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★(Star Print)

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3263

To designate a portion of the federal budget surplus to create and fund

the Children’s Classroom Trust Fund to increase direct education funding

and expand local control of education.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 30 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. LOTT (for Mr. ASHCROFT) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and

Pensions

A BILL

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 ‘‘Children’s Classroom

5 Trust Fund Act.’’

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purposes of this title are—

8 (1) to dedicate a substantial portion of the on9 budget surplus to enhancing the education system in

10 the nation;
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1 (2) to promote excellence in elementary and sec2 ondary education programs in the Nation;

3 (3) to increase parental involvement in the edu4 cation of their children;

5 (4) to boost student achievement in academic

6 subjects to high levels;

7 (5) to improve basic skills instruction, and to

8 increase teacher performance and accountability;

9 (6) to return the responsibility and control for

10 education to parents, teachers, schools, and local

11 communities;

12 (7) to increase direct education funding to local

13 schools; and

14 (8) to give States and communities maximum

15 freedom in determining how to boost academic

16 achievement and implement education reforms.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this title:

19 (a) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘local

20 educational agency’’ has the meaning given the term in

21 section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

23 (b) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the

24 Secretary of Education.
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1 (c) ON-BUDGET SURPLUS.—For purposes of this sec2 tion, the on-budget, non-Medicare part A surplus for that

3 fiscal year, shall be determined by combining the on-budg4 et surplus and the Medicare part A surplus as set forth

5 in the ‘‘Budget and Economic Outlook’’ as reported by

6 the Congressional Budget Office in January of the year

7 preceding the concurrent resolution on the budget pursu8 ant to section 301(a)(3) for that fiscal year.

9 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRUST FUND.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the Treas11 ury of the United States a fund to be known as the Chil12 dren’s Classroom Trust Fund (in this title referred to as

13 the ‘‘Trust Fund’’), consisting of such amounts as pro14 vided for in subsection (b). Amounts in the accounts of

15 the Trust Fund shall remain available until expended for

16 the purposes established by this Act.

17 (b) TRANSFER TO FUND OF AMOUNTS SPECIFIED.—

18 At the beginning of each Fiscal Year, the Secretary of the

19 Treasury shall transfer to the Children’s Classroom Trust

20 Fund, for each fiscal year 2001 through 2010, the amount

21 equivalent to eleven percent of the on-budget, non-Medi22 care part A surplus for that fiscal year. In the case of

23 a fiscal year in which there is no on-budget surplus, exclu24 sive of Medicare Part A surpluses, there shall be no trans25 fers to the Trust Fund under this section.
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1 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—Amounts

2 in the accounts of the Trust Fund are available to the

3 Secretary for making payments under section 5.

4 (d) POINT OF ORDER.—

5 (1) It shall not be in order in the House of

6 Representatives or the Senate to consider any bill,

7 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference

8 report if—

9 (A) the enactment of that bill or resolution

10 as reported;

11 (B) the adoption and enactment of that

12 amendment; or

13 (C) the enactment of that bill or resolution

14 in the form recommended in that conference re15 port, would reduce the amount of the Children’s

16 Classroom Trust Fund for any purposes other

17 than those established in Section 5 of this legis18 lation.

19 (2) WAIVER.—Subsection (d)(1) of this section

20 may be waived or suspended in the Senate only by

21 the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members,

22 duly chosen and sworn.
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1 SEC. 5. DIRECT AWARDS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CIES.

3 (a) DIRECT AWARDS.—The Secretary shall make di4 rect awards to local educational agencies from the Chil5 dren’s Classroom Trust Fund in amounts determined

6 under subsection (b) to enable the local educational agen7 cies to support programs or activities, for kindergarten

8 through grade 12 students, that the local educational

9 agencies deem appropriate.

10 (b) DETERMINATION OF AWARDS AMOUNT.—

11 (1) PER CHILD AMOUNT.—The Secretary, using

12 the information provided under subsection (c), shall

13 determine a per child amount for a year by dividing

14 the total amount appropriated under section 5 for

15 the year, by the average daily attendance of kinder16 garten through grade 12 students in all States for

17 the preceding year.

18 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AWARD.—

19 The Secretary, using the information provided under

20 subsection (c), shall determine the amount to be pro21 vided to each local educational agency under this

22 section for a year by multiplying—

23 (A) the per child amount determined under

24 paragraph (1) for the year; by

25 (B) the average daily attendance of kinder26 garten through grade 12 students that are
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1 served by the local educational agency for the

2 preceding year.

3 (c) CENSUS DETERMINATION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 1

5 of each year, each local educational agency shall con6 duct a census to determine the average daily attend7 ance of kindergarten through grade 12 students

8 served by the local educational agency.

9 (2) SUBMISSION.—Not later than March 1 of

10 each year, each local educational agency shall submit

11 the number described in paragraph (1) to the Sec12 retary.

13 (3) PENALTY.—If the Secretary determines

14 that a local educational agency has knowingly sub15 mitted false information under paragraph (1) for the

16 purpose of gaining additional funds under this sec17 tion, then the local educational agency shall be fined

18 an amount equal to twice the difference between the

19 amount the local educational agency received under

20 this section, and the correct amount the local edu21 cational agency would have received under this sec22 tion if the agency had submitted accurate informa23 tion under paragraph (1).
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1 (d) DISBURSAL.—The Secretary shall disburse the

2 amount awarded to a local educational agency under this

3 title for a fiscal year not later than July 1 of each year.

