II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 701 

To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act of 1965 to assure comparability of opportunity for educationally 

disadvantaged students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to assure comparability 

of opportunity for educationally disadvantaged students. 

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 ‘‘Fiscal Fairness Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

6 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 

7 (1) To remedy the inequitable distribution of 

8 State and local funds within the areas served by 

9 local educational agencies. 


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1 (2) To reinforce the supplementary intent of 

2 funds made available under title I of the Elementary 

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

4 6301 et seq.), ensuring that these funds serve their 

5 original purpose of subsidizing the increased costs 

6 associated with educating students in concentrated 

7 poverty. 

8 (3) To address the statutory, regulatory, and 

9 enforcement weaknesses that have undermined the 

10 role of the comparability requirement in ensuring 

11 comparability within school districts. 

12 (4) To require the inclusion of real teacher sal13 aries in calculations of per-pupil expenditures. 

14 (5) To provide sufficient transparency, account15 ability, and disclosure to allow parents, communities, 

16 educators, and local agency officials to ensure stu17 dents have access to the resources they need to 

18 achieve at high levels. 

19 SEC. 3. COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES. 

20 Section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6321(c)) is amended 

22 to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(c) COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) COMPARABLE FUNDING IN GEN2 ERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (4) 

3 and (5), a local educational agency may receive 

4 funds under this part for a fiscal year only if, 

5 for the preceding fiscal year, the average ex6 penditure per pupil of State and local funds in 

7 each school served under this part was at least 

8 97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 

9 of State and local funds across all schools 

10 served by the local educational agency that are 

11 not receiving funds under this part. 

12 ‘‘(B) COMPARABLE FUNDING AMONG

13 TITLE I SCHOOLS.—In any case where all of the 

14 schools served by a local educational agency re15 ceive support under this part, such agency may 

16 receive funds under this part for a fiscal year 

17 only if, for the preceding fiscal year, the aver18 age expenditure per pupil of State and local 

19 funds in each higher poverty school is at least 

20 97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 

21 of State and local funds across all lower poverty 

22 schools. 

23 ‘‘(2) EQUIVALENCE.—A local educational agen24 cy shall be considered to have met the requirements 


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1 of paragraph (1), and to be eligible to continue to 

2 receive funds under this part, if— 

3 ‘‘(A) such agency has filed with the State 

4 educational agency a current school-by-school 

5 listing of per-pupil expenditures of State and 

6 local funds for each school served by the agency 

7 for the preceding fiscal year; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the listing described in subparagraph 

9 (A) demonstrates comparability across schools, 

10 as required by subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

11 paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(3) BASIS.—A local educational agency may 

13 meet the requirements of paragraph (1) across all 

14 schools or among schools serving a particular grade 

15 span, if the local educational agency compares 

16 schools within not more than three grade spans. 

17 ‘‘(4) MONITORING.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS BY SECRETARY.—Not 

19 later than 120 days after the date of enactment 

20 of the Fiscal Fairness Act, the Secretary shall 

21 issue regulations concerning State educational 

22 agencies’ and local educational agencies’ re23 sponsibilities for meeting the requirements of 

24 this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS BY STATES.—Not 

2 later than 6 months after the date on which the 

3 regulations required under subparagraph (A) 

4 are issued, each State educational agency re5 ceiving funds under this part shall create and 

6 distribute to local educational agencies, and 

7 make available to the public, regulations on the 

8 responsibilities of local educational agencies for 

9 meeting the requirements of this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(C) PLAN BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN11 CIES.—Not later than 14 months after the date 

12 on which regulations required under subpara13 graph (B) are distributed, each local edu14 cational agency receiving funds under this part 

15 shall develop and submit to the State edu16 cational agency a plan, including a timeline and 

17 annual benchmarks, that will ensure com18 parability as described in paragraph (1) not 

19 later than 3 years after the date on which such 

20 regulations are distributed. The plan shall be 

21 made available to the public. 

22 ‘‘(D) AUDIT.—In each of the fourth and 

23 fifth years after the date of enactment of the 

24 Fiscal Fairness Act, the Inspector General of 

25 the Department shall audit 5 States and 10 


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1 local educational agencies to determine progress 

2 in meeting the requirements of this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(5) INAPPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall 

4 not apply to a local educational agency that does not 

5 have more than one building for each grade span. 

