Calendar No. 106

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1150

A BILL

To improve learning and teaching by providing a

for other purposes.system of skill standards and certifications; andvelopment and adoption of a voluntary nationalFederal education programs; to promote the deto provide a framework for reauthorization of allcational achievement for all American students;cational opportunities and high levels of edutemic changes needed to ensure equitable edumote the research, consensus building, and sysnational framework for education reform; to proJUNE 23 (legislative day, JUNE 22), 1993

Read twice and placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 106

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1150

To improve learning and teaching by providing a national framework for

education reform; to promote the research, consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunities and

high levels of educational achievement for all American students; to

provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal education programs; to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national

system of skill standards and certifications; and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 23 (legislative day, JUNE 22), 1993

Mr. KENNEDY, from the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, reported

the following original bill; which was read twice and placed on the calendar

A BILL

To improve learning and teaching by providing a national

framework for education reform; to promote the research,

consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunities and high levels

of educational achievement for all American students;

to provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal

education programs; to promote the development and

adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards

and certifications; and for other purposes.
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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.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—Titles I through IV of this Act

5 may be cited as the ‘‘Goals 2000: Educate America Act’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

7 as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Purpose.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

TITLE I—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS

Sec. 101. Purpose.

Sec. 102. National education goals.

TITLE II—NATIONAL EDUCATION REFORM LEADERSHIP,

STANDARDS, AND ASSESSMENTS

PART A—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL

Sec. 201. Purpose.

Sec. 202. National education goals panel.

Sec. 203. Duties.

Sec. 204. Powers of the goals panel.

Sec. 205. Administrative provisions.

Sec. 206. Director and staff; experts and consultants.

PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL

Sec. 211. Purpose.

Sec. 212. National Education Standards and Improvement Council.

Sec. 213. Duties.

Sec. 214. Annual reports.

Sec. 215. Powers of the council.

Sec. 216. Administrative provisions.

Sec. 217. Director and staff; experts and consultants.

Sec. 218. Opportunity-to-learn development grant.

PART C—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 221. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE III—STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION SYSTEMIC

IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 301. Findings.

Sec. 302. Purpose.

Sec. 303. Authorization of appropriations.
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Sec. 304. Allotment of funds.

Sec. 305. State applications.

Sec. 306. State improvement plans.

Sec. 307. Secretary’s review of applications; payments.

Sec. 308. State use of funds.

Sec. 309. Subgrants for local reform and professional development.

Sec. 310. Availability of information and training.

Sec. 311. Waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements.

Sec. 312. Progress reports.

Sec. 313. National leadership.

Sec. 314. Assistance to the outlying areas and to the Secretary of the Interior.

TITLE IV—SCHOOLS

Sec. 401. Public schools.

TITLE V—NATIONAL SKILL STANDARDS BOARD

Sec. 501. Short title.

Sec. 502. Purpose.

Sec. 503. Establishment of National Board.

Sec. 504. Functions of the National Board.

Sec. 505. Deadlines.

Sec. 506. Reports.

Sec. 507. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 508. Definitions.

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 It is the purpose of this Act to provide a framework

3 for meeting the National Education Goals described in

4 title I of this Act by—

5 (1) promoting coherent, nationwide, systemic

6 education reform;

7 (2) improving the quality of teaching and learn8 ing in the classroom;

9 (3) defining appropriate and coherent Federal,

10 State, and local roles and responsibilities for edu11 cation reform;

12 (4) establishing valid, reliable, and fair mecha13 nisms for—
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1 (A) building a broad national consensus on

2 United States education reform;

3 (B) assisting in the development and cer4 tification of high-quality, internationally com5 petitive content and student performance stand6 ards;

7 (C) assisting in the development and cer8 tification of opportunity-to-learn standards; and

9 (D) assisting in the development and cer10 tification of high-quality assessment measures

11 that reflect the internationally competitive con12 tent and student performance standards;

13 (5) supporting new initiatives at the Federal,

14 State, local, and school levels to provide equal edu15 cational opportunity for all students to meet high

16 standards; and

17 (6) providing a framework for the reauthoriza18 tion of all Federal education programs by—

19 (A) creating a vision of excellence and eq20 uity that will guide all Federal education and

21 related programs;

22 (B) providing for the establishment of

23 high-quality, internationally competitive content

24 and student performance standards that all stu25 dents, including disadvantaged students, stu-
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1 dents with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural

2 backgrounds, students with disabilities, stu3 dents with limited-English proficiency, and aca4 demically talented students, will be expected to

5 achieve;

6 (C) providing for the establishment of high

7 quality, internationally competitive opportunity8 to-learn standards that all States, local edu9 cational agencies, and schools should achieve;

10 (D) encouraging and enabling all State

11 educational agencies and local educational agen12 cies to develop comprehensive improvement

13 plans that will provide a coherent framework

14 for the implementation of reauthorized Federal

15 education and related programs in an inte16 grated fashion that effectively educates all chil17 dren; and

18 (E) providing resources to help individual

19 schools, including schools serving students with

20 high needs, develop and implement comprehen21 sive improvement plans.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 As used in this Act—

24 (1) the term ‘‘all students’’ means students

25 from a broad range of backgrounds and cir-
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1 cumstances, including disadvantaged students, stu2 dents with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural back3 grounds, students with disabilities, students with

4 limited-English proficiency, students who have

5 dropped out of school, and academically talented

6 students;

7 (2) the term ‘‘assessment’’ means the overall

8 process and form of instrument used to measure stu9 dent attainment of content standards, except that

10 such term need not include the discrete items that

11 comprise each assessment;

12 (3) the term ‘‘content standards’’ means broad

13 descriptions of the knowledge and skills students

14 should acquire in a particular subject area;

15 (4) the term ‘‘Governor’’ means the chief execu16 tive of the State;

17 (5) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

18 meaning given such term in section 1471(12) of the

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,

20 except that such term may include a public school

21 council if such council is mandated by State law;

22 (6) the term ‘‘opportunity-to-learn standards’’

23 means the conditions of teaching and learning nec24 essary for all students to have a fair opportunity to
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1 learn, including ways of measuring the extent to

2 which such standards are being met;

3 (7) the term ‘‘outlying areas’’ means Guam,

4 American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Common5 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau

6 (until the effective date of the Compact of Free As7 sociation with the Government of Palau), and the

8 Freely Associated States;

9 (8) the term ‘‘performance standards’’ means

10 concrete examples and explicit definitions of what

11 students have to know and be able to do to dem12 onstrate that such students are proficient in the

13 skills and knowledge framed by content standards;

14 (9) the term ‘‘related services’’ includes the

15 types of services described in section 602(17) of the

16 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

17 (10) the term ‘‘school’’ means a public school

18 that is under the authority of the State educational

19 agency or a local educational agency or, for the pur20 pose of carrying out section 314(b), a school that is

21 operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs;

22 (11) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, unless otherwise

23 specified, means the Secretary of Education;
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1 (12) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50

2 States, the District of Columbia, and the Common3 wealth of Puerto Rico; and

4 (13) the term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has

5 the same meaning given such term in section

6 1471(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965.

8 TITLE I—NATIONAL EDUCATION

9 GOALS

10 SEC. 101. PURPOSE.

11 It is the purpose of this title to establish National

12 Education Goals.

13 SEC. 102. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS.

14 The Congress declares the National Education Goals

15 are as follows:

16 (1) SCHOOL READINESS.—

17 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, all children

18 in America will start school ready to learn.

19 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

20 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

21 (i) all disadvantaged and disabled

22 children will have access to high-quality

23 and developmentally appropriate preschool

24 programs that help prepare children for

25 school;
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1 (ii) every parent in the United States

2 will be a child’s first teacher and devote

3 time each day to helping such parent’s pre4 school child learn, and parents will have

5 access to the training and support parents

6 need; and

7 (iii) children will receive the nutrition

8 and health care needed to arrive at school

9 with healthy minds and bodies, and the

10 number of low-birthweight babies will be

11 significantly reduced through enhanced

12 prenatal health systems.

13 (2) SCHOOL COMPLETION.—

14 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, the high

15 school graduation rate will increase to at least

16 90 percent.

17 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

18 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

19 (i) the Nation must dramatically re20 duce its high school dropout rate, and 75

21 percent of high school students who do

22 drop out of school will successfully com23 plete a high school degree or its equivalent;

24 and
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1 (ii) the gap in high school graduation

2 rates between United States students from

3 minority backgrounds and their

4 nonminority counterparts will be elimi5 nated.

6 (3) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZEN7 SHIP.—

8 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, United

9 States students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12

10 having demonstrated competency over challeng11 ing subject matter including English, mathe12 matics, science, foreign languages, civics and

13 government, arts, history, and geography, and

14 every school in the United States will ensure

15 that all students learn to use their minds well,

16 so students may be prepared for responsible

17 citizenship, further learning, and productive

18 employment in our Nation’s modern economy.

19 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

20 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

21 (i) the academic performance of ele22 mentary and secondary students will in23 crease significantly in every quartile, and

24 the distribution of minority students in
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1 each quartile will more closely reflect the

2 student population as a whole;

3 (ii) the percentage of students who

4 demonstrate the ability to reason, solve

5 problems, apply knowledge, and write and

6 communicate effectively will increase sub7 stantially;

8 (iii) all students will be involved in ac9 tivities that promote and demonstrate good

10 citizenship, community service, and per11 sonal responsibility;

12 (iv) the percentage of students who

13 are competent in more than one language

14 will substantially increase; and

15 (v) all students will be knowledgeable

16 about the diverse cultural heritage of our

17 Nation and about the world community.

18 (4) MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE.—

19 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, United

20 States students will be first in the world in

21 mathematics and science achievement.

22 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

23 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

24 (i) mathematics and science education

25 will be strengthened throughout the edu-
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1 cational system, especially in the early

2 grades;

3 (ii) the number of teachers with a

4 substantive background in mathematics

5 and science will increase by 50 percent

6 from the number of such teachers in 1992;

7 and

8 (iii) the number of United States un9 dergraduate and graduate students, espe10 cially women and minorities, who complete

11 degrees in mathematics, science, and engi12 neering will increase significantly.

13 (5) ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARN14 ING.—

15 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, every adult

16 United States citizen will be literate and will

17 possess the knowledge and skills necessary to

18 compete in a global economy and exercise the

19 rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

20 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

21 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

22 (i) every major United States business

23 will be involved in strengthening the con24 nection between education and work;
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1 (ii) all workers will have the oppor2 tunity to acquire the knowledge and skills,

3 from basic to highly technical, needed to

4 adapt to emerging new technologies, work

5 methods, and markets through public and

6 private educational, vocational, technical,

7 workplace, or other programs;

8 (iii) the number of quality programs,

9 including programs at libraries, that are

10 designed to serve more effectively the

11 needs of the growing number of part-time

12 and mid-career students, will increase sub13 stantially;

14 (iv) the proportion of qualified stu15 dents, especially minorities, who enter col16 lege, who complete at least 2 years of col17 lege, and who complete their degree pro18 grams, will increase substantially; and

19 (v) the proportion of college graduates

20 who demonstrate an advanced ability to

21 think critically, communicate effectively,

22 and solve problems will increase substan23 tially.

24 (6) SAFE, DISCIPLINED, AND DRUG-FREE

25 SCHOOLS.—
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1 (A) GOAL.—By the year 2000, every

2 school in the United States will be free of drugs

3 and violence and will offer a disciplined environ4 ment conducive to learning.

5 (B) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives for the

6 goal described in subparagraph (A) are that—

7 (i) every school will implement a firm

8 and fair policy on use, possession, and dis9 tribution of drugs and alcohol;

10 (ii) parents, businesses, governmental

11 and community organizations will work to12 gether to ensure that schools are a safe

13 haven for all children;

14 (iii) every school district will develop a

15 comprehensive kindergarten through

16 twelfth grade drug and alcohol prevention

17 education program;

18 (iv) drug and alcohol curriculum

19 should be taught as an integral part of

20 health education; and

21 (v) community-based teams should be

22 organized to provide students and teachers

23 with needed support.
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1 TITLE II—NATIONAL EDUCATION

2 REFORM LEADERSHIP, STAN3 DARDS, AND ASSESSMENTS

4 PART A—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL

5 SEC. 201. PURPOSE.

6 It is the purpose of this part to establish a bipartisan

7 mechanism for—

8 (1) building a national consensus for education

9 improvement;

10 (2) reporting on progress toward achieving the

11 National Education Goals;

12 (3) periodically reviewing the goals and objec13 tives described in title I and recommending adjust14 ments to such goals and objectives, as needed, in

15 order to guarantee education reform that continues

16 to provide guidance for quality, world class edu17 cation for all students; and

18 (4) reviewing and approving the voluntary na19 tional content standards, voluntary national student

20 performance standards and voluntary national op21 portunity-to-learn standards certified by the Na22 tional Education Standards and Improvement Coun23 cil, as well as the criteria for the certification of

24 such standards, and the criteria for the certification
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1 of State assessments or systems of assessments cer2 tified by such Council.

