I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1113

To establish a demonstration program that encourages State educational

agencies to assist teachers, parents, and communities in establishing

new public schools, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1993

Mr. MCCURDY (for himself, Mr. PETRI, Mr. PENNY, and Mr. RIDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To establish a demonstration program that encourages State

educational agencies to assist teachers, parents, and communities in establishing new public schools, and for other

purposes.

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 ‘‘Public School Redefini5 tion Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the ability of the United States to deliver

2 more effective educational services to citizens, espe3 cially disadvantaged citizens, is of primary impor4 tance to the national and economic security of the

5 United States;

6 (2) fundamental reform is needed in our

7 Nation’s educational system in order to release the

8 creative energies of teachers, students, parents, and

9 communities;

10 (3) market forces of competition and choice can

11 have a positive influence in promoting fundamental

12 reform; however, choice is incomplete without the

13 availability of more educational choices for all stu14 dents, including disadvantaged students and histori15 cally underserved students;

16 (4) the exclusive franchise that local educational

17 agencies have traditionally had on the creation of

18 new public schools has served to limit the number

19 and variety of school choices available to parents and

20 students; and

21 (5) public education should be defined by out22 comes and requirements that protect and promote

23 the public interest, not solely by the ownership or

24 control of facilities and programs by a local edu25 cational agency or other public agency.
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

2 It is the purpose of this Act to—

3 (1) encourage States to offer teachers, parents,

4 and local communities the opportunity to establish

5 new and more effective public schools;

6 (2) provide Federal assistance and flexibility to

7 encourage States to assist teachers, parents, and

8 communities to develop such schools; and

9 (3) provide criteria for States, teachers, par10 ents, and communities to use in establishing new

11 and more effective public schools.

12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

13 For the purpose of this Act—

14 (1) the term ‘‘eligible partnership’’ means a

15 partnership between—

16 (A) a sponsor; and

17 (B) a charter public school;

18 (2) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

19 meaning given such term by section 1471(12) of the

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

21 (3) the term ‘‘charter public school’’ means a

22 school that—

23 (A) is nonsectarian in its programs, admis24 sion policies, employment practices, and all

25 other operations and is not affiliated with a
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1 nonpublic sectarian school or religious institu2 tion;

3 (B) has a primary focus of providing a

4 comprehensive program of instruction for at

5 least one grade from kindergarten to twelfth

6 grade or one age group from 5 to 18 years of

7 age;

8 (C) does not charge tuition;

9 (D) complies with title VI of the Civil

10 Rights Act of 1964, title IX of the Education

11 Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Reha12 bilitation Act of 1973, and the procedural safe13 guards under the Individuals With Disabilities

14 Education Act;

15 (E) in the event that more students apply

16 for admission than may be accommodated, ad17 mits students on the basis of a lottery;

18 (F) is subject to the same Federal and

19 State financial audits and audit procedures and

20 requirements as any other school located in the

21 State in which such school is located;

22 (G) meets all State and local health and

23 safety requirements; and

24 (H) participates in an eligible partnership;
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1 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

2 of Education;

3 (5) the term ‘‘sponsor’’ means a—

4 (A) school board;

5 (B) local educational agency; or

6 (C) State educational agency;

7 (6) the term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has

8 the meaning given such term by section 1471(23) of

9 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

10 1965.

11 SEC. 5. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

12 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

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

14 to award grants to State educational agencies having

15 applications approved pursuant to section 6 to en16 able such agencies to conduct a charter public school

17 program in accordance with this Act.

18 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If a State elects not to

19 participate in the program assisted under this Act,

20 the Secretary is authorized to award a grant to a

21 charter public school that serves such State and has

22 an application approved pursuant to section 6, as

23 permitted by applicable State laws and regulations

24 in the State in which the school shall operate.

25 (b) USE OF GRANTS.—
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1 (1) STATE.—Each State educational agency re2 ceiving a grant under this Act shall use such grant

3 funds to award grants to one or more charter public

4 schools in the State to enable such schools to plan

5 and implement a charter public school in accordance

6 with this Act.

7 (2) CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL.—Each charter

8 public school receiving a grant from the Secretary

9 pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall use such grant

10 funds to plan and implement a charter public school

11 in accordance with this Act.

12 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Each State

13 educational agency receiving a grant pursuant to

14 subsection (a)(1) may reserve not more than 5 per15 cent of such grant funds for administrative expenses

16 associated with the program assisted under this Act.

17 (c) DURATION.—A charter public school shall receive

18 a grant under this Act for a period of not more than 3

19 years.

