II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 37 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

for State accountability in the provision of access to the core resources 

for learning, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2015 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide for State accountability in the provision of access to the core resources for learning, 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 ‘‘Core Opportunity Re5 sources for Equity and Excellence Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATE AND SCHOOL DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

4 seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 1111— 

6 (A) in subsection (b)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (I) in subparagraph (A), by in9 serting ‘‘that lead to college and ca10 reer readiness by high school gradua11 tion and’’ after ‘‘challenging student 

12 academic achievement standards’’; 

13 and 

14 (II) in subparagraph (D)(i)— 

15 (aa) in subclause (II), by 

16 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi17 colon; and 

18 (bb) by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(IV) lead to college and career 

21 readiness by high school graduation; 

22 and’’; and 

23 (ii) in paragraph (2), by adding at the 

24 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(L) STATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE PRO2 VISION OF ACCESS TO THE CORE RESOURCES

3 FOR LEARNING.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State plan 

5 shall demonstrate that the State has devel6 oped an accountability system that ensures 

7 that the State’s public school system pro8 vides all students within the State an edu9 cation that enables the students to succeed 

10 from the earliest grades, and graduate 

11 from high school ready for college, career, 

12 and citizenship, through— 

13 ‘‘(I) the provision of fair and eq14 uitable access to the core resources 

15 for learning; 

16 ‘‘(II) the provision of educational 

17 services in local educational agencies 

18 that receive funds under this part; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(III) compliance with any final 

21 Federal or State court order in any 

22 matter concerning the adequacy or 

23 equitableness of the State’s public 

24 school system. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CORE RESOURCES FOR LEARN2 ING.—For purposes of this Act, the core 

3 resources for learning are the resources 

4 and student supports necessary to provide 

5 all students the opportunity to develop the 

6 knowledge and skills that lead to college 

7 and career readiness by high school grad8 uation. Such resources shall include the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(I) High-quality instructional 

11 teams, including licensed, creden12 tialed, and profession-ready teachers, 

13 principals, school librarians, coun14 selors, and education support per15 sonnel. 

16 ‘‘(II) Rigorous academic stand17 ards and curricula that lead to college 

18 and career readiness by high school 

19 graduation, including the extent to 

20 which each local educational agency 

21 provides access to such standards and 

22 curricula in a manner that is acces23 sible to all students, including stu24 dents with disabilities and English 

25 learners. 


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1 ‘‘(III) Equitable and instruction2 ally appropriate class sizes. 

3 ‘‘(IV) Up-to-date instructional 

4 materials, technology, and supplies, 

5 including textbooks, computers, mo6 bile devices, and access to broadband. 

7 ‘‘(V) Effective school library pro8 grams. 

9 ‘‘(VI) School facilities and tech10 nology, including physically and envi11 ronmentally sound school buildings 

12 and well-equipped instructional spa13 ces, including laboratories and librar14 ies. 

15 ‘‘(VII) Specialized instruction 

16 support teams, including school coun17 selors, school social workers, school 

18 psychologists, school nurses, and other 

19 qualified professionals involved in pro20 viding assessment, diagnosis, coun21 seling, educational, therapeutic, and 

22 other necessary services (including re23 lated services as that term is defined 

24 in section 602 of the Individuals with 

25 Disabilities Education Act) as part of 


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1 a comprehensive program to meet stu2 dent needs. 

3 ‘‘(VIII) Effective programs for 

4 family and community engagement in 

5 education. 

6 ‘‘(iii) REPORTING.—Each State desir7 ing to receive a grant under this part shall 

8 annually report to the Secretary how the 

9 State is meeting the requirements for pro10 viding equitable access to the core re11 sources for learning as required in clause 

12 (i) and any areas of inequitable access, 

13 plans to address such inequities, and 

14 progress toward eliminating such inequi15 ties. 

16 ‘‘(iv) ACCOUNTABILITY AND REMEDI17 ATION.—A State that fails to make 

18 progress toward eliminating inequities in 

19 access to the core resources for learning as 

20 required in clause (i) identified for 2 or 

21 more consecutive years shall not be eligible 

22 to receive funds under any competitive 

23 grant program authorized under this 

24 Act.’’; and 

25 (B) in subsection (h)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (1)(C)(vii), by strik2 ing ‘‘information on the performance of 

3 local educational agencies in the State re4 garding making adequate yearly progress, 

5 including the number and names of each 

6 school identified for school improvement 

7 under section 1116’’ and inserting ‘‘infor8 mation on the performance of local edu9 cational agencies in the State in providing 

10 fair and equitable access to the core re11 sources for learning and the number and 

12 names of each school and each agency 

13 identified for improvement under section 

14 1116 or under the terms of any waiver 

15 granted under section 9401’’; 

16 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B)— 

17 (I) in clause (i)— 

18 (aa) in subclause (I), by 

19 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi20 colon; and 

21 (bb) by adding at the end 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(III) information that shows 

24 how students served by the local edu25 cational agency are provided access to 


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1 the core resources for learning com2 pared to students in the State as a 

3 whole; and’’; 

4 (II) in clause (ii)— 

5 (aa) in subclause (I), by 

6 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi7 colon; 

8 (bb) in subclause (II), by 

9 striking the period at the end 

10 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (cc) by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(III) information that shows 

14 how the school’s students are provided 

15 access to the core resources for learn16 ing compared to students in the local 

17 educational agency and the State as a 

18 whole.’’; 

19 (iii) in paragraph (4)— 

20 (I) in subparagraph (F), by strik21 ing ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

22 (II) in subparagraph (G), by 

23 striking the period at the end and in24 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (III) by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(H) the number and names of each local 

4 educational agency identified for improvement 

5 under section 1116 or under the terms of any 

6 waiver granted under section 9401, the reason 

7 each such agency was so identified, and the 

8 measures taken to address the achievement 

9 problems of each such agency.’’; 

10 (2) in section 1116(c), by striking paragraph 

11 (3) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFICATION OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

13 AGENCY FOR IMPROVEMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall identify 

15 for improvement— 

16 ‘‘(i) any local educational agency that, 

17 for 2 consecutive years, including the pe18 riod immediately prior to the date of enact19 ment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 

20 2001, failed to make adequate yearly 

21 progress as defined in the State’s plan 

22 under section 1111(b)(2); or 

23 ‘‘(ii) any local educational identified 

24 under the terms of a waiver granted under 

25 section 9401. 


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1 ‘‘(B) INTERVENTION IN LOCAL EDU2 CATIONAL AGENCIES IDENTIFIED FOR IM3 PROVEMENT.—With respect to each local edu4 cational agency identified for improvement by a 

5 State under this section or under the terms of 

6 any waiver granted under section 9401, the 

7 State— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall identify any inequities in ac9 cess to the core resources for learning in 

10 the schools served by the agency; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) in partnership with such agency, 

12 shall develop and implement a plan to ad13 dress identified inequities in access to the 

14 core resources for learning.’’. 

15 (b) RESTRICTIONS ON WAIVERS.—Section 9401(c) of 

16 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 7861(c)) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (9)(C), by striking ‘‘or’’ after 

19 the semicolon; 

20 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 

21 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(11) accountability for the provision of the 

24 core resources for learning.’’. 

Æ 


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