I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6244 

To provide incentives for States and local educational agencies to implement 

comprehensive reforms and innovative strategies that are designed to 

lead to significant improvement in outcomes for all students and significant reductions in achievement gaps among subgroups of students, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Mr. POLIS of Colorado (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide incentives for States and local educational agencies to implement comprehensive reforms and innovative 

strategies that are designed to lead to significant improvement in outcomes for all students and significant 

reductions in achievement gaps among subgroups of students, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Race to the Top Act 

5 of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RACE TO THE TOP. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301 et 

4 seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating part C as part D; 

6 (2) by redesignating sections 6301 and 6302 as 

7 sections 6401 and 6402, respectively; and 

8 (3) by inserting after part B, the following: 

9 ‘‘PART C—RACE TO THE TOP 

10 ‘‘SEC. 6301. PURPOSES. 

11 ‘‘The purposes of this part are to— 

12 ‘‘(1) provide incentives for States and local edu13 cational agencies to implement comprehensive re14 forms and innovative strategies that are designed to 

15 lead to— 

16 ‘‘(A) significant improvements in outcomes 

17 for all students, including improvements in stu18 dent achievement, high school graduation rates, 

19 college enrollment rates and rates of college 

20 persistence; and 

21 ‘‘(B) significant reductions in achievement 

22 gaps among subgroups of students; and 

23 ‘‘(2) encourage the broad identification, adop24 tion, use, dissemination, replication, and expansion 

25 of effective State and local policies and practices 

26 that lead to significant improvement in outcomes for 


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1 all students, and the elimination of those policies 

2 and practices that are not effective in improving stu3 dent outcomes. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 6302. RESERVATION OF FUNDS. 

5 ‘‘From the amounts made available under section 

6 6308 for a fiscal year, the Secretary may reserve not more 

7 than 10 percent to carry out activities related to technical 

8 assistance, monitoring, outreach, dissemination, and prize 

9 awards. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 6303. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

11 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—From the 

12 amounts made available under section 6308 for a fiscal 

13 year, the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive 

14 basis, to States, local educational agencies, or both for the 

15 purposes described in section 6301. 

16 ‘‘(b) GRANT AND SUBGRANT ELIGIBILITY LIMITA17 TIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ARRA.—A State that has received a grant 

19 under section 14006 of division A of the American 

20 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public 

21 Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 283) may not receive a grant 

22 under this part during the period of its grant under 

23 section 14006 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 283). 


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1 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A State or local 

2 educational agency may not receive more than 1 

3 grant under this part per grant period. 

4 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF SUBGRANTS.—A local edu5 cational agency may receive a grant and a subgrant 

6 for the same fiscal year. 

7 ‘‘(c) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this part 

9 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 4 

10 years. 

11 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF GRANTS.—In order to 

12 receive a grant for a full grant period, a State or 

13 local educational agency under this part shall dem14 onstrate to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

15 manner as determined by the Secretary, that it is— 

16 ‘‘(A) making progress in implementing its 

17 plan under section 6304(a)(3) at a rate that the 

18 Secretary determines will result in the State or 

19 agency fully implementing its plan during the 

20 remainder of the grant period; or 

21 ‘‘(B) making progress against the perform22 ance measures set forth in section 6305 at a 

23 rate that the Secretary determines will result in 

24 the State or agency reaching its targets and 


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1 achieving the objectives of the grant during the 

2 remainder of the grant period. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 6304. APPLICATIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS.—Each State or local educational 

5 agency that desires to receive a grant under this part shall 

6 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

7 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec8 retary may reasonably require. At a minimum, each such 

9 application shall include— 

10 ‘‘(1) documentation of the applicant’s record, as 

11 applicable, in— 

12 ‘‘(A) increasing student achievement, in13 cluding for all subgroups described in section 

14 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); 

15 ‘‘(B) decreasing achievement gaps, includ16 ing for all subgroups described in section 

17 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); 

18 ‘‘(C) increasing high school graduation 

19 rates, including for all subgroups described in 

20 section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); 

21 ‘‘(D) increasing college enrollment and per22 sistence rates, including for all subgroups de23 scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); and 


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1 ‘‘(E) any other measure described in sec2 tion 6305 that is not listed in subparagraph (A) 

