I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3421 

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

Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement 

of students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. WALKER (for himself, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. YOHO, Mr. DUNCAN of South 

Carolina, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. 

COOK, Mr. HUELSKAMP, Mr. OLSON, Mr. BLUM, Mrs. LOVE, Mr. JODY

B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. BRAT, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 

RIBBLE, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. STEWART, 

Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. PALMER, Mr. BUCK, Mr. WEBSTER of 

Florida, Mr. BABIN, Mr. SALMON, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. 

BRADY of Texas, Mr. RATCLIFFE, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

JORDAN, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, 

Mr. LABRADOR, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. 

PALAZZO, Mr. MESSER, and Mr. CONAWAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

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

Secretary of Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement of students. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS. 

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

3 ‘‘Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success’’ or the ‘‘A 

4 PLUS Act’’. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are as fol6 lows: 

7 (1) To give States and local communities added 

8 flexibility to determine how to improve academic 

9 achievement and implement education reforms. 

10 (2) To reduce the administrative costs and com11 pliance burden of Federal education programs in 

12 order to focus Federal resources on improving aca13 demic achievement. 

14 (3) To ensure that States and communities are 

15 accountable to the public for advancing the academic 

16 achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged 

17 children. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro20 vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 

21 given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

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

23 7801 et seq.). 

24 (2) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 

25 (A) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘ac26 countability’’ means that public schools are anVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421

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1 swerable to parents and other taxpayers for the 

2 use of public funds and shall report student 

3 progress to parents and taxpayers regularly. 

4 (B) DECLARATION OF INTENT.—The term 

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

6 State, as determined by State Authorizing Offi7 cials or by referendum, to assume full manage8 ment responsibility for the expenditure of Fed9 eral funds for certain eligible programs for the 

10 purpose of advancing, on a more comprehensive 

11 and effective basis, the educational policy of 

12 such State. 

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

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

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

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

17 (D) STATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS.—The 

18 term ‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the 

19 State officials who shall authorize the submis20 sion of a declaration of intent, and any amend21 ments thereto, on behalf of the State. Such offi22 cials shall include not less than 2 of the fol23 lowing: 

24 (i) The governor of the State. 


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1 (ii) The highest elected education offi2 cial of the State, if any. 

3 (iii) The legislature of the State. 

4 (E) STATE DESIGNATED OFFICER.—The 

5 term ‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the 

6 person designated by the State Authorizing Of7 ficials to submit to the Secretary, on behalf of 

8 the State, a declaration of intent, and any 

9 amendments thereto, and to function as the 

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

11 and others relating to any responsibilities aris12 ing under this Act. 

13 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF INTENT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub15 mit to the Secretary a declaration of intent permitting the 

16 State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated basis to 

17 manage the expenditure of such funds to advance the edu18 cational policy of the State. 

19 (b) PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR CONSOLIDATION AND

20 PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

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

23 any program for which Congress makes funds avail24 able to the State if the program is for a purpose de25 scribed in the Elementary and Education Secondary 


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1 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State may not in2 clude any program funded pursuant to the Individ3 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

4 1400 et seq.). 

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

6 a State pursuant to a declaration of intent under 

7 this Act shall be used for any educational purpose 

8 permitted by State law of the State submitting a 

9 declaration of intent. 

10 (3) REMOVAL OF FISCAL AND ACCOUNTING

11 BARRIERS.—Each State educational agency that op12 erates under a declaration of intent under this Act 

13 shall modify or eliminate State fiscal and accounting 

14 barriers that prevent local educational agencies and 

15 schools from easily consolidating funds from other 

16 Federal, State, and local sources in order to improve 

17 educational opportunities and reduce unnecessary 

18 fiscal and accounting requirements. 

