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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1121 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1121

 To amend part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act of 1965 to provide grants for the repair, renovation, and 
   construction of elementary and secondary schools, including early 
             learning facilities at the elementary schools.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2009

  Mr. Harkin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act of 1965 to provide grants for the repair, renovation, and 
   construction of elementary and secondary schools, including early 
             learning facilities at the elementary schools.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``School Building Fairness Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Providing safe, healthy, and up-to-date public 
        elementary and secondary school facilities is a crucial 
        component of improving student academic performance and 
        retaining high-quality, committed educators.
            (2) The 2009 Infrastructure Report Card compiled by the 
        American Society of Civil Engineers gives public schools a D 
        grade.
            (3) The National Center for Education Statistics, in 2000, 
        reported that the Nation's elementary and secondary schools 
        required approximately $127,000,000,000 to repair or upgrade 
        facilities.
            (4) A State-by-State analysis by the American Federation of 
        Teachers in 2008 concluded that the Nation's school 
        infrastructure needs total an estimated $254,600,000,000.
            (5) The Department of Education documented in 1998 that the 
        average age of a public elementary or secondary school building 
        was estimated at 42 years old, an age when schools tend to 
        deteriorate.
            (6) School districts spent more than $304,000,000,000 for 
        public school construction contracts from 1995 through 2004, 
        according to data collected by McGraw-Hill Construction.
            (7) According to a 2006 report by the Building Educational 
        Success Together coalition, the per-student investment made in 
        the most affluent school districts to repair or construct 
        schools was nearly double the amount of the per-student 
        investment made in the most disadvantaged school districts.
            (8) Since 1998, the Iowa Demonstration Construction Grant 
        Program has provided $121,000,000 in Federal assistance to over 
        300 school districts for school repair and construction. That 
        Federal investment in school repair and construction has 
        leveraged more than $600,000,000 of additional local funding 
        through a match required by the State government.
            (9) Green schools use an average of 33 percent less energy 
        than conventionally built schools, and generate financial 
        savings of about $70 per square foot, according to the 2006 
        report ``Greening America's Schools: Costs and Benefits''.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL REPAIR, RENOVATION, AND CONSTRUCTION.

    Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

                    ``Subpart 22--School Facilities

``SEC. 5621. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL REPAIR, RENOVATION, AND CONSTRUCTION.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Charter school.--The term `charter school' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 5210.
            ``(2) CHPS criteria.--The term `CHPS Criteria' means the 
        green building rating criteria developed by the Collaborative 
        for High Performance Schools.
            ``(3) Energy star.--The term `Energy Star' means the Energy 
        Star program of the Department of Energy and the Environmental 
        Protection Agency.
            ``(4) Green globes.--The term `Green Globes' means the 
        Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating 
        system.
            ``(5) High-need local educational agency.--The term `high-
        need local educational agency' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 2102(3)(A).
            ``(6) LEED green building rating system.--The term `LEED 
        Green Building Rating System' means the United States Green 
        Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design 
        green building rating system.
            ``(7) Rural local educational agency.--The term `rural 
        local educational agency' means a local educational agency that 
        the State determines is located in a rural area using objective 
        data and a commonly employed definition of the term `rural'.
            ``(8) State.--The term `State' means each of the several 
        states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
    ``(b) Allocation of Funds.--
            ``(1) Reservations.--From the funds appropriated under 
        subsection (i) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve 1 
        percent to provide assistance to the outlying areas and for 
        payments to the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance 
        to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education. Funds 
        allocated under this subparagraph shall be reserved by the 
        Secretary for distribution among the outlying areas and the 
        Secretary of the Interior on the basis of their relative need 
        for public elementary school and secondary school repair, 
        renovation, and construction, as determined by the Secretary.
            ``(2) Allocation to state educational agencies.--From the 
        funds appropriated under subsection (i) for a fiscal year that 
        are not reserved under paragraph (1) for the fiscal year, the 
        Secretary shall allocate to each State educational agency 
        serving a State an amount that bears the same relation to the 
        funds as the amount the State received under part A of title I 
        for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the 
        determination is made bears to the amount all States received 
        under such part for such preceding fiscal year, except that no 
        such State educational agency shall receive less than 0.5 
        percent of the amount allocated under this subsection.
    ``(c) Within-State Distributions.--
            ``(1) Administrative and other costs.--
                    ``(A) State educational agency administration and 
                other costs.--Except as provided in subparagraph (D), 
                each State educational agency may reserve not more than 
                1 percent of the State educational agency's allocation 
                under subsection (b) for the purposes of administering 
                the distribution of grants under this subsection and 
                awarding grants under subparagraph (C)(v).
                    ``(B) Required uses.--The State educational agency 
                shall use a portion of the funds reserved under 
                subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) to provide technical assistance to 
                        local educational agencies; and
                            ``(ii) to establish or support a State-
                        level database of public elementary school and 
                        secondary school facility inventory, condition, 
                        design, and utilization.
                    ``(C) Permissible uses.--The State educational 
                agency may use a portion of the funds reserved under 
                subparagraph (A) for--
                            ``(i) developing a statewide public 
                        elementary school and secondary school 
                        educational facility master plan;
                            ``(ii) developing policies, procedures, and 
                        standards for high-quality, energy efficient 
                        public elementary school and secondary school 
                        facilities;
                            ``(iii) supporting interagency 
                        collaboration that will lead to broad community 
                        use of public elementary school and secondary 
                        school facilities, and school-based services 
                        for students served by high-need local 
                        educational agencies or rural local educational 
                        agencies;
                            ``(iv) helping to defray the cost of 
                        issuing State bonds to finance public 
                        elementary school and secondary school repair, 
                        renovation, and construction; and
                            ``(v) awarding grants to State-operated or 
                        State-supported schools, such as a State school 
                        for the deaf or for the blind, to enable such 
                        schools to carry out school repair, renovation, 
                        and construction activities in accordance with 
                        subsection (d).
                    ``(D) State entity administration and other 
                costs.--If the State educational agency transfers funds 
                to a State entity described in paragraph (2)(A), the 
                State educational agency shall transfer to such State 
                entity not less than 75 percent of the amount reserved 
                under subparagraph (A) for the purpose of carrying out 
                the activities described in subparagraph (C).
            ``(2) Distribution of competitive school repair, 
        renovation, and construction grants to local educational 
        agencies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Of the funds allocated to a 
                State educational agency under subsection (b) that are 
                not reserved under paragraph (1), the State educational 
                agency shall distribute 100 percent of such funds to 
                local educational agencies or, if the State educational 
                agency is not responsible for the financing of 
                education facilities, the State educational agency 
                shall transfer such funds to the State entity 
                responsible for the financing of education facilities 
                (referred to in this section as the `State entity') for 
                distribution by such State entity to local educational 
                agencies in accordance with this paragraph, to be used, 
                consistent with subsection (d), for public elementary 
                school or secondary school repair, renovation, and 
                construction.
                    ``(B) Competitive grants to local educational 
                agencies.--The State educational agency or State entity 
                shall carry out a program to award grants, on a 
                competitive basis, to local educational agencies for 
                public elementary school or secondary school repair, 
                renovation, and construction. Of the total amount 
                available for distribution to local educational 
                agencies under this paragraph, the State educational 
                agency or State entity, shall, in carrying out the 
                grant competition--
                            ``(i) award to high-need local educational 
                        agencies, in the aggregate, not less than an 
                        amount which bears the same relationship to 
                        such total amount as the aggregate amount such 
                        high-need local educational agencies received 
                        under part A of title I for the fiscal year 
                        preceding the fiscal year for which the 
                        determination is made bears to the aggregate 
                        amount received for such preceding fiscal year 
                        under such part by all local educational 
                        agencies in the State;
                            ``(ii) award to rural local educational 
                        agencies in the State, in the aggregate, not 
                        less than an amount which bears the same 
                        relationship to such total amount as the 
                        aggregate amount such rural local educational 
                        agencies received under part A of title I for 
                        the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for 
                        which the determination is made bears to the 
                        aggregate amount received for such preceding 
                        fiscal year under such part by all local 
                        educational agencies in the State; and
                            ``(iii) award the remaining funds to local 
                        educational agencies in the State that did not 
                        receive a grant award under clause (i) or (ii), 
                        including to high-need local educational 
                        agencies and rural local educational agencies 
                        that did not receive a grant award under clause 
                        (i) or (ii).
                    ``(C) Criteria for awarding grants.--In awarding 
                competitive grants under this paragraph, a State 
                educational agency or State entity shall take into 
                account the following criteria:
                            ``(i) Percentage of poor children.--The 
                        percentage of children served by the local 
                        educational agency who are between 5 to 17 
                        years of age, inclusive, and who are from 
                        families with incomes below the poverty line.
