I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1687

To provide financial assistance to eligible local educational agencies to improve

rural education, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 2, 1993

Mr. WILLIAMS (for himself, Mr. DE LA GARZA, Mr. FAZIO, Mr. GUNDERSON,

Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PARKER, Mr. WISE, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. VOLKMER, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota,

Mr. OLVER, and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To provide financial assistance to eligible local educational

agencies to improve rural education, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Rural Schools of America (RSA) Act of 1993’’.

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents is

7 as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Statement of purpose.
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TITLE I—RURAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

Sec. 101. Authorization.

Sec. 102. Allotment of funds.

Sec. 103. Application.

Sec. 104. Planning period.

Sec. 105. Uses of funds.

Sec. 106. Accountability.

Sec. 107. Incentive awards to exemplary programs.

Sec. 108. Regulatory assessment.

Sec. 109. Local advisory group.

Sec. 110. Special rules.

TITLE II—SCHOOL BUILDING REPAIR AND RENOVATION

Sec. 201. Purpose; authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 202. Allotment of funds.

Sec. 203. Application.

Sec. 204. Repair and renovation.

Sec. 205. Environment and safety.

Sec. 206. Waiver.

Sec. 207. Application of the Davis-Bacon Act.

TITLE III—EVALUATION OF RESULTS

Subtitle A—Assistant Secretary

Sec. 301. Assistant Secretary for rural education.

Subtitle B—Rural School Research and Evaluation

Sec. 311. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 312. Establishment; operation; uses of funds.

Sec. 313. Local rural school evaluation.

Sec. 314. Local applications.

TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 401. Interagency Council and Rural Schools.

Sec. 402. White House Conference on Rural Education.

Sec. 403. Federal funds to supplement not supplant non-Federal funds.

Sec. 404. Definitions.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) the ability of America’s rural school systems

4 to meet the National Education Goals will contribute

5 to the economic competitiveness and academic stand6 ing of the Nation in the world community;
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1 (2) the quality of public education in the rural

2 areas of the Nation has a direct effect on the eco3 nomic development of the rural communities of the

4 Nation;

5 (3) the success of rural schools in boosting the

6 achievement of minority youth attending such

7 schools will determine the ability of the Nation to

8 close the gap between the ‘‘haves and have-nots’’ in

9 society;

10 (4) the cost to America’s businesses to provide

11 remedial education to high school graduates is ap12 proximately $30,000,000,000 per year;

13 (5) approximately one-third of the Nation’s

14 work force will be minority by the year 2000;

15 (6) rural schools enroll a disproportionately

16 large share of the Nation’s poor and ‘‘at-risk’’

17 youth;

18 (7) approximately 60 percent of the Nation’s

19 public school districts are rural with a population of

20 less than 2,500;

21 (8) approximately one out of every four of

22 America’s rural children are living below the poverty

23 line;
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1 (9) the academic performance of students in the

2 average rural school system is below that of students

3 in most other suburban school systems;

4 (10) rural preschoolers have less access to early

5 childhood development programs than other children;

6 (11) shortages of teachers for rural school sys7 tems is greater than in other kinds of school sys8 tems;

9 (12) a declining number of rural high school

10 graduates are pursuing postsecondary education op11 portunities;

12 (13) the average age of rural public school

13 buildings is more than 45 years old and are often in

14 serious disrepair, creating poor and demoralizing

15 working and learning conditions;

16 (14) solving the challenges facing the Nation’s

17 rural schools will require the concerted and collabo18 rative efforts of all levels of government and all sec19 tors of the community;

20 (15) State and Federal funding of rural schools

21 has not adequately reflected need; and

22 (16) Federal funding that is well targeted, flexi23 ble and accountable would contribute significantly to

24 addressing the comprehensive needs of rural schools.
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1 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

2 It is the purpose of this Act to provide financial as3 sistance for those rural schools most in need to encourage

4 the comprehensive restructuring of America’s rural

5 schools, the appropriate use of telecommunications tech6 nologies for learning and to support innovative programs

7 which improve performance through programs and

8 projects designed to—

9 (1) assist rural schools in meeting National

10 Education Goals;

11 (2) encourage rural schools to engage in school

12 reform;

13 (3) develop pilot projects that experiment with

14 innovative ways to teach rural public school children

15 more effectively;

16 (4) improve the educational and social well

17 being of rural public school children;

18 (5) close the achievement gap between children

19 attending rural schools and other children, while im20 proving the achievement level of all children nation21 ally;

22 (6) renovate and repair aging rural school

23 buildings and facilities;

24 (7) conduct coordinated research on rural edu25 cation problems, solutions, promising practices, and

26 distance learning technologies;
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1 (8) improve the Nation’s global economic and

2 educational competitiveness by improving the coun3 try’s rural schools;

4 (9) encourage community, parental and busi5 ness collaboration in the improvement of rural

6 schools;

7 (10) review regulations the simplification of

8 which might improve the achievement of rural school

9 children;

10 (11) encourage rural school consortia for the

11 purpose of increasing efficiency and course offerings;

12 (12) encourage a positive role for rural public

13 schools in local rural entrepreneurship and the iden14 tification of rural community economic development

15 opportunities;

16 (13) encourage ‘‘community as school’’ con17 cepts, which include the role public schools can play

18 to assist with rural community economic revitaliza19 tion; and

20 (14) provide meaningful inservice opportunities

21 for rural public school teachers.
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1 TITLE I—RURAL SCHOOL

2 IMPROVEMENT

3 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated

5 $1,500,000,000 for 1994 and such sums as may be nec6 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998,

7 1999, and 2000 to carry out the provisions of this title.

