II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2009

To provide for a rural education development initiative, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 26, 2000

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. BYRD, Mr. BREAUX, and Mrs. LINCOLN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for a rural education development initiative, 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 ‘‘Rural Education De5 velopment Initiative for the 21st Century Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to provide rural school stu8 dents in the United States with increased learning oppor9 tunities.
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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) While there are rural education initiatives

4 identified at the State and local level, no Federal

5 education policy focuses on the specific needs of

6 rural school districts and schools, especially those

7 that serve poor students.

8 (2) The National Center for Educational Statis9 tics (NCES) reports that 46 percent of our Nation’s

10 public schools serve rural areas.

11 (3) A critical problem for rural school districts

12 involves the hiring and retention of qualified admin13 istrators and certified teachers (especially in science

14 and mathematics). Consequently, teachers in rural

15 schools are almost twice as likely to provide instruc16 tion in 3 or more subjects than teachers in urban

17 schools. Rural schools also face other tough chal18 lenges, such as shrinking local tax bases, high trans19 portation costs, aging buildings, limited course offer20 ings, and limited resources.

21 (4) Data from the National Assessment of Edu22 cational Progress (NAEP) consistently shows large

23 gaps between the achievement of students in high24 poverty schools and those in other schools. High-pov25 erty schools will face special challenges in preparing
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1 their students to reach high standards of perform2 ance on State and national assessments.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU6 CATIONAL AGENCY; SECONDARY SCHOOL; STATE

7 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘elementary

8 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary

9 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the

10 meanings given the terms in section 14101 of the

11 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

12 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

13 (2) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—

14 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means

15 a local educational agency that serves—

16 (A) a school age population 15 percent or

17 more of whom are from families with incomes

18 below the poverty line; and

19 (B)(i) a rural locality; or

20 (ii) a school age population of 800 or fewer

21 students.

22 (3) METROPOLITAN AREA.—The term ‘‘metro23 politan area’’ includes the area defined as such by

24 the Bureau of the Census.
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1 (4) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’

2 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of

3 Management and Budget, and revised annually in

4 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community

5 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap6 plicable to a family of the size involved.

7 (5) RURAL LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘rural local8 ity’’ means a locality that is not within a metropoli9 tan area.

10 (6) SCHOOL AGE POPULATION.—The term

11 ‘‘school age population’’ means the number of stu12 dents aged 5 through 17.

13 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of Education.

15 SEC. 5. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

16 (a) RESERVATION.—From amounts appropriated

17 under section 9 for a fiscal year the Secretary shall reserve

18 0.5 percent to make awards to elementary or secondary

19 schools operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Af20 fairs to carry out the purpose of this Act.

21 (b) GRANTS TO STATES.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated

23 under section 9 that are not reserved under sub24 section (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

25 award grants to State educational agencies that have
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1 applications approved under section 7 to enable the

2 State educational agencies to award grants to eligi3 ble local educational agencies for local authorized ac4 tivities described in subsection (c).

5 (2) FORMULA.—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

7 agency shall receive a grant under this section

8 in an amount that bears the same relation to

9 the amount of funds appropriated under section

10 9 that are not reserved under subsection (a) for

11 a fiscal year as the school age population served

12 by eligible local educational agencies in the

13 State bears to the school age population served

14 by eligible local educational agencies in all

15 States.

16 (B) DATA.—In determining the school age

17 population under subparagraph (A) the Sec18 retary shall use the most recent data available

19 from the Bureau of the Census.

20 (3) DIRECT AWARDS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

21 AGENCIES.—If a State educational agency elects not

22 to participate in the program under this Act or does

23 not have an application approved under section 7,

24 the Secretary may award, on a competitive basis, the

25 amount the State educational agency is eligible to
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1 receive under paragraph (2) directly to eligible local

2 educational agencies in the State.

3 (4) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each eligible

4 local educational agency that receives a grant under

5 this Act shall contribute resources with respect to

6 the local authorized activities to be assisted, in cash

7 or in kind, from non-Federal sources, in an amount

8 equal to the Federal funds awarded under the grant.

