II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1996

To provide flexibility to certain local educational agencies that develop voluntary public and private parental choice programs under title VI of

the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 28, 1998

Mr. SANTORUM (for himself, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. COATS,

Mr. COVERDELL, and Mr. HUTCHINSON) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and

Human Resources

A BILL

To provide flexibility to certain local educational agencies

that develop voluntary public and private parental choice

programs under title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

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 ‘‘REAL Life Edu5 cational Opportunity Act of 1998’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 6003 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7303) is amended—

4 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘DEFINI5 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘DEFINITIONS’’;

6 (2) by striking ‘‘(1)’’, ‘‘(2)’’, and ‘‘(3)’’;

7 (3) in the matter proceeding subparagraph (A),

8 by striking ‘‘ title the term’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘title—

11 ‘‘(1) the term’’;

12 (4) in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (E), by

13 striking the period and inserting a semicolon;

14 (5) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period

15 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (6) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘poverty line’ means the poverty

18 line (as defined by the Office of Management and

19 Budget, and revised annually in accordance with sec20 tion 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) applicable to a family of

22 the size involved; and

23 ‘‘(3) the term ‘voluntary public and private pa24 rental choice program’ means a program that meets

25 the requirements of section 6301(b)(9), is authorized

26 by State law, and includes the participation of 1 or
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1 more private schools that allow low-income parents

2 to choose the appropriate school for their children.’’.

3 SEC. 3. ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

4 Section 6102(a) of the Elementary and Secondary

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7312(a)) is amended

6 to read as follows:

7 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION RULE.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), from the sums made available each year

10 to carry out this title, the State educational agency

11 shall distribute not less than 90 percent to local edu12 cational agencies within such State according to the

13 relative enrollments in public and private, nonprofit

14 schools within the school districts of such agencies,

15 adjusted, in accordance with criteria approved by the

16 Secretary, to provide higher per pupil allocations to

17 local educational agencies which have the greatest

18 numbers or percentages of children whose education

19 imposes a higher than average cost per child, such

20 as—

21 ‘‘(A) children living in areas with high con22 centrations of low-income families;

23 ‘‘(B) children from low-income families;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(C) children living in sparsely populated

2 areas.

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A State that has enacted, or

4 will enact (as determined by the State legislature),

5 a law that establishes a voluntary public and private

6 parental choice program and that complies with the

7 provisions of section 6301(b)(9) may reserve an ad8 ditional 15 percent from the sums made available

9 each year to carry out this title if the additional

10 amount reserved is used exclusively for voluntary

11 public and private parental choice programs.’’.

12 SEC. 4. USES OF FUNDS.

13 (a) STATE USES OF FUNDS.—Section 6201(a)(1) of

14 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

15 U.S.C. 7331(a)(1)) is amended—

16 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’

17 after the semicolon;

18 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(D) establishing voluntary public and private

21 parental choice programs in accordance with section

22 6301(b)(9); and’’.

23 (b) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—Section 6301(b) of the

24 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

25 U.S.C. 7351(b)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ after

2 the semicolon;

3 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period and

4 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the follow6 ing:

7 ‘‘(9) voluntary public and private parental

8 choice programs that—

9 ‘‘(A) are located in an area, as determined

10 by the State, that has the greatest numbers or

11 percentages of children—

12 ‘‘(i) living in areas with a high con13 centration of low-income families;

14 ‘‘(ii) from low-income families; or

15 ‘‘(iii) living in sparsely populated

16 areas;

17 ‘‘(B) ensure that participation in such a

18 voluntary public and private parental choice

19 program is limited to families whose family in20 come does not exceed 185 percent of the pov21 erty line;

22 ‘‘(C) award voluntary public and private

23 parental choice scholarships and ensure—

24 ‘‘(i) the maximum amount of a vol25 untary public and private parental choice
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1 scholarship does not exceed the per pupil

2 expenditure of the local educational agency

3 in which an applicant for a voluntary pub4 lic and private parental choice scholarship

5 resides;

