.’’.

SEC. 6. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL SETTING.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 615(k)(1)(A)(ii)(I) of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(1)(A)(ii)(I)) is

amended to read as follows:

‘‘(I) the child carries or possesses a weapon

to or at school, on school premises, or to or at

a school function under the jurisdiction of a State

or a local educational agency; or’’.

(b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by subsection (a) shall

apply to conduct occurring not earlier than the date of the enactment of this Act.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.