II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1210 

To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent to the Secretary of 

Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement 

of students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2013 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. COBURN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. LEE, Mr. 

WICKER, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS; PURPOSE; 

4 DEFINITIONS. 

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

6 ‘‘Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act’’ or the 

7 ‘‘A PLUS Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; purpose; definitions. 

Sec. 2. Declaration of intent. 

Sec. 3. Transparency for results of public education. 

Sec. 4. Maintenance of funding levels spent by States on education. 

Sec. 5. Administrative expenses. 

Sec. 6. Equitable participation of private schools. 

3 (c) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are as fol4 lows: 

5 (1) To give States and local communities max6 imum flexibility to determine how to improve aca7 demic achievement and implement education re8 forms. 

9 (2) To reduce the administrative costs and com10 pliance burden of Federal education programs in 

11 order to focus Federal resources on improving aca12 demic achievement. 

13 (3) To ensure that States and communities are 

14 accountable to the public for advancing the academic 

15 achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged 

16 children. 

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro19 vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 

20 given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

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

22 7801 et seq.). 


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1 (2) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 

2 (A) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘ac3 countability’’ means that public schools are an4 swerable to parents and other taxpayers for the 

5 use of public funds and shall report student 

6 progress to parents and taxpayers regularly. 

7 (B) DECLARATION OF INTENT.—The term 

8 ‘‘declaration of intent’’ means a decision by a 

9 State, as determined by State Authorizing Offi10 cials or by referendum, to assume full manage11 ment responsibility for the expenditure of Fed12 eral funds for certain eligible programs for the 

13 purpose of advancing, on a more comprehensive 

14 and effective basis, the educational policy of 

15 such State. 

16 (C) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 

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

18 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

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

20 (D) STATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS.—The 

21 term ‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the 

22 State officials who shall authorize the submis23 sion of a declaration of intent, and any amend24 ments thereto, on behalf of the State. Such offiVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jun 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1210.IS S1210

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1 cials shall include not less than 2 of the fol2 lowing: 

3 (i) The governor of the State. 

4 (ii) The highest elected education offi5 cial of the State, if any. 

6 (iii) The legislature of the State. 

7 (E) STATE DESIGNATED OFFICER.—The 

8 term ‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the 

9 person designated by the State Authorizing Of10 ficials to submit to the Secretary, on behalf of 

11 the State, a declaration of intent, and any 

12 amendments thereto, and to function as the 

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

14 and others relating to any responsibilities aris15 ing under this Act. 

16 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF INTENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub18 mit to the Secretary a declaration of intent permitting the 

19 State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated basis to 

20 manage the expenditure of such funds to advance the edu21 cational policy of the State. 

22 (b) PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR CONSOLIDATION AND

23 PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

25 within the scope of the State’s declaration of intent 


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1 any program for which Congress makes funds avail2 able to the State if the program is for a purpose de3 scribed in the Elementary and Education Secondary 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State may not in5 clude any program funded pursuant to the Individ6 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

7 1400 et seq.). 

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

9 a State pursuant to a declaration of intent under 

10 this Act shall be used for any educational purpose 

11 permitted by State law of the State submitting a 

12 declaration of intent. 

13 (c) CONTENTS OF DECLARATION.—Each declaration 

14 of intent shall contain— 

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

16 to the declaration of intent; 

17 (2) an assurance that the submission of the 

18 declaration of intent has been authorized by the 

19 State Authorizing Officials, specifying the identity of 

20 the State Designated Officer; 

21 (3) the duration of the declaration of intent; 

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

23 control and fund accounting procedures; 

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

25 requirements of applicable Federal civil rights laws 


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1 in carrying out the declaration of intent and in con2 solidating and using the funds under the declaration 

3 of intent; 

4 (6) an assurance that in implementing the dec5 laration of intent the State will seek to advance edu6 cational opportunities for the disadvantaged; and 

7 (7) a description of the plan for maintaining di8 rect accountability to parents and other citizens of 

9 the State. 

10 (d) DURATION.—The duration of the declaration of 

11 intent shall not exceed 5 years. 

12 (e) REVIEW AND RECOGNITION BY THE SEC13 RETARY.— 

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

15 the declaration of intent received from the State 

16 Designated Officer not more than 60 days after the 

17 date of receipt of such declaration, and shall recog18 nize such declaration of intent unless the declaration 

19 of intent fails to meet the requirements under sub20 section (c). 

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

22 the Secretary fails to take action within the time 

23 specified in paragraph (1), the declaration of intent, 

24 as submitted, shall be deemed to be approved. 

