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[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2209 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2209

  To reduce class size in the early grades and to provide for teacher 
                          quality improvement.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 1998

   Mrs. Murray (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Daschle, Ms. 
  Moseley-Braun, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Levin, Mr. Robb, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
  Reed, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Bryan, Mr. 
Kerry, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Bingaman, and Ms. Mikulski, introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                      on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To reduce class size in the early grades and to provide for teacher 
                          quality improvement.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Class-Size Reduction and Teacher 
Quality Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Rigorous research has shown that students attending 
        small classes in the early grades make more rapid educational 
        progress than students in larger classes, and that these 
        achievement gains persist through at least the elementary 
        grades.
            (2) The benefits of smaller classes are greatest for lower 
        achieving, minority, poor, and inner-city children. One study 
        found that urban fourth-graders in smaller-than-average classes 
        were \3/4\ of a school year ahead of their counterparts in 
        larger-than-average classes.
            (3) Teachers in small classes can provide students with 
        more individualized attention, spend more time on instruction 
        and less on other tasks, cover more material effectively, and 
        are better able to work with parents to further their 
        children's education.
            (4) Smaller classes allow teachers to identify and work 
        more effectively with students who have learning disabilities 
        and, potentially, can reduce those students' need for special 
        education services in the later grades.
            (5) Students in smaller classes are able to become more 
        actively engaged in learning than their peers in large classes.
            (6) Efforts to improve educational achievement by reducing 
        class sizes in the early grades are likely to be more 
        successful if--
                    (A) well-prepared teachers are hired and 
                appropriately assigned to fill additional classroom 
                positions; and
                    (B) teachers receive intensive, continuing training 
                in working effectively in smaller classroom settings.
            (7) Several States have begun a serious effort to reduce 
        class sizes in the early elementary grades, but these actions 
        may be impeded by financial limitations or difficulties in 
        hiring well-prepared teachers.
            (8) The Federal Government can assist in this effort by 
        providing funding for class-size reductions in grades 1 through 
        3, and by helping to ensure that the new teachers brought into 
        the classroom are well prepared.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to help States and local educational 
agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional teachers over a 7-
year period in order to--
            (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades 1 through 3, 
        to an average of 18 students per classroom; and
            (2) improve teaching in the early grades so that all 
        students can learn to read independently and well by the end of 
        the third grade.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM FUNDING.

    For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are authorized to 
be appropriated, and are appropriated out of any funds in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated, $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, 
$1,300,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 
2001, $1,700,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, $1,735,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2003, $2,300,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and $2,800,000,000 for 
each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2008.

SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT TO STATES.

    (a) Reservation for Evaluation.--From the amount appropriated by 
section 4 for each fiscal year, the Secretary may reserve not more than 
$2,000,000 to carry out the evaluation described in section 14.
    (b) Reservation for the Outlying Areas and the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs.--From the amount appropriated by section 4 and remaining after 
reserving funds under subsection (a) for each fiscal year, the 
Secretary shall reserve a total of not more than 1 percent to make 
payments, on the basis of their respective needs for assistance under 
this Act, to--
            (1) American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, 
        and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for 
        activities that are approved by the Secretary and consistent 
        with the purposes of this Act; and
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior for activities that are 
        approved by the Secretary and consistent with the purposes of 
        this Act, in schools operated or supported by the Bureau of 
        Indian Affairs.
    (c) Allotment to States.--
            (1) In general.--From the amount appropriated by section 4 
        and remaining after reserving funds under subsections (a) and 
        (b) for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each 
        State an amount that bears the same relationship to the 
        remaining amount as the amount of funding the State received 
        under section 1122 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 for the previous fiscal year bears to the total 
        amount available for allocation under that section for the 
        previous fiscal year.
            (2) Reallotment.--If any State chooses not to participate 
        in the program under this Act, or fails to submit an approvable 
        application, the Secretary shall reallot the State's allotment 
        to the remaining States, in accordance with paragraph (1).

SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Application Required.--The State educational agency of each 
State desiring to receive an allotment under this Act shall submit an 
application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application shall include--
            (1) the State's goals for using funds under this Act to 
        reduce average class sizes in regular classrooms in grades 1 
        through 3, including--
                    (A) a description of current class sizes in regular 
                classrooms in the local educational agencies of the 
                State;
                    (B) a description of the State's plan for using 
                funds under this Act to reduce the average class size 
                in regular classrooms in those grades; and
                    (C) the class-size goals in regular classrooms the 
                State intends to reach and a justification for those 
                goals;
            (2) a description of the State educational agency's plan 
        for allocating program funds within the State, including--
                    (A) an estimate of the impact of those allocations 
                on class sizes in the individual local educational 
                agencies of the State;
                    (B) an assurance that the State educational agency 
                will make the plan public within the State; and
                    (C) a description of the current and projected 
                capacity of the State's school facilities to 
                accommodate reduced class sizes;
            (3) a description of the State educational agency's 
        strategy for improving teacher quality in grades 1 through 3 
        within the State (which may be part of a broader strategy to 
        improve teacher quality generally), including--
                    (A) the actions the State educational agency will 
                take to ensure the availability, within the State, of a 
                pool of well-prepared teachers to fill the positions 
                created with funds under this Act; and
                    (B) a description of how the State educational 
                agency and the local educational agencies in the State 
                will ensure that--
                            (i) individuals hired for positions created 
                        with funds provided under this Act (which may 
                        include individuals who have pursued 
                        alternative routes to certification or 
                        licensure) will meet all of the State's 
                        requirements for full certification or 
                        licensure, or will be making satisfactory 
                        progress toward achieving full certification or 
                        licensure within 3 years of such hiring;
                            (ii) teachers in first through third grade 
                        will be prepared to teach reading effectively 
                        to all children, including those with special 
                        needs, and will take part in continuing 
                        professional development in effective reading 
                        instruction and in teaching effectively in 
                        small classes; and
                            (iii) individuals hired as beginning 
                        teachers in first through third grade will be 
                        required to pass a teacher competency test 
                        selected by the State;
            (4) a description of how the State will use other funds, 
        including other Federal funds, to improve teacher quality and 
        reading achievement within the State;
            (5) a description of how the State will hold local 
        educational agencies that use a significant portion of the 
        grant funds made available under section 9(a)(2)(B) accountable 
        for that use of funds;
            (6) an assurance that the local educational agency and the 
        schools served by the local educational agency will comply with 
        the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of section 12; and
            (7) an assurance that the State educational agency will 
        submit such reports and information as the Secretary may 
        reasonably require.
    (c) Approval of Applications.--The Secretary shall approve a State 
educational agency's application if the application meets the 
requirements of this section and holds reasonable promise of achieving 
the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 7. WITHIN-STATE ALLOCATIONS.

    (a) State-Level Expenses.--Each State may use not more than a total 
of \1/2\ of 1 percent of the amount the State receives under this Act, 
or $50,000, whichever is greater, for a fiscal year, for the 
administrative costs of the State educational agency and for State-
level activities described in section 8.
    (b) Grants to Local Educational Agencies.--
            (1) Allocation.--Each State educational agency shall use 
        the amount allotted to the State and not reserved under 
        subsection (a) for a fiscal year to make grants to local 
        educational agencies, for the purpose of reducing class size 
        and improving instruction in grades 1 through 3, on the basis 
        of--
                    (A) current or projected class sizes in regular 
                classrooms in grades 1 through 3 in the local 
                educational agencies; and
                    (B) the relative ability and effort of the local 
                educational agencies to finance class-size reductions 
                with funds provided by the local educational agencies.
            (2) Manner.--Each State shall award the grants described in 
        paragraph (1) in such a manner as to enable local educational 
        agencies to reduce their average class sizes in regular 
        classrooms, in grades 1 through 3, to the average class size 
        proposed in the State application.
            (3) Special rule.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), each 
        State shall ensure, in awarding grant funds under this 
        subsection for a fiscal year, that each local educational 
        agency in the State, in which at least 30 percent of the 
        children served by the agency are from low-income families, or 
        in which there are at least 10,000 children from such families, 
        receives not less than the amount that bears the same relation 
        to the grant funds as the amount the local educational agency 
        received of the State's allocation under section 1122 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the 
        preceding fiscal year bears to the amount all local educational 
        agencies in the State received under such section for such 
        preceding year.
    (c) Maintenance of Effort.--
            (1) In general.-- A local educational agency may receive 
        grant funds under this section for any fiscal year only if the 
        local educational agency submits to, or has on file with, the 
        State educational agency an assurance that the local 
        educational agency will spend at least as much funding from 
        non-Federal sources as the local educational agency spent in 
        the previous year for the combination of--
                    (A) teachers in regular classrooms in grades 1 
                through 3 in schools receiving assistance under this 
                Act; and
                    (B) the quality-improvement activities described in 
                section 9(b).
            (2) Waiver or modification.--The Secretary may waive or 
        modify the requirement of paragraph (1) for a local educational 
agency if the Secretary determines that doing so would be equitable due 
to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances affecting that agency.