20 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—In order for a char21 ter public school to receive a grant pursuant to subsection

22 (a), such school shall provide matching funds in the

23 amount of—
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1 (1) 10 percent of the grant payment received in

2 the first year such school receives a grant under this

3 Act; and

4 (2) 25 percent of the grant payment received in

5 the second and third such years.

6 (e) GEOGRAPHIC DISPERSION.—The Secretary shall

7 ensure that grants awarded pursuant to subsection (a)

8 benefit students in urban and rural areas.

9 (f) CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, AND REPAIR.—

10 (1) PROHIBITION.—Grant funds awarded under

11 this Act shall not be used for the construction or

12 major renovation or repair of facilities.

13 (2) START-UP COSTS.—Grant funds awarded

14 under this Act may be used for planning, equipment

15 purchases, and other start-up costs, including minor

16 renovation of facilities necessary to meet applicable

17 State and local health and safety requirements.

18 SEC. 6. APPLICATION.

19 (a) STATE APPLICATION.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

21 agency desiring a grant under this Act shall submit

22 to the Secretary an application at such time, in such

23 manner, and containing or accompanied by such in24 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require.
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1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

2 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

3 (A) describe the objectives of the State

4 educational agency’s charter public school pro5 gram and a description of how such objectives

6 shall be fulfilled, including steps taken by the

7 State educational agency to inform teachers,

8 parents, and communities of the State edu9 cational agency’s charter public school program

10 and the availability of grants for the establish11 ment of such schools;

12 (B) contain assurances that the State edu13 cational agency shall obtain a waiver of all

14 State and Federal statutes and regulations ap15 plicable to a school board, local educational

16 agency or school district that are relevant to

17 and hindering the establishment of a charter

18 public school in such State;

19 (C) provide a written description of out20 comes and other requirements to be included in

21 each eligible partnership agreement between a

22 sponsor and a charter public school;

23 (D) provide a description of how charter

24 public schools within the State shall be required
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1 to meet the definition of a charter public school

2 as described in section 4(3);

3 (E) contain specific outcomes to be

4 achieved by the students attending a charter

5 public school in accordance with the outcomes

6 agreement described in section 7;

7 (F) provide an explanation of how progress

8 in meeting the outcomes described in section 7

9 shall be measured; and

10 (G) contain a description of how teachers,

11 parents, and community members have been, or

12 shall be, involved in the planning, development

13 and implementation of each charter public

14 school.

15 (b) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP APPLICATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each charter public school

17 desiring a grant pursuant to section 5(a)(2) shall

18 submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

19 in such manner, and accompanied by such informa20 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require.

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

22 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall contain the same in23 formation and assurances as the information and as24 surances described in subparagraphs (B) through

25 (G) of subsection (a)(2).
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1 SEC. 7. OUTCOMES AGREEMENT.

2 (a) AGREEMENT.—In order to receive a grant under

3 this Act a charter public school shall enter into an out4 comes agreement with the sponsor participating in the eli5 gible partnership.

6 (b) CONTENTS.—Each agreement referred to in sub7 section (a) shall—

8 (1) be in the form of a written contract between

9 the sponsor and the board of directors of the charter

10 public school participating in the eligible partner11 ship;

12 (2) set forth outcomes that such school shall

13 achieve; and

14 (3) include information and assurances de15 scribed in subparagraphs (B) through (G) of section

16 6(a)(2).

17 SEC. 8. CONTINUATION OF FUNDING.

18 Each charter public school receiving a grant under

19 this Act shall be eligible to receive Federal, State, and

20 local education revenue, grants and other aids as though

21 such school were a local educational agency.

22 SEC. 9. TERMINATION.

23 The Secretary or a State educational agency receiving

24 a grant under this part shall terminate grant payments

25 under this Act if the Secretary or such State educational

26 agency, at any time, determines that the charter public
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1 school is not making acceptable progress toward meeting

2 the outcomes described in section 7.

3 SEC. 10. REPORTS.

4 (a) STATE REPORT.—

5 (1) REPORTS.—Each charter public school re6 ceiving a grant pursuant to section 5(a)(1) shall re7 port at least annually to the State educational agen8 cy or other agency designated by the Governor on

9 such school’s progress in meeting the outcomes de10 scribed in section 7.

11 (2) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—Each State

12 educational agency receiving a report under sub13 section (a) shall annually report to the Secretary on

14 the program assisted under this Act.

15 (b) SCHOOL REPORTS.—Each charter public school

16 receiving a grant pursuant to section 5(a)(2) shall at least

17 annually report to the Secretary the charter public school’s

18 progress in meeting the outcomes described in section 7.

19 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 There are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000

21 for fiscal year 1994, $75,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and

22 such sums as may be necessary for the 3 succeeding fiscal

23 years to carry out the provisions of this Act.

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