8 SEC. 102. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

9 (a) RESERVATION.—From the amount appropriated

10 or otherwise made available to carry out the provisions of

11 this title for any fiscal year after the first fiscal year in

12 which the Secretary awards allotments to State edu13 cational agencies under this title, the Secretary shall re14 serve 5 percent of such funds to provide competitive

15 awards in accordance with section 107.

16 (b) ALLOTMENTS.—

17 (1) FEDERAL ALLOTMENT.—From the remain18 der of the funds not reserved under subsection (a),

19 the Secretary shall allot to each State educational

20 agency with an approved application in each fiscal

21 year an amount which bears the same relationship to

22 such funds as the amount all eligible local edu23 cational agencies with approved applications in the

24 State were allocated under sections 1005 and 1006

25 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
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1 1965 in the preceding fiscal year bears to the total

2 amount received under such sections in such preced3 ing fiscal year by all eligible local educational agen4 cies with approved applications in all States.

5 (2) STATE ALLOTMENT.—

6 (A) RESERVATION.—From amounts re7 ceived pursuant to paragraph (1), each State

8 educational agency may reserve 1 percent of

9 such amount for administrative expenses.

10 (B) FORMULA.—From the remainder of

11 amounts received pursuant to paragraph (1) in

12 each fiscal year, each State educational agency

13 shall allot to each eligible local educational

14 agency with an approved application an amount

15 which bears the same relationship to such funds

16 as the amount such eligible local educational

17 agency was allocated under sections 1005 and

18 1006 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu19 cation Act of 1965 in the preceding fiscal year

20 bears to the total amount received under such

21 sections in such preceding fiscal year by all eli22 gible local educational agencies with approved

23 applications in the State.

24 (C) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more

25 than 5 percent of any eligible local educational
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1 agency’s allotment under this subsection may be

2 used for administrative costs.

3 (c) REALLOTMENT.—Any amounts available for real4 lotment pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) shall be real5 lotted in the same manner as the original allotments were

6 made.

7 (d) RESERVATION FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANI8 ZATIONS AND NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIPS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts allotted

10 under subsection (b)(2) for any fiscal year, each eli11 gible local educational agency shall reserve not more

12 than 5 percent to make as many grants as prac13 ticable for activities in accordance with the National

14 Education Goals and described in section 105 to—

15 (A) community-based organizations; or

16 (B) nonprofit partnerships among the eligi17 ble local educational agency, local colleges or

18 universities, or area-wide collaboratives with

19 private sector businesses who enter into a writ20 ten agreement with the eligible local educational

21 agency.

22 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—Grants awarded pursuant

23 to paragraph (1) shall be of sufficient size, scope

24 and quality to be effective.
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1 SEC. 103. APPLICATION.

2 (a) STATE APPLICATION.—

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

4 agency desiring to receive an allotment in any fiscal

5 year to carry out the provisions of this title shall

6 submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

7 in such manner, and accompanied by such informa8 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require.

9 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

10 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

11 (A) contain such information as the Sec12 retary may reasonably require in order to make

13 the allotment described in section 102(b)(1);

14 (B) inform the Secretary regarding any eli15 gible local educational agency that fails to com16 ply with the provisions of this title; and

17 (C) contain such other information or as18 surances as the Secretary determines necessary

19 to ensure compliance with the provisions of this

20 title.

21 (b) LOCAL APPLICATION.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible local educational

23 agency desiring to receive an allotment to carry out

24 the provisions of this title, shall—
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1 (A) develop and prepare an application

2 with the local advisory group in accordance with

3 section 109 of this Act;

4 (B) submit the application described in

5 subparagraph (A) to the State educational

6 agency at such time, in such manner and ac7 companied by such information as the State

8 educational agency may reasonably require.

9 (2) CONTENTS OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN10 CY APPLICATION.—Each application submitted by an

11 eligible local educational agency pursuant to para12 graph (1) shall include a description of—

13 (A) the ranking of all schools in the eligi14 ble local educational agency by achievement,

15 poverty, and racial isolation and how such

16 schools will be served in accordance with section

17 110(a);

18 (B) the community served by the eligible

19 local educational agency and the effects of the

20 community on the educational conditions within

21 the schools served by the eligible local edu22 cational agency;

23 (C) the collaboration in program planning

24 with the local advisory group described in sec25 tion 109;
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1 (D) the goals selected by the eligible local

2 educational agency pursuant to section 106(b),

3 the rationale for choosing such goals over oth4 ers, and a description of whether the goals se5 lected differ between elementary and secondary

6 schools in the district;

7 (E) how funds received under this title will

8 be used to meet the National Educational Goals

9 selected by the eligible local educational agency;

10 (F) how promising or successful models or

11 programs will be replicated in designing activi12 ties assisted under this title;

13 (G) which federally funded programs and

14 activities are being expanded under this title;

15 and

16 (H) the statistical indicators and other cri17 teria that the eligible local educational agency

18 will use to measure progress toward meeting

19 National Education Goals, and a description of

20 what the local educational agency has done to

21 ensure that any assessments used to measure

22 such progress will not have a negative effect on

23 minority or language minority students;
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1 (3) DURATION.—Except as provided in section

2 106, the application described in paragraph (1) may

3 be for a period of not more than 3 years.