SEC. 8. STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.

    Each State educational agency may use the funds the State 
educational agency reserves for State-level activities under section 
7(a) to carry out activities described in the agency's application, 
which may include activities such as--
            (1) strengthening State teacher certification or licensure 
        standards;
            (2) developing or strengthening, and administering, teacher 
        competency tests for beginning teachers; and
            (3) program monitoring and other administrative costs 
        associated with operating the program under this Act.

SEC. 9. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Class size reductions.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2), each local educational agency shall use all the grant 
        funds the agency receives from the State under this Act that 
        are not reserved under subsection (b), to pay the Federal share 
        of the costs for the salaries of, and benefits for, the 
        additional teachers needed to reduce class sizes in grades 1 
        through 3 to the level set by the State as the State's goal in 
        the State application.
            (2) Additional teacher level achieved.--A local educational 
        agency that has reached the level described in paragraph (1) 
        may use the grant funds received from the State under this Act 
        and not reserved under subsection (b) to pay the Federal share 
        of the costs of--
                    (A) making further class-size reductions in grades 
                1 through 3;
                    (B) reducing class sizes in kindergarten or other 
                grades; or
                    (C) undertaking quality-improvement activities 
                under subsection (b).
    (b) Quality Improvement Reservation.--
            (1) In general.--Each local educational agency shall 
        reserve not less than 10 percent of the grant funds the agency 
        receives under this Act for each of the fiscal years 1999 
        through 2003 to pay the Federal share of the costs of carrying 
        out activities to ensure teachers who will teach smaller 
        classes are prepared to teach reading and other subjects 
        effectively in a smaller class setting.
            (2) Activities.--The activities described in paragraph (1) 
        may include--
                    (A) training teachers in effective reading 
                instructional practices (including practices for 
                teaching students who experience initial difficulty in 
                learning to read) and in effective instructional 
                practices in small classes;
                    (B) paying the costs for uncertified or unlicensed 
                teachers hired to teach grades 1 through 3, to obtain 
                full certification or licensure within 3 years of such 
                hiring;
                    (C) providing mentors or other support for teachers 
                in grades 1 through 3;
                    (D) improving recruitment of teachers for schools 
                that have a particularly difficult time hiring 
                certified or licensed teachers; and
                    (E) providing scholarships or other aid for 
                education and education-related expenses to 
                paraprofessionals or undergraduate students in order to 
                expand the pool of well-prepared, and certified or 
                licensed, teachers.

SEC. 10. COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Federal Share.--The Federal share shall be not more than--
            (1) 100 percent for local educational agencies with child 
        poverty levels greater than or equal to 40 percent;
            (2) 95 percent for local educational agencies with child 
        poverty rates greater than or equal to 30 percent but less than 
        40 percent;
            (3) 85 percent for local educational agencies with child 
        poverty rates greater than or equal to 20 percent but less than 
        30 percent;
            (4) 75 percent for local educational agencies with child 
        poverty rates greater than or equal to 10 percent but less than 
        20 percent; and
            (5) 65 percent for local educational agencies with child 
        poverty rates less than 10 percent.
    (b) Local Share.--A local educational agency shall provide the non-
Federal share of activities assisted under this Act through cash 
expenditures from non-Federal sources, except that if an agency has 
allocated funds under section 1113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 to 1 or more schoolwide programs under section 
1114 of that Act, the agency may use those funds for the non-Federal 
share of activities under this program that benefit those schoolwide 
programs, to the extent consistent with section 1120A(c) of that Act 
and notwithstanding section 1114(a)(3)(B) of that Act.