3 SEC. 202. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex5 ecutive branch a National Education Goals Panel (here6 after in this title referred to as the ‘‘Goals Panel’’).

7 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Goals Panel shall be com8 posed of 18 members (hereafter in this part referred to

9 as ‘‘members’’), including—

10 (1) two members appointed by the President;

11 (2) eight members who are Governors, 3 of

12 whom shall be from the same political party as the

13 President and 5 of whom shall be of the opposite po14 litical party of the President, appointed by the

15 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the National

16 Governors’ Association, with the Chairperson and

17 Vice Chairperson each appointing representatives of

18 such Chairperson’s or Vice Chairperson’s respective

19 political party, in consultation with each other;

20 (3) four Members of the Congress, of whom—

21 (A) one member shall be appointed by the

22 Majority Leader of the Senate from among the

23 Members of the Senate;
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1 (B) one member shall be appointed by the

2 Minority Leader of the Senate from among the

3 Members of the Senate;

4 (C) one member shall be appointed by the

5 Majority Leader of the House of Representa6 tives from among the Members of the House of

7 Representatives; and

8 (D) one member shall be appointed by the

9 Minority Leader of the House of Representa10 tives from among the Members of the House of

11 Representatives; and

12 (4) four members of State legislatures ap13 pointed by the President of the National Conference

14 of State Legislatures, of whom not more than 2 may

15 be of the same political party as the President of the

16 United States.

17 (c) SPECIAL APPOINTMENT RULES.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members appointed pur19 suant to subsection (b)(2) shall be appointed as fol20 lows:

21 (A) If the Chairperson of the National

22 Governors’ Association is from the same politi23 cal party as the President, the Chairperson

24 shall appoint 3 individuals and the Vice Chair-
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1 person of such association shall appoint 5 indi2 viduals.

3 (B) If the Chairperson of the National

4 Governors’ Association is from the opposite po5 litical party as the President, the Chairperson

6 shall appoint 5 individuals and the Vice Chair7 person of such association shall appoint 3 indi8 viduals.

9 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the National Governors’

10 Association has appointed a panel that meets the re11 quirements of subsections (b) and (c), except for the

12 requirements of paragraph (4) of subsection (b),

13 prior to the date of enactment of this Act, then the

14 members serving on such panel shall be deemed to

15 be in compliance with the provisions of such sub16 sections and shall not be required to be reappointed

17 pursuant to such subsections.

18 (d) TERMS.—The terms of service of members shall

19 be as follows:

20 (1) PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEES.—Members ap21 pointed under subsection (b)(1) shall serve at the

22 pleasure of the President.

23 (2) GOVERNORS.—Members appointed under

24 paragraph (2) of subsection (b) shall serve a 2-year

25 term, except that the initial appointments under
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1 such paragraph shall be made to ensure staggered

2 terms with one-half of such members’ terms conclud3 ing every 2 years.

4 (3) CONGRESSIONAL APPOINTEES AND STATE

5 LEGISLATORS.—Members appointed under para6 graphs (3) and (4) of subsection (b) shall serve for

7 2-year terms.

8 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

9 shall be appointed not later than 60 days after the date

10 of enactment of this Act.

11 (f) INITIATION.—The Goals Panel may begin to carry

12 out its duties under this part when 10 members of the

13 Goals Panel have been appointed.

14 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Goals Panel shall

15 not affect the powers of the Goals Panel, but shall be filled

16 in the same manner as the original appointment.

17 (h) TRAVEL.—Each member may be allowed travel

18 expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as au19 thorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code,

20 for each day the member is engaged in the performance

21 of duties for the Goals Panel away from the home or regu22 lar place of business of the member.

23 (i) CHAIRPERSON.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members shall select a

2 Chairperson from among the members described in

3 paragraph (2) of subsection (b).

4 (2) TERM AND POLITICAL AFFILIATION.—The

5 Chairperson of the Goals Panel shall serve a 1-year

6 term and shall alternate between political parties.

7 SEC. 203. DUTIES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Goals Panel shall—

9 (1) report on the progress the Nation and the

10 States are making toward achieving the National

11 Education Goals described in title I, including issu12 ing an annual national report card;

13 (2) submit to the President nominations for ap14 pointment to the National Education Standards and

15 Improvement Council in accordance with subsections

16 (b) and (c) of section 212;

17 (3) review and approve (or explain why ap18 proval is withheld) the—

19 (A) criteria developed by the National

20 Education Standards and Improvement Council

21 for the certification of content and student per22 formance standards, assessments or systems of

23 assessments, and opportunity-to-learn stand24 ards; and
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1 (B) voluntary national content standards,

2 voluntary national student performance stand3 ards and voluntary national opportunity-to4 learn standards certified by such Council;

5 (4) report on promising or effective actions

6 being taken at the national, State, and local levels,

7 and in the public and private sectors, to achieve the

8 National Education Goals; and

9 (5) help build a nationwide, bipartisan consen10 sus for the reforms necessary to achieve the Na11 tional Education Goals.

12 (b) NATIONAL REPORT CARD.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Goals Panel shall annu14 ally prepare and submit to the President, the Sec15 retary, the appropriate committees of the Congress,

16 and the Governor of each State a national report

17 card that shall—

18 (A) report on the progress of the United

19 States toward achieving the National Education

20 Goals; and

21 (B) identify actions that should be taken

22 by Federal, State, and local governments to en23 hance progress toward achieving the National

24 Education Goals.
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1 (2) FORM; DATA.—National report cards shall

2 be presented in a form, and include data, that is un3 derstandable to parents and the general public.

4 SEC. 204. POWERS OF THE GOALS PANEL.

5 (a) HEARINGS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Goals Panel shall, for

7 the purpose of carrying out this part, conduct such

8 hearings, sit and act at such times and places, take

9 such testimony, and receive such evidence, as the

10 Goals Panel considers appropriate.

11 (2) REPRESENTATION.—In carrying out this

12 part, the Goals Panel shall conduct hearings to re13 ceive reports, views, and analyses of a broad spec14 trum of experts and the public on the establishment

15 of voluntary national content, voluntary national stu16 dent performance standards, voluntary national op17 portunity-to-learn standards, and State assessments

18 or systems of assessments described in section

19 213(e).

20 (b) INFORMATION.—The Goals Panel may secure di21 rectly from any department or agency of the Federal Gov22 ernment information necessary to enable the Goals Panel

23 to carry out this part. Upon request of the Chairperson

24 of the Goals Panel, the head of any such department or
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1 agency shall furnish such information to the Goals Panel

2 to the extent permitted by law.

3 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Goals Panel may use

4 the United States mail in the same manner and under the

5 same conditions as departments and agencies of the Fed6 eral Government.

7 (d) GIFTS; USE OF FACILITIES.—The Goals Panel

8 may—

9 (1) accept, administer, and utilize gifts or dona10 tions of services, money, or property, whether real or

11 personal, tangible or intangible; and

12 (2) with their consent, use the research, equip13 ment, services, and facilities of any department,

14 agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern15 ment, or of any State or political subdivision thereof.

16 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP17 PORT.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

19 to the Goals Panel, on a reimbursable basis, such

20 administrative support services as the Goals Panel

21 may request.

22 (2) CONTRACTS AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS.—

23 The Secretary shall, to the extent appropriate, and

24 on a reimbursable basis, make contracts and other

25 arrangements that are requested by the Goals Panel
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1 to help the Goals Panel compile and analyze data or

2 carry out other functions necessary to the perform3 ance of the Goals Panel’s responsibilities.

4 SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

5 (a) MEETINGS.—The Goals Panel shall meet on a

6 regular basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson

7 of the Goals Panel or a majority of the members of the

8 Goals Panel.

9 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con10 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

11 (c) VOTING.—No individual may vote, or exercise any

12 of the powers of a member, by proxy.

13 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Goals Panel shall ensure

14 public access to the proceedings of the Goals Panel (other

15 than proceedings, or portions of proceedings, relating to

16 internal personnel and management matters) and shall

17 make available to the public, at reasonable cost, tran18 scripts of such proceedings.

19 SEC. 206. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT20 ANTS.

21 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Goals Panel,

22 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

23 Code, relating to the appointment and compensation of of24 ficers or employees of the United States, shall appoint a
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1 Director to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of

2 basic pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

3 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Director may ap5 point not more than 4 additional employees to serve

6 as staff to the Goals Panel without regard to the

7 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

8 appointments in the competitive service.

9 (B) The employees appointed under subpara10 graph (A) may be paid without regard to the provi11 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

12 of that title relating to classification and General

13 Schedule pay rates, but shall not be paid a rate that

14 exceeds the maximum rate of basic pay payable for

15 GS–15 of the General Schedule.

16 (2) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.—The Director

17 may appoint additional employees to serve as staff

18 to the Goals Panel in accordance with title 5, United

19 States Code.

20 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Goals Panel

21 may procure temporary and intermittent services of ex22 perts and consultants under section 3109(b) of title 5,

23 United States Code.

24 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re25 quest of the Goals Panel, the head of any department or
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1 agency of the United States may detail any of the person2 nel of such department to the Goals Panel to assist the

3 Goals Panel in carrying out its responsibilities under this

4 part.

5 PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS

6 AND IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL

7 SEC. 211. PURPOSE.

8 It is the purpose of this part to establish a mecha9 nism to—

10 (1) certify voluntary national content standards

11 and voluntary national student performance stand12 ards that define what all students should know and

13 be able to do;

14 (2) certify content and student performance

15 standards submitted by States on a voluntary basis,

16 if such standards are comparable in rigor and qual17 ity to the voluntary national content standards and

18 voluntary national student performance standards

19 certified by the National Education Standards and

20 Improvement Council;

21 (3) certify voluntary national opportunity-to22 learn standards that describe the conditions of

23 teaching and learning necessary for all students to

24 have a fair opportunity to achieve the knowledge and

25 skills described in the voluntary national content
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1 standards and the voluntary national student per2 formance standards certified by the National Edu3 cation Standards and Improvement Council;

4 (4) certify opportunity-to-learn standards sub5 mitted by States on a voluntary basis that—

6 (A) describe the conditions of teaching and

7 learning necessary for all students to have a

8 fair opportunity to learn; and

9 (B) address the elements described in sec10 tion 213(c)(3); and

11 (5) certify assessments or systems of assess12 ments submitted by States on a voluntary basis, if

13 such assessments or systems—

14 (A) are aligned with and support State

15 content standards certified by such Council;

16 and

17 (B) are valid, reliable, and fair when used

18 for their intended purposes.

19 SEC. 212. NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IM20 PROVEMENT COUNCIL.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the ex22 ecutive branch a National Education Standards and Im23 provement Council (hereafter in this part referred to as

24 the ‘‘Council’’).
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1 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed

2 of 19 members (hereafter in this part referred to as

3 ‘‘members’’) appointed by the President from nominations

4 submitted by the Goals Panel.

5 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Council

7 shall include—

8 (A) five professional educators appointed

9 from among elementary and secondary class10 room teachers, preschool educators, related

11 services personnel, and other school-based pro12 fessionals, State or local educational agency ad13 ministrators, or other educators;

14 (B) four representatives of business and

15 industry or postsecondary educational institu16 tions, including at least 1 representative of

17 business and industry who is also a member of

18 the National Skill Standards Board established

19 pursuant to title V;

20 (C) five representatives of the public, ap21 pointed from among representatives of advo22 cacy, civil rights, and disability groups, parents,

23 civic leaders, or State or local education policy24 makers (including members of State or local

25 school boards); and
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1 (D) five education experts, appointed from

2 among experts in measurement and assessment,

3 curriculum, school finance and equity, or school

4 reform.

5 (2) NOMINATIONS.—The Goals Panel shall sub6 mit to the President at least 15 nominations for

7 each of the 4 categories of appointment described in

8 subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1).

9 (3) REPRESENTATION.—To the extent feasible,

10 the membership of the Council shall—

11 (A) be geographically representative of the

12 United States and reflect the diversity of the

13 United States with respect to race, ethnicity,

14 gender and disability characteristics; and

15 (B) include persons from each of the 4 cat16 egories described in subparagraphs (A) through

17 (D) of paragraph (1) who have expertise in the

18 education of subgroups of students who are at

19 risk of school failure.

20 (d) TERMS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members shall be appointed

22 for 3-year terms, with no member serving more than

23 2 consecutive terms.