9 (c) LOCAL AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds

10 awarded to local educational agencies under this Act shall

11 be used for—

12 (1) educational technology, including software

13 and hardware;

14 (2) professional development;

15 (3) technical assistance;

16 (4) teacher recruitment and retention;

17 (5) parental involvement activities; or

18 (6) academic enrichment programs or other

19 education programs.

20 (d) RELATION TO OTHER FEDERAL FUNDING.—

21 Funds received under this Act by a State educational

22 agency or an eligible local educational agency shall not be

23 taken into consideration in determining the eligibility for,

24 or amount of, any other Federal funding awarded to the

25 agency.
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1 SEC. 6. STATE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.

2 (a) AWARD BASIS.—A State educational agency shall

3 award grants to eligible local educational agencies accord4 ing to a formula developed by the State educational agency

5 and approved by the Secretary.

6 (b) FIRST YEAR.—For the first year that a State

7 educational agency receives a grant under this Act, the

8 State educational agency—

9 (1) shall use not less than 99 percent of the

10 grant funds to award grants to eligible local edu11 cational agencies in the State; and

12 (2) may use not more than 1 percent for State

13 activities and administrative costs related to the pro14 gram.

15 (c) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—For the second and each

16 succeeding year that a State educational agency receives

17 a grant under this Act, the State educational agency—

18 (1) shall use not less than 99.5 percent of the

19 grant funds to award grants to eligible local edu20 cational agencies in the State; and

21 (2) may use not more than 0.5 percent of the

22 grant funds for State activities and administrative

23 costs related to the program.

24 SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS.

25 Each State educational agency, or local educational

26 agency eligible for a grant under section 5(b)(3), that de-
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1 sires a grant under this Act shall submit an application

2 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom3 panied by such information as the Secretary may require.

4 SEC. 8. REPORTS; ACCOUNTABILITY; STUDY.

5 (a) STATE REPORTS.—

6 (1) CONTENTS.—Each State educational agen7 cy that receives a grant under this Act shall provide

8 an annual report to the Secretary. The report shall

9 describe—

10 (A) the method the State educational agen11 cy used to award grants to eligible local edu12 cational agencies under this Act;

13 (B) how eligible local educational agencies

14 used funds provided under this Act;

15 (C) how the State educational agency pro16 vided technical assistance for an eligible local

17 educational agency that did not meet the goals

18 and objectives described in subsection (c)(3);

19 and

20 (D) how the State educational agency took

21 action against an eligible local educational

22 agency if the local educational agency failed, for

23 2 consecutive years, to meet the goals and ob24 jectives described in subsection (c)(3).
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall make

2 the annual State reports received under paragraph

3 (1) available for dissemination to Congress, inter4 ested parties (including educators, parents, students,

5 and advocacy and civil rights organizations), and the

6 public.

7 (b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REPORTS.—Each

8 eligible local educational agency that receives a grant

9 under section 5(b)(3) shall provide an annual report to

10 the Secretary. The report shall describe how the local edu11 cational agency used funds provided under this Act and

12 how the local educational agency coordinated funds re13 ceived under this Act with other Federal, State, and local

14 funds.

15 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall pre16 pare and submit to Congress an annual report. The report

17 shall describe—

18 (1) the methods the State educational agencies

19 used to award grants to eligible local educational

20 agencies under this Act;

21 (2) how eligible local educational agencies used

22 funds provided under this Act; and

23 (3) the progress made by State educational

24 agencies and eligible local educational agencies re25 ceiving assistance under this Act in meeting specific,
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1 annual, measurable performance goals and objectives

2 established by such agencies for activities assisted

3 under this Act.

4 (d) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Secretary, at the end of

5 the third year that a State educational agency participates

6 in the program assisted under this Act, shall permit only

7 those State educational agencies that met their perform8 ance goals and objectives, for two consecutive years, to

9 continue to participate in the program.

10 (e) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United

11 States shall conduct a study regarding the impact of as12 sistance provided under this Act on student achievement.

13 The Controller General shall report the results of the

14 study to Congress.

15 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

17 this Act $300,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2001

18 through 2004.

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