II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 901 

To provide States that meet certain requirements with waivers of the adequate 

yearly progress provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

Act of 1965. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2005 

Mr. ALLEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To provide States that meet certain requirements with waivers of the adequate yearly progress provisions of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

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 ‘‘Flexibility for Cham5 pion Schools Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE WAIVERS. 

7 Section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 
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•S 901 IS

1 ‘‘(L) WAIVERS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

3 shall grant each State that meets the re4 quirements of clause (ii) a waiver of all 

5 provisions of this Act related to adequate 

6 yearly progress. 

7 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The require8 ments referred to in clause (i) are as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(I) The State establishes aca11 demic content standards in reading, 

12 writing, and mathematics, and tests in 

13 such subjects— 

14 ‘‘(aa) in reading and mathe15 matics, in grades 3 through 8 

16 and at least once in secondary 

17 school; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) in writing, at least 

19 once in elementary school, middle 

20 school, and secondary school. 

21 ‘‘(II) The State establishes aca22 demic content standards in the cat23 egories of science, and United States 

24 history and civics, and tests at least 

25 once in each such category in elemen-
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1 tary school, middle school, and sec2 ondary school. 

3 ‘‘(III) The State makes available 

4 to the public the results of all such 

5 testing, in the aggregate and 

6 disaggregated by groups of students, 

7 as determined under section 

8 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elemen9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 

10 1965 (except in a case in which the 

11 number of students in a group is in12 sufficient to yield statistically reliable 

13 information or the results would re14 veal personally identifiable informa15 tion about an individual student), 

16 for— 

17 ‘‘(aa) each local educational 

18 agency located within the State; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(bb) each elementary 

21 school, middle school, and sec22 ondary school served by such 

23 local educational agency. 

24 ‘‘(IV) The State sets pass-rate 

25 goals on such tests that each school 
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1 and local educational agency shall 

2 meet. These goals shall be determined 

3 by the State educational agency and 

4 shall not be subject to change or 

5 modification by the Department as 

6 part of the process of granting a waiv7 er under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(V) The State shall determine 

9 the conditions under which students 

10 with disabilities and students who are 

11 limited English proficient take State 

12 tests or alternative assessments. Such 

13 determinations by the State shall com14 ply with the Individuals with Disabil15 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 

16 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(VI) The State holds schools 

18 and local educational agencies ac19 countable for meeting its pass-rate 

20 goals. The State shall take actions to 

21 address achievement gaps on State 

22 tests affecting groups of students, as 

23 determined under section 

24 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the Elemen25 tary and Secondary Education Act of 
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1 1965. The State shall determine the 

2 consequences for schools and local 

3 educational agencies that fail to meet 

4 the pass-rate goals set by the State, 

5 and the State’s determination of con6 sequences shall not be subject to 

7 change or modification by the Depart8 ment as part of the process of grant9 ing a waiver under this subparagraph. 

10 ‘‘(VII) The State shall determine 

11 goals for secondary school graduation 

12 rates and a State’s determination of 

13 the State’s goals and the types of di14 plomas the State issues shall not be 

15 reviewable by the Department.’’.

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