6 ‘‘(ii) the minimum amount of a vol7 untary public and private parental choice

8 scholarship is not less than 60 percent of

9 the per pupil expenditure of the local edu10 cational agency in which an applicant for

11 a voluntary public and private parental

12 choice scholarship resides or the cost of

13 tuition at a private school, whichever is

14 less;

15 ‘‘(D) ensure that for a private school,

16 which may include a religiously affiliated school,

17 choosing to participate in a voluntary public

18 and private parental choice program—

19 ‘‘(i) such a school is permitted to im20 pose the same academic requirements for

21 all students, including students selected for

22 a scholarship under this paragraph;

23 ‘‘(ii) receipt of funds under this title

24 is not conditioned with requirements or

25 regulations that preclude the use of such
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1 funds for sectarian educational purposes or

2 require removal of religious art, icons,

3 scripture, or other symbols; and

4 ‘‘(iii) such a school is in compliance

5 with all State requirements applicable to

6 the operation of a private school that are

7 in effect in the year preceding the date of

8 the enactment of the REAL Life Edu9 cational Opportunity Act of 1998;

10 ‘‘(E) may allow State, local, and private

11 funds to be used for voluntary public and pri12 vate parental choice programs; and

13 ‘‘(F) ensure priority for students who were

14 enrolled in a public school in the school year

15 preceding the school year in which a voluntary

16 public and private parental choice school begins

17 operation.’’.

18 SEC. 5. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY.

19 Part C of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7351 et seq.) is amend21 ed by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘SEC. 6304. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency that

24 establishes a voluntary public and private parental choice

25 program in accordance with section 6301(b)(9) is eligible
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1 to apply for an education flexibility waiver of certain Fed2 eral statutory or regulatory requirements if such agency

3 complies with the requirements of subsection (b).

4 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—The requirements referred to in

5 subsection (a) are as follows:

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Submission of an applica7 tion, approved by the State educational agency, to

8 the Secretary that—

9 ‘‘(A) identifies the State statutory and reg10 ulatory requirements sought to be waived;

11 ‘‘(B) identifies the Federal statutory and

12 regulatory requirements sought to be waived;

13 ‘‘(C) includes a statement of justification

14 for waiving such requirements;

15 ‘‘(D) describes the goals and performance

16 criteria that will be used to determine the effec17 tiveness of waiving such requirements;

18 ‘‘(E) certifies that the information in the

19 application has been submitted to the units of

20 local governments in which such local edu21 cational agency is located, the State legislature,

22 and the Governor encouraging such entities to

23 comment for a period of not less than 60 days;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(F) includes any comments received pur2 suant to subparagraph (E);

3 ‘‘(2) STATE WAIVERS.—A statement from the

4 State educational agency that describes the action

5 the agency has undertaken or will undertake, not

6 later than 90 days after notification from the Sec7 retary that the waiver request has been granted, to

8 remove State statutory or regulatory barriers for

9 such local educational agency.

10 ‘‘(c) APPROVAL AND NOTICE.—

11 ‘‘(1) APPROVAL.—Except as provided in sub12 section (d), the Secretary shall approve the request

13 of a local educational agency to waive certain Fed14 eral statutory or regulatory requirements if—

15 ‘‘(A) such agency complies with this sec16 tion; and

17 ‘‘(B) the State in which such agency is lo18 cated has granted one or more of the waivers

19 sought by the local educational agency or agrees

20 to grant, not later than 90 days after notifica21 tion by the Secretary that the waiver request

22 has been granted, one or more waivers that the

23 State and local educational agency determine

24 mutually acceptable.
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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall notify each

2 local educational agency for which a waiver request

3 is submitted whether the request complies with the

4 requirements of this section not later than 60 days

5 after receiving the request. If the Secretary does not

6 notify the local educational agency, as required

7 under this paragraph, the application shall be con8 sidered, for purposes of this section, to have been

9 determined to comply with the requirements of this

10 section and the local educational agency shall be

11 considered to have been notified of compliance upon

12 the expiration of such 60-day period.

