I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1944

To provide dollars to the classroom.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 22, 2001

Mr. PITTS (for himself, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr.

ROYCE, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr.

TOOMEY, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. HERGER, Ms. HART, Mr. BRADY of

Texas, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. VITTER, Mr. TERRY, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr.

SESSIONS, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. SAM

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. PENCE, and Mr. NORWOOD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce

A BILL

To provide dollars to the classroom.

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 ‘‘Dollars to the Class5 room Act’’.
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1 TITLE I—IMPROVEMENT OF CLASSROOM

2 SERVICES AND ACTIVITIES

3 SEC. 101. GRANTS TO STATES.

4 The Secretary is authorized to award grants in ac5 cordance with this title to States for use by States and

6 local educational agencies to improve classroom services

7 and activities for students.

8 SEC. 102. GRANT AWARD.

9 (a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the amount ap10 propriated to carry out this title for any fiscal year, the

11 Secretary shall reserve—

(1) 1 12 ⁄2 of 1 percent for the outlying areas, to be

13 distributed among the outlying areas on the basis of

14 their relative need, as determined by the Secretary

15 in accordance with the purposes of this section; and

(2) 1 16 ⁄2 of 1 percent for the Secretary of the In17 terior for programs under this title in schools oper18 ated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

19 (b) STATE ALLOCATIONS.—Funds appropriated to

20 carry out this title for any fiscal year, which are not re21 served under subsection (a), shall be allocated among the

22 States as follows:

23 (1) HOLD HARMLESS.—If the amount of funds

24 appropriated to carry out this title in any fiscal year

25 equals or exceeds the aggregate amount all States
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1 received in fiscal year 2001 under the following pro2 visions, as such provisions were in effect on the day

3 preceding the date of the enactment of this Act—

4 (A) title III of the Goals 2000: Educate

5 America Act (20 U.S.C. 5881 et seq.);

6 (B) section 1002(g)(2) of the Elementary

7 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

8 U.S.C. 6302(g));

9 (C) section 1502 of the Elementary and

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

11 6492);

12 (D) part B of title II of the Elementary

13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

14 U.S.C. 6641 et seq.);

15 (E) section 3132 of the Elementary and

16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

17 6842 et seq.);

18 (F) title VI of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7311

20 et seq.) (excluding amounts appropriated under

21 section 307 of the Department of Education

22 Appropriations Act of 1999); and

23 (G) part B of title VII of the Stewart B.

24 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

25 11421 et seq.),
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1 the Secretary shall allocate to each State the aggre2 gate amount such State received for fiscal year 2001

3 under such provisions.

4 (2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If the amount of

5 appropriations to carry out this title for any fiscal

6 year is insufficient to pay the full amounts that all

7 States are eligible to receive under paragraph (1) for

8 such year, the Secretary shall ratably reduce such

9 amounts for such year.

10 (3) REMAINING FUNDS.—If funds remain after

11 meeting the requirements of paragraph (1), such re12 maining funds shall be allocated among the States

13 in the following manner:

14 (A) 50 percent of such remaining funds

15 shall be allocated to States in proportion to

16 their grants under part A of title I of the Ele17 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

18 for the preceding fiscal year; and

19 (B) 50 percent of such remaining funds

20 shall be allocated to States in proportion to the

21 number of children ages 5 through 17, inclu22 sive, according to the most recent available data

23 that are satisfactory to the Secretary.
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1 (c) DEFINITION OF STATE.—For purposes of this

2 section, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the 50 States, the Dis3 trict of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

4 (d) DEFINITION OF OUTLYING AREA.—For purposes

5 of this section, the term ‘‘outlying area’’ includes Amer6 ican Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and

7 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

8 (e) PAYMENTS.—Funds awarded to a State under

9 this section shall be paid to the individual or entity in the

10 State that is responsible for the State administration of

11 Federal education funds pursuant to State law.

12 (f) USE OF STATE AWARDS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount made

14 available to a State under subsection (b) for a fiscal

15 year, the State—

16 (A) shall use not more than 5 percent of

17 the total amount to support programs or activi18 ties, for children ages 5 through 17, that the

19 State determines appropriate, of which the

20 State shall distribute 20 percent of the 5 per21 cent to local educational agencies in the State

22 to pay the administrative expenses of the local

23 educational agencies that are associated with

24 the activities and services assisted under this

25 section; and
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1 (B) shall distribute, pursuant to section

2 103(a), not less than 95 percent of the amount

3 to local educational agencies in the State for

4 the fiscal year to enable the local educational

5 agencies to pay the costs of activities or services

6 provided in the classroom, for children ages 5

7 through 17, that the local educational agencies

8 determine appropriate subject to the require9 ments of section 103(b).