4 (c) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND NON5 PROFIT PARTNERSHIPS.—Any community-based organiza6 tion or nonprofit partnership described in section 102(d)

7 desiring to receive a grant from an eligible local edu8 cational agency pursuant to such section shall—

9 (1) prepare an application for approval by the

10 local advisory group described in section 109 and

11 submit such application to the eligible local edu12 cational agency;

13 (2) describe in the application the collaborative

14 efforts undertaken with the eligible local educational

15 agency in designing a program to meet the purposes

16 of the Act; and

17 (3) describe in the application how funds will be

18 used to help meet the education goals selected by the

19 eligible local educational agency pursuant to sub20 section (b) of this section.

21 SEC. 104. PLANNING PERIOD.

22 Any eligible local educational agency requiring addi23 tional planning efforts to meet the provisions of this title

24 may use the first 6 months of the initial program year

25 for planning purposes, subject to approval by the State
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1 educational agency, except that no more than 15 percent

2 of the first year’s allotment shall be used for such pur3 poses. A written report of the results of the plan shall be

4 submitted to the State educational agency.

5 SEC. 105. USES OF FUNDS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds allotted under section

7 102(b)(2) shall be used by eligible local educational agen8 cies, or community-based organizations or nonprofit part9 nerships described in section 102(d) to meet national edu10 cation goals through programs designed to—

11 (1) increase the academic achievement of rural

12 school children to at least the national average, in13 cluding such education reform initiatives as—

14 (A) effective schools programs;

15 (B) tutoring, mentoring, and other activi16 ties to improve academic achievement directly;

17 (C) supplementary academic instruction;

18 (D) efforts to improve problem-solving and

19 higher-order critical thinking skills;

20 (E) programs to increase student motiva21 tion for learning;

22 (F) efforts to lengthen the school day,

23 school year or reduce class sizes; and
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1 (G) encouraging the establishment of rural

2 school consortia to increase efficiency and

3 course offerings; and

4 (2) ensure the readiness of all rural children for

5 school, including—

6 (A) full workday, full calendar-year com7 prehensive early childhood development pro8 grams;

9 (B) parenting classes and parent involve10 ment activities;

11 (C) activities designed to coordinate pre12 kindergarten and child care programs;

13 (D) efforts to integrate developmentally

14 appropriate prekindergarten services into the

15 overall school program;

16 (E) upgrading the qualifications of early

17 childhood education staff and standards for

18 programs;

19 (F) collaborative efforts with health and

20 social service agencies to provide comprehensive

21 services and to facilitate the transition from

22 home to school;

23 (G) establishment of comprehensive child

24 care centers in high schools for student-parents

25 and their children; and
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1 (H) augmenting early childhood develop2 ment programs to meet the special educational

3 and cultural needs of limited-English proficient

4 and migrant preschool children;

5 (3) increase the graduation rates of rural stu6 dents to at least the national average, including—

7 (A) dropout prevention activities and sup8 port services for students at-risk of dropping

9 out of school;

10 (B) re-entry, outreach and support activi11 ties to recruit students who have dropped out of

12 school to return to school;

13 (C) development of systemwide policies and

14 practices that encourage students to stay in

15 school;

16 (D) efforts to provide individualized stu17 dent support, such as mentoring programs;

18 (E) collaborative activities between schools,

19 parents, community groups, agencies and insti20 tutions of higher education aimed at preventing

21 individuals from dropping out of school;

22 (F) programs to increase student attend23 ance; and

24 (G) alternative programs for students, es25 pecially bilingual, special education and migrant
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1 students, who have dropped out of school or are

2 at-risk of dropping out of school;

3 (4) prepare rural school graduates to enter

4 higher education, pursue careers and exercise their

5 responsibilities as citizens, including—

6 (A) activities designed to increase the

7 number and percentages of students, enrolling

8 in postsecondary educational institutions after

9 graduation from secondary schools;

10 (B) in-school youth employment, vocational

11 education, and career education programs that

12 improve the transition from school to work;

13 (C) activities designed in collaboration with

14 colleges and universities to assist rural school

15 graduates in completing higher education;

16 (D) activities designed in conjunction with

17 community colleges to provide a K–14 experi18 ence for rural school secondary school students;

19 (E) efforts to increase voter registration

20 among eligible high school students attending

21 schools served by eligible local educational agen22 cies;

23 (F) activities designed to promote commu24 nity service and volunteerism among students,

25 parents, teachers, and the community;
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1 (G) civic education, law-related education