19 (c) CONTENTS OF DECLARATION.—Each declaration 

20 of intent shall contain— 

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

22 to the declaration of intent; 

23 (2) an assurance that the submission of the 

24 declaration of intent has been authorized by the 


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1 State Authorizing Officials, specifying the identity of 

2 the State Designated Officer; 

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

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

5 control and fund accounting procedures; 

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

7 requirements of applicable Federal civil rights laws 

8 in carrying out the declaration of intent and in con9 solidating and using the funds under the declaration 

10 of intent; 

11 (6) an assurance that in implementing the dec12 laration of intent the State will seek to advance edu13 cational opportunities for the disadvantaged; 

14 (7) a description of the plan for maintaining di15 rect accountability to parents and other citizens of 

16 the State; and 

17 (8) an assurance that in implementing the dec18 laration of intent, the State will seek to use Federal 

19 funds to supplement, rather than supplant, State 

20 education funding. 

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

22 intent shall not exceed 5 years. 

23 (e) REVIEW AND RECOGNITION BY THE SEC24 RETARY.— 


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

2 the declaration of intent received from the State 

3 Designated Officer not more than 60 days after the 

4 date of receipt of such declaration, and shall recog5 nize such declaration of intent unless the declaration 

6 of intent fails to meet the requirements under sub7 section (c). 

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

9 the Secretary fails to take action within the time 

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

11 as submitted, shall be deemed to be approved. 

12 (f) AMENDMENT TO DECLARATION OF INTENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The State Authorizing Offi14 cials may direct the State Designated Officer to sub15 mit amendments to a declaration of intent that is in 

16 effect. Such amendments shall be submitted to the 

17 Secretary and considered by the Secretary in accord18 ance with subsection (e). 

19 (2) AMENDMENTS AUTHORIZED.—A declaration 

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

21 (A) expand the scope of such declaration of 

22 intent to encompass additional eligible pro23 grams; 

24 (B) reduce the scope of such declaration of 

25 intent by excluding coverage of a Federal proVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3421.IH H3421

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1 gram included in the original declaration of in2 tent; 

3 (C) modify the duration of such declara4 tion of intent; or 

5 (D) achieve such other modifications as the 

6 State Authorizing Officials deem appropriate. 

7 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment shall 

8 specify an effective date. Such effective date shall 

9 provide adequate time to assure full compliance with 

10 Federal program requirements relating to an eligible 

11 program that has been removed from the coverage of 

12 the declaration of intent by the proposed amend13 ment. 

14 (4) TREATMENT OF PROGRAM FUNDS WITH15 DRAWN FROM DECLARATION OF INTENT.—Begin16 ning on the effective date of an amendment executed 

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

18 of each program removed from the declaration of in19 tent shall apply to the State’s use of funds made 

20 available under the program. 

21 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY FOR RESULTS OF PUBLIC EDU22 CATION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each State operating under a 

24 declaration of intent under this Act shall inform parents 

25 and the general public regarding the student achievement 


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1 assessment system, demonstrating student progress rel2 ative to the State’s determination of student proficiency, 

3 as described in paragraph (2), for the purpose of public 

4 accountability to parents and taxpayers. 

5 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM.—The State shall de6 termine and establish an accountability system to ensure 

7 accountability under this Act. 

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

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

10 intent, and annually thereafter, a State shall disseminate 

11 widely to parents and the general public a report that de12 scribes student progress. The report shall include— 

13 (1) student performance data disaggregated in 

14 the same manner as data are disaggregated under 

15 section 1111(b)(3)(A) of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 6311(b)(3)(A)); and 

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

19 Federal funds to improve academic achievement, re20 duce achievement disparities between various stu21 dent groups, and improve educational opportunities 

22 for the disadvantaged. 

23 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

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

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


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1 may expend for administrative expenses shall be limited 

2 to 1 percent of the aggregate amount of Federal funds 

3 made available to the State through the eligible programs 

4 included within the scope of such declaration of intent. 

5 (b) STATES NOT CONSOLIDATING FUNDS UNDER

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

7 not include within its scope part A of title I of the Elemen8 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 6311 et seq.), the amount spent by the State on adminis10 trative expenses shall be limited to 3 percent of the aggre11 gate amount of Federal funds made available to the State 

12 pursuant to such declaration of intent. 

13 SEC. 5. EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

14 Each State consolidating and using funds pursuant 

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

16 the participation of private school children and teachers 

17 in the activities assisted under the declaration of intent 

18 in the same manner as participation is provided to private 

19 school children and teachers under section 9501 of the El20 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 7881). 

Æ 


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