10 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—For the pur11 pose of paragraph (1)(B), the costs of activities and

12 services provided in the classroom exclude the ad13 ministrative expenses associated with the activities

14 and services.

15 (g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State or local

16 educational agency shall use funds received under this title

17 only to supplement the amount of funds that would, in

18 the absence of such Federal funds, be made available from

19 non-Federal sources for the education of pupils partici20 pating in programs assisted under this title, and not to

21 supplant such funds.

22 (h) ANNUAL REPORTS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State receiving assist24 ance under this part shall issue a report on an an25 nual basis, not later than April 1 of each year begin-
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1 ning the year after the date of the enactment of this

2 Act, to the Secretary, the Committee on Education

3 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives,

4 the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of

5 the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations

6 of the Senate and the House of Representatives that

7 describes how funds under this title have been used

8 to improve student performance in that State.

9 (2) CERTIFICATION.—The report must also in10 clude a certification by the State that 95 percent of

11 funding provided under this title during the pre12 ceding fiscal year has been expended by local edu13 cational agencies within that State for classroom ac14 tivities and services pursuant to subsection

15 (f)(1)(B).

16 (3) MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE.—In deter17 mining student academic performance within the

18 State, the State shall use such measures of student

19 academic performance as it deems appropriate. The

20 State may disaggregate data by poverty, subject

21 area, race, gender, geographic location, or other cri22 teria as the State deems appropriate.

23 (4) AVAILABILITY OF REPORT.—Each State

24 shall make the report described in this subsection
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1 available to parents and members of the public

2 throughout that State.

3 SEC. 103. LOCAL AWARDS.

4 (a) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF FUNDS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The individual or entity in

6 the State that is responsible for the State adminis7 tration of Federal education funds pursuant to State

8 law of each State receiving assistance under this

9 title, in consultation with the Governor of such

10 State, the chief State school officer of such State,

11 representatives from the State legislature, and rep12 resentatives from local educational agencies within

13 such State, shall develop a formula for the allocation

14 of funds described in section 102, to local edu15 cational agencies, taking into consideration—

16 (A) poverty rates within each local edu17 cational agency;

18 (B) children living in sparsely populated

19 areas;

20 (C) an equitable distribution of funds

21 among urban, rural, and suburban areas;

22 (D) children whose education imposes a

23 higher than average cost per child; and

24 (E) such other factors as considered appro25 priate.
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1 (2) HOLD HARMLESS.—No local educational

2 agency shall receive an award under this subsection

3 for any fiscal year in an amount that is less than

4 the amount the local educational agency received to

5 carry out programs or activities for fiscal year 2001

6 for title III of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act

7 (20 U.S.C. 5881 et seq.), part B of title II of the

8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

9 (20 U.S.C. 6641 et seq.), section 3132 of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

11 U.S.C. 6842 et seq.), title VI of the Elementary and

12 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7311

13 et seq.) (excluding amounts appropriated under sec14 tion 307 of the Department of Education Appropria15 tions Act of 2001), and part B of title VII of the

16 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42

17 U.S.C. 11421 et seq.) as in effect on the day pre18 ceding the date of the enactment of this Act plus

19 amounts the local educational agency is eligible to

20 receive during fiscal years 2001 through 2005 pur21 suant to all multiyear awards made prior to the date

22 of enactment of this Act under any program that

23 is repealed by section 107 that is not listed in this

24 sentence.
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1 (3) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If the amount allo2 cated to a State to carry out this title for any fiscal

3 year is insufficient to pay the full amounts that all

4 local educational agencies in such State are eligible

5 to receive under paragraph (2) for such year, the

6 State shall ratably reduce such amounts for such

7 year.

8 (b) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available

9 under this section to a local educational agency shall be

10 used for the following classroom services and activities:

11 (1) Programs for the acquisition and use of in12 structional and educational materials, including li13 brary services and materials (including media mate14 rials), assessments, reference materials, and other

15 curricular materials which are tied to high academic

16 standards and which will be used to improve student

17 achievement and which are part of an overall edu18 cation reform program.

19 (2) Professional development for instructional

20 staff.

