I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 

To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act of 1965 to assure comparability of opportunity for educationally 

disadvantaged students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Mr. POLIS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. DAVIS

of Illinois, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to assure comparability 

of opportunity for educationally disadvantaged students. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fiscal Fairness Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

6 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 


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1 (1) To remedy the inequitable distribution of 

2 State and local funds within the areas served by 

3 local educational agencies. 

4 (2) To reinforce the supplementary intent of 

5 funds made available under title I of the Elementary 

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

7 6301 et seq.), ensuring that these funds serve their 

8 original purpose of subsidizing the increased costs 

9 associated with educating students in concentrated 

10 poverty. 

11 (3) To address the statutory, regulatory, and 

12 enforcement weaknesses that have undermined the 

13 role of the comparability requirement in ensuring 

14 comparability within school districts. 

15 (4) To require the inclusion of real teacher sal16 aries in calculations of per-pupil expenditures. 

17 (5) To provide sufficient transparency, account18 ability, and disclosure to allow parents, communities, 

19 educators, and local agency officials to ensure stu20 dents have access to the resources they need to 

21 achieve at high levels. 

22 SEC. 3. COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES. 

23 Section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6321(c)) is amended 

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c) COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(A) COMPARABLE FUNDING IN GEN4 ERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (4) 

5 and (5), a local educational agency may receive 

6 funds under this part for a fiscal year only if, 

7 for the preceding fiscal year, the average ex8 penditure per pupil of State and local funds in 

9 each school served under this part was at least 

10 97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 

11 of State and local funds across all schools 

12 served by the local educational agency that are 

13 not receiving funds under this part. 

14 ‘‘(B) COMPARABLE FUNDING AMONG

15 TITLE I SCHOOLS.—In any case where all of the 

16 schools served by a local educational agency re17 ceive support under this part, such agency may 

18 receive funds under this part for a fiscal year 

19 only if, for the preceding fiscal year, the aver20 age expenditure per pupil of State and local 

21 funds in each higher poverty school is at least 

22 97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 

23 of State and local funds across all lower poverty 

24 schools. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EQUIVALENCE.—A local educational agen2 cy shall be considered to have met the requirements 

3 of paragraph (1), and to be eligible to receive funds 

4 under this part, if— 

5 ‘‘(A) such agency has filed with the State 

6 educational agency current school-by-school list7 ing of per-pupil expenditures of State and local 

8 funds for each school served by the agency for 

9 the preceding fiscal year; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the listing described in subparagraph 

11 (A) demonstrates comparability across schools 

12 as required by subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

13 paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) BASIS.—A local educational agency may 

15 meet the requirements of paragraph (1) across all 

16 schools or among schools serving a particular grade 

17 span, if the local educational agency compares 

18 schools within not more than three grade spans. 

19 ‘‘(4) MONITORING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS BY SECRETARY.—Not 

21 later than 120 days after the date of the enact22 ment of the Fiscal Fairness Act, the Secretary 

23 shall issue regulations concerning State edu24 cational agencies’ and local educational agenVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 Apr 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1294.IH H1294

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1 cies’ responsibilities for meeting the require2 ments of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS BY STATES.—Not 

4 later than 6 months after the date on which the 

5 regulations required under subparagraph (A) 

6 are issued, each State educational agency re7 ceiving funds under this part shall create and 

8 distribute to local educational agencies, and 

9 make available to the public, regulations on the 

10 responsibilities of local educational agencies for 

11 meeting the requirements of this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(C) PLAN BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN13 CIES.—Not later than 14 months after the date 

14 on which regulations required by subparagraph 

15 (B) are distributed, each local educational agen16 cy receiving funds under this part shall develop 

17 and submit to the State educational agency a 

18 plan, including a timeline and annual bench19 marks, that will ensure comparability as de20 scribed in paragraph (1) not later than 3 years 

21 after the date on which such regulations are 

22 distributed. The plan shall be made available to 

23 the public. 

24 ‘‘(D) AUDIT.—In each of the fourth and 

25 fifth years after the date of enactment of the 


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1 Fiscal Fairness Act, the Inspector General of 

2 the Department shall audit 5 States and 10 

3 local educational agencies to determine progress 

4 in meeting the requirements of this section. 

5 ‘‘(5) INAPPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall 

6 not apply to a local educational agency that does not 

7 have more than one building for each grade span. 

