II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1677

To establish a child centered program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 30, 1999

Mr. GREGG (for himself and Mr. HAGEL) introduced the following bill; which

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

Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To establish a child centered program, 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. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHILD CENTERED

4 PROGRAM.

5 Part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) is amend7 ed by adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘Subpart 3—Child Centered Program

9 ‘‘SEC. 1131. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘In this subpart:
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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘eligible

2 child’ means a child who—

3 ‘‘(A) is eligible to be counted under section

4 1124(c); or

5 ‘‘(B)(i) the State or participating local

6 educational agency elects to serve under this

7 subpart; and

8 ‘‘(ii) is a child eligible to be served under

9 this part pursuant to section 1115(b).

10 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

11 AGENCY.—The term ‘participating local educational

12 agency’ means a local educational agency that elects

13 under section 1133(b) to carry out a child centered

14 program under this subpart.

15 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means an in16 stitutional day or residential school that provides el17 ementary or secondary education, as determined

18 under State law, except that such term does not in19 clude any school that provides education beyond

20 grade 12.

21 ‘‘(4) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATION SERVICES.—

22 The term ‘supplemental education services’ means

23 educational services intended—

24 ‘‘(A) to meet the individual educational

25 needs of eligible children; and
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1 ‘‘(B) to enable eligible children to meet

2 challenging State curriculum, content, and stu3 dent performance standards.

4 ‘‘(5) TUTORIAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDERS.—The

5 term ‘tutorial assistance provider’ means a public or

6 private entity that—

7 ‘‘(A) has a record of effectiveness in pro8 viding tutorial assistance to school children; or

9 ‘‘(B) uses instructional practices based on

10 scientific research.

11 ‘‘SEC. 1132. CHILD CENTERED PROGRAM FUNDING.

12 ‘‘(a) FUNDING.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, each State or participating local educational

14 agency may use the funds made available under subparts

15 1 and 2, and shall use the funds made available under

16 subsection (c), to carry out a child centered program

17 under this subpart.

18 ‘‘(b) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY

19 ELECTION.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State does not carry

21 out a child centered program under this subpart or

22 does not have an application approved under section

23 1134 for a fiscal year, a local educational agency in

24 the State may elect to carry out a child centered

25 program under this subpart, and the Secretary shall
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1 provide the funds that the local educational agency

2 (with an application approved under section 1134) is

3 eligible to receive under subparts 1 and 2, and sub4 section (c), directly to the local educational agency

5 to enable the local educational agency to carry out

6 the child centered program.

7 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION APPROVAL.—In order to be

8 eligible to carry out a child centered program under

9 this subpart a participating local educational agency

10 shall obtain from the State approval of the submis11 sion, but not the contents, of the application sub12 mitted under section 1134.

13 ‘‘(c) INCENTIVE GRANTS.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro15 priated under paragraph (3) for a fiscal year the

16 Secretary shall award grants to each State, or par17 ticipating local educational agency described in sub18 section (b), that elects to carry out a child centered

19 program under this subpart and has an application

20 approved under section 1134, to enable the State or

21 participating local educational agency to carry out

22 the child centered program.

23 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—Each State or participating

24 local educational agency that elects to carry out a

25 child centered program under this subpart and has
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1 an application approved under section 1134 for a

2 fiscal year shall receive a grant in an amount that

3 bears the same relation to the amount appropriated

4 under paragraph (3) for the fiscal year as the

5 amount the State or participating local educational

6 agency received under subparts 1 and 2 for the fis7 cal year bears to the amount all States and partici8 pating local educational agencies carrying out a child

9 centered program under this subpart received under

10 subparts 1 and 2 for the fiscal year.

11 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

12 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

13 as may be necessary to carry out this subsection for

14 fiscal year 2000 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal

15 years.

16 ‘‘SEC. 1133. CHILD CENTERED PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

17 ‘‘(a) USES.—Each State or participating local edu18 cational agency with an application approved under sec19 tion 1134 shall use funds made available under subparts

20 1 and 2, and subsection (c), to carry out a child centered

21 program under which—

22 ‘‘(1) the State or participating local educational

23 agency establishes a per pupil amount based on the

24 number of eligible children in the State or the school
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1 district served by the participating local educational

2 agency; and

3 ‘‘(2) the State or participating local educational

4 agency may vary the per pupil amount to take into

5 account factors that may include—

6 ‘‘(A) variations in the cost of providing

7 supplemental education services in different

8 parts of the State or the school district served

9 by the participating local educational agency;

10 ‘‘(B) the cost of providing services to pu11 pils with different educational needs; or