21 (3) Programs to improve the higher order

22 thinking skills of disadvantaged elementary and sec23 ondary school students and to prevent students from

24 dropping out of school.
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1 (4) Efforts to lengthen the school day or the

2 school year.

3 (5) Programs to combat illiteracy in the student

4 population.

5 (6) Programs to provide for the educational

6 needs of gifted and talented children.

7 (7) Promising education reform projects that

8 are tied to State student content and performance

9 standards.

10 (8) Carrying out comprehensive school reform

11 programs that are based on reliable research.

12 (9) Programs for homeless children and youth.

13 (10) Programs that are built upon partnerships

14 between local educational agencies and institutions

15 of higher education, educational service agencies, li16 braries, businesses, regional educational laboratories,

17 or other educational entities, for the purpose of pro18 viding educational services consistent with this sec19 tion.

20 (11) The acquisition of books, materials and

21 equipment, payment of compensation of instructional

22 staff, and instructional activities that are necessary

23 for the conduct of programs in magnet schools.

24 (12) Programs to promote academic achieve25 ment among women and girls.
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1 (13) Programs to provide for the educational

2 needs of children with limited English proficiency or

3 who are American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native

4 Hawaiian.

5 (14) Activities to provide the academic support,

6 enrichment, and motivation to enable all students to

7 reach high State standards.

8 (15) Efforts to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio.

9 (16) Projects and programs which assure the

10 participation in mainstream settings in arts and

11 education programs of individuals with disabilities.

12 (17) Projects and programs to integrate arts

13 education into the regular elementary and secondary

14 school curriculum.

15 (18) Programs designed to educate students

16 about the history and principles of the Constitution

17 of the United States, including the Bill of Rights,

18 and to foster civic competence and responsibility.

19 (19) Mathematics and science education in20 structional materials.

21 (20) Programs designed to improve the quality

22 of student writing and learning and the teaching of

23 writing as a learning process.

24 (21) Technology related to the implementation

25 of school-based reform programs, including profes-
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1 sional development to assist teachers and other

2 school officials regarding how to effectively use such

3 equipment and software.

4 (22) Computer software and hardware for in5 structional use.

6 (23) Developing, adapting, or expanding exist7 ing and new applications of technology.

8 (24) Acquiring connectivity linkages, resources,

9 and services, including the acquisition of hardware

10 and software, for use by teachers, students, and

11 school library media personnel in the classroom or in

12 school library media centers, in order to improve

13 student learning.

14 (25) After-school programs designed to engage

15 children in a constructive manner and to promote

16 their academic, developmental, and personal growth.

17 (26) Developing, constructing, acquiring, main18 taining, operating, and obtaining technical assist19 ance in the use of telecommunications audio and vis20 ual facilities and equipment for use in the classroom.

21 (27) Developing, acquiring, and obtaining tech22 nical assistance in the use of educational and in23 structional video programming for use in the class24 room.
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1 (c) PARENT INVOLVEMENT.—Each local educational

2 agency receiving assistance under this section shall involve

3 parents and members of the public in planning for the use

4 of funds provided under this section.

5 SEC. 104. PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PRI6 VATE SCHOOLS.

7 Each local educational agency that receives funds

8 under this title shall provide for the participation of chil9 dren enrolled in private schools, and their teachers or

10 other educational personnel, in the activities and services

11 assisted under such section in the same manner as private

12 school children, and their teachers or other educational

13 personnel, participate in activities and services under the

14 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

15 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) pursuant to sections 14503, 14504,

16 14505, and 14506 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 8893, 8894,

17 8895, and 8896).

18 SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this title—

20 (1) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

21 meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Ele22 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

23 U.S.C. 8801);

24 (2) the term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has

25 the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the
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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

2 (20 U.S.C. 8801);

3 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

4 of Education; and

5 (4) except as otherwise provided, the term

6 ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States of the

7 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com8 monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa,

9 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is10 lands, and the United States Virgin Islands.

11 SEC. 106. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

12 (a) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title

13 shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of

14 the Federal Government to require, direct, or control a

15 State, local educational agency or school’s specific instruc16 tional content of pupil performance standards and assess17 ments, curriculum, or program of instruction as a condi18 tion of eligibility to receive funds under this title.

19 (b) STATE AND LOCAL DETERMINATIONS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not

21 issue any regulation regarding the type of classroom

22 activities or services that may be assisted under this

23 title.

