II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 829

To provide waivers for the establishment of educational opportunity schools.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18 (legislative day, MAY 15), 1995

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

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide waivers for the establishment of educational

opportunity schools.

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

3 SECTION 1. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY DEMONSTRA4 TION PROGRAM.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Elementary and

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et

7 seq.) is amended—

8 (1) by redesignating part F as part G;

9 (2) by redesignating sections 1601 through

10 1604 as sections 1701 through 1704, respectively;

11 and
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1 (3) by inserting after part E the following new

2 part:

3 ‘‘PART F—EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

4 DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

5 ‘‘SEC. 1701. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; AND PURPOSES.

6 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This part may be cited as the

7 ‘Educational Opportunity Demonstration Act’.

8 ‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

9 ‘‘(1) while low-income students have made sig10 nificant gains with respect to educational achieve11 ment and attainment, considerable gaps still persist

12 for these students in comparison to those from more

13 affluent socioeconomic backgrounds;

14 ‘‘(2) our Nation has a compelling interest in as15 suring that all children receive a high quality edu16 cation;

17 ‘‘(3) new methods and experiments to revitalize

18 educational achievement and opportunities of low-in19 come individuals must be a part of any comprehen20 sive solution to the problems in our Nation’s edu21 cational system;

22 ‘‘(4) preliminary research shows that same gen23 der classes and schools may produce promising aca24 demic and behavioral improvements in both sexes for

25 low-income, educationally disadvantaged students;
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1 ‘‘(5) extensive data on same gender classes and

2 schools are needed to determine whether same gen3 der classes and schools are closely tailored to achiev4 ing the compelling government interest in assuring

5 that all children are educated to the best of their

6 ability;

7 ‘‘(6) in recent years efforts to experiment with

8 same gender classes and schools have been inhibited

9 by lawsuits and threats of lawsuits by private groups

10 as well as governmental entities; and

11 ‘‘(7) there is a compelling government interest

12 in granting the Secretary authority to insulate a lim13 ited number of local educational agencies and

14 schools which are experimenting with same gender

15 classes for a limited period of time from certain law

16 suits under title IX of the Education Amendments

17 of 1972, section 204 of the Education Amendments

18 of 1974, section 1979 of the Revised Statutes (42

19 U.S.C. 1983), or any other law prohibiting discrimi20 nation on the basis of sex, in order to collect data

21 on the effectiveness of such classes in educating chil22 dren from low-income, educationally disadvantaged

23 backgrounds.

24 ‘‘(c) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this part—
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1 ‘‘(1) to give the Secretary discretion to allow

2 experimentation with same gender classes for low-in3 come, educationally disadvantaged students;

4 ‘‘(2) to determine whether same gender classes

5 make a difference in the educational achievement

6 and opportunities of low-income, educationally dis7 advantaged individuals; and

8 ‘‘(3) to involve parents in the educational op9 tions and choices of their children.

10 ‘‘SEC. 1702. DEFINITIONS.

11 ‘‘As used in this part—

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘educational opportunity school’

13 means a public elementary, middle, or secondary

14 school established by a local educational agency re15 ceiving a waiver under this part, or a consortium of

16 such schools, that—

17 ‘‘(A) establishes a plan for voluntary, same

18 gender classes at one or more than one school

19 in the community;

20 ‘‘(B) provides same gender classes for both

21 boys and girls, as well as a coeducational option

22 for any parent that chooses that option;

23 ‘‘(C) gives parents the option of choosing

24 to send their child to a same gender class or to

25 a coeducational class;
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1 ‘‘(D) admits students on the basis of a lot2 tery, if more students apply for admission to

3 the same gender classes than can be accommo4 dated;

5 ‘‘(E) has a program in which a member of

6 the community is asked to volunteer such mem7 ber’s time in classes of children of the same

8 gender as the member; and

9 ‘‘(F) operates in pursuit of improving

10 achievement among all children based on a spe11 cific set of educational objectives determined by

12 the local educational agency applying for a

13 waiver under this part, in conjunction with the

14 educational opportunity advisory board estab15 lished under section 1703(b) and agreed to by

16 the Secretary; and

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘educational opportunity advisory

18 board’ means an advisory board established in ac19 cordance with section 1703(b).

20 ‘‘SEC. 1703. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

21 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall waive

23 any statutory or regulatory requirement of title IX

24 of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 204

25 of the Education Amendments of 1974, section 1979
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1 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983), and any

2 other law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of

3 sex, for each local educational agency (but not more

4 than 10) that has an application approved under

5 section 1704 and otherwise meets the requirements

6 of this part, and for any educational opportunity

7 school established by such agency, but only to the

8 extent the Secretary determines necessary to ensure

9 the development and operation of same gender class10 es in accordance with this part.

11 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary shall issue a

12 waiver under subsection (a) for a period not to ex13 ceed 5 years.

14 ‘‘(b) EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY ADVISORY

15 BOARD.—Each local educational agency receiving a waiver

16 under this part shall establish an educational opportunity

17 advisory board. Such advisory board shall be composed of

18 school administrators, parents, teachers, local government

19 officials and volunteers involved with an educational op20 portunity school. Such advisory board shall assist the local

21 educational agency in developing the application under

22 section 1704 and serve as an advisory board in the func23 tioning of the educational opportunity school.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1704. APPLICATIONS.

2 ‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS REQUIRED.—Each local edu3 cational agency desiring a waiver under this part shall

4 submit, within 180 days of the date of enactment of the

5 Educational Opportunity Demonstration Act, an applica6 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner and

7 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may

8 reasonably require.

