I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1148

To provide grants to certain rural local educational agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 21, 2001

Mr. HILLEARY (for himself, Mr. JOHN, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. DEMINT, and Mr.

NORWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide grants to certain rural local educational agencies.

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 ‘‘Low-Income and Rural

5 School Program’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

7 (a) RESERVATIONS.—From amounts appropriated

8 under section 7 for this Act for a fiscal year, the Secretary

shall reserve 1 9 ⁄2 of 1 percent to make awards to elementary

10 or secondary schools operated or supported by the Bureau

11 of Indian Affairs to carry out the purpose of this Act.
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1 (b) GRANTS TO STATES.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated

3 under section 7 for this Act that are not reserved

4 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall award

5 grants for a fiscal year to State educational agencies

6 that have applications approved under section 4 to

7 enable the State educational agencies to award sub8 grants to eligible local educational agencies for local

9 authorized activities described in subsection (c)(2).

10 (2) ALLOCATION.—From amounts appropriated

11 for this Act, the Secretary shall allocate to each

12 State educational agency for a fiscal year an amount

13 that bears the same ratio to the amount of funds ap14 propriated under section 7 for this Act that are not

15 reserved under subsection (a) as the number of stu16 dents in average daily attendance served by eligible

17 local educational agencies in the State bears to the

18 number of all such students served by eligible local

19 educational agencies in all States for that fiscal

20 year.

21 (3) DIRECT AWARDS TO SPECIALLY QUALIFIED

22 AGENCIES.—

23 (A) NONPARTICIPATING STATE.—If a

24 State educational agency elects not to partici25 pate in the program under this Act or does not
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1 have an application approved under section 4 a

2 specially qualified agency in such State desiring

3 a grant under this Act shall apply directly to

4 the Secretary to receive such a grant.

5 (B) DIRECT AWARDS TO SPECIALLY

6 QUALIFIED AGENCIES.—The Secretary may

7 award, on a competitive basis, the amount the

8 State educational agency is eligible to receive

9 under paragraph (2) directly to specially quali10 fied agencies in the State.

11 (c) LOCAL AWARDS.—

12 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—A local educational agency

13 shall be eligible to receive funds under this Act if—

14 (A) 20 percent or more of the children

15 aged 5 to 17, inclusive, served by the local edu16 cational agency are from families with incomes

17 below the poverty line; and

18 (B) all of the schools served by the agency

19 are located in a community with a School Lo20 cale code of 6, 7, or 8, as determined by the

21 Secretary of Education.

22 (2) USES OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded to

23 local educational agencies or made available to

24 schools under this Act shall be used for—
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1 (A) teacher recruitment and retention, in2 cluding the use of signing bonuses and other fi3 nancial incentives;

4 (B) teacher professional development, in5 cluding programs that train teachers to utilize

6 technology to improve teaching and to train

7 special needs teachers;

8 (C) educational technology, including soft9 ware and hardware as described in title III of

10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

11 of 1965; or

12 (D) programs that promote academic en13 richment.

14 SEC. 3. STATE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.

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

16 award grants to eligible local educational agencies—

17 (1) on a competitive basis; or

18 (2) according to a formula based on the number

19 of students in average daily attendance served by the

20 eligible local educational agencies or schools (as ap21 propriate) in the State, as determined by the State.

22 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State educational

23 agency receiving a grant under this Act may not use more

24 than 5 percent of the amount of the grant for State ad25 ministrative costs.
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1 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

2 Each State educational agency and specially qualified

3 agency desiring to receive a grant under this Act shall sub4 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such

5 manner, and accompanied by such information as the Sec6 retary may require. Such application shall include specific

7 measurable goals and objectives relating to increased stu8 dent academic achievement, decreased student drop-out

9 rates, or such other factors that the State educational

10 agency or specially qualified agency may choose to meas11 ure.

12 SEC. 5. REPORTS.

13 (a) STATE REPORTS.—Each State educational agen14 cy that receives a grant under this Act shall provide an

15 annual report to the Secretary. The report shall de16 scribe—

17 (1) the method the State educational agency

18 used to award grants to eligible local educational

19 agencies and to provide assistance to schools under

20 this Act;

21 (2) how local educational agencies and schools

22 used funds provided under this Act; and

23 (3) the degree to which progress has been made

24 toward meeting the goals and objectives described in

25 the application submitted under section 4.
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1 (b) SPECIALLY QUALIFIED AGENCY REPORT.—Each

2 specially qualified agency that receives a grant under this

3 Act shall provide an annual report to the Secretary. Such

4 report shall describe—

5 (1) how such agency uses funds provided under

6 this Act; and

7 (2) the degree to which progress has been made

8 toward meeting the goals and objectives described in

9 the application submitted under section 2(b)(4)(A).

10 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall pre11 pare and submit to the Committee on Education and the

12 Workforce for the House of Representatives and the Com13 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for the

14 Senate an annual report. The report shall describe—

15 (1) the methods the State educational agency

16 used to award grants to eligible local educational

17 agencies and to provide assistance to schools under

18 this Act;

19 (2) how eligible local educational agencies and

20 schools used funds provided under this Act; and

21 (3) progress made in meeting specific measur22 able educational goals and objectives.

23 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

24 For the purposes of this Act—
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1 (1) The term ‘‘poverty line’’ means the poverty

2 line (as defined by the Office of Management and

3 Budget, and revised annually in accordance with sec4 tion 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to a family of

6 the size involved.

7 (2) The term ‘‘specially qualified agency’’

8 means an eligible local educational agency, located in

9 a State that does not participate in a program under

10 this Act in a fiscal year, that may apply directly to

11 the Secretary for a grant in such year in accordance

12 with section 2(b)(4).

13 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50

14 States, the District of Columbia, and the Common15 wealth of Puerto Rico.

16 SEC. 7. PERFORMANCE REVIEW.

17 Three years after a State educational agency or spe18 cifically qualified agency receives funds under this Act, the

19 Secretary shall review the progress of such agency toward

20 achieving the goals and objectives included in its applica21 tion to determine if the agency has made progress toward

22 meeting such goals and objectives. To review the perform23 ance of each agency, the Secretary shall—

24 (1) review the use of funds of such agency

25 under section 2(c)(2); and
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1 (2) deny the provision of additional funds in

2 subsequent fiscal years to an agency only if the Sec3 retary determines, after notice and an opportunity

4 for a hearing, that the agency’s use of funds has

5 been inadequate to justify the continuation of such

6 funding.

7 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

9 this Act $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums

10 as may be necessary for each of 4 succeeding fiscal years.

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