8 ‘‘(6) COMPLIANCE.—For the purpose of deter9 mining compliance with paragraph (1), a local edu10 cational agency— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall exclude State and local funds 

12 expended for the excess costs of providing 

13 English language instruction for Limited 

14 English Proficient students as determined by 

15 the local educational agency; 

16 ‘‘(B) shall exclude State and local funds 

17 expended for the excess costs of providing serv18 ices to children with disabilities as determined 

19 by the local educational agency; and 

20 ‘‘(C) may exclude supplemental State or 

21 local funds expended in any school attendance 

22 area or school for programs that meet the in23 tent and purpose of this part. 

24 ‘‘(7) NO FORCED TRANSFERS.—Nothing in this 

25 subsection shall be construed to require the forced or 


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1 involuntary transfer of any school personnel in order 

2 to comply with subparagraph (A) or (B) of para3 graph (1). 

4 ‘‘(8) COMPARABILITY AS MINIMUM STAND5 ARD.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub7 section shall be construed to limit or discourage 

8 the allocation of State or local funds to schools 

9 served under this part in excess of 100 percent 

10 of the average per-pupil expenditure for schools 

11 not served under this part. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a local 

13 educational agency subject to the requirements 

14 of paragraph (1)(B), nothing shall be construed 

15 to discourage the allocation of State and local 

16 funds to any higher poverty schools served by 

17 the local educational agency in excess of 100 

18 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in 

19 lower poverty schools served by the agency. 

20 ‘‘(9) PUBLIC REPORTING.— 

21 ‘‘(A) SCHOOL REPORT CARDS.—Beginning 

22 with the first academic year that begins after 

23 the date of the enactment of the Fiscal Fair24 ness Act, and for each academic year there25 after, each local educational agency shall inVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:11 Apr 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1294.IH H1294

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1 clude on the school report cards required under 

2 section 1111(h)(2) the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) The average per-pupil expendi4 tures of State and local funds for the 

5 school. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The average per-pupil expendi7 tures of State and local funds for schools 

8 in the local educational agency not served 

9 under this part or, in the case where all 

10 schools in a local educational agency are 

11 served under this part, for lower poverty 

12 schools. 

13 ‘‘(iii) The mean of average per-pupil 

14 expenditures of State and local funds for 

15 all schools in the State. 

16 ‘‘(B) CURRENT SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL LIST17 ING.—Beginning with the first academic year 

18 that begins after the date of the enactment of 

19 the Fiscal Fairness Act and for each academic 

20 year thereafter, the State educational agency 

21 shall make publicly available the most current 

22 school-by-school listings of per-pupil expendi23 tures of State and local funds submitted by 

24 each local educational agency, as required 

25 under paragraph (2)(A)(i). 


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1 ‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(A) EXPENDITURES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘expend5 itures’ means— 

6 ‘‘(I) salary expenditures for class7 room teachers, including not only base 

8 salaries but also incentive pay, bo9 nuses, and supplemental stipends for 

10 mentoring or other additional roles; 

11 ‘‘(II) salary expenditures for in12 structional and instructional support 

13 staff who are not classroom teachers 

14 (such as principals, librarians, para15 professionals, academic coaches, and 

16 curriculum specialists), including not 

17 only base salaries but also incentive 

18 pay, bonuses, and supplemental sti19 pends for mentoring or other addi20 tional roles; 

21 ‘‘(III) salary expenditures for 

22 noninstructional staff, including stu23 dent support staff; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) nonpersonnel expenditures 

25 such as— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) professional develop2 ment for teachers and other 

3 staff; 

4 ‘‘(bb) instructional materials 

5 and supplies; 

6 ‘‘(cc) computers, software, 

7 and other technology; 

8 ‘‘(dd) contracted services 

9 such as distance learning, art, 

10 athletics, and technology services; 

11 ‘‘(ee) library books and 

12 media center materials; and 

13 ‘‘(ff) such other expendi14 tures as the Secretary of Edu15 cation may require. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATIONS.—For pur17 poses of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 

18 (i), in the determination of salary expendi19 tures, salary differentials for years of em20 ployment shall be included. 

21 ‘‘(B) HIGHER POVERTY SCHOOL.—The 

22 term ‘higher poverty school’ means a school 

23 that is in the highest three quartiles of schools 

24 served by a local educational agency, based on 


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1 the percentage of enrolled students from low-in2 come families. 

3 ‘‘(C) LOWER POVERTY SCHOOL.—The 

4 term ‘lower poverty school’ means a school that 

5 is in the lowest quartile of schools served by a 

6 local educational agency, based on the percent7 age of enrolled students from low-income fami8 lies.’’. 

Æ 


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