12 ‘‘(C) the desirability of placing priority on

13 selected grades; and

14 ‘‘(3) in the case of a child centered program for

15 eligible children at a public school, the State or the

16 participating local educational agency makes avail17 able, not later than 3 months after the beginning of

18 the school year, the per pupil amount determined

19 under paragraphs (1) and (2) to the school in which

20 an eligible child is enrolled, which per pupil amount

21 shall be used for supplemental education services for

22 the eligible child that are—

23 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), pro24 vided by the school directly or through a con25 tract for the provision of supplemental edu-
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1 cation services with any governmental or non2 governmental agency, school, postsecondary

3 educational institution, or other entity, includ4 ing a private organization or business; or

5 ‘‘(B) if requested by the parent or legal

6 guardian of an eligible child, purchased from a

7 tutorial assistance provider, another public

8 school, or a private school, selected by the par9 ent or guardian.

10 ‘‘(b) SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a public

12 school in which 50 percent of the students enrolled

13 in the school are eligible children, the public school

14 may use funds provided under this subpart, in com15 bination with other Federal, State, and local funds,

16 to carry out a schoolwide program to upgrade the

17 entire educational program in the school.

18 ‘‘(2) PLAN.—If the public school elects to use

19 funds provided under this part in accordance with

20 paragraph (1), and does not have a plan approved

21 by the Secretary under section 1114(b)(2), the pub22 lic school shall develop and adopt a comprehensive

23 plan for reforming the entire educational program of

24 the public school that—

25 ‘‘(A) incorporates—
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1 ‘‘(i) strategies for improving achieve2 ment for all children to meet the State’s

3 proficient and advanced levels of perform4 ance described in section 1111(b);

5 ‘‘(ii) instruction by highly qualified

6 staff;

7 ‘‘(iii) professional development for

8 teachers and aides in content areas in

9 which the teachers or aides provide in10 struction and, where appropriate, profes11 sional development for pupil services per12 sonnel, parents, and principals, and other

13 staff to enable all children in the school to

14 meet the State’s student performance

15 standards; and

16 ‘‘(iv) activities to ensure that eligible

17 children who experience difficulty mas18 tering any of the standards described in

19 section 1111(b) during the course of the

20 school year shall be provided with effective,

21 timely additional assistance;

22 ‘‘(B) describes the school’s use of funds

23 provided under this subpart and from other

24 sources to implement the activities described in

25 subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(C) includes a list of State and local edu2 cational agency programs and other Federal

3 programs that will be included in the schoolwide

4 program;

5 ‘‘(D) describes how the school will provide

6 individual student assessment results, including

7 an interpretation of those results, to the par8 ents of an eligible child who participates in the

9 assessment; and

10 ‘‘(E) describes how and where the school

11 will obtain technical assistance services and a

12 description of such services.

13 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a public

14 school operating a schoolwide program under this

15 subsection, the Secretary may, through publication

16 of a notice in the Federal Register, exempt child

17 centered programs under this section from statutory

18 or regulatory requirements of any other noncompeti19 tive formula grant program administered by the Sec20 retary, or any discretionary grant program adminis21 tered by the Secretary (other than formula or discre22 tionary grant programs under the Individuals with

23 Disabilities Education Act), to support the

24 schoolwide program, if the intent and purposes of
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1 such other noncompetitive or discretionary programs

2 are met.

3 ‘‘(c) PRIVATE SCHOOL CHILDREN.—A State or par4 ticipating local educational agency carrying out a child

5 centered program under this subpart for eligible children

6 at a private school shall ensure that eligible children who

7 are enrolled in the private school receive supplemental

8 education services that are comparable to services for eligi9 ble children enrolled in public schools provided under this

10 subpart. The supplemental education services, including

11 materials and equipment, shall be secular, neutral, and

12 nonideological.

13 ‘‘(d) OPEN ENROLLMENT.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to

15 carry out a child centered program under this sub16 part a State or participating local educational agen17 cy shall operate a statewide or school district wide,

18 respectively, open enrollment program that permits

19 parents to enroll their child in any public school in

20 the State or school district, respectively, if space is

21 available in the public school and the child meets the

22 qualifications for attendance at the public school.

23 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive para24 graph (1) for a State or participating local edu25 cational agency if the State or agency, respectively,
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1 demonstrates that parents served by the State or

2 agency, respectively—

3 ‘‘(A) have sufficient options to enroll their

4 child in multiple public schools; or

5 ‘‘(B) will have sufficient options to use the

6 per pupil amount made available under this

7 subpart to purchase supplemental education

8 services from multiple tutorial assistance pro9 viders or schools.

