I

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4864

To provide grants to local educational agencies to allow such agencies to

promote certain education initiatives.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 20, 1998

Mr. DREIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide grants to local educational agencies to allow such

agencies to promote certain education initiatives.

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 ‘‘Education Bill of

5 Rights Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

7 The Secretary of Education (referred to in this Act

8 as the ‘‘Secretary’’) is authorized to award grants to local

9 educational agencies to allow such agencies to promote the

10 education initiatives described in section 3.
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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY.

2 (a) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency that

3 desires to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an

4 application to the Secretary at such time and in such form

5 as the Secretary may reasonably require.

6 (b) ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA.—To be eligible to receive

7 a grant under this Act, a local educational agency shall

8 demonstrate that such agency has developed the following

9 initiatives:

10 (1) CHARTER SCHOOL.—A charter school pro11 gram to allow parents greater choice in selecting the

12 appropriate educational setting for their child.

13 (2) PARENTAL CHOICE.—A school choice pro14 gram that allows parents the ability to select a pub15 lic school located within the local educational agency

16 that best meets the educational needs of their child.

17 (3) VOCATIONAL AND ACADEMIC OPPORTUNI18 TIES.—A program that allows parents of a second19 ary school student to choose a vocational or college

20 preparatory program for their child.

21 (4) EARLY READING PROGRAMS.—An elemen22 tary reading program to ensure that all students can

23 read by the third grade.

24 (5) SAFE AND DRUG-FREE ENVIRONMENT.—A

25 program to provide a safe and drug-free environ26 ment at school.
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1 (6) STANDARDIZED TESTING PROGRAM.—A lo2 cally developed standardized testing program to en3 sure that students are achieving at a high level.

4 (7) CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PANELS.—

5 Curriculum development panels composed of teach6 ers and parents to ensure that students learn the

7 skills necessary to succeed.

8 (8) INCREASED TEACHING STANDARDS.—A pro9 gram to improve or increase the standards for teach10 ers to ensure teachers have the skills necessary to

11 assist students effectively.

12 (9) MERIT PAY SYSTEM FOR TEACHERS.—A

13 merit pay system to reward teachers who meet or

14 exceed performance criteria.

15 (10) TEACHING EXCELLENCE.—A program to

16 ensure that the most qualified teachers are hired, in17 cluding teachers with expertise in the workplace.

18 SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—

20 (1) ALLOCATION.—A local educational agency

21 that meets the eligibility criteria described in section

22 3 shall receive, subject to the availability of appro23 priations, an amount that equals the total amount

24 spent by the Federal Government for fiscal year

25 1998 for elementary and secondary education di-
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1 vided by the total number of public schools in the

2 country that receive such education funds for such

3 fiscal year.

4 (2) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the sums made

5 available under this Act for any fiscal year are insuf6 ficient to pay the full amount that each local edu7 cational agency that meets the eligibility criteria de8 scribed in section 3 is eligible to receive under para9 graph (1) for such year, the Secretary shall ratably

10 reduce such amount for such year.

11 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A local edu12 cational agency that receives a grant award under this Act

13 may use not more than 5 percent of such award for admin14 istrative expenses.

15 SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY.

16 Each local educational agency that receives a grant

17 award under this Act shall submit a report annually to

18 the Secretary that evaluates the effectiveness of the initia19 tives described under section 3 and any change in parental

20 involvement as a result of such programs.

21 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as

23 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2000 through

24 2004 to carry out this Act.

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