24 (2) INITIAL TERMS.—The President shall estab25 lish initial terms for members of 1, 2, or 3 years in
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1 order to establish a rotation in which one-third of

2 the members are selected each year.

3 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

4 shall be appointed not later than 120 days after the date

5 of enactment of this Act.

6 (f) INITIATION.—The Council shall begin to carry out

7 the duties of the Council under this part when all 19 mem8 bers have been appointed.

9 (g) RETENTION.—In order to retain an appointment

10 to the Council, a member shall attend at least two-thirds

11 of the scheduled meetings of the Council in any given year.

12 (h) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Council shall not

13 affect the powers of the Council, but shall be filled in the

14 same manner as the original appointment.

15 (i) COMPENSATION.—Members who are not regular

16 full-time employees of the United States, while attending

17 meetings or hearings of the Council, may be provided com18 pensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary, but not exceed19 ing the maximum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15

20 of the General Schedule.

21 (j) TRAVEL.—Each member of the Council may be

22 allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of sub23 sistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United

24 States Code, for each day the member is engaged in the
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1 performance of duties for the Council away from the home

2 or regular place of business of the member.

3 (k) OFFICERS.—The members shall select officers of

4 the Council from among the members. The officers of the

5 Council shall serve for 1-year terms.

6 (l) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—No member, staff, ex7 pert, or consultant assisting the Council shall be appointed

8 to the Council—

9 (1) if such member, staff, expert, or consultant

10 has a fiduciary interest in an educational assess11 ment; and

12 (2) unless such member, staff, expert, or con13 sultant agrees that such member, staff, expert, or

14 consultant, respectively, will not obtain such an in15 terest for a period of 2 years from the date of termi16 nation of such member’s service on the Council.

17 SEC. 213. DUTIES.

18 (a) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council, upon rec20 ommendation from a working group on voluntary

21 national content standards, shall—

22 (A) identify areas in which voluntary na23 tional content standards need to be developed;

24 (B) certify voluntary national content

25 standards and voluntary national student per-
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1 formance standards that define what all stu2 dents should know and be able to do; and

3 (C) forward such voluntary national con4 tent standards and voluntary national student

5 performance standards to the Goals Panel for

6 approval.

7 (2) CRITERIA.—(A) The Council, upon rec8 ommendation from a working group on voluntary

9 national content standards, shall—

10 (i) identify and develop criteria to be used

11 for certifying the voluntary national content

12 standards and voluntary national student per13 formance standards; and

14 (ii) before applying such criteria, forward

15 such criteria to the Goals Panel for approval.

16 (B) The criteria developed by the Council shall

17 address—

18 (i) the extent to which the proposed stand19 ards are internationally competitive and com20 parable to the best standards in the world;

21 (ii) the extent to which the proposed vol22 untary national content standards and vol23 untary national student performance standards

24 reflect the best available knowledge about how
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1 all students learn and about how a content area

2 can be most effectively taught;

3 (iii) the extent to which the proposed vol4 untary national content standards and vol5 untary national student performance standards

6 have been developed through an open and pub7 lic process that provides for input and involve8 ment of all relevant parties, including teachers,

9 related services personnel, and other profes10 sional educators, employers and postsecondary

11 education institutions, curriculum and subject

12 matter specialists, parents, secondary school

13 students, and the public; and

14 (iv) other factors that the Council deems

15 appropriate.

16 (C) In developing the criteria, the Council shall

17 work with entities that are developing, or have al18 ready developed, content standards, and any other

19 entities that the Council deems appropriate, to iden20 tify appropriate certification criteria.

21 (b) VOLUNTARY STATE CONTENT STANDARDS.—The

22 Council may certify content and student performance

23 standards presented on a voluntary basis by States, if such

24 standards are comparable in rigor and quality to the vol-
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1 untary national content standards and voluntary national

2 student performance standards certified by the Council.

3 (c) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

4 STANDARDS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council, upon rec6 ommendation from a working group on voluntary

7 national opportunity-to-learn standards, shall certify

8 exemplary, voluntary national opportunity-to-learn

9 standards that will establish a basis for providing all

10 students a fair opportunity to achieve the knowledge

11 and skills described in the voluntary national content

12 standards certified by the Council.

13 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The voluntary national

14 opportunity-to-learn standards shall be sufficiently

15 general to be used by any State without unduly re16 stricting State and local prerogatives regarding in17 structional methods to be employed.

18 (3) ELEMENTS ADDRESSED.—The voluntary

19 national opportunity-to-learn standards certified by

20 the Council shall address—

21 (A) the quality and availability of curric22 ula, instructional materials, and technologies;

23 (B) the capability of teachers to provide

24 high-quality instruction to meet diverse learning

25 needs in each content area;
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1 (C) the extent to which teachers and ad2 ministrators have ready and continuing access

3 to professional development, including the best

4 knowledge about teaching, learning, and school

5 improvement;

6 (D) the extent to which curriculum, in7 structional practices, and assessments are

8 aligned to content standards; and

9 (E) other factors that the Council deems

10 appropriate to ensure that all students receive

11 a fair opportunity to achieve the knowledge and

12 skills described in the voluntary national con13 tent standards and the voluntary national stu14 dent performance standards certified by the

15 Council.

16 (4) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—In carrying out this

17 subsection, the Council shall—

18 (A) identify what other countries with rig19 orous content standards do to—

20 (i) provide their children with oppor21 tunities to learn;

22 (ii) prepare their teachers; and

23 (iii) provide continuing professional

24 development opportunities for their teach25 ers; and
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1 (B) develop criteria to be used for certify2 ing the voluntary national opportunity-to-learn

3 standards and, before applying such criteria,

4 forward such criteria to the Goals Panel for ap5 proval.

6 (5) RECOMMENDATIONS AND COORDINATION.—

7 The Council shall assist in the development of the

8 voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards

9 by—

10 (A) making recommendations to the Sec11 retary regarding priorities and selection criteria

12 for each grant awarded under section 218; and

13 (B) coordinating with each consortium re14 ceiving a grant under section 218 to ensure

15 that the opportunity-to-learn standards the con16 sortium develops for all students are of high

17 quality and are consistent with the criteria de18 veloped by the Council for the certification of

19 such standards.

20 (6) APPROVAL.—The Council shall forward the

21 voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards

22 that the Council certifies to the Goals Panel for ap23 proval.

24 (d) VOLUNTARY STATE OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

25 STANDARDS.—The Council may certify voluntary oppor-
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1 tunity-to-learn standards presented on a voluntary basis

2 by a State that—

3 (1) describe the conditions of teaching and

4 learning necessary for all students to have a fair op5 portunity to learn; and

6 (2) address the elements described in section

7 213(c)(3).

8 (e) ASSESSMENTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Council shall cer10 tify, for a period not to exceed 5 years, an assess11 ment of a single subject area or a system of assess12 ments involving several subject areas presented on a

13 voluntary basis by a State if such assessment or sys14 tem of assessment—

15 (i) is aligned with such State’s voluntary

16 State content standards, if such State has vol17 untary State content standards that have been

18 certified by the Council;

19 (ii) involves multiple measures of student

20 performance; and

21 (iii) provides for—

22 (I) the participation of all students

23 with diverse learning needs in such assess24 ment or system; and
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1 (II) the adaptations and accommoda2 tions necessary to permit such participa3 tion.

4 (B) Assessments or systems of assessments

5 shall be certified for the purpose of—

6 (i) exemplifying for students, parents, and

7 teachers the kinds and levels of achievement

8 that should be expected, including the identi9 fication of student performance standards;

10 (ii) improving classroom instruction and

11 improving the learning outcomes for all stu12 dents;

13 (iii) informing students, parents, and

14 teachers about student progress toward such

15 standards;

16 (iv) measuring and motivating individual

17 students, schools, districts, States, and the Na18 tion to improve educational performance; and

19 (v) assisting education policymakers in

20 making decisions about education programs.

21 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—(A)(i) The Council

22 shall develop, and not sooner than 3 years nor later

23 than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act,

24 begin utilizing, criteria for the certification of such

25 an assessment or a system of assessments in accord-
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1 ance with this subsection, including an assessment

2 or system that is used to make decisions regarding

3 graduation, grade promotion, or retention of stu4 dents.

5 (ii) Before utilizing the criteria described in

6 clause (i), the Council shall forward such criteria to

7 the Goals Panel for approval.

8 (B) The certification criteria described in this

9 paragraph shall address the extent to which an as10 sessment or a system of assessments—

11 (i)(I) is aligned with a State’s voluntary

12 State content standards, if such State has vol13 untary State content standards that have been

14 certified by the Council; and

15 (II) will support effective curriculum and

16 instruction;

17 (ii) is to be used for a purpose for which

18 such assessment or system is valid, reliable,

19 fair, and free of discrimination; and

20 (iii) includes all students, especially stu21 dents with disabilities or with limited-English

22 proficiency.

23 (C) In determining appropriate certification cri24 teria under this paragraph, the Council shall—
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1 (i) consider standards and criteria being

2 developed by other national organizations and

3 recent research on assessment;

4 (ii) recommend needed research;

5 (iii) encourage the development and field

6 testing of assessments or systems of assess7 ments; and

8 (iv) provide a public forum for discussing,

9 debating, and building consensus for the cri10 teria to be used for the certification of assess11 ments or systems of assessments.

12 (D) Prior to determining the certification cri13 teria described in this paragraph, the Council shall

14 take public comment on its proposed certification

15 criteria.

16 (f) PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.—In carrying out its

17 responsibilities under this title, the Council shall—

18 (1) work with Federal and non-Federal depart19 ments, agencies, or organizations that are conduct20 ing research, studies, or demonstration projects to

21 determine internationally competitive education

22 standards and assessments, and may establish sub23 ject matter and other panels to advise the Council

24 on particular content, student performance, and op-
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1 portunity-to-learn standards and on assessments or

2 systems of assessments;

3 (2) establish cooperative arrangements with the

4 National Skill Standards Board to promote the co5 ordination of the development of content and stu6 dent performance standards under this title with the

7 development of skill standards described in title V;

8 (3) recommend studies to the Secretary that

9 are necessary to carry out the Council’s responsibil10 ities;

11 (4) inform the public about what constitutes

12 high quality, internationally competitive, content,

13 student performance, and opportunity-to-learn

14 standards, and assessments or systems of assess15 ments;

16 (5) on a regular basis, review and update cri17 teria for certifying content, student performance,

18 and opportunity-to-learn standards, and assessments

19 or systems of assessments; and

20 (6) periodically recertify, as appropriate, the

21 voluntary national content standards, the voluntary

22 national student performance standards, and the vol23 untary national opportunity-to-learn standards.
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1 SEC. 214. ANNUAL REPORTS.

2 Not later than 1 year after the date the Council con3 cludes its first meeting, and each year thereafter, the

4 Council shall prepare and submit a report regarding its

5 work to the President, the Secretary, the appropriate com6 mittees of the Congress, the Governor of each State, and

7 the Goals Panel.

8 SEC. 215. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

9 (a) HEARINGS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall, for the

11 purpose of carrying out its responsibilities, conduct

12 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

13 take such testimony, and receive such evidence, as

14 the Council considers appropriate.

15 (2) LOCATION.—In carrying out this part, the

16 Council shall conduct public hearings in different ge17 ographic areas of the United States, both urban and

18 rural, to receive the reports, views, and analyses of

19 a broad spectrum of experts and the public on the

20 establishment of voluntary national content stand21 ards, voluntary national student performance stand22 ards, voluntary national opportunity-to-learn stand23 ards, and assessments or systems of assessments de24 scribed in section 213(e).

25 (b) INFORMATION.—The Council may secure directly

26 from any department or agency of the Federal Govern-
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1 ment information necessary to enable the Council to carry

2 out this part. Upon request of the Chairperson of the

3 Council, the head of such department or agency shall fur4 nish such information to the Council to the extent per5 mitted by law.

6 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Council may use the

7 United States mail in the same manner and under the

8 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the

9 Federal Government.

10 (d) GIFTS; USE OF FACILITIES.—The Council may—

11 (1) accept, administer, and utilize gifts or dona12 tions of services, money, or property, whether real or

13 personal, tangible or intangible; and

14 (2) with their consent, use the research, equip15 ment, services, and facilities of any department,

16 agency, or instrumentality of the United States, or

17 of any State or political subdivision thereof.

18 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP19 PORT.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

21 to the Council, on a reimbursable basis, such admin22 istrative support services as the Council may re23 quest.

24 (2) CONTRACTS AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS.—

25 The Secretary, to the extent appropriate and on a
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1 reimbursable basis, shall enter into contracts and

2 other arrangements that are requested by the Coun3 cil to help the Council compile and analyze data or

4 carry out other functions necessary to the perform5 ance of the Council’s responsibilities.