2 and other programs designed to enhance re3 sponsible citizenship and understanding of the

4 political process; and

5 (H) encouraging a positive role for rural

6 public schools in local rural entrepreneurship

7 and the identification of rural community eco8 nomic development opportunities;

9 (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers, includ10 ing—

11 (A) school-based management projects and

12 activities;

13 (B) programs designed to increase the sta14 tus of the teaching profession;

15 (C) alternative routes to certification for

16 qualified individuals from business, the military

17 and other fields;

18 (D) efforts to recruit and retain teachers

19 in critical shortage areas, including early child20 hood teachers, mathematics and science teach21 ers, and special education and bilingual teach22 ers;

23 (E) upgrading the skills of existing class24 room teachers through the use of year-round,
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1 systematic, comprehensive inservice training

2 programs;

3 (F) upgrading the skills of teacher aides

4 and paraprofessionals to assist such individuals

5 in becoming certified teachers;

6 (G) efforts specifically designed to increase

7 the number of minority teachers in rural

8 schools;

9 (H) programs designed to ‘‘grow your

10 own’’ teachers;

11 (I) incentives for teachers to work in rural

12 schools;

13 (J) collaborative activities with colleges

14 and universities to revise and upgrade teacher

15 training programs to meet the needs of rural

16 school students; and

17 (K) training activities for the purpose of

18 incorporating distance learning technologies;

19 (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol

20 among rural students, and to enhance the physical

21 and emotional health of such students, including—

22 (A) activities designed to improve the self23 esteem and self-worth of rural students;
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1 (B) the provision of health care services

2 and other social services and the coordination of

3 such services with other health care providers;

4 (C) programs designed to improve safety

5 and discipline and reduce in-school violence and

6 vandalism;

7 (D) activities that begin in the early

8 grades and are designed to prevent drug and al9 cohol abuse and smoking among students;

10 (E) collaborative activities with other agen11 cies, businesses, and community groups to dis12 courage the advertisement and glorification of

13 drugs and alcohol;

14 (F) efforts to enhance health education

15 and nutrition education; and

16 (G) alternative schools, and schools-within17 schools programs, including bilingual, migrant

18 and special education programs for students

19 with special needs.

20 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Funds allotted under section

21 102(b)(2) may be used by eligible local educational agen22 cies, community-based organizations, or nonprofit partner23 ships described in section 102(d) for the planning, devel24 opment, operation, or expansion of programs and activities
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1 which are designed to assist rural schools in meeting Na2 tional Education Goals, and may include—

3 (1) training of teachers and other educational

4 personnel in subject areas, or instructional tech5 nology and methods that would improve the delivery

6 of services in rural settings in any of the National

7 Education Goal areas, including staff development

8 efforts which emphasize multicultural, gender and

9 disability bias-free curricula;

10 (2) coordination and collaboration with other

11 rural agencies, including State rural development

12 councils, child care organizations, universities or the

13 private sector;

14 (3) parental involvement and outreach efforts

15 and other activities designed to enhance parental en16 couragement of student learning;

17 (4) guidance counseling, psychological, social

18 work, and other support services that contribute to

19 progress in achieving national education goals;

20 (5) efforts to acquire and improve access to

21 educational technology, including distance learning

22 technologies;

23 (6) programs to serve homeless children, deseg24 regating children, immigrants, migrants, or other

25 highly mobile populations, even if such individuals
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1 do not attend a rural project school assisted under

2 this title;

3 (7) efforts to improve, reform and strengthen

4 the curriculum, especially efforts to enhance critical

5 thinking skills among rural students, and efforts to

6 coordinate services across grade levels; and

7 (8) other activities designed to assist in achiev8 ing the national education goals.

9 (c) PRIORITY.—Each local educational agency sub10 mitting an application under this section shall give priority

11 in designing the program assisted under this title to activi12 ties that replicate successful efforts in other local edu13 cational agencies or expand successful programs within

14 the eligible local educational agency.

15 SEC. 106. ACCOUNTABILITY.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The State educational agency

17 may award an allotment under this title to an eligible local

18 educational agency to enable such an agency to operate

19 a program under this title for a period of not more than

20 3 years. If an eligible local educational agency receiving

21 an allotment under this title meets the accountability re22 quirements described in subsection (b) at the end of 3

23 years and the requirements described in subsection (c) at

24 the end of each year, as determined by the State edu25 cational agency, such agency shall be eligible to continue
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1 the project with funds under this title for an additional

2 3 years if such agency so desires.

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS TO MOVE TOWARD NATIONAL

4 EDUCATION GOALS.—

5 (1) PROGRAM CONTINUATION.—If, after 3 years

6 of receiving an allotment under this title, an eligible

7 local educational agency is able to demonstrate to

8 the satisfaction of the State educational agency that

9 it has increased the achievement within the lowest 2

10 quartiles of students in schools assisted under this

11 title as measured by the statistical indicators and

12 other criteria specified in the application in compari13 son to the year prior to the initiation of the project,

14 then such agency shall be eligible to continue the

15 project with funds under this title for an additional

16 3 years upon reapplication under section 103.