13 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION AGAINST CERTAIN WAIVERS.—

14 The Secretary shall not waive any of the following provi15 sions:

16 ‘‘(1) CIVIL RIGHTS.—Civil rights protections

17 and discrimination prohibitions, including the safety

18 and procedural provisions under title VI of the Civil

19 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title

20 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20

21 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilita22 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), or the Age Dis23 crimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).
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1 ‘‘(2) SERVICES FOR DISABLED.—Services pro2 vided under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu3 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).

4 ‘‘(3) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY MEASURES.—

5 Fiscal accountability measures, including—

6 ‘‘(A) maintenance of effort or comparabil7 ity of services requirements under any program;

8 and

9 ‘‘(B) requirements that Federal funds sup10 plement, not supplant non-Federal funds.

11 ‘‘(4) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Requirements

12 to provide for—

13 ‘‘(A) the equitable participation of private

14 school students and teachers; and

15 ‘‘(B) parental involvement in program ac16 tivities and services.’’.

17 SEC. 6. EVALUATION.

18 Part D of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7371 et seq.) is amend20 ed—

21 (1) by adding at the end of section 6402 the

22 following new subsection:

23 ‘‘(j) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to

24 funds that a State or local educational agency uses to es-
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1 tablish a voluntary public and private parental choice pro2 gram in accordance with section 6301(b)(9).’’; and

3 (2) by adding at the end of such part the fol4 lowing new sections:

5 ‘‘SEC. 6404. EVALUATION.

6 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—

7 ‘‘(1) CONTRACT.—The Comptroller General

8 shall enter into a contract, with an evaluating agen9 cy that has demonstrated experience in conducting

10 evaluations, for the conduct of an ongoing rigorous

11 evaluation of the programs established under section

12 6301(b)(9).

13 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL EVALUATION REQUIREMENT.—

14 The contract described in paragraph (1) shall re15 quire the evaluating agency entering into such con16 tract to evaluate annually each program established

17 under section 6301(b)(9) in accordance with the

18 evaluation criteria described in subsection (b) and

19 each such program for which an education flexibility

20 waiver is granted under section 6304.

21 ‘‘(3) TRANSMISSION.—The contract described

22 in paragraph (1) shall require the evaluating agency

23 entering into such contract to transmit to the Comp24 troller General the findings of each annual evalua25 tion under paragraph (1).
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1 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—The Comptroller Gen2 eral, in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish

3 minimum criteria for evaluating each program established

4 under section 6301(b)(9). Such criteria shall provide for—

5 ‘‘(1) a description of the implementation of

6 each program established under section 6301(b)(9)

7 and the program’s effects on all participants,

8 schools, and communities in the program area, with

9 particular attention given to the effect of parent par10 ticipation in the life of the school and the level of

11 parental satisfaction with the program; and

12 ‘‘(2) a comparison of the educational achieve13 ment of all students in the program area, including

14 a comparison between—

15 ‘‘(A) students receiving a voluntary public

16 and private parental choice scholarships under

17 section 6301(b)(9); and

18 ‘‘(B) students not receiving a voluntary

19 public and private parental choice scholarships

20 under such section.

21 ‘‘(c) EVALUATION FUNDS.—Pursuant to the author22 ity provided under section 14701, the Secretary shall re23 serve not more than 0.50 percent of the amount of funds

24 made available under section 6002 to carry out this sec25 tion. To determine the amount necessary for evaluation
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1 purposes, the Secretary shall consider the prospective

2 scale and scope of the evaluation, including the number

3 of local educational agencies conducting voluntary public

4 and private parental choice programs.

5 ‘‘SEC. 6405. APPLICABILITY.

6 ‘‘(a) NOT SCHOOL AID.—Subject to subsection (b),

7 funds used under this title to establish a voluntary public

8 and private parental choice program shall be considered

9 assistance to the student and shall not be considered as

10 assistance to any school that chooses to participate in such

11 program.

12 ‘‘(b) NO FEDERAL CONTROL.—The Secretary is not

13 permitted to exercise any direction, supervision, or control

14 over the curricula, program of instruction, administration,

15 or personnel of any school that chooses to participate in

16 a voluntary public and private choice program established

17 under section 6309(b)(9).’’.

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