10 ‘‘(e) PARENT INVOLVEMENT.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any public school receiving

12 funds under this subpart shall convene an annual

13 meeting at a convenient time. All parents of eligible

14 children shall be invited and encouraged to attend

15 the meeting, in order to explain to the parents the

16 activities assisted under this subpart and the re17 quirements of this subpart. At the meeting, the pub18 lic school shall explain to parents how the school will

19 use funds provided under this subpart to enable eli20 gible children enrolled at the school to meet chal21 lenging State curriculum, content, and student per22 formance standards. In addition, the public school

23 shall inform parents of their right to choose to use

24 the per pupil amount described in subsection (a) to

25 purchase supplemental education services from a tu-
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1 torial assistance provider, another public school or a

2 private school.

3 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—Any public school receiv4 ing funds under this subpart shall provide to parents

5 a description and explanation of the curriculum in

6 use at the school, the forms of assessment used to

7 measure student progress, and the proficiency levels

8 students are expected to meet.

9 ‘‘SEC. 1134. APPLICATION.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State or participating local

11 educational agency desiring to carry out a child centered

12 program under this subpart shall submit an application

13 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom14 panied by such information as the Secretary may require.

15 Each such application shall contain—

16 ‘‘(1) a detailed description of the program to be

17 assisted, including an assurance that—

18 ‘‘(A) the per pupil amount established

19 under section 1133(a) will follow each eligible

20 child described in that section to the school or

21 tutorial assistance provider of the parent or

22 guardian’s choice;

23 ‘‘(B) funds made available under this sub24 part will be spent in accordance with the re25 quirements of this subpart; and
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1 ‘‘(C) parents have the option to use the per

2 pupil amount to purchase supplemental edu3 cation services for their children from a wide

4 variety of tutorial assistance providers and

5 schools;

6 ‘‘(2) an assurance that the State or partici7 pating local educational agency will publish in a

8 widely read or distributed medium an annual report

9 card that contains—

10 ‘‘(A) information regarding the academic

11 progress of all students served by the State or

12 participating local educational agency in meet13 ing State standards, including students assisted

14 under this subpart, with results disaggregated

15 by race, family income, limited English pro16 ficiency, and gender, if such disaggregation can

17 be performed in a statistically sound manner;

18 and

19 ‘‘(B) such other information as the State

20 or participating local educational agency may

21 require;

22 ‘‘(3) a description of how the State or partici23 pating local educational agency will make available,

24 to parents of children participating in the child cen25 tered program, annual school report cards, with re-
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1 sults disaggregated by race, family income, limited

2 English proficiency, and gender, for schools in the

3 State or in the school district of the participating

4 local educational agency;

5 ‘‘(4) in the case of an application from a par6 ticipating local educational agency, an assurance

7 that the participating local educational agency has

8 notified the State regarding the submission of the

9 application;

10 ‘‘(5) a description of specific measurable objec11 tives for improving the student performance of stu12 dents served under this subpart;

13 ‘‘(6) a description of the process by which the

14 State or participating local educational agency will

15 measure progress in meeting the objectives;

16 ‘‘(7)(A) in the case of an application from a

17 State, an assurance that the State meets the re18 quirements of subsections (a), (b) and (e) of section

19 1111 as applied to activities assisted under this sub20 part; and

21 ‘‘(B) in the case of an application from a par22 ticipating local educational agency, an assurance

23 that the State’s application under section 1111 met

24 the requirements of subsections (a), (b) and (e) of

25 such section; and
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1 ‘‘(8) an assurance that each local educational

2 agency serving a school that receives funds under

3 this subpart will meet the requirements of sub4 sections (a) and (c) of section 1116 as applied to ac5 tivities assisted under this subpart.

6 ‘‘SEC. 1135. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM DURATION.—A State or participating

8 local educational agency shall carry out a child centered

9 program under this subpart for a period of 5 years.

10 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State may reserve

11 2 percent of the funds made available to the State under

12 this subpart, and a participating local educational agency

13 may reserve 5 percent of the funds made available to the

14 participating local educational agency under this subpart,

15 to pay the costs of administrative expenses of the child

16 centered program. The costs may include costs of pro17 viding technical assistance to schools receiving funds

18 under this subpart, in order to increase the opportunity

19 for all students in the schools to meet the State’s content

20 standards and student performance standards. The tech21 nical assistance may be provided directly by the State edu22 cational agency, local educational agency, or, with a local

23 educational agency’s approval, by an institution of higher

24 education, by a private nonprofit organization, by an edu25 cational service agency, by a comprehensive regional as-
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1 sistance center under part A of title XIII, or by another

2 entity with experience in helping schools improve student

3 achievement.

4 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational

7 agency serving each State, and each partici8 pating local educational agency, carrying out a

9 child centered program under this subpart shall

10 submit to the Secretary an annual report, that

11 is consistent with data provided under section

12 1134(a)(2)(A), regarding the performance of el13 igible children receiving supplemental education

14 services under this subpart.

