II

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.

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 ‘‘Class-Size Reduction

5 and Teacher Quality Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds as follows:
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1 (1) Rigorous research has shown that students

2 attending small classes in the early grades make

3 more rapid educational progress than students in

4 larger classes, and that these achievement gains per5 sist through at least the elementary grades.

6 (2) The benefits of smaller classes are greatest

7 for lower achieving, minority, poor, and inner-city

8 children. One study found that urban fourth-graders

in smaller-than-average classes were 3 9 ⁄4 of a school

10 year ahead of their counterparts in larger-than-aver11 age classes.

12 (3) Teachers in small classes can provide stu13 dents with more individualized attention, spend more

14 time on instruction and less on other tasks, cover

15 more material effectively, and are better able to

16 work with parents to further their children’s edu17 cation.

18 (4) Smaller classes allow teachers to identify

19 and work more effectively with students who have

20 learning disabilities and, potentially, can reduce

21 those students’ need for special education services in

22 the later grades.

23 (5) Students in smaller classes are able to be24 come more actively engaged in learning than their

25 peers in large classes.
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1 (6) Efforts to improve educational achievement

2 by reducing class sizes in the early grades are likely

3 to be more successful if—

4 (A) well-prepared teachers are hired and

5 appropriately assigned to fill additional class6 room positions; and

7 (B) teachers receive intensive, continuing

8 training in working effectively in smaller class9 room settings.

10 (7) Several States have begun a serious effort

11 to reduce class sizes in the early elementary grades,

12 but these actions may be impeded by financial limi13 tations or difficulties in hiring well-prepared teach14 ers.

15 (8) The Federal Government can assist in this

16 effort by providing funding for class-size reductions

17 in grades 1 through 3, and by helping to ensure that

18 the new teachers brought into the classroom are well

19 prepared.

20 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

21 The purpose of this Act is to help States and local

22 educational agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000 addi23 tional teachers over a 7-year period in order to—
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1 (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades 1

2 through 3, to an average of 18 students per class3 room; and

4 (2) improve teaching in the early grades so that

5 all students can learn to read independently and well

6 by the end of the third grade.

7 SEC. 4. PROGRAM FUNDING.

8 For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are

9 authorized to be appropriated, and are appropriated out

10 of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

11 $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $1,300,000,000 for

12 fiscal year 2000, $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2001,

13 $1,700,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, $1,735,000,000 for

14 fiscal year 2003, $2,300,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and

15 $2,800,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 through

16 2008.

17 SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT TO STATES.

18 (a) RESERVATION FOR EVALUATION.—From the

19 amount appropriated by section 4 for each fiscal year, the

20 Secretary may reserve not more than $2,000,000 to carry

21 out the evaluation described in section 14.

22 (b) RESERVATION FOR THE OUTLYING AREAS AND

23 THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.—From the amount

24 appropriated by section 4 and remaining after reserving

25 funds under subsection (a) for each fiscal year, the Sec-
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1 retary shall reserve a total of not more than 1 percent

2 to make payments, on the basis of their respective needs

3 for assistance under this Act, to—

4 (1) American Samoa, Guam, the United States

5 Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the North6 ern Mariana Islands for activities that are approved

7 by the Secretary and consistent with the purposes of

8 this Act; and

9 (2) the Secretary of the Interior for activities

10 that are approved by the Secretary and consistent

11 with the purposes of this Act, in schools operated or

12 supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

13 (c) ALLOTMENT TO STATES.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro15 priated by section 4 and remaining after reserving

16 funds under subsections (a) and (b) for each fiscal

17 year, the Secretary shall allot to each State an

18 amount that bears the same relationship to the re19 maining amount as the amount of funding the State

20 received under section 1122 of the Elementary and

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the previous

22 fiscal year bears to the total amount available for al23 location under that section for the previous fiscal

24 year.
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1 (2) REALLOTMENT.—If any State chooses not

2 to participate in the program under this Act, or fails

3 to submit an approvable application, the Secretary

4 shall reallot the State’s allotment to the remaining

5 States, in accordance with paragraph (1).

6 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

7 (a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—The State educational

8 agency of each State desiring to receive an allotment

9 under this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary

10 at such time, in such form, and containing such informa11 tion as the Secretary may require.