17 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—If, after 3 years of receiv18 ing an allotment under this title, an eligible local

19 educational agency is able to demonstrate progress

20 on meeting at least 3 other National Education

21 Goals as measured by the criteria described in para22 graph (3), then such agency shall be deemed to have

23 met the requirements of paragraph (1) so long as

24 the average achievement level of the schools assisted
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1 under this title did not decline in any of the 3 pre2 vious school years.

3 (3) CRITERIA.—For purposes of paragraph (2),

4 the criteria are:

5 (A) The number or percentage of preschool

6 children served by the eligible local educational

7 agency is greater than the average such number

8 or percentage in the 3 previous school years.

9 (B) The secondary school graduation rate

10 in the eligible local educational agency is great11 er than the average such rate for the 3 previous

12 school years.

13 (C) The percentage of secondary school

14 graduates in the eligible local educational agen15 cy enrolled in postsecondary education is great16 er than such percentage for the 3 previous

17 school years.

18 (D) The incidence of discipline, drug-relat19 ed or in-school crime in the eligible local edu20 cational agency is less than the average such in21 cidence in the 3 previous school years.

22 (c) COLLECTION OF DATA AND CERTIFICATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible local edu24 cational agency, community-based organization, or

25 nonprofit partnership described in section 102(d) re-
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1 ceiving an allotment under this title shall annually

2 collect and submit to the State educational agency

3 data based on the statistical indicators and other

4 criteria described in the application submitted by

5 such eligible local educational agency for the pur6 poses of monitoring progress in achieving the Na7 tional Education Goals in accordance with para8 graph (2). Such data shall include multiple measures

9 or indicators of each variable, and may take into

10 consideration the mobility of students in the schools

11 served under this title or other special factors.

12 (2) CERTIFICATION.—

13 (A) Each eligible local educational agency

14 receiving an allotment pursuant to section

15 102(b)(2) shall annually certify to the State

16 educational agency that such eligible local edu17 cational agency has—

18 (i) complied with the provisions of sec19 tion 106(c); and

20 (ii) made progress toward meeting na21 tional education goals and the goals de22 scribed in section 103(b)(2)(D).

23 (B) The certification described in subpara24 graph (A) shall be reviewed by an independent
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1 educational performance auditor for compliance

2 with clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A).

3 SEC. 107. INCENTIVE AWARDS TO EXEMPLARY PROGRAMS.

4 From amounts reserved pursuant to section 102(a)

5 or otherwise made available, the Secretary is authorized

6 to make competitive awards to eligible local educational

7 agencies on behalf of individual schools participating in

8 a program assisted under this title which demonstrate to

9 the satisfaction of the Secretary at least 3 of the following:

10 (1) Unusual or exemplary progress in achieving

11 the National Education Goals through programs de12 scribed in section 105.

13 (2) Exemplary or unusually effective collabo14 rative arrangements between the schools, commu15 nity-based organizations, agencies, parent groups,

16 colleges and businesses.

17 (3) Identification, review and removal of poten18 tial barriers to student performance in the National

19 Education Goal areas, such as suspensions and ex20 pulsions, in-grade retentions, ability grouping, and

21 lack of access to course offerings in prealgebra, in22 troductory algebra, higher mathematics, science, for23 eign languages, and critical thinking skills.
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1 (4) Substantial expansion of the hours schools

2 assisted under this title remain open for community

3 use or student after-school recreation.

4 SEC. 108. REGULATORY ASSESSMENT.

5 (a) REPORT ON RURAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS.—In order

6 to assist eligible local educational agencies under this Act

7 in improving the performance of the school children en8 rolled in the schools served by such agencies, the Secretary

9 shall, not later than January 1, 1995, prepare a report

10 on the impact of Federal regulations, guidelines and poli11 cies on rural public schools.

12 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report shall ana13 lyze the impact of Federal legal, regulatory, policy and or14 ganizational requirements on the time and resources that

15 eligible local educational agencies assisted under this Act

16 have for educating students, including fiscal resources,

17 staff time, facilities, instructional equipment, and services.

18 The report shall make recommendations on how best to

19 simplify Federal regulations, guidelines and policies so

20 that more resources can be devoted to improving rural

21 school performance. The report shall also identify the reg22 ulations whose waiver might be used as incentives or re23 wards for unusual progress toward meeting National Edu24 cation Goals.
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1 (c) SPECIFIC ISSUES FOR ANALYSIS.—In preparing

2 the report required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall

3 analyze—

4 (1) the effect of regulatory requirements on

5 local program flexibility and management within eli6 gible local educational agencies;

7 (2) the effect of regulatory requirements on the

8 size, cost and composition of administrative practices

9 within eligible local educational agencies;

10 (3) the extent to which regulatory requirements

11 are duplicative or contradictory;

12 (4) the amount of time and resources that

13 school administrators and teachers must spend re14 sponding to data requests and reporting require15 ments pursuant to Federal law;

16 (5) the extent to which regulatory requirements

17 are related to instructional rather than

18 noninstructional practices in eligible local edu19 cational agencies;

20 (6) the relationship between specific regulatory

21 requirements and the educational performance of

22 rural students; and

23 (7) how the waiver or simplification of regu24 latory requirements could enhance the performance
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1 of rural school children and the progress of rural

2 schools in meeting National Education Goals.