24 (2) INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD AND SETTING.—

25 No local education agency shall be required to pro-
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1 vide services under this title through a particular in2 structional method or in a particular instructional

3 setting in order to receive funding under this title.

4 SEC. 107. REPEALS.

5 The following provisions are repealed:

6 (1) Title III of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer7 ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5881 et seq.).

8 (2) Title IV of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer9 ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5911 et seq.).

10 (3) Title VI of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer11 ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5951).

12 (4) Titles II, III, and IV of the School-to-Work

13 Opportunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6121 et seq.,

14 6171 et seq., and 6191 et seq.).

15 (5) Section 1502 of the Elementary and Sec16 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6492).

17 (6) Section 1503 of the Elementary and Sec18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6493).

19 (7) Section 1002(g)(2) of the Elementary and

20 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

21 (8) Part A of title II of the Elementary and

22 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6621

23 et seq.).
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1 (9) Part B of title II of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6641

3 et seq.).

4 (10) Title III of the Elementary and Secondary

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.).

6 (11) Part A of title V of the Elementary and

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7201

8 et seq.).

9 (12) Part B of title V of the Elementary and

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7231

11 et seq.).

12 (13) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7311 et seq.).

14 (14) Part B of title IX of the Elementary and

15 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901

16 et seq.).

17 (15) Part C of title IX of the Elementary and

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7931

19 et seq.).

20 (16) Part A of title X of the Elementary and

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001

22 et seq.).

23 (17) Part B of title X of the Elementary and

24 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8031

25 et seq.).
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1 (18) Part D of title X of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8091

3 et seq.).

4 (19) Part F of title X of the Elementary and

5 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8141

6 et seq.).

7 (20) Part G of title X of the Elementary and

8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8161

9 et seq.).

10 (21) Part I of title X of the Elementary and

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8241

12 et seq.).

13 (22) Part J of title X of the Elementary and

14 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8271

15 et seq.).

16 (23) Part K of title X of the Elementary and

17 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8331

18 et seq.).

19 (24) Part L of title X of the Elementary and

20 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8351

21 et seq.).

22 (25) Part A of title XIII of the Elementary and

23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8621

24 et seq.).
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1 (26) Part C of title XIII of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8671

3 et seq.).

4 (27) Subtitle B of title VII of the Stewart B.

5 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.

6 11421 et seq.).

7 SEC. 108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

9 this title, $3,427,000 for fiscal year 2002, $3,529,000 for

10 fiscal year 2003, $3,635,000 for fiscal year 2004,

11 $3,744,000 for fiscal year 2005; and $3,856,000 for fiscal

12 year 2006.

13 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

14 SEC. 201. EXPANSION OF ED-FLEX DEMONSTRATIONS.

15 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub17 section (c), the Secretary may waive any statutory

18 or regulatory requirement applicable to any program

19 or Act described in subsection (b) for a State edu20 cational agency, local educational agency, or school

21 if—

22 (A) and only to the extent that, the Sec23 retary determines that such requirement im24 pedes the ability of the State, or of a local edu-
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1 cational agency or school in the State, to carry

2 out the State or local improvement plan;

3 (B) the State educational agency has

4 waived, or agrees to waive, similar requirements

5 of State law;

6 (C) in the case of a statewide waiver, the

7 State educational agency—

8 (i) provides all local educational agen9 cies and parent organizations in the State

10 with notice and an opportunity to comment

11 on the State educational agency’s proposal

12 to seek a waiver; and

13 (ii) submits the local educational

14 agencies’ comments to the Secretary; and

15 (D) in the case of a local educational agen16 cy waiver, the local educational agency provides

17 parents, community groups, and advocacy or

18 civil rights groups with the opportunity to com19 ment on the proposed waiver.

20 (2) APPLICATION.—(A)(i) To request a waiver

21 under paragraph (1), a local educational agency or

22 school that receives funds under this title, or a local

23 educational agency or school shall transmit an appli24 cation for such a waiver to the State educational

25 agency. The State educational agency then shall sub-
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1 mit approved applications for waivers under para2 graph (1) to the Secretary.

3 (ii) A State educational agency may request a

4 waiver under paragraph (1) by submitting an appli5 cation for such waiver to the Secretary.

