II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1674

To promote small schools and smaller learning communities.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 30, 1999

Mr. BINGAMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To promote small schools and smaller learning communities.

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 ‘‘Small, Safe Schools

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Research related to school size indicates

9 that elementary and middle schools with 300–400

10 students, and secondary schools with 400–800 stu11 dents, are more effective than schools with larger

12 student populations.
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1 (2) Smaller school size promotes learning and

2 improves students’ grades and test scores, especially

3 for ethnic minority and low income students. Smaller

4 school size has been found to be the second most im5 portant factor, after high socioeconomic status, in

6 creating positive educational outcomes.

7 (3) Students who attend smaller schools have

8 more positive personal and academic self-concepts.

9 Students and staff at smaller schools have a strong10 er sense of personal efficacy, and the students take

11 more of the responsibility for their own learning,

12 which includes more individualized and experimental

13 learning relevant to the world outside of school.

14 (4) Studies on school dropout rates show a de15 crease in the rates as schools get smaller.

16 (5) Creating smaller schools and smaller learn17 ing communities within larger schools promotes

18 school safety. Behavioral problems, including tru19 ancy, classroom disruption, vandalism, aggressive be20 havior, theft, substance abuse, and gang participa21 tion are greater in larger schools. Teachers in small22 er schools learn of disagreements between students

23 and can resolve problems before problems become se24 vere.
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1 (6) School size plays a very important role in

2 shaping the kinds of social relationships that form

3 within schools. Smaller schools and learning commu4 nities reduce the isolation that causes violence.

5 Smaller schools allow students to form closer rela6 tionships with their teachers and create a sense of

7 ownership and belonging to their school. Young peo8 ple who feel more connected to their school are less

9 likely to be involved in violence. Smaller schools and

10 learning communities are especially effective in re11 ducing the types of violence parents fear most, par12 ticularly gang activity and serious violent incidents.

13 (7) Students in smaller schools are less likely to

14 have problems with drugs or alcohol.

15 (8) Based on studies of secondary school vio16 lence, researchers have concluded that the first step

17 in ending school violence must be to break through

18 the impersonal atmosphere of larger secondary

19 schools by creating smaller communities of learning

20 within larger structures, where students and teach21 ers can come to know each other well.

22 (9) Research demonstrates that students at23 tending smaller schools are more likely to participate

24 in extracurricular activities. The students are also

25 involved in a greater variety of activities, while stu-
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1 dents in larger schools tend to be polarized into a

2 group that participates and a group that does not

3 participate in any extracurricular activities. Because

4 everyone in smaller schools is needed to populate

5 teams, offices, and clubs, even shy and less able stu6 dents are encouraged to participate and given a

7 sense of belonging.

8 (10) Larger schools contribute to negative

9 teacher attitudes and low staff morale.

10 (11) Smaller schools can be established cost ef11 fectively. Larger schools can be more expensive be12 cause the sheer size of the larger schools requires

13 more administrative support. More importantly, ad14 ditional bureaucracy translates into less flexibility

15 and innovation.

16 SEC. 3. SMALL SCHOOLS AND SMALLER LEARNING COMMU17 NITIES.

18 Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education

19 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by add20 ing at the end the following:

21 ‘‘Part L—Small Schools and Smaller Learning

22 Communities

23 ‘‘SEC. 10995. DEFINITIONS.

24 ‘‘In this part:
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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible

2 applicant’ means a local educational agency, an ele3 mentary school, a secondary school, or a Bureau

4 funded school (as defined in section 1146(3) of this

5 Act (25 U.S.C. 2026(3))) that is working independ6 ently or in partnership with other public agencies or

7 private non-profit organizations.

8 ‘‘(2) SMALL SCHOOL.—The term ‘small school’

9 means a school—

10 ‘‘(A) that has few enough students and

11 teachers so that all teachers are able to know

12 all students, and has a maximum student popu13 lation of—

14 ‘‘(i) 350 students in the case of an el15 ementary school; and

16 ‘‘(ii) 400 to 800 students in the case

17 of a secondary school;

18 ‘‘(B) in which teachers coordinate and co19 operate in developing and implementing cur20 ricula;

21 ‘‘(C) in which a sense of shared leadership

22 and ownership among teachers, administrators,

23 and staff exists; and

24 ‘‘(D) in which parents are considered a

25 valued part of the educational team.
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1 ‘‘(3) SMALLER LEARNING COMMUNITY.—The

2 term ‘smaller learning community’ means a cohesive

3 unit that—

4 ‘‘(A) exists within a larger school; and

5 ‘‘(B) meets the requirements of subpara6 graphs (B) through (D) of paragraph (2).

7 ‘‘SEC. 10996. SMALLER LEARNING COMMUNITIES.

8 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au9 thorized to award grants to eligible applicants to enable

10 eligible applicants to carry out the authorized activities de11 scribed in subsection (c).

12 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible applicant desir13 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application

14 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom15 panied by such information as the Secretary may require.