6 SEC. 216. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

7 (a) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet on a regular

8 basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson of the

9 Council or a majority of its members.

10 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con11 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

12 (c) VOTING.—The Council shall take all action of the

13 Council by a majority vote of the total membership of the

14 Council, ensuring the right of the minority to issue written

15 views. No individual may vote or exercise any of the pow16 ers of a member by proxy.

17 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Council shall ensure pub18 lic access to its proceedings (other than proceedings, or

19 portions of proceedings, relating to internal personnel and

20 management matters) and shall make available to the pub21 lic, at reasonable cost, transcripts of such proceedings.

22 SEC. 217. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT23 ANTS.

24 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Council,

25 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States
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1 Code, relating to the appointment and compensation of of2 ficers or employees of the United States, shall appoint a

3 Director to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of

4 basic pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

5 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Director may ap7 point not more than 4 additional employees to serve

8 as staff to the Council without regard to the provi9 sions of title 5, United States Code, governing ap10 pointments in the competitive service.

11 (B) The employees appointed under subpara12 graph (A) may be paid without regard to the provi13 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53

14 of that title relating to classification and General

15 Schedule pay rates, but shall not be paid a rate that

16 exceeds the maximum rate of basic pay payable for

17 GS–15 of the General Schedule.

18 (2) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.—The Director

19 may appoint additional employees to serve as staff

20 of the Council consistent with title 5, United States

21 Code.

22 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Council may

23 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

24 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code.
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1 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the re2 quest of the Council, the head of any department or agen3 cy of the Federal Government may detail any of the per4 sonnel of such department or agency to the Council to as5 sist the Council in carrying out its duties under this part.

6 SEC. 218. OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT GRANT.

7 (a) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT

8 GRANT.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized

10 to award a grant or grants, on a competitive basis,

11 to a consortium or consortia of individuals and orga12 nizations to enable such consortium or consortia to

13 develop voluntary national opportunity-to-learn

14 standards.

15 (2) COMPOSITION OF CONSORTIUM.—To the ex16 tent possible, each consortium described in para17 graph (1) shall include the participation of—

18 (A) Governors (other than Governors serv19 ing on the Goals Panel);

20 (B) chief State school officers;

21 (C) teachers, especially teachers involved in

22 the development of content standards, and re23 lated services personnel;

24 (D) principals;

25 (E) superintendents;
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1 (F) State and local school board members;

2 (G) curriculum and school reform experts;

3 (H) parents;

4 (I) State legislators;

5 (J) representatives of businesses;

6 (K) representatives of higher education;

7 (L) representatives of regional accrediting

8 associations;

9 (M) advocacy groups; and

10 (N) secondary school students.

11 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Each consortium that desires to

12 receive a grant under this subsection shall submit an ap13 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such manner,

14 and containing such information and assurances as the

15 Secretary may require.

16 (c) AWARD CONSIDERATION.—In establishing prior17 ities and selection criteria for awarding a grant or grants

18 under this section, the Secretary shall give serious consid19 eration to the recommendations made by the Council pur20 suant to section 213(c)(5)(A).

21 PART C—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

22 SEC. 221. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 (a) NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.—There

24 are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal
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1 year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each

2 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, to carry out part A.

3 (b) NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IM4 PROVEMENT COUNCIL.—There are authorized to be ap5 propriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and such sums

6 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal

7 years, to carry out part B.

8 (c) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT

9 GRANTS.—There are authorized to be appropriated

10 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and such sums as may

11 be necessary for fiscal year 1995, to carry out section 218.

12 TITLE III—STATE AND LOCAL

13 EDUCATION SYSTEMIC IM14 PROVEMENT

15 SEC. 301. FINDINGS.

16 The Congress finds that—

17 (1) all students can learn to high standards and

18 must realize their potential if the United States is

19 to prosper;

20 (2) the reforms in education from 1977 through

21 1992 have achieved some good results, but such re22 form efforts often have been limited to a few schools

23 or to a single part of the educational system;

24 (3) leadership must come from teachers, related

25 services personnel, principals, and parents in individ-
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1 ual schools, and from policymakers at the local,

2 State, tribal, and national levels, in order for lasting

3 improvements in student performance to occur;

4 (4) simultaneous top-down and bottom-up edu5 cation reform is necessary to spur creative and inno6 vative approaches by individual schools to help all

7 students achieve internationally competitive stand8 ards;

9 (5) strategies must be developed by commu10 nities and States to support the revitalization of all

11 local public schools by fundamentally changing the

12 entire system of public education through com13 prehensive, coherent, and coordinated improvement;

14 (6) parents, teachers and other local educators,

15 and business, community, and tribal leaders, must

16 be involved in developing system-wide improvement

17 strategies that reflect the needs of their individual

18 communities;

19 (7) all students are entitled to teaching prac20 tices that are in accordance with accepted standards

21 of professional practice and that hold the greatest

22 promise of improving student performance;

23 (8) all students are entitled to participate in a

24 broad and challenging curriculum and to have access
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1 to resources sufficient to address other education

2 needs;

3 (9) State and local education improvement ef4 forts must incorporate strategies for providing stu5 dents and families with coordinated access to appro6 priate social services, health care, nutrition, early

7 childhood education, and child care to remove pre8 ventable barriers to learning and enhance school

9 readiness for all students;

10 (10) States and local educational agencies,

11 working together, must immediately set about devel12 oping and implementing such system-wide improve13 ment strategies if our Nation is to educate all chil14 dren to meet their full potential and achieve the Na15 tional Education Goals described in title I;

16 (11) State and local systemic improvement

17 strategies must provide all students with effective

18 mechanisms and appropriate paths to the work force

19 as well as to higher education;

20 (12) businesses should be encouraged—

21 (A) to enter into partnerships with schools;

22 (B) to provide information and guidance to

23 schools based on the needs of area businesses

24 for properly educated graduates in general and
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1 on the need for particular workplace skills that

2 the schools may provide;

3 (C) to provide necessary education and

4 training materials and support; and

5 (D) to continue the lifelong learning proc6 ess throughout the employment years of an in7 dividual;

8 (13) the appropriate and innovative use of tech9 nology can be very effective in helping to provide all

10 students with the opportunity to learn and meet

11 high standards; and

12 (14) Federal funds should be targeted to sup13 port State and local initiatives, and to leverage State

14 and local resources for designing and implementing

15 system-wide education improvement plans.

16 SEC. 302. PURPOSE.

17 It is the purpose of this title to—

18 (1) improve the quality of education for all stu19 dents by supporting a long-term, broad-based effort

20 to provide coherent and coordinated improvements in

21 the system of education throughout our Nation at

22 the State and local levels;

23 (2) provide new authorities and funding for our

24 Nation’s school systems;
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1 (3) not replace or reduce funding for existing

2 Federal education programs; and

3 (4) ensure that no State or local educational

4 agency will reduce its funding for education or for

5 education reform on account of receiving any funds

6 under this title.

7 SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated

9 $400,000,000 for the fiscal year 1994, and such sums as

10 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through

11 1998, to carry out this title.

12 SEC. 304. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

13 (a) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—From funds appro14 priated pursuant to the authority of section 303, the Sec15 retary—

16 (1) shall reserve a total of 1 percent to provide

17 assistance, in amounts determined by the Sec18 retary—

19 (A) to the outlying areas; and

20 (B) to the Secretary of the Interior to ben21 efit Indian students in schools operated or

22 funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and

23 (2) may reserve a total of not more than 4 per24 cent for—
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1 (A) national leadership activities under

2 subsections (a) and (b) of section 313; and

3 (B) the costs of peer review of State im4 provement plans and applications under this

5 title.

6 (b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—From the amount allotted

7 under section 303 and not reserved under subsection (a)

8 in each fiscal year the Secretary shall make allotments to

9 State educational agencies as follows:

10 (1) 50 percent of such amount shall be allo11 cated in accordance with the relative amounts each

12 State would have received under chapter 1 of title I

13 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

14 1965 for the preceding fiscal year if funds under

15 such chapter in such preceding fiscal year were not

16 reserved for the outlying areas.

17 (2) 50 percent of such amount shall be allo18 cated in accordance with the relative amounts each

19 State would have received under part A of chapter

20 2 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu21 cation Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year if

22 funds under such chapter in such preceding fiscal

23 year were not reserved for the outlying areas.

24 (c) REALLOTMENTS.—If the Secretary determines

25 that any amount of a State educational agency’s allotment
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1 for any fiscal year under subsection (b) will not be needed

2 for such fiscal year by the State, the Secretary shall reallot

3 such amount to other State educational agencies that need

4 additional funds, in such manner as the Secretary deter5 mines is appropriate.

6 (d) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each recipient of

7 funds under this title, in utilizing the proceeds of an allot8 ment received under this title, shall maintain the expendi9 tures of such recipient for the activities assisted under this

10 title at a level equal to not less than the level of such ex11 penditures maintained by such recipient for the fiscal year

12 preceding the fiscal year for which such allotment is re13 ceived, except that provisions of this section shall not

14 apply in any fiscal year in which the amount appropriated

15 to carry out this title is less than the amount appropriated

16 to carry out this title in the preceding fiscal year.

17 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Each recipient

18 of funds under this title, may use the proceeds of an allot19 ment received under this title only so as to supplement

20 and, to the extent practicable, increase the level of funds

21 that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be made

22 available from non-Federal sources for the activities as23 sisted under this title.

24 SEC. 305. STATE APPLICATIONS.

25 (a) APPLICATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

2 agency that desires to receive an allotment under

3 this title shall submit an application to the Secretary

4 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary

5 may determine.

6 (2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In addition to

7 the information described in subsections (b) and (c),

8 each such application shall include—

9 (A) an assurance that the State edu10 cational agency will cooperate with the Sec11 retary in carrying out the Secretary’s respon12 sibilities under section 313, and will comply

13 with reasonable requests of the Secretary for

14 data related to the State’s progress in develop15 ing and implementing its State improvement

16 plan under this title;

17 (B) an assurance that State law provides

18 adequate authority to carry out each component

19 of the State’s improvement plan developed, or

20 to be developed under section 306, or that such

21 authority will be sought; and

22 (C) such other assurances and information

23 as the Secretary may require.
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1 (b) FIRST YEAR.—A State educational agency’s ap2 plication for the first year of assistance under this title

3 shall—

4 (1) describe the process by which the State edu5 cational agency will develop a school improvement

6 plan that meets the requirements of section 306;

7 and

8 (2) describe how the State educational agency

9 will use funds received under this title for such year,

10 including how such agency will make subgrants to

11 local educational agencies in accordance with section

12 309(a), and how such agency will use funds received

13 under this title for education preservice programs

14 and professional development activities in accordance

15 with section 309(b).

16 (c) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—A State educational agen17 cy’s application for the second year of assistance under

18 this title shall—

19 (1) cover the second through fifth years of the

20 State’s participation;

21 (2) include a copy of the State’s improvement

22 plan that meets the requirements of section 306 or,

23 if the State improvement plan is not complete, a

24 statement of the steps the State will take to com25 plete the plan and a schedule for doing so; and
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•S 1150 PCS

1 (3) include an explanation of how the State

2 educational agency will use funds received under this

3 title, including how such agency will make subgrants

4 to local educational agencies in accordance with sec5 tion 309(a), and how such agency will use such

6 funds received under this title for education

7 preservice programs and professional development

8 activities in accordance with section 309(b).

9 SEC. 306. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.

10 (a) BASIC SCOPE OF PLAN.—Any State educational

11 agency that desires to receive an allotment under this title

12 after its first year of participation shall develop and imple13 ment a State improvement plan for the fundamental re14 structuring and improvement of elementary and secondary

15 education in the State. Such plan shall address—

16 (1) in accordance with subsection (c), the estab17 lishment or adoption of challenging content and stu18 dent performance standards for all students and the

19 use of curricula, instructional practices, assessments

20 or systems of assessments described in section

21 213(e), technology, and professional preparation and

22 development approaches appropriate to help all stu23 dents reach such standards;

24 (2) in accordance with subsection (d), the es25 tablishment or adoption of opportunity-to-learn
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1 standards that will define the conditions of teaching

2 and learning that provide all students the oppor3 tunity to meet the challenging content and student

4 performance standards;

5 (3) in accordance with subsection (e), needed

6 changes in the governance and management of the

7 education system in order to effectively focus schools

8 on, and assist schools in, preparing all students to

9 meet the challenging State standards;

10 (4) in accordance with subsection (f), com11 prehensive strategies to involve communities, includ12 ing parents, businesses, institutions of higher edu13 cation, libraries, museums, employment and training

14 agencies, health and human service agencies, and

15 other public and private nonprofit agencies that pro16 vide nonsectarian social services, health care, child

17 care, early childhood education, and nutrition to stu18 dents, in helping all students meet the challenging

19 State standards;

20 (5) in accordance with subsection (g), strategies

21 for ensuring that all local educational agencies and

22 schools within the State are involved in developing

23 and implementing needed improvements within a

24 specified period of time; and
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1 (6) in accordance with subsection (h), strategies

2 for ensuring that comprehensive, systemic reform is

3 promoted from the bottom up in communities, local

4 educational agencies, and schools.

