I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2710 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to restore 

State sovereignty over public education and parental rights over the 

education of their children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2013 

Mr. CULBERSON (for himself and Mr. BISHOP of Utah) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to restore State sovereignty over public education and parental rights over the education of their 

children. 

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 ‘‘Restoration of Paren5 tal Rights and State Sovereignty Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY OVER PUB2 LIC EDUCATION AND PARENTAL RIGHTS 

3 OVER THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN. 

4 Part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 et seq.) is amend6 ed by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘Subpart 3—Restoration of State Sovereignty Over 

8 Public Education and Parental Rights Over the 

9 Education of Their Children 

10 ‘‘SEC. 9541. STATES TO RETAIN RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES 

11 THEY DO NOT EXPRESSLY WAIVE. 

12 ‘‘(a) RETENTION OF RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES.— 

13 No officer, employee, or other authority of the Secretary 

14 shall enforce against an authority of a State, nor shall 

15 any authority of a State have any obligation to obey, any 

16 requirement imposed as a condition of receiving assistance 

17 under a grant program established under this Act, nor 

18 shall such program operate within a State, unless the leg19 islature of that State shall have by law expressly approved 

20 that program and, in doing so, have waived the State’s 

21 rights and authorities to act inconsistently with any re22 quirement that might be imposed by the Secretary as a 

23 condition of receiving that assistance. 

24 ‘‘(b) AMENDMENT OF TERMS OF RECEIPT OF FED25 ERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An officer, employee, or 

26 other authority of the Secretary may release assistance 

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1 under a grant program established under this Act to a 

2 State only after the legislature of the State has by law 

3 expressly approved the program (as described in sub4 section (a)). This approval may be accomplished by a vote 

5 to affirm a State budget that includes the use of such Fed6 eral funds and any such State budget must expressly in7 clude any requirement imposed as a condition of receiving 

8 assistance under a grant program established under this 

9 Act so that by approving the budget, the State legislature 

10 is expressly approving the grant program and, in doing 

11 so, waiving the State’s rights and authorities to act incon12 sistently with any requirement that might be imposed by 

13 the Secretary as a condition of receiving that assistance. 

14 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH BIENNIAL

15 LEGISLATURES.—In the case of a State with a biennial 

16 legislature— 

17 ‘‘(1) during a year in which the State legisla18 ture does not meet, subsections (a) and (b) shall not 

19 apply; and 

20 ‘‘(2) during a year in which the State legisla21 ture meets, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply, and, 

22 with respect to any grant program established under 

23 this Act during the most recent year in which the 

24 State legislature did not meet, the State may by law 

25 expressly disapprove the grant program, and, if such 

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1 disapproval occurs, an officer, employee, or other au2 thority of the Secretary may not release any addi3 tional assistance to the State under that grant pro4 gram. 

5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF STATE AUTHORITY.—As used 

6 in this section, the term ‘authority of a State’ includes 

7 any administering agency of the State, any officer or em8 ployee of the State, and any local government authority 

9 of the State. 

10 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section applies in each 

11 State beginning on the 90th day after the end of the first 

12 regular session of the legislature of that State that begins 

13 5 years after the date of the enactment of the Student 

14 Success Act and shall continue to apply in subsequent 

15 years until otherwise provided by law. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 9542. DEDICATION OF SAVINGS TO DEFICIT REDUC17 TION. 

18 ‘‘Notwithstanding any formula reallocations stipu19 lated under the Student Success Act, any funds under 

20 such Act not allocated to a State because a State did not 

21 affirmatively agree to the receipt of such funds shall not 

22 be reallocated among the States. 

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1 ‘‘SEC. 9543. DEFINITION OF STATE WITH BIENNIAL LEGIS2 LATURE. 

3 ‘‘In this Act, the term ‘State with a biennial legisla4 ture’ means a State the legislature of which meets every 

5 other year. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9544. INTENT OF CONGRESS. 

7 ‘‘It is the intent of Congress that other than the 

8 terms and conditions expressly approved by State law 

9 under the terms of this subpart, control over public edu10 cation and parental rights to control the education of their 

11 children are vested exclusively within the autonomous zone 

12 of independent authority reserved to the States and indi13 vidual Americans by the United States Constitution, other 

14 than the Federal Government’s undiminishable obligation 

15 to enforce minimum Federal standards of equal protection 

16 and due process.’’. 

Æ 

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