4 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS FOR FAILING LOCAL EDU5 CATIONAL AGENCIES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a failing local edu7 cational agency receiving funds under section 4 for a fiscal

8 year, such failing local educational agency shall use such

9 award only for purposes directly related to improving ele10 mentary school and secondary school students’ academic

11 performance consistent with subsection (d).

12 (b) TITLE I FUNDING.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

14 provision of law, funds provided to a failing local

15 educational agency under title I of the Elementary

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

17 6301 et seq.) shall be spent in accordance with this

18 section.

19 (2) APPLICABILITY PROVISION.—The provisions

20 of parts A, B, C, and D of title I of the Elementary

21 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 shall not

22 apply to a failing local educational agency other than

23 the allocation and allotment provisions under part A

24 of such title.

25 (c) FAILING LOCAL AGENCY PLAN.—
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1 (1) PLAN REQUIRED.—Each failing local edu2 cational agency shall submit a plan to the Secretary

3 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary

4 may require. A plan submitted under this

5 subsection—

6 (A) shall describe the activities to be fund7 ed by the failing local educational agency under

8 subsections (a) and (b) consistent with sub9 section (d); and

10 (B) may request an exemption from the

11 uses of funds restrictions under subsection (d)

12 for elementary schools and secondary schools

13 served by the failing local educational agency

14 that met the State’s performance-based accredi15 tation or categorization standards for the pre16 vious fiscal year.

17 (2) PLAN APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall ap18 prove a plan submitted under paragraph (1) if the

19 plan meets the requirements described in paragraph

20 (1).

21 (3) PLAN DISSEMINATION.—Each failing local

22 educational agency having a plan approved under

23 paragraph (2) shall widely disseminate such plan,

24 throughout the area served by such agency, and post

25 the plan publicly, including on the Internet.
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1 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—Each failing local educational

2 agency having a plan approved under subsection (c)(2) for

3 a fiscal year may use the award provided under section

4 103(a) and funds provided under title I of the Elementary

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (2) U.S.C. 6301

6 et seq.) for such fiscal year only for the following activi7 ties:

8 (1) To recruit, retain, and reward high-quality

9 teachers.

10 (2) To focus on teaching basic educational

11 skills.

12 (3) To provide remedial instruction in core aca13 demic subjects that are assessed by standards set by

14 the State educational agency or local educational

15 agency.

16 (4) To fund mentoring programs for elementary

17 school and secondary school students who need as18 sistance in reading, writing, or arithmetic.

19 (5) To use proven methods of instruction, such

20 as phonics, that are based upon reliable research.

21 (6) To provide for extended day learning.

22 (7) To ensure that parents of elementary school

23 and secondary school students realize that parents

24 play a significant role in their child’s educational
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1 success, and to encourage parents to become active

2 in their child’s education; and

3 (8) To provide any other activity that a local

4 educational agency proposes, and the Secretary ap5 proves, as an activity that relates directly to improv6 ing students’ academic performance.

7 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—

8 (1) REPORT.—A failing local educational agen9 cy shall annually submit a report to the Secretary

10 describing—

11 (A) the use of funds under this section;

12 and

13 (B) the annual performance of all children

14 served by the failing local educational agency as

15 measured by its State’s performance-based ac16 creditation or categorization standards.

17 (2) PRIVACY.—The report required under this

18 section shall not contain any information, such as

19 names, addresses, or grades, that might be used to

20 identify the children whose performance is described

21 in the report.

22 (3) DISSEMINATION.—A failing local edu23 cational agency shall widely disseminate the report

24 submitted under paragraph (1) throughout the area

25 served by such agency, and post the report publicly,
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1 including on the Internet, so that parents and others

2 in the community can account for Federal education

3 funding under this title.

4 (f) MEETING STANDARDS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—If, for 2 consecutive fiscal

6 years after a failing local educational agency is re7 quired to use funds in accordance with subsection

8 (d), such local educational agency succeeds in meet9 ing its State’s performance-based accreditation or

10 categorization standards, then the provisions of this

11 section shall cease to apply to such local educational

12 agency.

13 (2) BONUS AWARDS.—

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—A local educational

15 agency described in paragraph (1) may receive

16 a bonus award from amounts appropriated

17 under subparagraph (C), to use for purposes

18 such as rewarding elementary school and sec19 ondary school teachers and principals who im20 proved student performance, and for profes21 sional development opportunities for such teach22 ers and principals.

23 (B) DISTRIBUTION.—A local educational

24 agency receiving a bonus award under this

25 paragraph shall determine how to distribute the
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1 award to individual elementary schools and sec2 ondary schools. An elementary school or a sec3 ondary school receiving such an award shall de4 termine how such award shall be spent.

5 (C) FUNDING OF BONUS AWARDS.—Of the

6 amounts transferred to the Trust Under section

7 3(b); the Secondary shall set aside no more

8 than 5 percent of the total amount to be used

9 for bonus awards.

10 (g) PENALTY.—If a failing local educational agency

11 spends funds subject to the use of funds restrictions de12 scribed in subsection (d) in a manner inconsistent with

13 subsection (d) for a fiscal year, then the Secretary shall

14 reduce the funds such agency receives under section

15 103(a) for the succeeding fiscal year by an amount equal

16 to the amount spent improperly by such agency.

17 SEC. 7. AUDIT.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may conduct audits

19 of the expenditures of local educational agencies under

20 this Act to ensure that the funds made available under

21 this Act are used in accordance with this Act.

22 (b) SANCTIONS AND PENALTIES.—If the Secretary

23 determines that the funds made available under section

24 4 were not used in accordance with this Act, the Secretary

25 may use the enforcement provisions available to the Sec-
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1 retary under part D of the General Education Provisions

2 Act (20 U.S.C. 1234 et seq.).

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