5 (b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State improvement plan

7 under this title shall be developed by a broad-based

8 State panel in cooperation with the State edu9 cational agency and the Governor. The panel shall

10 include—

11 (A) the Governor and the chief State

12 school officer, or their designees;

13 (B) the chairperson of the State board of

14 education and the chairpersons of the appro15 priate authorizing committees of the State leg16 islature, or their designees;

17 (C) school teachers, related services per18 sonnel, principals, and administrators who have

19 successfully improved student performance; and

20 (D) representatives of teachers’ organiza21 tions, organizations serving young children, par22 ents, secondary school students, business and

23 labor leaders, community-based organizations of

24 demonstrated effectiveness, local boards of edu-
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1 cation, State and local officials, and others, as

2 appropriate.

3 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Governor and the

4 chief State school officer shall each appoint half the

5 members of the panel and shall jointly select the

6 Chairperson of the panel.

7 (3) REPRESENTATION.—The membership of the

8 panel shall be geographically representative of the

9 State and reflect the diversity of the population of

10 the State with regard to race, ethnicity, gender and

11 disability characteristics.

12 (4) CONSULTATION.—The panel shall consult

13 the Governor, the chief State school officer, the

14 State board of education, and relevant committees of

15 the State legislature in developing the State im16 provement plan.

17 (5) OUTREACH.—The panel shall be responsible

18 for conducting a statewide, grassroots outreach proc19 ess, including conducting public hearings, to involve

20 educators, related services personnel, parents, local

21 officials, individuals representing private nonprofit

22 elementary and secondary schools, community and

23 business leaders, citizens, children’s advocates, and

24 others with a stake in the success of students and

25 their education system, and who are representative
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1 of the diversity of the State and the State’s student

2 population, including students of limited-English

3 proficiency, Native American students, and students

4 with disabilities, in the development of the State im5 provement plan and in a continuing dialogue regard6 ing the need for and nature of challenging standards

7 for students and local and State responsibilities for

8 helping all students achieve such standards in order

9 to assure that the development and implementation

10 of the State improvement plan reflects local needs

11 and experiences and does not result in a significant

12 increase in paperwork for teachers.

13 (6) PROCEDURE AND APPROVAL.—The panel

14 shall develop a State improvement plan, provide op15 portunity for public comment, and submit such plan

16 to the State educational agency for approval.

17 (7) SUBMISSION.—The State educational agen18 cy shall submit the original State improvement plan

19 developed by the panel and the State improvement

20 plan modified by such agency, together with an ex21 planation of any changes made by such agency to

22 the plan developed by the panel, to the Secretary for

23 approval.

24 (8) MATTERS NOT UNDER THE JURISDICTION

25 OF THE STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—If any por-
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1 tion of a State improvement plan addresses matters

2 that, under State or other applicable law, are not

3 under the authority of the State educational agency,

4 the State educational agency shall obtain the ap5 proval of, or changes to, such portion, with an expla6 nation thereof, from the Governor or other official

7 responsible for that portion before submitting such

8 plan to the Secretary.

9 (9) MONITORING; REVISIONS; REPORTING.—

10 After approval of the State improvement plan by the

11 Secretary, the panel shall be informed of progress on

12 such plan by the State educational agency, and such

13 agency, in close consultation with teachers, prin14 cipals, administrators, advocates and parents in local

15 educational agencies and schools receiving funds

16 under this title, shall monitor the implementation

17 and operation of such plan. The panel shall review

18 such plan, and based on the progress described in

19 the preceding sentence, determine if revisions to

20 such plan are appropriate and necessary. The panel

21 shall periodically report such determination to the

22 public.

23 (c) TEACHING, LEARNING, STANDARDS, AND AS24 SESSMENTS.—Each State improvement plan shall estab25 lish strategies for meeting the National Education Goals
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1 described in title I by improving teaching and learning,

2 and such strategies shall involve broad-based and ongoing

3 classroom teacher input, including—

4 (1) a process for developing or adopting chal5 lenging content and student performance standards

6 for all students;

7 (2) a process for providing assistance and sup8 port to local educational agencies and schools to

9 strengthen the capacity and responsibility of such

10 agencies and schools to provide all of their students

11 the opportunity to meet challenging State content

12 and student performance standards;

13 (3) a process for developing or recommending

14 instructional materials and technology to support

15 and assist local educational agencies and schools to

16 provide all of their students the opportunity to meet

17 the challenging State content and student perform18 ance standards;

19 (4) a process for developing and implementing

20 a valid, fair, nondiscriminatory, and reliable assess21 ment or system of assessments described in section

22 213(e) or a set of locally based systems of assess23 ment—

24 (A) which assessment, system or set

25 shall—
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1 (i) be consistent with relevant, nation2 ally recognized professional and technical

3 standards for such assessment, system or

4 set;

5 (ii) be capable of providing coherent

6 information about student attainments rel7 ative to the State content standards; and

8 (iii) support effective curriculum and

9 instruction; and

10 (B) which process shall provide for mon11 itoring the implementation of such assessment,

12 system or set and the impact of such assess13 ment, system or set on improved instruction for

14 all students; and

15 (5) a process for improving the State’s system

16 of teacher and school administrator preparation and

17 licensure, and of continuing professional develop18 ment programs, including the use of technology at

19 both the State and local levels, so that all teachers,

20 related services personnel, and administrators de21 velop the subject matter and pedagogical expertise

22 needed to prepare all students to meet the challeng23 ing standards described in paragraph (1).
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1 (d) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN STANDARDS.—Each

2 State improvement plan shall establish a strategy and

3 timetable for—

4 (1) adopting or establishing opportunity-to5 learn standards that address the needs of all stu6 dents;

7 (2) achieving the State’s opportunity-to-learn

8 standards in every school in the State; and

9 (3) periodically reporting to the public on the

10 extent of the State’s improvement in achieving such

11 standards.

12 (e) GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT.—Each State

13 plan shall establish strategies for improved governance

14 and management of the education system of the State.

15 (f) PARENTAL AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND IN16 VOLVEMENT.—Each State improvement plan shall de17 scribe strategies for how the State will develop support

18 for, and help implement, such plan.

19 (g) MAKING THE IMPROVEMENTS SYSTEM-WIDE.—

20 In order to help provide all students throughout the State

21 the opportunity to meet challenging State standards, each

22 State improvement plan shall describe the various strate23 gies to be employed.

24 (h) PROMOTING BOTTOM-UP REFORM.—Each State

25 improvement plan shall include strategies for ensuring
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•S 1150 PCS

1 that comprehensive, systemic reform is promoted from the

2 bottom up in communities, local educational agencies, and

3 schools, and is guided by coordination and facilitation

4 from State leaders.

5 (i) BENCHMARKS AND TIMELINES.—Each State im6 provement plan shall include specific benchmarks of im7 proved student performance and of progress in implement8 ing such plan, and timelines against which the progress

9 of the State in carrying out such plan, including the ele10 ments described in subsections (c) through (h), can be

11 measured.

12 (j) PEER REVIEW AND SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—

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

14 within a reasonable period of time, each State im15 provement plan prepared under this section, and

16 each application submitted under section 305,

17 through a peer review process involving the assist18 ance and advice of State and local education policy19 makers, educators, classroom teachers, related serv20 ices personnel, experts on educational innovation and

21 improvement, parents, advocates, and other appro22 priate individuals. Such peer review process shall be

23 representative of the diversity of the United States

24 with regard to geography, race, ethnicity, gender
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1 and disability characteristics. Such peer review proc2 ess shall include at least 1 site visit to each State.

3 (2) APPROVAL OF PLAN.—The Secretary shall

4 approve a State improvement plan if—

5 (A) such plan is submitted to the Secretary

6 not later than 2 years after the date the State

7 educational agency receives its first allotment

8 under section 304(b); and

9 (B) the Secretary determines, after consid10 ering the peer reviewers’ comments, that such

11 plan—

12 (i) reflects a widespread commitment

13 within the State; and

14 (ii) holds reasonable promise of help15 ing all students.

16 (3) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall not

17 disapprove a State’s plan, or any State application

18 submitted under section 305, before offering the

19 State—

20 (A) an opportunity to revise such plan or

21 application; and

22 (B) a hearing.

23 (k) AMENDMENTS TO PLAN.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

25 agency shall periodically review its State improve-
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1 ment plan and revise such plan, as appropriate, in

2 accordance with the process described in subsection

3 (b).

4 (2) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall review major

5 amendments to a State improvement plan through

6 the same process, described in subsection (j), used to

7 review the original State improvement plan.

8 (l) PREEXISTING STATE PLANS AND PANELS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a State has developed a

10 comprehensive and systemic State improvement plan

11 to help all students meet challenging standards, or

12 any component of such plan, that meets the intent

13 and purposes of section 302, the Secretary may ap14 prove such plan or component notwithstanding that

15 such plan was not developed in accordance with sub16 section (b), if—

17 (A) the Secretary determines that such ap18 proval would further the purposes of State sys19 temic education improvement; and

20 (B) such plan ensures broad-based input

21 from various education, political, community,

22 and other appropriate representatives.

23 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—(A) If, before the date of

24 enactment of this Act, a State has made substantial

25 progress in developing a plan that meets the intent
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1 and purposes of section 302, but was developed by

2 a panel that does not meet the requirements of para3 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (b), the Sec4 retary may, at the request of the Governor and the

5 State educational agency, treat such panel as meet6 ing such requirements for all purposes of this title

7 if the Secretary determines that there has been sub8 stantial public and educator involvement in the de9 velopment of such plan.

10 (B) If a State has not developed a State im11 provement plan but has an existing panel which such

12 State would like to use for the purpose of developing

13 such plan, then the Secretary may, at the request of

14 the Governor and the State educational agency, treat

15 such panel as meeting the requirements of para16 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (b) for all pur17 poses of this title if—

18 (i) the Secretary determines that such ex19 isting panel is serving a similar such purpose;

20 and

21 (ii) the composition of such existing panel

22 would ensure broad-based input from various

23 education, political, community, and other ap24 propriate representatives.
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1 SEC. 307. SECRETARY’S REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS; PAY2 MENTS.

3 (a) FIRST YEAR.—The Secretary shall approve the

4 State educational agency’s initial year application under

5 section 305(b) if the Secretary determines that—

6 (1) such application meets the requirements of

7 this title; and

8 (2) there is a substantial likelihood that the

9 State will be able to develop and implement an edu10 cation improvement plan that complies with section

11 306.

12 (b) SECOND THROUGH FIFTH YEARS.—The Sec13 retary shall approve the State educational agency’s re14 newal application under section 305(c)(1) in the second

15 through fifth years of participation only if—

16 (1)(A) the Secretary has approved the State im17 provement plan under section 306(j); or

18 (B) the Secretary determines that the State has

19 made substantial progress in developing its State

20 improvement plan and will implement such plan not

21 later than the end of the second year of participa22 tion; and

23 (2) the application meets the other require24 ments of this title.

25 (c) PAYMENTS.—For any fiscal year for which a

26 State has an approved application under this title, the Sec-
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1 retary shall provide an allotment to the State educational

2 agency in the amount determined under section 304(b).

3 SEC. 308. STATE USE OF FUNDS.

4 (a) FIRST YEAR.—In the first year for which a State

5 educational agency receives an allotment under this title,

6 such agency—

7 (1) if the amount appropriated pursuant to the

8 authority of section 303 for such year is equal to or

9 greater than $200,000,000, shall use at least 75

10 percent of such allotted funds to award subgrants—

11 (A) to local educational agencies for the

12 development or implementation of local im13 provement plans in accordance with section

14 309(a); and

15 (B) to improve educator and related serv16 ices personnel preservice programs and for pro17 fessional development activities consistent with

18 the State improvement plan and in accordance

19 with section 309(b);

20 (2) if the amount appropriated pursuant to the

21 authority of section 303 for such year is equal to or

22 greater than $100,000,000, but less than

23 $200,000,000, shall use at least 50 percent of such

24 allotted funds to award subgrants described in sub25 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1);
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1 (3) if the amount appropriated pursuant to the

2 authority of section 303 for such year is less than

3 $100,000,000, may use such allotted funds to award

4 subgrants described in subparagraphs (A) and (B)

5 of paragraph (1); and

6 (4) shall use any such allotted funds not used

7 in accordance with paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) to

8 develop, revise, expand, or implement a State im9 provement plan described in section 306.

