II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 690 

To support the local decisionmaking functions of local educational agencies 

by limiting the authority of the Secretary of Education to issue regulations, rules, grant conditions, and guidance materials, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2015 

Mr. INHOFE (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To support the local decisionmaking functions of local educational agencies by limiting the authority of the Secretary of Education to issue regulations, rules, grant 

conditions, and guidance materials, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Local School Board 

5 Governance and Flexibility Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the responsibility for education resides with 

2 the States, which have delegated to local school 

3 boards the power and authority to adopt policies, es4 tablish priorities, and provide accountability to direct 

5 the operation of neighborhood schools; 

6 (2) local school boards are held accountable by 

7 local voters to represent the interests of students, 

8 parents, local businesses, civic organizations, tax9 payers, and the community at large in determining, 

10 subject to State laws and policies, the direction, val11 ues, climate, and financial support of the schools in 

12 their community; 

13 (3) the vital national interest in local self-gov14 ernance of local educational agencies has been weak15 ened through Department of Education require16 ments that are either unnecessary to achieve the 

17 specific direction of legislation enacted by Congress, 

18 or that impose unnecessary limits on the flexibility 

19 needed by local educational agencies in order to 

20 meet local, State, and Federal goals in education; 

21 and 

22 (4) to support the local decisionmaking function 

23 of local educational agencies, the Secretary of Edu24 cation should engage only in issuing regulations, 

25 rules, grant conditions, guidance materials, and 


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1 other requirements under the jurisdiction of the De2 partment that are— 

3 (A) specifically required to implement Fed4 eral legislation; and 

5 (B) demonstrated to be educationally, 

6 operationally, and financially within the capac7 ity of local educational agencies to implement. 

8 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY. 

9 Unless specifically authorized by Federal law, the 

10 Secretary may not issue a Federal regulation, rule, grant 

11 condition, guidance material, or other requirement per12 taining to a State educational agency or a local edu13 cational agency that— 

14 (1) conflicts with the power and authority of 

15 the local educational agency delegated by the State 

16 regarding the operation of the schools (including the 

17 school system’s mission and goals, organization, 

18 local budget and budget priorities, education pro19 gram, curriculum, or extra-curricular activities), stu20 dent health services and safety, transportation and 

21 school boundaries, procurement policies, staffing and 

22 personnel policies, capital construction, authority to 

23 levy taxes, issue bonds, and acquire land, and other 

24 functions essential to the daily operation of the 


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1 schools within the jurisdiction of the local edu2 cational agency; 

3 (2) results in additional costs to the local edu4 cational agency for reporting, grant administration, 

5 and general operations, unless fully funded from 

6 Federal funds; 

7 (3) conflicts with the power and authority of 

8 the local educational agency to determine how to en9 gage or act upon community participation and ad10 vice; 

11 (4) imposes requirements on a local educational 

12 agency or State educational agency that would limit 

13 or adversely affect the authority of the local edu14 cational agency or State educational agency to func15 tion as a legislative, executive, or quasi-judicial 

16 agency; 

17 (5) conflicts with the authority of— 

18 (A) a State to determine the appropriate 

19 governance structure of— 

20 (i) the State educational agency; or 

21 (ii) the State’s local educational agen22 cies; or 

23 (B) a State educational agency or local 

24 educational agency to determine the appropriate 

25 governance and management of the schools that 


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1 the State educational agency or local edu2 cational agency serve; 

3 (6) establishes reporting requirements for State 

4 educational agencies or local educational agencies 

5 that duplicate existing Federal requirements or that 

6 are issued without first conducting a fiscal impact 

7 statement related to the costs to State educational 

8 agencies or local educational agencies, as the case 

9 may be, including requests for data and rec10 ommendations from State educational agencies or 

11 local educational agencies and national education or12 ganizations consistent with the provisions of section 

13 4(a); or 

14 (7) places conditions or requirements on a 

15 grant to a State or local educational agency that are 

16 not directly related to, or that do not directly sup17 port, the intent of the specific purpose of the grant 

18 or the legislation authorizing such grant. 

19 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENT REGARDING LOCAL 

20 IMPACT. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—During each fiscal year (begin22 ning with the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which 

23 this Act is enacted), the Secretary of Education shall pro24 vide local educational agencies and the major national edu25 cation organizations, including those representing local 


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1 school boards, local school superintendents, principals, and 

2 teachers, a minimum of 60 days in order to provide writ3 ten comments regarding the local impact of implementing 

4 Federal regulations, rules, grant conditions, guidance ma5 terials, or other requirements for any applicable program 

6 or activity of the Secretary. 

7 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Education shall pre8 pare and publish a report based on the comments received 

9 pursuant to subsection (a), which shall be forwarded to 

10 the chairs and ranking members of the Education and 

11 Workforce Committee of the House of Representatives and 

12 the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee of 

13 the Senate not later than July 1 of each year and shall 

14 be simultaneously posted on the Department of Edu15 cation’s website. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFICIENCY IN IMPLEMENTING FEDERAL PRO17 GRAMS. 

18 (a) ELIMINATING REPORTING DUPLICATIONS.—Not 

19 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

20 Act, the Secretary of Education shall conduct a review of 

21 existing reporting requirements applicable to local edu22 cational agencies resulting from programs and activities 

23 under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education to 

24 determine duplications and make modifications as nec25 essary to eliminate such reporting duplications. 


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1 (b) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not promul2 gate any regulation, rule, guidance material, grant condi3 tion, or other requirement pertaining to a State edu4 cational agency or a local educational agency, without first 

5 taking the following actions: 

6 (1) Requesting data and recommendations from 

7 State educational agencies, local educational agen8 cies, and the major national education organizations 

9 representing chief State school officers, local school 

10 boards, local school superintendents, principals, and 

11 teachers regarding the educational, financial, and 

12 operational costs involved for implementation, and 

13 publishing the data and recommendations provided 

14 upon issuance of such regulation, rule, guidance ma15 terial, grant condition, or other requirement and 

16 posting that information on the Department of Edu17 cation’s website. 

18 (2) Verifying, based on the data set forth in 

19 paragraph (1), that local educational agencies will 

20 have the financial resources and the technical assist21 ance such agencies may need to successfully imple22 ment the regulation, rule, guidance material, grant 

23 condition, or other requirement, including any Fed24 eral requirement that would extend beyond the time 

25 that Federal assistance is available for that purpose. 


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1 (3) Providing State educational agencies, local 

2 educational agencies, and the national education or3 ganizations identified in paragraph (1) with not less 

4 than 60 days notice following the Secretary’s publi5 cation of a notice of intent to issue any regulation, 

6 rule, guidance material, grant condition, or other re7 quirement to respond, unless a shorter time period 

8 is needed to meet an emergency such as a declared 

9 natural disaster. 

10 (4) Ensuring that maximum flexibility is pro11 vided to State educational agencies and local edu12 cational agencies in implementing any regulation, 

13 rule, guidance material, grant condition, or other re14 quirement. 

15 (c) REVIEW AND RESPONSE.—If a local educational 

16 agency or an organization identified in subsection (b) pro17 vides the Secretary of Education with a written statement 

18 demonstrating that a regulation, rule, guidance material, 

19 grant condition, or other requirement does not meet the 

20 substantive or procedural requirements of this Act, the 

21 Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, shall review the 

22 merits of that statement, provide a written response within 

23 60 days, and post that response on the Department of 

24 Education’s website, including a description of what acVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Mar 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S690.IS S690

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1 tion, if any, the Secretary will take to correct any defi2 ciency that the Secretary determines exists. 

Æ 


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