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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 950

To award grants for school construction.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 4, 1999

Mrs. FEINSTEIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

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

A BILL

To award grants for school construction.

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 ‘‘Excellence in Edu5 cation Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) CORE CURRICULUM.—The term ‘‘core cur9 riculum’’ means curriculum in subjects such as read10 ing and writing, language arts, mathematics, social

11 sciences (including history), and science.
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1 (2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU2 CATIONAL AGENCY; SECONDARY SCHOOL; SEC3 RETARY.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local

4 educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘Sec5 retary’’ have the meanings given the terms in section

6 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education

7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

8 (3) PRACTICE OF SOCIAL PROMOTION.—The

9 term ‘‘practice of social promotion’’ means a formal

10 or informal practice of promoting a student from the

11 grade for which the determination is made to the

12 next grade when the student fails to meet State

13 achievement standards in the core academic cur14 riculum, unless the practice is consistent with the

15 student’s individualized education program under

16 section 614(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities

17 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)).

18 (4) CONSTRUCTION.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the term ‘‘construction’’ means—

21 (i) preparation of drawings and speci22 fications for school facilities;

23 (ii) building new school facilities, or

24 acquiring, remodeling, demolishing, ren-
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1 ovating, improving, or repairing facilities

2 to establish new school facilities; and

3 (iii) inspection and supervision of the

4 construction of new school facilities.

5 (B) RULE.—An activity described in sub6 paragraph (A) shall be considered to be con7 struction only if the labor standards described

8 in section 439 of the General Education Provi9 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232b) are applied with

10 respect to such activity.

11 (5) SCHOOL FACILITY.—The term ‘‘school facil12 ity’’ means a public structure suitable for use as a

13 classroom, laboratory, library, media center, or re14 lated facility the primary purpose of which is the in15 struction of public elementary school or secondary

16 school students. The term does not include an ath17 letic stadium or any other structure or facility in18 tended primarily for athletic exhibitions, contests, or

19 games for which admission is charged to the general

20 public.

21 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

23 this Act $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000

24 through 2004.
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1 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

2 The Secretary is authorized to award grants to local

3 educational agencies to enable the local educational agen4 cies to carry out the construction of new public elementary

5 school and secondary school facilities.

6 SEC. 5. CONDITIONS FOR RECEIVING FUNDS.

7 In order to receive funds under this Act a local edu8 cational agency shall meet the following requirements:

9 (1) Reduce class and school sizes for public

10 schools served by the local educational agency as fol11 lows:

12 (A) Limit class size to an average student13 to-teacher ratio of 20 to 1, in classes serving

14 kindergarten through grade 6 students, in the

15 schools served by the agency.

16 (B) Limit class size to an average student17 to-teacher ratio of 28 to 1, in classes serving

18 grade 7 through grade 12 students, in the

19 schools served by the agency.

20 (C) Limit the size of public elementary

21 schools and secondary schools served by the

22 agency to—

23 (i) not more than 500 students in the

24 case of a school serving kindergarten

25 through grade 5 students;
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1 (ii) not more than 750 students in the

2 case of a school serving grade 6 through

3 grade 8 students; and

4 (iii) not more than 1,500 students in

5 the case of a school serving grade 9

6 through grade 12 students.

7 (2) Terminate the practice of social promotion

8 in the public schools served by the agency.

9 (3) Require that students be subject to State

10 achievement standards in the core curriculum at key

11 transition points, to be determined by the State, for

12 all kindergarten through grade 12 students.

13 (4) Use tests and other indicators, such as

14 grades and teacher evaluations, to assess student

15 performance in meeting the State achievement

16 standards, which tests shall be valid for the purpose

17 of such assessment.

18 (5) Provide remedial education for students

19 who fail to meet the State achievement standards,

20 including tutoring, mentoring, summer programs,

21 before-school programs, and after-school programs.

22 (6) Provide matching funds, with respect to the

23 cost to be incurred in carrying out the activities for

24 which the grant is awarded, from non-Federal
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1 sources in an amount equal to the Federal funds

2 provided under the grant.

3 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agency de5 siring to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an

6 application to the Secretary at such time and in such man7 ner as the Secretary may require.

8 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application shall contain—

9 (1) an assurance that the grant funds will be

10 used in accordance with this Act;

11 (2) a brief description of the construction to be

12 conducted;

13 (3) a cost estimate of the activities to be con14 ducted; and

15 (4) a description of available non-Federal

16 matching funds.

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