10 (b) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—Each State educational

11 agency that receives an allotment under this title for any

12 year after the first year of participation shall—

13 (1) use at least 85 percent of such allotment

14 funds in each such year to make subgrants—

15 (A) for the implementation of the State

16 improvement plan and of local improvement

17 plans in accordance with section 309(a); and

18 (B) to improve educator and related serv19 ices personnel preservice programs and for pro20 fessional development activities that are consist21 ent with the State improvement plan in accord22 ance with section 309(b); and

23 (2) shall use the remainder of such allotted

24 funds for State activities designed to implement the

25 State improvement plan, such as—
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1 (A) supporting the development or adop2 tion of State content and student performance

3 standards, State opportunity-to-learn standards,

4 and assessment tools linked to the standards,

5 including activities assisted—

6 (i) through consortia of States; or

7 (ii) with the assistance of the National

8 Education Standards and Improvement

9 Council established under part B of title

10 II;

11 (B) supporting the implementation of high12 performance management and organizational

13 strategies, such as site-based management,

14 shared decisionmaking, or quality management

15 principles, to promote effective implementation

16 of such plan;

17 (C) supporting the development and imple18 mentation, at the local educational agency and

19 school building level, of improved human re20 source development systems for recruiting, se21 lecting, mentoring, supporting, evaluating and

22 rewarding educators;

23 (D) providing special attention to the

24 needs of minority, disabled, and female stu25 dents, including instructional programs and ac-
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1 tivities that encourage such students in elemen2 tary and secondary schools to aspire to enter

3 and complete postsecondary education or train4 ing;

5 (E) supporting the development, at the

6 State or local level, of performance-based ac7 countability and incentive systems for schools;

8 (F) outreach to parents, tribal officials, or9 ganizations serving young children, classroom

10 teachers, related services personnel, and other

11 educators, and the public, related to education

12 improvement;

13 (G) providing technical assistance and

14 other services to increase the capacity of local

15 educational agencies and schools to develop and

16 implement systemic local improvement plans,

17 implement new assessments or systems of as18 sessments described in the State improvement

19 plan developed in accordance with section 306,

20 and develop curricula consistent with the

21 State’s content and student performance

22 standards;

23 (H) promoting mechanisms for increasing

24 public school choice, including information and

25 referral programs which provide parents infor-
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1 mation on available choices and other initiatives

2 to promote the establishment of innovative new

3 public schools, including magnet schools and

4 charter schools; and

5 (I) collecting and analyzing data.

6 (c) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State

7 educational agency that receives an allotment under this

8 title in any fiscal year shall use not more than 4 percent

9 of such allotment in such year, or $100,000, whichever

10 is greater, for administrative expenses, which administra11 tive expenses shall not include the expenses related to the

12 activities of the panel established under section 306(b)(1).

13 (d) SPECIAL RULE.—Any new public school estab14 lished under this title—

15 (1) shall be nonsectarian;

16 (2) shall not be affiliated with a nonpublic sec17 tarian school or religious institution; and

18 (3) shall operate under the authority of a State

19 educational agency or local educational agency.

20 SEC. 309. SUBGRANTS FOR LOCAL REFORM AND PROFES21 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

22 (a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

23 AGENCIES.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each State educational

25 agency, through a competitive process, shall make
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•S 1150 PCS

1 subgrants to local educational agencies to carry out

2 the authorized activities described in paragraph (4).

3 (B) Each subgrant described in subparagraph

4 (A) shall be for a project of sufficient duration and

5 of sufficient size, scope, and quality to carry out the

6 purpose of this title effectively.

7 (2) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—Each local edu8 cational agency desiring to receive a subgrant under

9 this subsection shall submit an application to the

10 State educational agency that—

11 (A) is developed by a broad-based panel,

12 appointed by the local educational agency, that

13 is representative of the diversity of the students

14 and community to be served with regard to

15 race, language, ethnicity, gender, disability and

16 socioeconomic characteristics, and includes

17 teachers, related services personnel, parents,

18 school administrators, business representatives,

19 early childhood educators, and others, as appro20 priate, and is approved by the local educational

21 agency, including any modifications the local

22 educational agency deems appropriate;

23 (B) includes, in the application submitted

24 for the second year of participation, a com25 prehensive local improvement plan for school
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1 district-wide education improvement, directed at

2 enabling all students to meet the State’s chal3 lenging content and student performance stand4 ards, including specific goals and benchmarks,

5 and includes a strategy for—

6 (i) ensuring that all students have a

7 fair opportunity to learn;

8 (ii) improving teaching and learning;

9 (iii) improving governance and man10 agement;

11 (iv) generating and maintaining pa12 rental and community involvement; and

13 (v) expanding improvements through14 out the local educational agency;

15 (C) describes how the local educational

16 agency will encourage and assist schools to de17 velop and implement comprehensive school im18 provement plans that focus on helping all stu19 dents reach challenging content and student

20 performance standards and that address each

21 element of the local educational agency’s local

22 improvement plan described in subparagraph

23 (B);

24 (D) describes how the local educational

25 agency will implement specific programs aimed
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1 at ensuring improvements in school readiness

2 and the ability of students to learn effectively at

3 all grade levels by identifying the most pressing

4 needs facing students and their families with

5 regard to social services, health care, nutrition,

6 and child care, and entering into partnerships

7 with public and private nonprofit agencies to in8 crease the access of students and families to co9 ordinated nonsectarian services in a school set10 ting or at a nearby site;

11 (E) describes how the subgrant funds will

12 be used by the local educational agency, and the

13 procedures to be used to make funds available

14 to schools in accordance with paragraph (4)(A);

15 (F) identifies, with an explanation, any

16 State or Federal requirements that the local

17 educational agency believes impede educational

18 improvement and that such agency requests be

19 waived in accordance with section 311, which

20 requests shall promptly be transmitted to the

21 Secretary by the State educational agency; and

22 (G) contains such other information as the

23 State educational agency may reasonably re24 quire.
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1 (3) MONITORING.—The panel described in

2 paragraph (2)(A), after approval of the local edu3 cational agency’s application by the State edu4 cational agency, shall be informed of progress on

5 such plan by the local educational agency, and the

6 local educational agency shall monitor the implemen7 tation and effectiveness of the local improvement

8 plan in close consultation with teachers, related serv9 ices personnel, principals, administrators, and par10 ents from schools receiving funds under this title as

11 well as assure that implementation of the local im12 provement plan does not result in a significant in13 crease in paperwork for teachers. The panel shall re14 view such plan and based on the progress described

15 in the preceding sentence, determine if revisions to

16 the local improvement plan should be recommended

17 to the local educational agency. The panel shall peri18 odically report such determination to the public.

19 (4) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A local edu20 cational agency that receives a subgrant under this

21 subsection—

22 (A) in the first year such agency receives

23 the subgrant shall use—

24 (i) not more than 25 percent of the

25 subgrant funds to develop a local improve-
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1 ment plan or for any local educational

2 agency activities approved by the State

3 educational agency that are reasonably re4 lated to carrying out the State or local im5 provement plans; and

6 (ii) not less than 75 percent of the

7 subgrant funds to support individual school

8 improvement initiatives related to provid9 ing all students in the school the oppor10 tunity to meet challenging State content

11 and student performance standards; and

12 (B) in subsequent years, use the subgrant

13 funds for any activities approved by the State

14 educational agency that are reasonably related

15 to carrying out the State or local improvement

16 plans, except that at least 85 percent of such

17 funds shall be made available to individual

18 schools to develop and implement comprehen19 sive school improvement plans designed to help

20 all students meet challenging State content

21 standards.

22 (b) SUBGRANTS FOR PRESERVICE TEACHER EDU23 CATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

24 ACTIVITIES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each State educational

2 agency, through a competitive, peer review process,

3 shall make subgrants to a local educational agency

4 or consortia of local educational agencies, institu5 tions of higher education, private nonprofit organiza6 tions, or combinations thereof, in order to—

7 (i) improve preservice teacher and related

8 services personnel education programs in ac9 cordance with the State improvement plan; and

10 (ii) support continuing, sustained profes11 sional development activities for educators in

12 accordance with the State improvement plan.

13 (B) Each State educational agency awarding

14 subgrants under subparagraph (A) shall give priority

15 to awarding such subgrants to a local educational

16 agency or consortium serving a greater number or

17 percentage of disadvantaged students than the state18 wide average such number or percentage.

19 (C) In order to be eligible to receive a subgrant

20 described in subparagraph (A), a consortium shall

21 include at least 1 local educational agency.

22 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency

23 or consortium that desires to receive a subgrant

24 under this subsection shall submit an application to

25 the State educational agency that—
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1 (A) describes how the local educational

2 agency or consortium will use the subgrant to

3 improve teacher preservice and school adminis4 trator education programs or to implement edu5 cator and related services personnel professional

6 development activities in accordance with the

7 State improvement plan;

8 (B) identifies the criteria to be used by the

9 local educational agency or consortium to judge

10 improvements in preservice education or the ef11 fects of professional development activities in

12 accordance with the State improvement plan;

13 and

14 (C) contains any other information that

15 the State educational agency determines is ap16 propriate.

17 (3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A recipient of a

18 subgrant under this subsection shall use the

19 subgrant funds for activities supporting—

20 (A) the improvement of preservice teacher

21 education and school administrator programs so

22 that such programs equip educators with the

23 subject matter and pedagogical expertise nec24 essary for preparing all students to meet chal25 lenging standards; or
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1 (B) the development and implementation

2 of new and improved forms of continuing and

3 sustained professional development opportuni4 ties for teachers, related services personnel,

5 principals, and other educators at the school or

6 school district level that equip such individuals

7 with such expertise, and with other knowledge

8 and skills necessary for leading and participat9 ing in continuous education improvement.

10 (c) SPECIAL AWARD RULES.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each State educational

12 agency shall award at least 65 percent of subgrant

13 funds under subsection (a) in each fiscal year to

14 local educational agencies that have a greater per15 centage or number of disadvantaged children than

16 the statewide average percentage or number for all

17 local educational agencies in the State.

18 (B) At least 50 percent of the subgrant funds

19 made available by a local educational agency to indi20 vidual schools under subsection (a) in any fiscal year

21 shall be made available to schools with a special

22 need for assistance, as indicated by a high number

23 or percentage of students from low-income families,

24 low student achievement, or other similar criteria de25 veloped by the local educational agency.
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1 (2) WAIVER.—The State educational agency

2 may waive the requirement of paragraph (1)(A) if

3 such agency does not receive a sufficient number of

4 applications from local educational agencies in the

5 State to enable the State educational agency to com6 ply with such requirement.

7 SEC. 310. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND TRAINING.

8 Proportionate to the number of children in a State

9 or in a local educational agency who are enrolled in private

10 elementary or secondary schools—

11 (1) a State educational agency or local edu12 cational agency which uses funds under this title to

13 develop goals, content standards, curricular mate14 rials, and assessments or systems of assessments

15 shall, upon request, make information related to

16 such goals, standards, materials, and assessments or

17 systems available to private schools; and

18 (2) a State educational agency or local edu19 cational agency which uses funds under this title for

20 teacher and administrator training shall provide in

21 the State improvement plan described in section 306

22 for the training of teachers and administrators in

23 private schools located in the geographical area

24 served by such agency.
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1 SEC. 311. WAIVERS OF STATUTORY AND REGULATORY RE2 QUIREMENTS.

3 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub5 section (c), the Secretary may waive any statutory

6 or regulatory requirement applicable to any program

7 or Act described in subsection (b) for a State edu8 cational agency, local educational agency, or school,

9 upon application of a State educational agency re10 questing such a waiver if—

11 (A) and only to the extent that, the Sec12 retary determines that such requirement im13 pedes the ability of the State, or of a local edu14 cational agency or school in the State, to carry

15 out the State or local improvement plan;

16 (B) the State educational agency has

17 waived, or agrees to waive, similar requirements

18 of State law;

19 (C) in the case of a statewide waiver, the

20 State educational agency—

21 (i) provides all local educational agen22 cies in the State with notice and an oppor23 tunity to comment on the State edu24 cational agency’s proposal to seek a waiver;

25 and
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1 (ii) submits the local educational

2 agencies’ comments to the Secretary; and

3 (D) in the case of a local educational agen4 cy waiver, the local educational agency provides

5 parents, community groups, and advocacy or

6 civil rights groups with the opportunity to com7 ment on the proposed waiver.

8 (2) TIMELINESS.—The Secretary shall act

9 promptly on any request for a waiver under this sec10 tion.