3 (d) SAMPLE DATA.—The Secretary may, in develop4 ing the report described in subsection (a), use appropriate

5 sampling techniques.

6 (e) CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.—The Sec7 retary shall consult with the Committee on Education and

8 Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committee

9 on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate concerning

10 the design of the report described in this section.

11 SEC. 109. LOCAL ADVISORY GROUP.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Any eligible local educational

13 agency desiring to receive an allotment under this Act

14 shall form a local advisory group.

15 (b) COMPOSITION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each local advisory group

17 described in subsection (a) shall be composed of rep18 resentatives of groups such as—

19 (A) local government agencies;

20 (B) community-based organizations;

21 (C) service providers;

22 (D) teachers;

23 (E) parents;

24 (F) colleges and universities;

25 (G) businesses;
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1 (H) principals, other school administrators

2 and school personnel, including the local voca3 tional education administrator;

4 (I) counselors, school psychologists and so5 cial workers;

6 (J) students;

7 (K) State educational agencies and State

8 boards of education;

9 (L) labor;

10 (M) offices of the Mayor;

11 (N) religious leaders; and

12 (O) organizations with an interest in im13 proving rural education and expertise in the de14 livery of services needed by the schools selected

15 to participate in a program assisted under this

16 Act.

17 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The superintendent of

18 schools and the president of the board of education

19 of the eligible rural local educational agency apply20 ing for funds under this title shall appoint the mem21 bers of the local advisory group, in consultation with

22 teachers from the eligible local educational agency

23 and the teacher’s local bargaining agent where one

24 exists. The local advisory group may contain as

25 many members as is necessary to ensure a com-
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1 prehensive community-wide program to improve edu2 cation in the schools served by the eligible local edu3 cational agency.

4 (3) REPRESENTATION.—The local advisory

5 group shall be representative of the community and

6 shall be balanced according to the race, ethnicity,

7 native language background, and gender of its mem8 bers, to the extent practicable.

9 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The local advisory group shall—

10 (1) advise the eligible local educational agency

11 on the design and conduct of a needs assessment for

12 all schools expected to participate in the program as13 sisted under this title;

14 (2) assist in planning for community-wide col15 laboration in service delivery for students in schools

16 expected to be served by the program assisted under

17 this title;

18 (3) advise the eligible local educational agency

19 and the community on how they can work together

20 to use multiple service providers;

21 (4) advise and assist the eligible local edu22 cational agency on the implementation of the pro23 gram assisted under this title and review evaluations

24 of such program’s success;
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1 (5) review and approve applications submitted

2 to the eligible local educational agency by commu3 nity-based organizations pursuant to section 103(c);

4 (6) advise the eligible local educational agency

5 on strategies for increasing parent involvement and

6 the number of school volunteers and role models in

7 schools; and

8 (7) review the success of community-based pro9 grams assisted under this title for progress on the

10 national education goals.

11 (d) USE OF EXISTING LOCAL ADVISORY GROUP.—

12 To the extent that an eligible local educational agency has

13 established a broadly representative local advisory group

14 before enactment of this Act that is comparable to the

15 local advisory group described in this section, such existing

16 local advisory group shall be considered to be in compli17 ance with the provisions of this section.

18 SEC. 110. SPECIAL RULES.

19 (a) RANKING OF SCHOOLS IN LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

20 AGENCIES SERVING MORE THAN ONE SCHOOL TO DE21 TERMINE RELATIVE NEED.—

22 (1) RANKING.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible local edu24 cational agency desiring to receive an allotment

25 under this title shall, in order to determine
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1 which schools are most in need of services

2 under this title, separately rank all schools

3 under the jurisdiction of such agency on the

4 basis of—

5 (i) achievement;

6 (ii) poverty; and

7 (iii) racial isolation.

8 (B) SPECIAL RULES.—(i) Eligible local

9 educational agencies may rank elementary and

10 secondary schools separately or together for

11 purposes of this subsection.

12 (ii) Eligible local educational agencies par13 ticipating in a consortium may rank elementary

14 and secondary schools separately for each local

15 educational agency participating in the consor16 tium for purposes of this subsection.

17 (2) PERCENTAGE OF SCHOOLS TO BE

18 SERVED.—Each eligible local educational agency

19 that receives an allotment under this title shall serve

20 at least 10 percent, but not more than 20 percent,

21 of the schools under the jurisdiction of such agency,

22 except that in school districts with less than 2,500

23 students, an eligible local educational agency may

24 use all of its funds for districtwide reform activities.
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1 (3) CRITERIA FOR SCHOOLS TO BE SERVED.—

2 Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this

3 section, each eligible local educational agency that

4 receives an allotment under this title—

5 (A) shall serve any school that is deter6 mined to be most in need with respect to both

7 rankings described in paragraph (1);

8 (B) may serve any school that is deter9 mined to be most in need with respect to any

10 1 of such rankings; and

11 (C) may serve any school that received as12 sistance under this title in a previous fiscal

13 year.