12 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application shall include—

13 (1) the State’s goals for using funds under this

14 Act to reduce average class sizes in regular class15 rooms in grades 1 through 3, including—

16 (A) a description of current class sizes in

17 regular classrooms in the local educational

18 agencies of the State;

19 (B) a description of the State’s plan for

20 using funds under this Act to reduce the aver21 age class size in regular classrooms in those

22 grades; and

23 (C) the class-size goals in regular class24 rooms the State intends to reach and a jus25 tification for those goals;
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1 (2) a description of the State educational agen2 cy’s plan for allocating program funds within the

3 State, including—

4 (A) an estimate of the impact of those allo5 cations on class sizes in the individual local

6 educational agencies of the State;

7 (B) an assurance that the State edu8 cational agency will make the plan public within

9 the State; and

10 (C) a description of the current and pro11 jected capacity of the State’s school facilities to

12 accommodate reduced class sizes;

13 (3) a description of the State educational agen14 cy’s strategy for improving teacher quality in grades

15 1 through 3 within the State (which may be part of

16 a broader strategy to improve teacher quality gen17 erally), including—

18 (A) the actions the State educational agen19 cy will take to ensure the availability, within the

20 State, of a pool of well-prepared teachers to fill

21 the positions created with funds under this Act;

22 and

23 (B) a description of how the State edu24 cational agency and the local educational agen25 cies in the State will ensure that—
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1 (i) individuals hired for positions cre2 ated with funds provided under this Act

3 (which may include individuals who have

4 pursued alternative routes to certification

5 or licensure) will meet all of the State’s re6 quirements for full certification or licen7 sure, or will be making satisfactory

8 progress toward achieving full certification

9 or licensure within 3 years of such hiring;

10 (ii) teachers in first through third

11 grade will be prepared to teach reading ef12 fectively to all children, including those

13 with special needs, and will take part in

14 continuing professional development in ef15 fective reading instruction and in teaching

16 effectively in small classes; and

17 (iii) individuals hired as beginning

18 teachers in first through third grade will

19 be required to pass a teacher competency

20 test selected by the State;

21 (4) a description of how the State will use other

22 funds, including other Federal funds, to improve

23 teacher quality and reading achievement within the

24 State;
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1 (5) a description of how the State will hold local

2 educational agencies that use a significant portion of

3 the grant funds made available under section

4 9(a)(2)(B) accountable for that use of funds;

5 (6) an assurance that the local educational

6 agency and the schools served by the local edu7 cational agency will comply with the requirements of

8 subsections (a) and (b) of section 12; and

9 (7) an assurance that the State educational

10 agency will submit such reports and information as

11 the Secretary may reasonably require.

12 (c) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary

13 shall approve a State educational agency’s application if

14 the application meets the requirements of this section and

15 holds reasonable promise of achieving the purposes of this

16 Act.

17 SEC. 7. WITHIN-STATE ALLOCATIONS.

18 (a) STATE-LEVEL EXPENSES.—Each State may use

not more than a total of 1 19 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the amount

20 the State receives under this Act, or $50,000, whichever

21 is greater, for a fiscal year, for the administrative costs

22 of the State educational agency and for State-level activi23 ties described in section 8.

24 (b) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—
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1 (1) ALLOCATION.—Each State educational

2 agency shall use the amount allotted to the State

3 and not reserved under subsection (a) for a fiscal

4 year to make grants to local educational agencies,

5 for the purpose of reducing class size and improving

6 instruction in grades 1 through 3, on the basis of—

7 (A) current or projected class sizes in reg8 ular classrooms in grades 1 through 3 in the

9 local educational agencies; and

10 (B) the relative ability and effort of the

11 local educational agencies to finance class-size

12 reductions with funds provided by the local edu13 cational agencies.

14 (2) MANNER.—Each State shall award the

15 grants described in paragraph (1) in such a manner

16 as to enable local educational agencies to reduce

17 their average class sizes in regular classrooms, in

18 grades 1 through 3, to the average class size pro19 posed in the State application.

20 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding para21 graph (1), each State shall ensure, in awarding

22 grant funds under this subsection for a fiscal year,

23 that each local educational agency in the State, in

24 which at least 30 percent of the children served by

25 the agency are from low-income families, or in which
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1 there are at least 10,000 children from such fami2 lies, receives not less than the amount that bears the

3 same relation to the grant funds as the amount the

4 local educational agency received of the State’s allo5 cation under section 1122 of the Elementary and

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the preceding

7 fiscal year bears to the amount all local educational

8 agencies in the State received under such section for

9 such preceding year.