SEC. 11. CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any funds received 
under this Act by a State or by a local educational agency shall remain 
available for obligation and expenditure by the State or local 
educational agency for 1 fiscal year beyond the succeeding fiscal year 
described in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions Act.

SEC. 12. ACCOUNTABILITY.

    (a) School Report.--Each school benefiting from the program under 
this Act, or the local educational agency serving that school, shall 
produce an annual report to parents and the general public, regarding 
student achievement in reading for students served by the school or 
agency, respectively (using available evidence of reading achievement 
of the students in grades 1 through 5 and the assessments the State 
uses under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965, disaggregated as required under that part), average class 
size in the regular classrooms of the school or schools served by the 
agency, respectively, and teacher certification or licensure and 
related academic qualifications for teachers in grades 1 through 3 in 
the school or the schools served by the agency, respectively.
    (b) Local Educational Agency Reports.--
            (1) Interim reports.--Each local educational agency shall 
        provide each year, to the State educational agency, a report 
        summarizing the information reported by, or for, the schools 
        served by the agency, under subsection (a).
            (2) Subsequent reports.--Within 3 years of receiving 
        funding under this Act, and each year thereafter, each local 
        educational agency shall provide evidence, to the State 
        educational agency, of the reading achievement of students, in 
        grade 3, 4, or 5 in schools served under this Act, which shall 
        be--
                    (A) in a form determined by the State educational 
                agency;
                    (B) based on the assessments that the local 
                educational agency is using under part A of title I of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or 
                on comparably rigorous State or local assessments; and
                    (C) disaggregated to show the achievement of 
                students in individual schools and of students 
                separately by race and by gender, as well as for 
                students with disabilities, students with limited 
                English proficiency, migrant students, and students who 
                are economically disadvantaged.
    (c) Program Improvement Plan.--A local educational agency with 
schools that fail to show improvement in reading achievement within 3 
years of receiving funds under this Act shall, with the approval of the 
State educational agency, develop and implement a program improvement 
plan, to improve student performance.
    (d) Reduced Local Allocations.--If a school participating in the 
program under this Act fails to show improvement in the reading 
achievement of students in the school within 2 years after the fiscal 
year for which the local educational agency develops a plan under 
subsection (b), the State educational agency shall reduce the amount 
made available under this Act, for each fiscal year succeeding the 
fiscal year for which the determination is made, to that local 
educational agency by an amount equal to the amount made available 
under this Act, for the fiscal year for which the determination is 
made, to that school. The State educational agency shall continue to so 
reduce the amount made available under this Act to that school until 
the school demonstrates improvement in the reading achievement of 
students in the school in accordance with the plan.

SEC. 13. PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL TEACHERS.

    Each local educational agency receiving funds under this Act shall, 
after timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate private 
school officials, provide for the inclusion (in a manner proportionate 
to the number of children residing in the area served by the agency's 
project under this Act who attend private schools) of private school 
teachers in the professional development activities the agency and the 
schools served by the agency carry out with the funds.

SEC. 14. EVALUATION.

    Using funds reserved under section 5(a), the Secretary shall carry 
out an evaluation of the program authorized by this Act, including a 
measurement of the program's effectiveness in accordance with the 
amendments made by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993.

SEC. 15. WAIVERS.

    The Secretary may, at the request of a State educational agency, 
waive or modify a requirement of this Act if the Secretary determines 
that such requirement impedes the ability of the State to carry out the 
purpose of this Act and that providing such a waiver or modification 
will better promote the purpose of this Act.

SEC. 16. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given that term in subparagraphs (A) 
        and (B) of section 14101(18) of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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