14 (b) EXCLUSION.—Local educational agencies with

15 not more than 5 buildings used for instruction purposes

16 shall be exempt from the ranking process and shall receive

17 funding as determined under subsection (d).

18 (c) FLEXIBILITY.—Each eligible local educational

19 agency shall have the flexibility to serve homeless children,

20 desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other

21 highly mobile populations within the program assisted

22 under this title.

23 (d) CHAPTER 1 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—The

24 approved program for any school served under sections

25 1020 and 1021 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
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1 cation Act of 1965, may be considered sufficient to meet

2 the requirements of the provisions of section 106(b)(1) of

3 this title.

4 TITLE II—SCHOOL BUILDING

5 REPAIR AND RENOVATION

6 SEC. 201. PURPOSE; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to pro8 vide assistance to eligible local educational agencies to as9 sist such agencies in building or repairing, and renovating

10 instructional facilities in rural schools including but not

11 limited to the appropriate use of telecommunications tech12 niques for learning.

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

14 are authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000,000 for

15 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the

16 fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 to

17 carry out the provisions of this title.

18 SEC. 202. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

19 (a) ALLOTMENTS.—

20 (1) FEDERAL ALLOTMENT.—In each fiscal

21 year, the Secretary shall allot to each State edu22 cational agency with an approved application, an

23 amount which bears the same relationship to such

24 funds as the amount all eligible local educational

25 agencies with approved applications in the State
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1 were allocated under sections 1005 and 1006 of the

2 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

3 in the preceding fiscal year bears to the total

4 amount received under such sections in such preced5 ing fiscal year by all eligible local educational agen6 cies with approved applications in all States.

7 (2) STATE ALLOTMENT.—

8 (A) RESERVATION.—From amounts re9 ceived pursuant to paragraph (1), each State

10 educational agency may reserve 1 percent of

11 such amount for administrative expenses.

12 (B) FORMULA.—From the remainder of

13 amounts received pursuant to subparagraph (A)

14 in each fiscal year, each State educational agen15 cy shall allot to each eligible local educational

16 agency within the State with an approved appli17 cation—

18 (i) 33 percent of such funds on the

19 basis of the number of children in the eligi20 ble local educational agency between the

21 ages of 5 and 17 who are members of fam22 ilies whose income does not exceed the in23 come official poverty line (as defined by

24 the Office of Management and Budget),

25 according to the most recent decennial cen-
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1 sus, divided by the number of all such chil2 dren in all eligible local educational agen3 cies in the State;

4 (ii) 33 percent of such funds on the

5 basis of the number of school buildings

6 used for instructional purposes in the eligi7 ble local educational agency, divided by the

8 number of all such buildings in all eligible

9 local educational agencies in the State; and

10 (iii) 33 percent of such funds on the

11 basis of the number of school buildings in

12 the eligible local educational agency which

13 are used for instructional purposes and

14 which are more than 25 years old, divided

15 by the number of all such buildings in all

16 eligible local educational agencies in the

17 State.

18 (b) REALLOTMENT.—Any amounts available for real19 lotment pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) shall be real20 lotted in the same manner as the original allotments were

21 made.

22 SEC. 203. APPLICATION.

23 (a) STATE APPLICATION.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational

25 agency desiring to receive an allotment in any fiscal
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1 year to carry out the provisions of this title shall

2 submit to the Secretary an application at such time,

3 in such manner and accompanied by such informa4 tion as the Secretary reasonably may require.

5 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

6 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—

7 (A) contain such information as the Sec8 retary may reasonably require in order to make

9 the allotment described in section 202(a)(1);

10 and

11 (B) contain such other information and as12 surances as the Secretary determines necessary

13 to ensure compliance with the provisions of this

14 title.

15 (b) LOCAL APPLICATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible local educational

17 agency desiring to receive an allotment to carry out

18 the provisions of this title shall submit to the State

19 educational agency an application at such time, in

20 such manner and accompanied by such information

21 as the State educational agency may reasonably re22 quire.

23 (2) DURATION.—Each application submitted

24 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be for a period of

25 not more than 3 years.
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1 (3) ANNUAL REVIEW.—Each application sub2 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be subject to

3 annual review.

4 (4) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted

5 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall contain—

6 (A) an assessment of needs for building re7 pair, renovation and construction;

8 (B) the name and location of all sites

9 scheduled for repair, renovation or construction

10 and a description of the activities planned at

11 each site; and

12 (C) a description of accounting procedures

13 used to assure proper disbursement of Federal

14 funds.

15 SEC. 204. REPAIR AND RENOVATION.

16 Each eligible local educational agency receiving an al17 lotment under section 202(a)(2) shall use 50 percent of

18 such allotment to conduct programs for—

19 (1) repair and renovation of school buildings

20 used for instruction;

21 (2) upgrading of and alterations to buildings to

22 accommodate new instructional technology, including

23 the installation and/or improvement of telecommuni24 cations facilities for learning and related tech25 nologies.
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1 (3) installation or upgrading of school security

2 and communications systems;

3 (4) construction of new buildings that will serve

4 to replace old facilities that are most cost effectively

5 torn down rather than renovated;

6 (5) alterations to buildings to meet special pro7 gram, curricula, or school-site management needs;

8 (6) alterations to buildings to meet certain spe9 cial population needs, such as the needs of homeless

10 children and preschool children;

11 (7) alterations to school buildings to enable

12 such buildings to serve as one-stop family support

13 centers; and

14 (8) facilities’ costs associated with lengthening

15 the school day or school year.