                            ``(ii) Need for school repair, renovation, 
                        and construction.--The need of a local 
                        educational agency for school repair, 
                        renovation, and construction, as demonstrated 
                        by the condition of the public elementary 
                        school or secondary school facilities of the 
                        local educational agency or the local 
                        educational agency's need for such facilities.
                            ``(iii) Green schools.--The extent to which 
                        a local educational agency will make use, in 
                        the repair, renovation, or construction to be 
                        undertaken, of green practices that are 
                        certified, verified, or consistent with any 
                        applicable provisions of--
                                    ``(I) the LEED Green Building 
                                Rating System;
                                    ``(II) Energy Star;
                                    ``(III) the CHPS Criteria;
                                    ``(IV) Green Globes; or
                                    ``(V) an equivalent program adopted 
                                by the State or another jurisdiction 
                                with authority over the local 
                                educational agency.
                            ``(iv) Fiscal capacity.--The fiscal 
                        capacity of a local educational agency to meet 
                        the needs of the local educational agency for 
                        repair, renovation, and construction of public 
                        elementary school or secondary school 
                        facilities without assistance under this 
                        section, including the ability of the local 
                        educational agency to raise funds through the 
                        use of local bonding capacity and otherwise.
                            ``(v) Likelihood of maintaining the 
                        facility.--The likelihood that a local 
                        educational agency will maintain, in good 
                        condition, any facility whose repair, 
                        renovation, or construction is assisted under 
                        this section.
                            ``(vi) Charter school access to funding.--
                        In the case of a local educational agency that 
                        proposes to fund a repair, renovation, or 
                        construction project for a public charter 
                        school, the extent to which the public charter 
                        school lacks access to funding for the project 
                        through the financing methods available to 
                        other public schools or local educational 
                        agencies in the State.
                    ``(D) Matching requirement.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A State educational 
                        agency or State entity shall require local 
                        educational agencies to match funds awarded 
                        under this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Match amount.--The amount of a match 
                        described in clause (i) may be established by 
                        using a sliding scale that takes into account 
                        the relative poverty of the population served 
                        by the local educational agency.
    ``(d) Rules Applicable to School Repair, Renovation, and 
Construction.--With respect to funds made available under this section 
that are used for school repair, renovation, and construction, the 
following rules shall apply:
            ``(1) Permissible uses of funds.--School repair, 
        renovation, and construction shall be limited to 1 or more of 
        the following:
                    ``(A) Upgrades, repair, construction, or 
                replacement of public elementary school or secondary 
                school building systems or components to improve the 
                quality of education and ensure the health and safety 
                of students and staff, including--
                            ``(i) repairing, replacing, or constructing 
                        early learning facilities at public elementary 
                        schools (including renovation of existing 
                        facilities to serve children under 5 years of 
                        age);
                            ``(ii) repairing, replacing, or installing 
                        roofs, windows, doors, electrical wiring, 
                        plumbing systems, or sewage systems;
                            ``(iii) repairing, replacing, or installing 
                        heating, ventilation, or air conditioning 
                        systems (including insulation); and
                            ``(iv) bringing such public schools into 
                        compliance with fire and safety codes.
                    ``(B) School facilities modifications necessary to 
                render public elementary school or secondary school 
                facilities accessible in order to comply with the 
                Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
                12101 et seq.) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation 
                Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794).
                    ``(C) Improvements to the environmental conditions 
                of public elementary school or secondary school sites, 
                including asbestos abatement or removal, and the 
                reduction or elimination of human exposure to lead-
                based paint, mold, or mildew.
                    ``(D) Measures designed to reduce or eliminate 
                human exposure to classroom noise and environmental 
                noise pollution.
                    ``(E) Modifications necessary to reduce the 
                consumption of electricity, natural gas, oil, water, 
                coal, or land.
                    ``(F) Upgrades or installations of educational 
                technology infrastructure to ensure that students have 
                access to up-to-date educational technology.
                    ``(G) Measures that will broaden or improve the use 
                of public elementary school or secondary school 
                buildings and grounds by the community in order to 
                improve educational outcomes.
            ``(2) Impermissible uses of funds.--No funds received under 
        this section may be used for--
                    ``(A) payment of maintenance costs in connection 
                with any projects constructed in whole or part with 
                Federal funds provided under this section;
                    ``(B) purchase or upgrade of vehicles;
                    ``(C) improvement or construction of stand-alone 
                facilities whose purpose is not the education of 
                children, including central office administration or 
                operations or logistical support facilities;
                    ``(D) purchase of information technology hardware, 
                including computer, monitors, or printers; or
                    ``(E) stadiums or other facilities primarily used 
                for athletic contests or exhibitions or other events 
                for which admission is charged to the general public.
            ``(3) Supplement, not supplant.--A local educational agency 
        or State-operated or State-supported school shall use Federal 
        funds subject to this subsection only to supplement the amount 
        of funds that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be 
        made available from non-Federal sources for school repair, 
        renovation, and construction.
    ``(e) Qualified Bidders; Competition.--Each local educational 
agency that receives funds under subsection (c)(2) shall ensure that, 
if the local educational agency carries out repair, renovation, or 
construction through a contract, any such contract process ensures the 
maximum number of qualified bidders, including small, minority, and 
women-owned businesses, through full and open competition.
    ``(f) Public Comment.--Each local educational agency receiving 
funds under subsection (c)(2)--
            ``(1) shall provide an opportunity for public comment, and 
        ensure that parents, educators, and all other interested 
        members of the community in which the school to be assisted is 
        located have the opportunity to consult, on the use of the 
        funds received under such subsection;
            ``(2) shall provide the public with adequate and efficient 
        notice of the opportunity described in paragraph (1) in a 
        widely read and distributed medium; and
            ``(3) shall provide the opportunity described in paragraph 
        (1) in accordance with any applicable State and local law 
        specifying how the comments may be received and how the 
        comments may be reviewed by any member of the public.
    ``(g) Reporting.--
            ``(1) Local reporting.--Each local educational agency 
        receiving funds under subsection (c)(2) shall submit a report 
        to the State educational agency, at such time as the State 
        educational agency may require, describing the use of such 
        funds for school repair, renovation, and construction.
            ``(2) State reporting.--Each State educational agency 
        receiving funds under subsection (b) shall submit to the 
        Secretary, at such time as the Secretary may require, a report 
        on the use of funds received under this section and made 
        available to local educational agencies (and, if applicable, to 
        State-operated or State-sponsored schools) for school repair, 
        renovation, and construction.
    ``(h) Reallocation.--If a State educational agency does not apply 
for an allocation of funds under subsection (b) for a fiscal year, or 
does not use the State educational agency's entire allocation for such 
fiscal year, then the Secretary may reallocate the amount of the State 
educational agency's allocation (or the remainder thereof, as the case 
may be) for such fiscal year to the remaining State educational 
agencies in accordance with subsection (b).
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $6,000,000,000 for fiscal year 
2010, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2011 
through 2014.