11 (3) DURATION.—

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each waiver under this

13 section may be for a period not to exceed 5

14 years.

15 (B) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may ex16 tend the period described in subparagraph (A)

17 if the Secretary determines that the waiver has

18 been effective in enabling the State or affected

19 local educational agencies to carry out their re20 form plans.

21 (b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regu22 latory requirements subject to the waiver authority of this

23 section are any such requirements under the following pro24 grams or Acts:
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1 (1) Chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965, including Even

3 Start.

4 (2) Part A of chapter 2 of title I of the Elemen5 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

6 (3) The Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics

7 and Science Education Act.

8 (4) The Emergency Immigrant Education Act

9 of 1984.

10 (5) The Drug-Free Schools and Communities

11 Act of 1986.

12 (6) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied

13 Technology Education Act.

14 (c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary

15 may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of

16 the programs or Acts described in subsection (b)—

17 (1) relating to—

18 (A) maintenance of effort;

19 (B) comparability of services;

20 (C) the equitable participation of students

21 and professional staff in private schools;

22 (D) parental participation and involve23 ment; and

24 (E) the distribution of funds to States or

25 to local educational agencies; and
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1 (2) unless the underlying purposes of each pro2 gram or Act for which a waiver is granted continue

3 to be met to the satisfaction of the Secretary.

4 (d) TERMINATION OF WAIVERS.—The Secretary

5 shall periodically review the performance of any State,

6 local educational agency, or school for which the Secretary

7 has granted a waiver and shall terminate the waiver if the

8 Secretary determines that the performance of the State,

9 the local educational agency, or the school in the area af10 fected by the waiver has been inadequate to justify a con11 tinuation of the waiver.

12 SEC. 312. PROGRESS REPORTS.

13 (a) STATE REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—Each

14 State educational agency that receives an allotment under

15 this title shall annually report to the Secretary—

16 (1) on the State’s progress in meeting the

17 State’s goals and plans;

18 (2) on the State’s proposed activities for the

19 succeeding year; and

20 (3) in summary form, on the progress of local

21 educational agencies in meeting local goals and

22 plans.

23 (b) SECRETARY’S REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—By

24 April 30, 1996, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary

25 shall submit a report to the Committee on Education and
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1 Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee

2 on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate describing

3 the activities and outcomes of—

4 (1) grants under paragraph (2) of section

5 313(b), including—

6 (A) a description of the purpose, uses, and

7 technical merit of assessments evaluated with

8 funds awarded under such paragraph; and

9 (B) an analysis of the impact of such as10 sessments on the performance of students, par11 ticularly students of different racial, gender,

12 ethnic, or language groups and individuals with

13 disabilities; and

14 (2) allotments under this title, including a de15 scription of the effect of waivers granted under sec16 tion 311.

17 SEC. 313. NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

18 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND INTEGRATION OF

19 STANDARDS.—From funds reserved in each fiscal year

20 under section 304(a)(2)(A), the Secretary may, directly or

21 through grants or contracts—

22 (1) provide technical assistance to States and

23 local educational agencies developing or implement24 ing school improvement plans, in a manner that en-
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1 sures that each such State has access to such assist2 ance; or

3 (2) support model projects to integrate multiple

4 voluntary national content standards, if—

5 (A) such standards are certified by the Na6 tional Education Standards and Improvement

7 Council and approved by the National Goals

8 Panel for different subject areas, in order to

9 provide balanced and coherent instructional

10 programs for all students; and

11 (B) such projects are appropriate for a

12 wide range of diverse circumstances, localities

13 (including both urban and rural communities),

14 and populations.

15 (b) INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS; ASSESSMENT; EVALUA16 TION.—From funds reserved in each fiscal year under sec17 tion 304(a)(2)(A), the Secretary, directly or through

18 grants or contracts shall reserve not more than 50 percent

19 of such funds—

20 (1) to provide urban and rural local educational

21 agencies, schools, or consortia thereof, with assist22 ance for innovative or experimental programs in sys23 temic education reform that are not being under24 taken through grants provided under section 309(a),

25 giving special consideration or priority to local edu-
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1 cational agencies, schools, or consortia thereof that

2 serve large numbers or concentrations of economi3 cally disadvantaged students, including students of

4 limited-English proficiency; or

5 (2) to provide a State or local educational agen6 cy, nonprofit organization or consortium thereof with

7 assistance to help defray the cost of developing, field

8 testing and evaluating an assessment or system of

9 assessments with a priority on grants for limited10 English proficiency students or students with dis11 abilities, if—

12 (A) such assessment or system—

13 (i) is to be used for some or all of the

14 purposes described in section 213(e)(1)(B);

15 and

16 (ii) is aligned to State content stand17 ards certified by the National Education

18 Standards and Improvement Council; and

19 (B) such agency, organization or consor20 tium—

21 (i) examines the validity, reliability,

22 and fairness of such assessment or system,

23 for the particular purposes for which such

24 assessment or system was developed; and
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1 (ii) devotes special attention to how

2 such assessment or system treats all stu3 dents, especially with regard to the race,

4 gender, ethnicity, disability and language

5 proficiency of such students.

6 (c) DATA AND DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary

7 shall—

8 (1) gather data on, conduct research on, and

9 evaluate systemic education improvement, including

10 the programs authorized by this title; and

11 (2) disseminate research findings and other in12 formation on outstanding examples of systemic edu13 cation improvement in States and local communities

14 through existing dissemination systems within the

15 Department of Education, including through publi16 cations, electronic and telecommunications mediums,

17 conferences, and other means.

18 SEC. 314. ASSISTANCE TO THE OUTLYING AREAS AND TO

19 THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

20 (a) OUTLYING AREAS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Funds reserved for the out22 lying areas in each fiscal year under section

23 304(a)(1)(A) shall be made available to, and ex24 pended by, such areas, under such conditions and in
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1 such manner as the Secretary determines will best

2 meet the purposes of this title.

3 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF PUBLIC LAW 95–134.—

4 The provisions of Public Law 95–134, permitting

5 the consolidation of grants to the Insular Areas,

6 shall not apply to funds received by such areas

7 under this title.

8 (b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—The funds re9 served by the Secretary for the Secretary of the Interior

10 under section 304(a)(1)(B) shall be made available to the

11 Secretary of the Interior pursuant to an agreement be12 tween the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior con13 taining such terms and assurances, consistent with this

14 title, as the Secretary determines will best achieve the pur15 pose of this title.

16 (c) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary shall

17 consult with the Secretary of Defense to ensure that, to

18 the extent practicable, the purposes of this title are applied

19 to the Department of Defense schools.

20 SEC. 315. CLARIFICATION REGARDING STATE STANDARDS

21 AND ASSESSMENTS.

22 Notwithstanding any other provision of this title,

23 standards, assessments, and systems of assessments de24 scribed in a State improvement plan submitted in accord-
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1 ance with section 306 shall not be required to be certified

2 by the Council.

3 TITLE IV—SCHOOLS

4 SEC. 401. PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

5 Except as provided in section 310, nothing in this Act

6 shall be construed to authorize the use of funds under title

7 III of this Act to directly or indirectly benefit any school

8 other than a public school.

9 TITLE V—NATIONAL SKILL

10 STANDARDS BOARD

11 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Skill Stand13 ards Act of 1993’’.

14 SEC. 502. PURPOSE.

15 It is the purpose of this title to establish a National

16 Board to serve as a catalyst in stimulating the develop17 ment and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill

18 standards and of assessment and certification—

19 (1) that will serve as a cornerstone of the na20 tional strategy to enhance work force skills;

21 (2) that will result in increased productivity,

22 economic growth, and American economic competi23 tiveness; and

24 (3) that can be used, consistent with civil rights

25 laws—
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1 (A) by the Nation, to ensure the develop2 ment of a high skills, high quality, high per3 formance work force, including the most skilled

4 front-line work force in the world;

5 (B) by industries, as a vehicle for inform6 ing training providers and prospective employ7 ees of skills necessary for employment;

8 (C) by employers, to assist in evaluating

9 the skill levels of prospective employees and to

10 assist in the training of current employees;

11 (D) by labor organizations, to enhance the

12 employment security of workers by providing

13 portable credentials and skills;

14 (E) by workers, to—

15 (i) obtain certifications of their skills

16 to protect against dislocation;

17 (ii) pursue career advancement; and

18 (iii) enhance their ability to reenter

19 the work force;

20 (F) by students and entry level workers, to

21 determine the skill levels and competencies

22 needed to be obtained in order to compete effec23 tively for high wage jobs;
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1 (G) by training providers and educators, to

2 determine appropriate training services to be of3 fered by the providers and educators;

4 (H) by Government, to evaluate whether

5 publicly funded training assists participants to

6 meet skill standards where such standards exist

7 and thereby protect the integrity of public ex8 penditures; and

9 (I) to facilitate linkages between other

10 components of the work force investment strat11 egy, including school-to-work transition and job

12 training programs.

13 SEC. 503. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL BOARD.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National

15 Skill Standards Board (hereafter referred to in this title

16 as the ‘‘National Board’’).

17 (b) COMPOSITION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Board shall be

19 composed of 28 members (appointed in accordance

20 with paragraph (3)), of whom—

21 (A) one member shall be the Secretary of

22 Labor;

23 (B) one member shall be the Secretary of

24 Education;
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1 (C) one member shall be the Secretary of

2 Commerce;

3 (D) one member shall be the Chairperson

4 of the National Education Standards and Im5 provement Council established pursuant to sec6 tion 212(a);

7 (E) eight members shall be representatives

8 of business (including representatives of small

9 employers and representatives of large employ10 ers) selected from among individuals rec11 ommended by recognized national business or12 ganizations or trade associations;

13 (F) eight members shall be representatives

14 of organized labor selected from among individ15 uals recommended by recognized national labor

16 federations; and

17 (G) eight members shall be representatives

18 of—

19 (i) educational institutions;

20 (ii) community-based organizations;

21 (iii) State and local governments; or

22 (iv) nongovernmental organizations

23 with a demonstrated history of successfully

24 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic, or
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1 religious minorities, women, persons with

2 disabilities, or older persons,

3 with at least 1 member from each group de4 scribed in clauses (i) through (iv).

5 (2) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.—The members

6 described in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1)

7 shall have expertise in the area of education and

8 training. The members described in subparagraphs

9 (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph (1) shall, in the ag10 gregate, represent a broad cross-section of occupa11 tions and industries.

12 (3) APPOINTMENT.—The membership of the

13 National Board shall be appointed as follows:

14 (A) Twelve members (four from each class

15 of members described in subparagraphs (E),

16 (F), and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be ap17 pointed by the President.

18 (B) Six members (two from each class of

19 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

20 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

21 the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

22 Of the members so appointed, three members

23 (one from each class of members described in

24 subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph

25 (1)) shall be selected from recommendations
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1 made by the Majority Leader of the House of

2 Representatives and three members (one from

3 each class of members described in subpara4 graphs (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph (1))

5 shall be selected from recommendations made

6 by the Minority Leader of the House of Rep7 resentatives.

8 (C) Six members (two from each class of

9 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

10 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

11 the President pro tempore of the Senate. Of the

12 members so appointed, three members (one

13 from each class of members described in sub14 paragraphs (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph (1))

15 shall be selected from recommendations made

16 by the Majority Leader of the Senate and three

17 members (one from each class of members de18 scribed in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

19 paragraph (1)) shall be selected from rec20 ommendations made by the Minority Leader of

21 the Senate.

22 (4) TERM.—Each member of the National

23 Board appointed under subparagraph (E), (F), or

24 (G) of paragraph (1) shall be appointed for a term
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1 of 4 years, except that of the initial members of the

2 Board appointed under such paragraph—

3 (A) twelve members shall be appointed for

4 a term of 3 years (four from each class of mem5 bers described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and

6 (G) of paragraph (1)), of whom—

7 (i) two from each such class shall be

8 appointed in accordance with paragraph

9 (3)(A);

10 (ii) one from each such class shall be

11 appointed in accordance with paragraph

12 (3)(B); and

13 (iii) one from each such class shall be

14 appointed in accordance with paragraph

15 (3)(C); and

16 (B) twelve members shall be appointed for

17 a term of 4 years (four from each class of mem18 bers described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and

19 (G) of paragraph (1)), of whom—

20 (i) two from each such class shall be

21 appointed in accordance with paragraph

22 (3)(A);

23 (ii) one from each such class shall be

24 appointed in accordance with paragraph

25 (3)(B); and
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1 (iii) one from each such class shall be

2 appointed in accordance with paragraph

3 (3)(C).

4 (5) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the National

5 Board shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled

6 in the same manner as the original appointment.