16 Each such application shall describe—

17 ‘‘(1) strategies and methods the eligible appli18 cant will use to create the smaller learning commu19 nity;

20 ‘‘(2) curriculum and instructional practices, in21 cluding any particular themes or emphases, to be

22 used in the learning environment;

23 ‘‘(3) the extent of involvement of teachers and

24 other school personnel in investigating, designing,
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1 implementing, and sustaining the smaller learning

2 community;

3 ‘‘(4) the process to be used for involving stu4 dents, parents, and other stakeholders in the devel5 opment and implementation of the smaller learning

6 community;

7 ‘‘(5) any cooperation or collaboration among

8 community agencies, organizations, businesses, and

9 others to develop or implement a plan to create the

10 smaller learning community;

11 ‘‘(6) the training and professional development

12 activities that will be offered to teachers and others

13 involved in the activities assisted under this section;

14 ‘‘(7) the goals and objectives of the activities

15 assisted under this section, including a description of

16 how such activities will better enable all students to

17 reach challenging State content standards and State

18 student performance standards;

19 ‘‘(8) the methods by which the eligible applicant

20 will assess progress in meeting such goals and objec21 tives;

22 ‘‘(9) if the smaller learning community exists as

23 a school-within-a-school, the relationship, including

24 governance and administration, of the smaller learn25 ing community to the rest of the school;
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1 ‘‘(10) a description of the administrative and

2 managerial relationship between the eligible appli3 cant and the smaller learning community, including

4 how such eligible applicant will demonstrate a com5 mitment to the continuity of the smaller learning

6 community, including the continuity of student and

7 teacher assignment to a particular learning commu8 nity;

9 ‘‘(11) how the eligible applicant will coordinate

10 or use funds provided under this section with other

11 funds provided under this Act or other Federal laws;

12 ‘‘(12) grade levels or ages of students who will

13 participate in the smaller learning community; and

14 ‘‘(13) the method of placing students in the

15 smaller learning community, such that students are

16 not placed according to ability, performance, or any

17 other measure, so that students are placed at ran18 dom or by their own choice, not pursuant to testing

19 or other judgments.

20 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Funds under this

21 section may be used—

22 ‘‘(1) to study the feasibility of creating the

23 smaller learning community as well as effective and

24 innovative organizational and instructional strategies

25 that will be used in the smaller learning community;
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1 ‘‘(2) to research, develop, and implement strate2 gies for creating the smaller learning community, as

3 well as effective and innovative changes in cur4 riculum and instruction, geared to high State con5 tent standards and State student performance

6 standards;

7 ‘‘(3) to provide professional development for

8 school staff in innovative teaching methods that

9 challenge and engage students and will be used in

10 the smaller learning community; and

11 ‘‘(4) to develop and implement strategies to in12 clude parents, business representatives, local institu13 tions of higher education, community-based organi14 zations, and other community members in the small15 er learning communities as facilitators of activities

16 that enable teachers—

17 ‘‘(A) to participate in professional develop18 ment activities; and

19 ‘‘(B) to provide links between students and

20 their community.

21 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and such sums as may

24 be necessary for each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 10997. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

2 ‘‘(a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary is au3 thorized to provide technical assistance to eligible appli4 cants seeking to create smaller learning communities in

5 the elementary schools or secondary schools served by the

6 eligible applicants.

7 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

8 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

9 $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may

10 be necessary for each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.

11 ‘‘SEC. 10998. SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION.

12 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au13 thorized to award grants to eligible applicants to enable

14 the eligible applicants to carry out construction described

15 in paragraph (c), or renovation described in paragraph

16 (d), of elementary schools or secondary schools.

17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible applicant de19 siring a grant under this section shall submit an ap20 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man21 ner, and accompanied by such information as the

22 Secretary may require.

23 ‘‘(2) INCREASING THE NUMBER OF SMALL

24 SCHOOLS AND SMALLER LEARNING ENVIRON25 MENTS.—Each such application shall describe how

26 the construction or renovation assisted under this
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1 section will enable more students to be educated in

2 a small school or smaller learning environment than

3 would otherwise be possible without funds made

4 available under this section.

5 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri6 ority to an application submitted under this sub7 section that demonstrates—

8 ‘‘(A) that the eligible applicant is located

9 in an area densely populated with school-aged

10 children; or

11 ‘‘(B) that more students will be educated

12 in the small school or smaller learning environ13 ment than would otherwise be possible without

14 funds made available under this section.

15 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—The Secretary shall only

16 award grants under subsection (a) for construction of ele17 mentary schools or secondary schools that have the fol18 lowing maximum student capacities:

19 ‘‘(1) 350 students in the case of an elementary

20 school.

21 ‘‘(2) 400 students in the case of a middle

22 school.

23 ‘‘(3) 800 students in the case of a secondary

24 school.
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1 ‘‘(d) RENOVATION.—The Secretary shall only award

2 a grant under subsection (a) for renovation of an elemen3 tary school or a secondary school, that has the maximum

4 student capacity described in subsection (b), related to the

5 creation of small schools, or smaller learning environ6 ments, within a larger school.

7 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Each recipient of funds under this

8 section shall provide the Secretary with an annual report

9 that contains a capital budget for the construction or ren10 ovation to be assisted under this section. Such report shall

11 include a description of—

12 ‘‘(1) the proposed uses for grant funds author13 ized under this section; and

14 ‘‘(2) the actual uses of grant funds received

15 under this section in a preceding year.

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

18 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and such sums as may

19 be necessary for each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

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