6 ‘‘(6) COMPLIANCE.—For the purpose of deter7 mining compliance with paragraph (1), a local edu8 cational agency— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall exclude State and local funds 

10 expended for the excess costs of providing 

11 English language instruction for limited 

12 English proficient students as determined by 

13 the local educational agency; 

14 ‘‘(B) shall exclude State and local funds 

15 expended for the excess costs of providing serv16 ices to children with disabilities as determined 

17 by the local educational agency; and 

18 ‘‘(C) may exclude supplemental State or 

19 local funds expended in any school attendance 

20 area or school for programs that meet the in21 tent and purpose of this part. 

22 ‘‘(7) NO FORCED TRANSFERS.—Nothing in this 

23 subsection shall be construed to require the forced or 

24 involuntary transfer of any school personnel in order 


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1 to comply with subparagraph (A) or (B) of para2 graph (1). 

3 ‘‘(8) COMPARABILITY AS MINIMUM STAND4 ARD.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub6 section shall be construed to limit or discourage 

7 the allocation of State or local funds to schools 

8 served under this part in excess of 100 percent 

9 of the average per-pupil expenditure for schools 

10 not served under this part. 

11 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a local 

12 educational agency subject to the requirements 

13 of paragraph (1)(B), nothing shall be construed 

14 to discourage the allocation of State and local 

15 funds to any higher poverty schools served by 

16 the local educational agency in excess of 100 

17 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in 

18 lower poverty schools served by the agency. 

19 ‘‘(9) PUBLIC REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) SCHOOL REPORT CARDS.—Beginning 

21 with the first academic year that begins after 

22 the date of enactment of the Fiscal Fairness 

23 Act, and for each academic year thereafter, 

24 each local educational agency shall include on 


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1 the school report cards required under section 

2 1111(h)(2) the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) The average per-pupil expendi4 tures of State and local funds for the 

5 school. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The average per-pupil expendi7 tures of State and local funds for schools 

8 in the local educational agency not served 

9 under this part or, in the case where all 

10 schools in a local educational agency are 

11 served under this part, for lower poverty 

12 schools. 

13 ‘‘(iii) The mean of average per-pupil 

14 expenditures of State and local funds for 

15 all schools in the State. 

16 ‘‘(B) CURRENT SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL LIST17 ING.—Beginning with the first academic year 

18 that begins after the date of enactment of the 

19 Fiscal Fairness Act and for each academic year 

20 thereafter, the State educational agency shall 

21 make publicly available the most current school22 by-school listings of per-pupil expenditures of 

23 State and local funds submitted by each local 

24 educational agency, as required under para25 graph (2)(A)(i). 


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1 ‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(A) EXPENDITURES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘expend5 itures’ means— 

6 ‘‘(I) salary expenditures for class7 room teachers, including not only base 

8 salaries but also incentive pay, bo9 nuses, and supplemental stipends for 

10 mentoring or other additional roles; 

11 ‘‘(II) salary expenditures for in12 structional and instructional support 

13 staff who are not classroom teachers 

14 (such as principals, librarians, para15 professionals, academic coaches, and 

16 curriculum specialists), including not 

17 only base salaries but also incentive 

18 pay, bonuses, and supplemental sti19 pends for mentoring or other addi20 tional roles; 

21 ‘‘(III) salary expenditures for 

22 noninstructional staff, including stu23 dent support staff; and 

24 ‘‘(IV) nonpersonnel expenditures 

25 such as— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) professional develop2 ment for teachers and other 

3 staff; 

4 ‘‘(bb) instructional materials 

5 and supplies; 

6 ‘‘(cc) computers, software, 

7 and other technology; 

8 ‘‘(dd) contracted services 

9 such as distance learning, art, 

10 athletics, and technology services; 

11 ‘‘(ee) library books and 

12 media center materials; and 

13 ‘‘(ff) such other expendi14 tures as the Secretary may re15 quire. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATIONS.—For pur17 poses of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 

18 (i), in the determination of salary expendi19 tures, salary differentials for years of em20 ployment shall be included. 

21 ‘‘(B) HIGHER POVERTY SCHOOL.—The 

22 term ‘higher poverty school’ means a school 

23 that is in the highest 3 quartiles of schools 

24 served by a local educational agency, based on 


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1 the percentage of enrolled students from low-in2 come families. 

3 ‘‘(C) LOWER POVERTY SCHOOL.—The 

4 term ‘lower poverty school’ means a school that 

5 is in the lowest quartile of schools served by a 

6 local educational agency, based on the percent7 age of enrolled students from low-income fami8 lies.’’. 

Æ 


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