25 (f) AMENDMENT TO DECLARATION OF INTENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State Authorizing Offi2 cials may direct the State Designated Officer to sub3 mit amendments to a declaration of intent that is in 

4 effect. Such amendments shall be submitted to the 

5 Secretary and considered by the Secretary in accord6 ance with subsection (e). 

7 (2) AMENDMENTS AUTHORIZED.—A declaration 

8 of intent that is in effect may be amended to— 

9 (A) expand the scope of such declaration of 

10 intent to encompass additional eligible pro11 grams; 

12 (B) reduce the scope of such declaration of 

13 intent by excluding coverage of a Federal pro14 gram included in the original declaration of in15 tent; 

16 (C) modify the duration of such declara17 tion of intent; or 

18 (D) such other modifications that the 

19 State Authorizing Officials deem appropriate. 

20 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment shall 

21 specify an effective date. Such effective date shall 

22 provide adequate time to assure full compliance with 

23 Federal program requirements relating to an eligible 

24 program that has been removed from the coverage of 


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1 the declaration of intent by the proposed amend2 ment. 

3 (4) TREATMENT OF PROGRAM FUNDS WITH4 DRAWN FROM DECLARATION OF INTENT.—Begin5 ning on the effective date of an amendment executed 

6 under paragraph (2)(B), each program requirement 

7 of each program removed from the declaration of in8 tent shall apply to the State’s use of funds made 

9 available under the program. 

10 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY FOR RESULTS OF PUBLIC EDU11 CATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (1) INFORMING THE PUBLIC ABOUT ASSESS14 MENT AND PROFICIENCY.—Each State operating 

15 under a declaration of intent under this Act shall in16 form parents and the general public regarding the 

17 student achievement assessment system, dem18 onstrating student progress relative to the State’s 

19 determination of student proficiency, as described in 

20 paragraph (2), for the purpose of accountability. 

21 (2) ASSESSMENT AND STANDARDS.—Each 

22 State operating under a declaration of intent under 

23 this Act shall establish and implement a single sys24 tem of academic standards and academic assess25 ments, including the development of student proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jun 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1210.IS S1210

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1 ficiency goals. Such State may apply the academic 

2 assessments and standards described under section 

3 1111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311) or establish and im5 plement different academic assessments and stand6 ards. 

7 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM.—The State shall de8 termine and establish an accountability system to ensure 

9 accountability under this Act. 

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

11 than 1 year after the effective date of the declaration of 

12 intent, and annually thereafter, a State shall disseminate 

13 widely to parents and the general public a report that de14 scribes student progress. The report shall include— 

15 (1) student performance data disaggregated in 

16 the same manner as data are disaggregated under 

17 section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii) of the Elementary and 

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 6311(b)(3)(C)(xiii)); and 

20 (2) a description of how the State has used 

21 Federal funds to improve academic achievement, re22 duce achievement disparities between various stu23 dent groups, and improve educational opportunities 

24 for the disadvantaged. 


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1 SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF FUNDING LEVELS SPENT BY 

2 STATES ON EDUCATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each State consolidating and 

4 using funds pursuant to a declaration of intent under this 

5 Act, for each school year of the declaration of intent, the 

6 aggregate amount of funds spent by the State on elemen7 tary and secondary education shall be not less than 90 

8 percent of the aggregate amount of funds spent by the 

9 State on elementary and secondary education for the 

10 school year that coincides with the date of enactment of 

11 this Act. 

12 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

13 (1) STATE WAIVER CLAIM.—The requirement of 

14 subsection (a) may be waived by the State Author15 izing Officials if the State having a declaration of in16 tent in effect makes a determination, supported by 

17 specific findings, that uncontrollable or exceptional 

18 circumstances, such as a natural disaster or extreme 

19 contraction of economic activity, preclude compliance 

20 for a specified period, which may be extended. Such 

21 determination shall be presented to the Secretary by 

22 the State Designated Officer. 

23 (2) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—The Sec24 retary shall accept the State’s waiver, as described 

25 in paragraph (1), if the State has presented evidence 

26 to support such waiver. The Secretary shall review 


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1 the waiver received from the State Designated Offi2 cer not more than 60 days after the date of receipt. 

3 If the Secretary fails to take action within that time 

4 frame, the waiver, as submitted, shall be deemed to 

5 be approved. 

6 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

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

8 (b), the amount that a State with a declaration of intent 

9 may expend for administrative expenses shall be limited 

10 to 1 percent of the aggregate amount of Federal funds 

11 made available to the State through the eligible programs 

12 included within the scope of such declaration of intent. 

13 (b) STATES NOT CONSOLIDATING FUNDS UNDER

14 PART A OF TITLE I.—If the declaration of intent does 

15 not include within its scope part A of title I of the Elemen16 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 6311 et seq.), the amount spent by the State on adminis18 trative expenses shall be limited to 3 percent of the aggre19 gate amount of Federal funds made available to the State 

20 pursuant to such declaration of intent. 

21 SEC. 6. EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

22 Each State consolidating and using funds pursuant 

23 to a declaration of intent under this Act shall provide for 

24 the participation of private school children and teachers 

25 in the activities assisted under the declaration of intent 


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1 in the same manner as participation is provided to private 

2 school children and teachers under section 9501 of the El3 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 7881). 

Æ 


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