9 ‘‘(b) SCOPE OF APPLICATION.—Each application de10 scribed in subsection (a) may request a waiver for a single

11 educational opportunity school or for a consortium of such

12 schools.

13 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—Each application de14 scribed in subsection (a) shall include—

15 ‘‘(1) a description of the educational program

16 to be implemented by the proposed educational op17 portunity school, including—

18 ‘‘(A) the grade levels or ages of children to

19 be served; and

20 ‘‘(B) the curriculum and instructional

21 practices to be used;

22 ‘‘(2) a description of the objectives of the local

23 educational agency and a description of how such

24 agency intends to monitor and study the progress of

25 children participating in the educational opportunity

26 school;
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1 ‘‘(3) a description of how the local educational

2 agency intends to include in the educational oppor3 tunity school administrators, teaching personnel, and

4 role models from the private sector;

5 ‘‘(4) a description of how school administrators,

6 parents, teachers, local government, and volunteers

7 will be involved in the design and implementation of

8 the educational opportunity school;

9 ‘‘(5) a justification for the waiver or inapplica10 bility of any Federal statutory or regulatory require11 ments that the local educational agency believes are

12 necessary for the successful operation of the edu13 cational opportunity school and a description of any

14 State or local statutory or regulatory requirements,

15 that will be waived for, or will not apply to, the edu16 cational opportunity school, if necessary;

17 ‘‘(6) a description of how students in attend18 ance at the educational opportunity school, or in the

19 community, will be—

20 ‘‘(A) informed about such school; and

21 ‘‘(B) informed about the fact that admis22 sion to same gender classes is completely vol23 untary;

24 ‘‘(7) an assurance that the local educational

25 agency will annually provide the Secretary such in-
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1 formation as the Secretary may require to determine

2 if the educational opportunity school is making satis3 factory progress toward achieving the objectives de4 scribed in paragraph (2);

5 ‘‘(8) an assurance that the local educational

6 agency will cooperate with the Secretary in evaluat7 ing the waivers issued under this part;

8 ‘‘(9) assurances that resources shall be used

9 equally for same gender classes for boys and for

10 girls;

11 ‘‘(10) assurances that the activities assisted

12 under this part will not have an adverse affect, on

13 either sex, that is caused by—

14 ‘‘(A) the distribution of teachers between

15 same gender classes for boys and for girls;

16 ‘‘(B) the quality of facilities for boys and

17 for girls;

18 ‘‘(C) the nature of the curriculum for boys

19 and for girls;

20 ‘‘(D) program activities for boys and for

21 girls; and

22 ‘‘(E) instruction for boys and for girls;

23 ‘‘(11) an assurance that the local educational

24 agency will comply with the research and evaluation
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1 protocols developed by the Secretary under section

2 1706(a); and

3 ‘‘(12) such other information and assurances as

4 the Secretary may require.

5 ‘‘SEC. 1705. SELECTION OF GRANTEES.

6 ‘‘The Secretary shall issue waivers under this part

7 on the basis of the quality of the applications submitted

8 under section 1704, taking into consideration such factors

9 as—

10 ‘‘(1) the quality of the proposed curriculum and

11 instructional practices;

12 ‘‘(2) the organizational structure and manage13 ment of the school;

14 ‘‘(3) the quality of the plan for assessing the

15 progress made by children in same gender classes

16 over the period of the waiver;

17 ‘‘(4) the extent of community support for the

18 application;

19 ‘‘(5) the likelihood that the educational oppor20 tunity school will meet the objectives of such school

21 and improve educational results for students; and

22 ‘‘(6) the assurances submitted pursuant to sec23 tion 1704(c)(10).
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1706. STUDY AND REPORT.

2 ‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study

3 of the waivers issued under this part, including establish4 ing appropriate research and evaluation protocols, to com5 pare the educational and behavioral achievement of those

6 students choosing same gender classes established under

7 this part and those students choosing the coeducational

8 option.

9 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit, within 1

10 year after the date of enactment of the Educational Op11 portunity Demonstration Act, a report to the appropriate

12 committees of the Congress regarding the findings of the

13 study conducted under subsection (a).

14 ‘‘SEC. 1707. CONSTRUCTION.

15 ‘‘Nothing in this part shall be construed to affect the

16 availability under title IX of the Education Amendments

17 of 1972 of remedies to overcome the effects of past dis18 crimination on the basis of sex.’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

20 (1) COMMITTEE OF PRACTITIONERS.—Section

21 1111(c)(5) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(5)) is

22 amended by striking ‘‘section 1603(b)’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘section 1703(b)’’.

24 (2) STATE ASSISTANCE FOR SCHOOL SUPPORT

25 AND IMPROVEMENT.—Section 1117(a)(2) of such
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1 Act (20 U.S.C. 6318(a)(2)) is amended by striking

2 ‘‘section 1603(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1703(c)’’.

3 (3) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 1304(c)(2)

4 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6394(c)(2)) is amended by

5 striking ‘‘part F’’ and inserting ‘‘part G’’.

6 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 1415(a)(2)(C) of

7 such Act (20 U.S.C. 6435(a)(2)(C)) is amended by

8 striking ‘‘part F’’ and inserting ‘‘part G’’.

9 (5) STATE DATA.—The matter preceding sub10 paragraph (A) of section 14204(a)(2) of such Act

11 (20 U.S.C. 8824(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec12 tion 1603’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1703’’.

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