6 (B) Each application submitted to the Sec7 retary under subparagraph (A) shall—

8 (i) identify the statutory or regulatory re9 quirements that are requested to be waived and

10 the goals that the State educational agency or

11 local educational agency or school intends to

12 achieve;

13 (ii) describe the action that the State edu14 cational agency has undertaken to remove State

15 statutory or regulatory barriers identified in the

16 application of local educational agencies;

17 (iii) describe the goals of the waiver and

18 the expected programmatic outcomes if the re19 quest is granted;

20 (iv) describe the numbers and types of stu21 dents to be impacted by such waiver;

22 (v) describe a timetable for implementing a

23 waiver; and

24 (vi) describe the process the State edu25 cational agency will use to monitor, on a bian-
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1 nual basis, the progress in implementing a

2 waiver.

3 (3) TIMELINESS.—The Secretary shall act

4 promptly on a request for a waiver under paragraph

5 (1) and shall provide a written statement of the rea6 sons for granting or denying such request.

7 (4) DURATION.—Each waiver under paragraph

8 (1) shall be for a period not to exceed 4 years. The

9 Secretary may extend such period if the Secretary

10 determines that the waiver has been effective in ena11 bling the State or affected local educational agencies

12 to carry out reform plans.

13 (b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regu14 latory requirements subject to the waiver authority of this

15 section are any such requirements under the following pro16 grams or Acts:

17 (1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary

18 Education Act of 1965.

19 (2) Part A of title II of the Elementary and

20 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

21 (3) Part A of title V of the Elementary and

22 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

23 (4) Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary

24 Education Act of 1965.
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1 (5) Part B of title IX of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

3 (6) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied

4 Technology Education Act.

5 (c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary

6 may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of

7 the programs or Acts described in subsection (b)—

8 (1) relating to—

9 (A) maintenance of effort;

10 (B) comparability of services;

11 (C) the equitable participation of students

12 and professional staff in private schools;

13 (D) parental participation and involve14 ment; and

15 (E) the distribution of funds to States or

16 to local educational agencies; and

17 (2) unless the underlying purposes of the statu18 tory requirements of each program or Act for which

19 a waiver is granted continue to be met to the satis20 faction of the Secretary.

21 (d) TERMINATION OF WAIVERS.—The Secretary

22 shall periodically review the performance of any State,

23 local educational agency, or school for which the Secretary

24 has granted a waiver under subsection (a)(1) and shall

25 terminate the waiver if the Secretary determines that the
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1 performance of the State, the local educational agency, or

2 the school in the area affected by the waiver has been in3 adequate to justify a continuation of the waiver.

4 (e) FLEXIBILITY DEMONSTRATION.—

5 (1) SHORT TITLE.—This subsection may be

6 cited as the ‘‘Education Flexibility Partnership

7 Demonstration Act’’.

8 (2) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

10 carry out an education flexibility demonstration

11 program under which the Secretary authorizes

12 not more than 50 State educational agencies

13 serving eligible States to waive statutory or reg14 ulatory requirements applicable to 1 or more

15 programs or Acts described in subsection (b),

16 other than requirements described in subsection

17 (c), for the State educational agency or any

18 local educational agency or school within the

19 State.

20 (B) AWARD RULE.—In carrying out sub21 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall select for

22 participation in the demonstration program de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) three State edu24 cational agencies serving eligible States that

25 each have a population of 3,500,000 or greater
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1 and three State educational agencies serving eli2 gible States that each have a population of less

3 than 3,500,000, determined in accordance with

4 the most recent decennial census of the popu5 lation performed by the Bureau of the Census.

6 (C) DESIGNATION.—Each eligible State

7 participating in the demonstration program de8 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be known as

9 an ‘‘Ed-Flex Partnership State’’.

10 (3) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For the purpose of this

11 subsection the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State

12 that waives State statutory or regulatory require13 ments relating to education while holding local edu14 cational agencies or schools within the State that are

15 affected by such waivers accountable for the per16 formance of the students who are affected by such

17 waivers.

18 (4) STATE APPLICATION.—(A) Each State edu19 cational agency desiring to participate in the edu20 cation flexibility demonstration program under this

21 subsection shall submit an application to the Sec22 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing

23 such information as the Secretary may reasonably

24 require. Each such application shall demonstrate
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1 that the eligible State has adopted an educational

2 flexibility plan for the State that includes—

3 (i) a description of the process the State

4 educational agency will use to evaluate applica5 tions from local educational agencies or schools

6 requesting waivers of—

7 (I) Federal statutory or regulatory re8 quirements described in paragraph (2)(A);

9 and

10 (II) State statutory or regulatory re11 quirements relating to education; and

12 (ii) a detailed description of the State stat13 utory and regulatory requirements relating to

14 education that the State educational agency will

15 waive.