15 ‘‘(B) DATA.—Not later than 2 years after

16 establishing a child centered program under

17 this subpart and each year thereafter, each

18 State or participating local educational agency

19 shall include in the annual report data on stu20 dent achievement for eligible children served

21 under this subpart with results disaggregated

22 by race, family income, limited English pro23 ficiency, and gender, demonstrating the degree

24 to which measurable progress has been made
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1 toward meeting the objectives described in sec2 tion 1134(a)(5).

3 ‘‘(C) DATA ASSURANCES.—Each annual

4 report shall include—

5 ‘‘(i) an assurance from the managers

6 of the child centered program that data

7 used to measure student achievement

8 under subparagraph (B) is reliable, com9 plete, and accurate, as determined by the

10 State or participating local educational

11 agency; or

12 ‘‘(ii) a description of a plan for im13 proving the reliability, completeness, and

14 accuracy of such data as determined by the

15 State or participating local educational

16 agency.

17 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY’S REPORT.—The Secretary

18 shall make each annual report available to Congress,

19 the public, and the Comptroller General of the

20 United States (for purposes of the evaluation de21 scribed in section 1136).

22 ‘‘(d) TERMINATION.—Three years after the date a

23 State or participating local educational agency establishes

24 a child centered program under this subpart the Secretary

25 shall review the performance of the State or participating
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1 local educational agency in meeting the objectives de2 scribed in section 1134(a)(5). The Secretary, after pro3 viding notice and an opportunity for a hearing, may termi4 nate the authority of the State or participating local edu5 cational agency to operate a child centered program under

6 this subpart if the State or participating local educational

7 agency submitted data that indicated the State or partici8 pating local educational agency has not made any progress

9 in meeting the objectives.

10 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS RECEIVED.—The per

11 pupil amount provided under this subpart for an eligible

12 child shall not be treated as income of the eligible child

13 or the parent of the eligible child for purposes of Federal

14 tax laws, or for determining the eligibility for or amount

15 of any other Federal assistance.

16 ‘‘SEC. 1136. EVALUATION.

17 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—

18 ‘‘(1) CONTRACT.—The Comptroller General of

19 the United States shall enter into a contract, with

20 an evaluating entity that has demonstrated experi21 ence in conducting evaluations, for the conduct of an

22 ongoing rigorous evaluation of child centered pro23 grams under this subpart.

24 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL EVALUATION REQUIREMENT.—

25 The contract described in paragraph (1) shall re-
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1 quire the evaluating entity entering into such con2 tract to annually evaluate each child centered pro3 gram under this subpart in accordance with the eval4 uation criteria described in subsection (b).

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

6 in paragraph (1) shall require the evaluating entity

7 entering into such contract to transmit to the Comp8 troller General of the United States the findings of

9 each annual evaluation under paragraph (2).

10 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—The Comptroller Gen11 eral of the United States, in consultation with the Sec12 retary, shall establish minimum criteria for evaluating the

13 child centered programs under this subpart. Such criteria

14 shall provide for a description of—

15 ‘‘(1) the implementation of each child centered

16 program under this subpart;

17 ‘‘(2) the effects of the programs on the level of

18 parental participation and satisfaction with the pro19 grams; and

20 ‘‘(3) the effects of the programs on the edu21 cational achievement of eligible children partici22 pating in the programs.

23 ‘‘SEC. 1137. REPORTS.

24 ‘‘(a) REPORTS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) INTERIM REPORTS.—Three years after the

2 date of enactment of this subpart the Comptroller

3 General of the United States shall submit an interim

4 report to Congress on the findings of the annual

5 evaluations under section 1136(a)(2) for each child

6 centered program assisted under this subpart. The

7 report shall contain a copy of the annual evaluation

8 under section 1136(a)(2) of each child centered pro9 gram under this subpart.

10 ‘‘(2) FINAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General

11 shall submit a final report to Congress, not later

12 than March 1, 2006, that summarizes the findings

13 of the annual evaluations under section

14 1136(a)(2).’’.

15 ‘‘SEC. 1138. LIMITATION ON CONDITIONS; PREEMPTION.

16 Nothing in this subpart shall be construed—

17 ‘‘(1) to authorize or permit an officer or em18 ployee of the Federal Government to mandate, di19 rect, or control a State, local educational agency, or

20 school’s specific instructional content or student per21 formance standards and assessments, curriculum, or

22 program of instruction, as a condition of eligibility

23 to receive funds under this subpart; and

24 ‘‘(2) to preempt any provision of a State con25 stitution or State statute that pertains to the ex-
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1 penditure of State funds in or by religious institu2 tions.’’.

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