7 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—

8 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The National Board shall,

9 by majority vote, elect a Chairperson once every 2

10 years from among the members of the National

11 Board.

12 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—The National Board

13 shall, by majority vote, annually elect 3 Vice Chair14 persons (each representing a different class of the

15 classes of members described in subparagraphs (E),

16 (F), and (G) of subsection (b)(1) and each of whom

17 shall serve for a term of 1 year) from among its

18 members appointed under subsection (b)(3).

19 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—

20 (1) COMPENSATION.—Members of the National

21 Board who are not full-time employees or officers of

22 the Federal Government shall serve without com23 pensation.

24 (2) EXPENSES.—The members of the National

25 Board shall be allowed travel expenses, including per
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1 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for

2 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter

3 57, title 5, United States Code, while away from

4 their homes or regular places of business in the per5 formance of services for the National Board.

6 (e) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—

7 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson

8 of the National Board shall appoint an Executive

9 Director who shall be compensated at a rate deter10 mined by the National Board not to exceed the rate

11 of pay for level V of the Executive Schedule under

12 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.

13 (2) STAFF.—The Executive Director may ap14 point and compensate such additional staff as may

15 be necessary to enable the Board to perform its du16 ties. The Executive Director may fix the compensa17 tion of the staff without regard to the provisions of

18 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title

19 5, United States Code, relating to classification of

20 positions and General Schedule pay rates, except

21 that the rate of pay for the staff may not exceed the

22 rate payable for level V of the Executive Schedule

23 under section 5316 of such title.

24 (f) GIFTS.—The National Board is authorized, in

25 carrying out this title, to accept and employ or dispose
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1 of in furtherance of the purposes of this title, any money

2 or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangi3 ble, received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise, and to

4 accept voluntary and uncompensated services notwith5 standing the provisions of section 1342 of title 31, United

6 States Code.

7 (g) AGENCY SUPPORT.—

8 (1) USE OF FACILITIES.—The National Board

9 may use the research, equipment, services and facili10 ties of any agency or instrumentality of the United

11 States with the consent of such agency or instru12 mentality.

13 (2) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the

14 request of the National Board, the head of any Fed15 eral agency of the United States may detail to the

16 National Board, on a reimbursable basis, any of the

17 personnel of such Federal agency to assist the Na18 tional Board in carrying out this title. Such detail

19 shall be without interruption or loss of civil service

20 status or privilege.

21 (h) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT22 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairperson of the National Board

23 may procure temporary and intermittent services of ex24 perts and consultants under section 3109(b) of title 5,

25 United States Code.
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1 (i) TERMINATION OF THE COMMISSION.—Section

2 14(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C.

3 App.) shall not apply with respect to the termination of

4 the National Board.

5 SEC. 504. FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD.

6 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS.—The Na7 tional Board, after extensive public consultation, shall

8 identify broad clusters of major occupations that involve

9 one or more than one industry in the United States.

10 (b) ENDORSEMENT OF SKILL STANDARDS SYS11 TEMS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Board, after

13 public review and comment, shall endorse skill

14 standards systems relating to the occupational clus15 ters identified pursuant to subsection (a) that—

16 (A) meet the requirements of paragraph

17 (2);

18 (B) are submitted by entities that meet the

19 requirements of subsection (c); and

20 (C) meet additional objective criteria that

21 are published by the National Board.

22 (2) COMPONENTS OF SYSTEM.—The skill stand23 ards systems endorsed pursuant to paragraph (1)

24 shall have one or more of the following components:
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1 (A) Voluntary skill standards, which at a

2 minimum—

3 (i) take into account, to the extent

4 practicable, standards used in other coun5 tries and international standards;

6 (ii) take into account content and per7 formance standards certified pursuant to

8 section 213;

9 (iii) take into account the require10 ments of high performance work organiza11 tions;

12 (iv) are in a form that allows for reg13 ular updating to take into account ad14 vances in technology or other developments

15 within the occupational cluster;

16 (v) are formulated in such a manner

17 that the attainment of such standards is

18 likely to meet the requirements for trans19 ferable credit and enable a student, train20 ee, or employee to continue education and

21 training, with a special emphasis on trans22 ferability among firms and labor markets;

23 and
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1 (vi) are not discriminatory with re2 spect to race, color, religion, sex, national

3 origin, ethnicity, age, or disability.

4 (B) A voluntary system of assessment and

5 certification of the attainment of skill standards

6 developed pursuant to subparagraph (A), which

7 at a minimum—

8 (i) takes into account, to the extent

9 practicable, methods of assessment and

10 certification used in other countries;

11 (ii) utilizes a variety of evaluation

12 techniques, including, where appropriate,

13 oral and written evaluations, portfolio as14 sessments, and performance tests; and

15 (iii) includes methods for establishing

16 the validity and reliability of the assess17 ment and certification system for the in18 tended purposes of the system.

19 (C) A system to disseminate information

20 relating to the skill standards, and the assess21 ment and certification systems, developed pur22 suant to this paragraph (including dissemina23 tion of information relating to civil rights laws

24 relevant to the use of such standards and sys25 tems) to, and to promote use of such standards
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1 and systems by, entities such as institutions of

2 higher education offering professional and tech3 nical education, labor organizations, trade and

4 technical associations, and employers providing

5 formalized training, and other organizations

6 likely to benefit from such standards and sys7 tems.

8 (D) A system to evaluate the implementa9 tion and effectiveness of the skill standards, the

10 assessment and certification systems, and the

11 information dissemination systems, developed

12 pursuant to this paragraph.

13 (E) A system to periodically revise and up14 date the skill standards, and the assessment

15 and certification systems, developed pursuant to

16 this paragraph, which will take into account

17 changes in standards in other countries.

18 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIPS

19 TO DEVELOP STANDARDS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of the occupational

21 clusters identified pursuant to subsection (a), the

22 National Board shall encourage and facilitate the es23 tablishment of voluntary partnerships to develop a

24 skill standards system in accordance with subsection

25 (b).
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1 (2) REPRESENTATIVES.—Such voluntary part2 nerships shall include the full and balanced partici3 pation of—

4 (A)(i) representatives of business (includ5 ing representatives of large employers and rep6 resentatives of small employers) who have ex7 pertise in the area of work force skill require8 ments, and who are recommended by national

9 business organizations or trade associations

10 representing employers in the occupation or in11 dustry for which a standard is being developed;

12 and

13 (ii) representatives of trade associations

14 that have received grants from the Department

15 of Labor or the Department of Education to es16 tablish skill standards prior to the date of en17 actment of this title;

18 (B) employee representatives who—

19 (i) have expertise in the area of work

20 force skill requirements; and

21 (ii) shall be—

22 (I) individuals recommended by

23 recognized national labor organiza24 tions representing employees in the
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1 occupation or industry for which a

2 standard is being developed; and

3 (II) such individuals who are

4 nonmanagerial employees with signifi5 cant experience and tenure in such oc6 cupation or industry as are appro7 priate given the nature and structure

8 of employment in the occupation or

9 industry; and

10 (C) representatives of—

11 (i) educational institutions;

12 (ii) technical associations;

13 (iii) community-based organizations;

14 (iv) State and local agencies with ad15 ministrative control or direction over edu16 cation or over employment and training;

17 (v) other policy development organiza18 tions with expertise in the area of work

19 force skill requirements; or

20 (vi) nongovernmental organizations

21 with a demonstrated history of successfully

22 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic, or

23 religious minorities, women, persons with

24 disabilities, or older persons.
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1 (3) EXPERTS.—The partnerships described in

2 paragraph (2) may also include other individuals

3 who are independent, qualified experts in their

4 fields.

5 (d) LIMITATIONS.—

6 (1) RELATIONSHIP WITH APPRENTICESHIP

7 STANDARDS IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.—The Na8 tional Board may not carry out the requirements of

9 subsection (b) or (c) with respect to any occupation

10 or trade within the construction industry for which

11 recognized apprenticeship standards have been joint12 ly developed by labor and management representa13 tives and are being actively used for training work14 ers in such occupation or trade, unless labor and

15 management representatives of such occupation or

16 trade and representatives of certified apprenticeship

17 programs within such occupation or trade jointly re18 quest the assistance of the National Board.

19 (2) RELATIONSHIP WITH CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title

21 shall be construed to modify or affect any Fed22 eral or State law prohibiting discrimination on

23 the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national

24 origin, ethnicity, age, or disability.
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1 (B) EVIDENCE.—The endorsement by the

2 Board of a skill standard, or assessment and

3 certification system, under subsection (b) may

4 not be used in any action or proceeding to es5 tablish that the skill standard or assessment

6 and certification system conforms to the re7 quirements of civil rights laws.

8 (e) COORDINATION.—The National Board shall es9 tablish cooperative arrangements with the National Edu10 cation Standards and Improvement Council to promote

11 the coordination of the development of skill standards

12 under this section with the development of content and

13 performance standards in accordance with section 213.

14 (f) ADDITIONAL DUTIES.—In order to support the

15 activities described in subsections (b) and (c), the National

16 Board shall—

17 (1) conduct work force research relating to skill

18 standards and make the results of such research

19 available to the public, including the partnerships

20 described in subsection (c);

21 (2) identify and maintain a catalog of skill

22 standards used by other countries and by States and

23 leading firms and industries in the United States;

24 (3) serve as a clearinghouse to facilitate the

25 sharing of information on the development of skill
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1 standards and other relevant information among

2 representatives of occupations and industries identi3 fied pursuant to subsection (a), and among edu4 cation and training providers;

5 (4) develop a common nomenclature relating to

6 skill standards;

7 (5) encourage the development and adoption of

8 curricula and training materials, for attaining the

9 skill standards developed pursuant to subsection (b),

10 that provide for structured work experiences and re11 lated study programs leading to progressive levels of

12 professional and technical certification;

13 (6) provide appropriate technical assistance to

14 individuals, and entities, involved in the development

15 of standards and systems described in subsection

16 (b); and

17 (7) develop long-term strategic plans relating to

18 the development and utilization of skill standards.

19 (g) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds appropriated

21 pursuant to section 507, the Secretary of Labor may

22 award grants (including grants to voluntary partner23 ships in accordance with paragraph (2)), and enter

24 into contracts and cooperative arrangements, that
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1 are requested by the National Board for the pur2 poses of carrying out this title.

3 (2) GRANT PROGRAMS FOR VOLUNTARY PART4 NERSHIPS.—

5 (A) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.—Vol6 untary partnerships that meet the requirements

7 of subsection (c) shall be eligible to apply for a

8 grant under this subsection. Each such vol9 untary partnership desiring a grant shall sub10 mit an application to the National Board at

11 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

12 such information as the National Board may

13 reasonably require.

14 (B) APPROVAL CRITERIA.—Prior to each

15 of the fiscal years 1994 through 1998, the Na16 tional Board shall publish objective criteria for

17 the approval of grant applications submitted

18 pursuant to subparagraph (A).

19 (3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 20 per21 cent of the funds appropriated under section

22 507(a) for each fiscal year shall be used by the

23 National Board for the costs of administration.

24 (B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this

25 paragraph, the term ‘‘costs of administration’’
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1 means costs relating to staff, supplies, equip2 ment, space, and travel and per diem, costs of

3 conducting meetings and conferences, and other

4 related costs.

5 SEC. 505. DEADLINES.

6 Not later than December 31, 1996, the National

7 Board shall—

8 (1) identify occupational clusters pursuant to

9 section 504(a) representing a substantial portion of

10 the work force; and

11 (2) promote the development of an initial set of

12 skill standards in accordance with section 504(b) for

13 such clusters.

14 SEC. 506. REPORTS.

15 The National Board shall prepare and submit to the

16 President and the Congress in each of the fiscal years

17 1994 through 1998, a report on the activities conducted

18 under this title. Such report shall include information on

19 the extent to which skill standards have been adopted by

20 employers, training providers, and other entities, and on

21 the effectiveness of such standards in accomplishing the

22 purposes described in section 502.

23 SEC. 507. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro25 priated to carry out this title $15,000,000 for fiscal year
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1 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal

2 years 1995 through 1998.

3 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant

4 to subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.

5 SEC. 508. DEFINITIONS.

6 As used in this title:

7 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.—The

8 term ‘‘community-based organizations’’ has the

9 meaning given the term in section 4(5) of the Job

10 Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1503(5)).

11 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term

12 ‘‘educational institution’’ means a high school, a vo13 cational school, and an institution of higher edu14 cation.

15 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the

17 meaning given the term in section 1201(a) of the

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).

19 (4) SKILL STANDARD.—The term ‘‘skill stand20 ard’’ means the level of knowledge and competence

21 required to successfully perform work-related func22 tions within an occupational cluster.

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