16 (B) The Secretary may approve an application

17 described in subparagraph (A) only if the Secretary

18 determines that such application demonstrates sub19 stantial promise of assisting the State educational

20 agency and affected local educational agencies and

21 schools within such State in carrying out com22 prehensive educational reform, after considering—

23 (i) the comprehensiveness and quality of

24 the educational flexibility plan described in sub25 paragraph (A);
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1 (ii) the ability of such plan to ensure ac2 countability for the activities and goals de3 scribed in such plan;

4 (iii) the significance of the State statutory

5 or regulatory requirements relating to education

6 that will be waived; and

7 (iv) the quality of the State educational

8 agency’s process for approving applications for

9 waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory re10 quirements described in paragraph (2)(A) and

11 for monitoring and evaluating the results of

12 such waivers.

13 (5) LOCAL APPLICATION.—(A) Each local edu14 cational agency or school requesting a waiver of a

15 Federal statutory or regulatory requirement de16 scribed in paragraph (2)(A) and any relevant State

17 statutory or regulatory requirement from a State

18 educational agency shall submit an application to

19 the State educational agency at such time, in such

20 manner, and containing such information as the

21 State educational agency may reasonably require.

22 Each such application shall—

23 (i) indicate each Federal program affected

24 and the statutory or regulatory requirement

25 that will be waived;
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1 (ii) describe the purposes and overall ex2 pected results of waiving each such require3 ment;

4 (iii) describe for each school year specific,

5 measurable, educational goals for each local

6 educational agency or school affected by the

7 proposed waiver; and

8 (iv) explain why the waiver will assist the

9 local educational agency or school in reaching

10 such goals.

11 (B) A State educational agency shall evaluate

12 an application submitted under subparagraph (A) in

13 accordance with the State’s educational flexibility

14 plan described in paragraph (4)(A).

15 (C) A State educational agency shall not ap16 prove an application for a waiver under this para17 graph unless—

18 (i) the local educational agency or school

19 requesting such waiver has developed a local re20 form plan that is applicable to such agency or

21 school, respectively; and

22 (ii) the waiver of Federal statutory or reg23 ulatory requirements described in paragraph

24 (2)(A) will assist the local educational agency

25 or school in reaching its educational goals.
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1 (6) MONITORING.—Each State educational

2 agency participating in the demonstration program

3 under this subsection shall annually monitor the ac4 tivities of local educational agencies and schools re5 ceiving waivers under this subsection and shall sub6 mit an annual report regarding such monitoring to

7 the Secretary.

8 (7) DURATION OF FEDERAL WAIVERS.—(A)

9 The Secretary shall not approve the application of a

10 State educational agency under paragraph (4) for a

11 period exceeding 5 years, except that the Secretary

12 may extend such period if the Secretary determines

13 that such agency’s authority to grant waivers has

14 been effective in enabling such State or affected

15 local educational agencies or schools to carry out

16 their local reform plans.

17 (B) The Secretary shall periodically review the

18 performance of any State educational agency grant19 ing waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory re20 quirements described in paragraph (2)(A) and shall

21 terminate such agency’s authority to grant such

22 waivers if the Secretary determines, after notice and

23 opportunity for hearing, that such agency’s perform24 ance has been inadequate to justify continuation of

25 such authority.
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1 (f) ACCOUNTABILITY.—In deciding whether to extend

2 a request for a waiver under subsection (a)(1), or a State

3 educational agency’s authority to issue waivers under sub4 section (e), the Secretary shall review the progress of the

5 State educational agency, local educational agency, or

6 school affected by such waiver or authority to determine

7 if such agency or school has made progress toward achiev8 ing the desired results described in the application sub9 mitted pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(B)(iii) or

10 (e)(5)(A)(ii).

11 (g) PUBLICATION.—A notice of the Secretary’s deci12 sion to grant waivers under subsection (a)(1) and to au13 thorize State educational agencies to issue waivers under

14 subsection (e) shall be published in the Federal Register

15 and the Secretary shall provide for the dissemination of

16 such notice to State educational agencies, interested par17 ties, including educators, parents, students, advocacy and

18 civil rights organizations, other interested parties, and the

19 public.

20 SEC. 202. EXPANSION OF SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.

21 Section 1114(a)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘if, for the initial year of the schoolwide program’’
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1 and all that follows through the end and inserting a

2 period.

Æ