3 through (D); 

4 ‘‘(2) evidence of conditions of innovation and 

5 reform that the applicant has established and its 

6 proposed plan for implementing additional conditions 

7 for innovation and reform, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) a description of how the applicant has 

9 identified and eliminated ineffective practices in 

10 the past and its plan for doing so in the future; 

11 ‘‘(B) a description of how the applicant 

12 has identified and promoted effective practices 

13 in the past and its plan for doing so in the fu14 ture; and 

15 ‘‘(C) steps the applicant has taken and will 

16 take to eliminate statutory, regulatory, proce17 dural, or other barriers and to facilitate the full 

18 implementation of its proposed plan; 

19 ‘‘(3) a comprehensive and coherent plan for 

20 using funds under this part, and other Federal, 

21 State, and local funds, to improve the applicant’s 

22 performance on the measures described in section 

23 6305, consistent with criteria set forth by the Sec24 retary, including how the applicant will, if applica25 ble— 


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1 ‘‘(A) improve the effectiveness of teachers 

2 and school leaders, and promote equity in the 

3 distribution of effective teachers and school 

4 leaders to ensure that low-income and minority 

5 children are not— 

6 ‘‘(i) taught by ineffective teachers at 

7 higher rates than other children; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) enrolled in schools led by ineffec9 tive leaders at higher rates than other chil10 dren; 

11 ‘‘(B) strengthen the use of high-quality 

12 and timely data to improve instructional prac13 tices, policies, and student outcomes, including 

14 teacher evaluations; 

15 ‘‘(C) implement internationally bench16 marked, college- and career-ready elementary 

17 and secondary academic standards, including in 

18 the areas of assessment, instructional materials, 

19 professional development, and strategies that 

20 translate the standards into classroom practice; 

21 ‘‘(D) turn around the persistently lowest22 achieving schools; 

23 ‘‘(E) support or coordinate with early 

24 learning programs for high-need children from 

25 birth through third grade to improve school 


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1 readiness and ensure that students complete 

2 third grade on track for school success; and 

3 ‘‘(F) create or maintain successful condi4 tions for high-performing charter schools and 

5 other innovative, autonomous public schools; 

6 ‘‘(4) if the applicant is a State— 

7 ‘‘(A) evidence of collaboration between the 

8 State, its local educational agencies, schools (as 

9 appropriate), parents, teachers, and other 

10 stakeholders in developing and implementing 

11 the plan described in paragraph (3), including 

12 evidence of the commitment and capacity to im13 plement that plan; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the names of those local educational 

15 agencies the State has selected to participate in 

16 carrying out the plan; or 

17 ‘‘(C) a description of how it will select local 

18 educational agencies to participate in carrying 

19 out the plan; 

20 ‘‘(5) if the applicant is a local educational agen21 cy, evidence of collaboration between the local edu22 cational agency, schools, parents, teachers, and other 

23 stakeholders, in developing the plan described in 

24 paragraph (3), including evidence of the commitment 

25 and capacity to implement the plan; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the applicant’s annual performance meas2 ures and targets, consistent with the requirements of 

3 section 6305; and 

4 ‘‘(7) a description of the applicant’s plan to 

5 conduct a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of 

6 activities carried out with funds under this part. 

7 ‘‘(b) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

9 grants under this part on a competitive basis, based 

10 on the quality of the applications submitted under 

11 subsection (a), including— 

12 ‘‘(A) each applicant’s record in the areas 

13 described in subsection (a)(1); 

14 ‘‘(B) each applicant’s record of, and com15 mitment to, establishing conditions for innova16 tion and reform, as described in subsection 

17 (a)(2); 

18 ‘‘(C) the quality and likelihood of success 

19 of each applicant’s plan described in subsection 

20 (a)(3) in showing improvement in the areas de21 scribed in subsection (a)(1), including each ap22 plicant’s capacity to implement the plan and 

23 evidence of collaboration as described in sub24 section (a)(4) or (a)(5), as applicable; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) each applicant’s evaluation plan as 

2 described in subsection (a)(7). 