10 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— A local educational agency

12 may receive grant funds under this section for any

13 fiscal year only if the local educational agency sub14 mits to, or has on file with, the State educational

15 agency an assurance that the local educational agen16 cy will spend at least as much funding from non17 Federal sources as the local educational agency

18 spent in the previous year for the combination of—

19 (A) teachers in regular classrooms in

20 grades 1 through 3 in schools receiving assist21 ance under this Act; and

22 (B) the quality-improvement activities de23 scribed in section 9(b).

24 (2) WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—The Secretary

25 may waive or modify the requirement of paragraph
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1 (1) for a local educational agency if the Secretary

2 determines that doing so would be equitable due to

3 exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances affecting

4 that agency.

5 SEC. 8. STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.

6 Each State educational agency may use the funds the

7 State educational agency reserves for State-level activities

8 under section 7(a) to carry out activities described in the

9 agency’s application, which may include activities such

10 as—

11 (1) strengthening State teacher certification or

12 licensure standards;

13 (2) developing or strengthening, and admin14 istering, teacher competency tests for beginning

15 teachers; and

16 (3) program monitoring and other administra17 tive costs associated with operating the program

18 under this Act.

19 SEC. 9. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—

21 (1) CLASS SIZE REDUCTIONS.—Except as pro22 vided in paragraph (2), each local educational agen23 cy shall use all the grant funds the agency receives

24 from the State under this Act that are not reserved

25 under subsection (b), to pay the Federal share of the
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1 costs for the salaries of, and benefits for, the addi2 tional teachers needed to reduce class sizes in grades

3 1 through 3 to the level set by the State as the

4 State’s goal in the State application.

5 (2) ADDITIONAL TEACHER LEVEL ACHIEVED.—

6 A local educational agency that has reached the level

7 described in paragraph (1) may use the grant funds

8 received from the State under this Act and not re9 served under subsection (b) to pay the Federal share

10 of the costs of—

11 (A) making further class-size reductions in

12 grades 1 through 3;

13 (B) reducing class sizes in kindergarten or

14 other grades; or

15 (C) undertaking quality-improvement ac16 tivities under subsection (b).

17 (b) QUALITY IMPROVEMENT RESERVATION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agen19 cy shall reserve not less than 10 percent of the grant

20 funds the agency receives under this Act for each of

21 the fiscal years 1999 through 2003 to pay the Fed22 eral share of the costs of carrying out activities to

23 ensure teachers who will teach smaller classes are

24 prepared to teach reading and other subjects effec25 tively in a smaller class setting.
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1 (2) ACTIVITIES.—The activities described in

2 paragraph (1) may include—

3 (A) training teachers in effective reading

4 instructional practices (including practices for

5 teaching students who experience initial dif6 ficulty in learning to read) and in effective in7 structional practices in small classes;

8 (B) paying the costs for uncertified or un9 licensed teachers hired to teach grades 1

10 through 3, to obtain full certification or licen11 sure within 3 years of such hiring;

12 (C) providing mentors or other support for

13 teachers in grades 1 through 3;

14 (D) improving recruitment of teachers for

15 schools that have a particularly difficult time

16 hiring certified or licensed teachers; and

17 (E) providing scholarships or other aid for

18 education and education-related expenses to

19 paraprofessionals or undergraduate students in

20 order to expand the pool of well-prepared, and

21 certified or licensed, teachers.

22 SEC. 10. COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.

23 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share shall be

24 not more than—
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1 (1) 100 percent for local educational agencies

2 with child poverty levels greater than or equal to 40

3 percent;

4 (2) 95 percent for local educational agencies

5 with child poverty rates greater than or equal to 30

6 percent but less than 40 percent;

7 (3) 85 percent for local educational agencies

8 with child poverty rates greater than or equal to 20

9 percent but less than 30 percent;

10 (4) 75 percent for local educational agencies

11 with child poverty rates greater than or equal to 10

12 percent but less than 20 percent; and

13 (5) 65 percent for local educational agencies

14 with child poverty rates less than 10 percent.

15 (b) LOCAL SHARE.—A local educational agency shall

16 provide the non-Federal share of activities assisted under

17 this Act through cash expenditures from non-Federal

18 sources, except that if an agency has allocated funds under

19 section 1113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu20 cation Act of 1965 to 1 or more schoolwide programs

21 under section 1114 of that Act, the agency may use those

22 funds for the non-Federal share of activities under this

23 program that benefit those schoolwide programs, to the

24 extent consistent with section 1120A(c) of that Act and

25 notwithstanding section 1114(a)(3)(B) of that Act.
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1 SEC. 11. CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.