``SEC. 5622. NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS STUDY.

    ``(a) In General.--The National Center for Education Statistics 
(NCES) shall conduct a study of the condition of public elementary 
school and secondary school facilities in the United States.
    ``(b) Estimates and Measures.--In conducting the study, the 
National Center for Education Statistics shall--
            ``(1) estimate the costs needed to repair and renovate all 
        public elementary schools and secondary schools in the United 
        States to good overall condition; and
            ``(2) measure recent expenditures of Federal, State, local 
        and private funds for public elementary school and secondary 
        school repair, renovation, and construction costs in the United 
        States.
    ``(c) Analysis.--In conducting the study, the National Center for 
Education Statistics shall examine trends in expenditures of Federal, 
State, local, and private funds since fiscal year 2001 for repair, 
renovation, and construction activities for public elementary schools 
and secondary schools in the United States, including examining the 
differences between the types of schools assisted, and the types of 
repair, renovation, and construction activities conducted, with those 
expenditures.
    ``(d) Report.--The National Center for Education Statistics shall 
prepare and submit to Congress a report containing the results of the 
study.

``SEC. 5623. NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--From the funds appropriated under subsection 
(c), the Secretary shall award a grant or contract to maintain a 
clearinghouse that will collect and disseminate information on 
effective, best educational practices, and the latest research, 
regarding the planning, design, financing, construction, improvement, 
operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, high-performance public 
school facilities for nursery and pre-kindergarten, kindergarten 
through grade 12, and higher, education.
    ``(b) Duration.--The grant or contract under subsection (a) shall 
be awarded for a period of 5 years.
    ``(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $1,500,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2010 through 2014.''.
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