3 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION OF EXPLANATION.—The 

4 Secretary shall publish an explanation of how the 

5 application review process will ensure an equitable 

6 and objective evaluation based on the criteria de7 scribed in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants to local edu9 cational agencies under this part, the Secretary shall give 

10 priority to— 

11 ‘‘(1) local educational agencies with the highest 

12 numbers or percentages of children from families 

13 with incomes below the poverty line; and 

14 ‘‘(2) local educational agencies that serve 

15 schools designated with a school locale code of 41, 

16 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 6305. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

18 ‘‘Each State and each local educational agency receiv19 ing a grant under this part shall establish performance 

20 measures and targets, approved by the Secretary, for the 

21 programs and activities carried out under this part. These 

22 measures shall, at a minimum, track the State’s or agen23 cy’s progress in— 

24 ‘‘(1) implementing its plan described in section 

25 6304(a)(3); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) improving outcomes for all subgroups de2 scribed in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) including, as 

3 applicable, by— 

4 ‘‘(A) increasing student achievement; 

5 ‘‘(B) decreasing achievement gaps; 

6 ‘‘(C) increasing high school graduation; 

7 ‘‘(D) increasing college enrollment and per8 sistence rates; 

9 ‘‘(E) improving the effectiveness of teach10 ers and school leaders, increasing the retention 

11 of effective teachers and school leaders, and 

12 promoting equity in the distribution of effective 

13 teachers and school leaders to ensure that low14 income and minority children are not— 

15 ‘‘(i) taught by ineffective teachers at 

16 higher rates than other children; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) enrolled in schools led by ineffec18 tive leaders at higher rates than other chil19 dren; and 

20 ‘‘(F) making progress on any other meas21 ures identified by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 6306. USES OF FUNDS. 

23 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO STATES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) SUBGRANTS.—Each State that receives a 

25 grant under this part shall use at least 50 percent 


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1 of its grant to make subgrants to those local edu2 cational agencies in the State that participate in the 

3 State’s plan under section 6304(a)(3), based on 

4 those local educational agencies’ relative shares of 

5 funds under part A of title I for the most recent 

6 year for which those data are available. 

7 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES UNDER PLAN.—Each State or 

8 local educational agency that receives a grant or 

9 subgrant, respectively, under this part shall use 

10 those funds for any purpose included in the State’s 

11 plan under section 6304(a)(3). 

12 ‘‘(b) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.— 

13 Each local educational agency that receives a grant under 

14 this part shall use those funds for any purpose included 

15 in the local educational agency’s plan under section 

16 6304(a)(3). 

17 ‘‘SEC. 6307. REPORTING. 

18 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—A State or local educational 

19 agency that receives a grant under this part shall submit 

20 to the Secretary, at such time and in such manner as the 

21 Secretary may require, an annual report including— 

22 ‘‘(1) data on the State’s or agency’s progress in 

23 achieving the performance targets established under 

24 section 6305; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a description of the challenges the State or 

2 agency has faced in implementing its program and 

3 how it has addressed or plans to address those chal4 lenges; and 

5 ‘‘(3) findings from the evaluation plan as de6 scribed in section 6304(a)(7). 

7 ‘‘(b) LOCAL REPORT.—Each local educational agency 

8 that receives a subgrant from a State under this part shall 

9 submit to the State such information as the State may 

10 require to complete the annual report required under sub11 section (a). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 6308. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this part $1,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2011 and such 

15 sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding 

16 fiscal years.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) GENERAL PROVISIONS.—The table of con19 tents of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by 

21 striking the items relating to part C of title VI and 

22 inserting the following: 

‘‘PART D—GENERAL PROVISIONS

‘‘Sec. 6401. Prohibition against Federal mandates, direction, or control. 

‘‘Sec. 6402. Rule of construction on equalized spending.’’. 


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1 (2) RACE TO THE TOP.—The table of contents 

2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding 

4 after the items relating to part B of title VI, the fol5 lowing: 

‘‘PART C—RACE TO THE TOP

‘‘Sec. 6301. Purposes. 

‘‘Sec. 6302. Reservation of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 6303. Program authorized. 

‘‘Sec. 6304. Applications. 

‘‘Sec. 6305. Performance measures. 

‘‘Sec. 6306. Uses of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 6307. Reporting. 

‘‘Sec. 6308. Authorization of Appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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