2 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any

3 funds received under this Act by a State or by a local edu4 cational agency shall remain available for obligation and

5 expenditure by the State or local educational agency for

6 1 fiscal year beyond the succeeding fiscal year described

7 in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions Act.

8 SEC. 12. ACCOUNTABILITY.

9 (a) SCHOOL REPORT.—Each school benefiting from

10 the program under this Act, or the local educational agen11 cy serving that school, shall produce an annual report to

12 parents and the general public, regarding student achieve13 ment in reading for students served by the school or agen14 cy, respectively (using available evidence of reading

15 achievement of the students in grades 1 through 5 and

16 the assessments the State uses under part A of title I of

17 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,

18 disaggregated as required under that part), average class

19 size in the regular classrooms of the school or schools

20 served by the agency, respectively, and teacher certifi21 cation or licensure and related academic qualifications for

22 teachers in grades 1 through 3 in the school or the schools

23 served by the agency, respectively.

24 (b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTS.—

25 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—Each local educational

26 agency shall provide each year, to the State edu-
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1 cational agency, a report summarizing the informa2 tion reported by, or for, the schools served by the

3 agency, under subsection (a).

4 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—Within 3 years of

5 receiving funding under this Act, and each year

6 thereafter, each local educational agency shall pro7 vide evidence, to the State educational agency, of the

8 reading achievement of students, in grade 3, 4, or

9 5 in schools served under this Act, which shall be—

10 (A) in a form determined by the State edu11 cational agency;

12 (B) based on the assessments that the

13 local educational agency is using under part A

14 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

15 Education Act of 1965, or on comparably rigor16 ous State or local assessments; and

17 (C) disaggregated to show the achievement

18 of students in individual schools and of students

19 separately by race and by gender, as well as for

20 students with disabilities, students with limited

21 English proficiency, migrant students, and stu22 dents who are economically disadvantaged.

23 (c) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—A local edu24 cational agency with schools that fail to show improvement

25 in reading achievement within 3 years of receiving funds
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1 under this Act shall, with the approval of the State edu2 cational agency, develop and implement a program im3 provement plan, to improve student performance.

4 (d) REDUCED LOCAL ALLOCATIONS.—If a school

5 participating in the program under this Act fails to show

6 improvement in the reading achievement of students in the

7 school within 2 years after the fiscal year for which the

8 local educational agency develops a plan under subsection

9 (b), the State educational agency shall reduce the amount

10 made available under this Act, for each fiscal year suc11 ceeding the fiscal year for which the determination is

12 made, to that local educational agency by an amount equal

13 to the amount made available under this Act, for the fiscal

14 year for which the determination is made, to that school.

15 The State educational agency shall continue to so reduce

16 the amount made available under this Act to that school

17 until the school demonstrates improvement in the reading

18 achievement of students in the school in accordance with

19 the plan.

20 SEC. 13. PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL TEACHERS.

21 Each local educational agency receiving funds under

22 this Act shall, after timely and meaningful consultation

23 with appropriate private school officials, provide for the

24 inclusion (in a manner proportionate to the number of

25 children residing in the area served by the agency’s project
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1 under this Act who attend private schools) of private

2 school teachers in the professional development activities

3 the agency and the schools served by the agency carry out

4 with the funds.

5 SEC. 14. EVALUATION.

6 Using funds reserved under section 5(a), the Sec7 retary shall carry out an evaluation of the program au8 thorized by this Act, including a measurement of the pro9 gram’s effectiveness in accordance with the amendments

10 made by the Government Performance and Results Act

11 of 1993.

12 SEC. 15. WAIVERS.

13 The Secretary may, at the request of a State edu14 cational agency, waive or modify a requirement of this Act

15 if the Secretary determines that such requirement impedes

16 the ability of the State to carry out the purpose of this

17 Act and that providing such a waiver or modification will

18 better promote the purpose of this Act.

19 SEC. 16. DEFINITIONS.

20 In this Act:

21 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

22 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given

23 that term in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section

24 14101(18) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu25 cation Act of 1965.
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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of Education.

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

4 the several States of the United States, the District

5 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

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