16 SEC. 205. ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY.

17 Each eligible local educational agency receiving an al18 lotment under section 202(a)(2) shall use 50 percent of

19 such allotment to conduct programs for—

20 (1) energy conservation;

21 (2) removal or containment of environmentally

22 hazardous material;

23 (3) meeting the requirements of section 504 of

24 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and
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1 (4) meeting local, State or Federal laws or reg2 ulations enacted or promulgated since the initial

3 construction of a building related to fire, air, light,

4 noise, waste disposal, or building height.

5 SEC. 206. WAIVER.

6 The State educational agency may waive the 50 per7 cent requirements described in sections 204 and 205 for

8 any eligible local educational agency that demonstrates to

9 the satisfaction of the State educational agency a greater

10 need for services described in section 204 or 205.

11 SEC. 207. APPLICATION OF THE DAVIS-BACON ACT.

12 All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors

13 or subcontractors in any construction, alteration, or re14 pair, including painting and decorating, of projects, build15 ings, and works which are federally assisted under this

16 Act, shall be paid wages at rates not less than those pre17 vailing on similar construction in the locality as deter18 mined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the

19 Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis20 Bacon Act), as amended (40 U.S.C. 276a–276a–5). The

21 Secretary of Labor shall have, with respect to such labor

22 standards, the authority and functions set forth in Reor23 ganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (15 F.R. 3176; 64

24 Stat. 1267) and section 2 of the Act of June 1, 1934,
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1 as amended (48 Stat. 948, as amended; 40 U.S.C.

2 276(c)).

3 TITLE III—EVALUATION OF

4 RESULTS

5 Subtitle A—Assistant Secretary

6 SEC. 301. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RURAL EDUCATION.

7 (a) AMENDMENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDU8 CATION ORGANIZATION ACT.—Title II of the Department

9 of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.)

10 is amended—

11 (1) in section 202(b)(1) by—

12 (A) striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara13 graph (F);

14 (B) striking the period at the end of sub15 paragraph (G) and inserting a semicolon and

16 ‘‘and’’; and

17 (C) inserting at the end thereof the follow18 ing new subparagraph:

19 ‘‘(H) an Assistant Secretary for Rural

20 Education.’’.

21 Subtitle B—Rural School Research

22 and Evaluation

23 SEC. 311. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

25 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1994,
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1 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000 to carry out the

2 provisions of this subtitle.

3 SEC. 312. ESTABLISHMENT; OPERATION; USES OF FUNDS.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—From amounts appropriated

5 pursuant to the authority of section 311, the Secretary

6 shall establish for each region a center to be known as

7 the ‘‘National Rural Regional Education Research Cen8 ter’’ (in this subtitle referred to as the ‘‘Center’’).

9 (b) OPERATION.—Each Center shall be operated by

10 the regional educational laboratory that is located in the

11 region in which the Center is located and supported by

12 the Secretary pursuant to section 405(d)(4)(A) of the

13 General Education Provisions Act.

14 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Each Center shall—

15 (1) conduct independent research in rural edu16 cation and distance learning technologies;

17 (2) evaluate the progress of rural schools receiv18 ing funds under title I of this Act toward meeting

19 the National Education Goals;

20 (3) serve as clearinghouses on rural education

21 research findings, policies, and practices;

22 (4) develop measurements of progress of rural

23 schools;
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1 (5) disseminate results of evaluations and re2 search on rural schools to other Centers and rural

3 school district teachers and parents;

4 (6) develop collaborative arrangements and con5 sortia among rural schools in each region to conduct

6 joint research and evaluation activities;

7 (7) replicate successful models and program ap8 proaches in rural schools;

9 (8) provide technical assistance and outreach

10 services for rural schools in each region;

11 (9) provide staff training; and

12 (10) develop curricula to assist rural schools in

13 moving toward meeting the National Education

14 Goals.

15 SEC. 313. LOCAL RURAL SCHOOL EVALUATION.

16 From the amount appropriated pursuant to the au17 thority of section 311 or otherwise made available to carry

18 out the provisions of this subtitle in any fiscal year, each

19 Center shall reserve 25 percent of such funds received for

20 direct grants to rural eligible local educational agencies

21 within the region served by such Center and which are

22 participating in a program assisted under title I to con23 duct local school district research and evaluation of efforts

24 toward meeting the National Education Goals.
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1 SEC. 314. LOCAL APPLICATIONS.

2 Any eligible rural local educational agency desiring

3 to receive a grant under this subtitle shall—

4 (1) submit an application to the Center;

5 (2) describe in such application the research

6 and evaluation activities for measuring progress on

7 the National Education Goals;

8 (3) consult with local universities, research in9 stitutes, and other rural groups in developing a local

10 research and evaluation application; and

11 (4) describe capacities for conducting evalua12 tions with funds provided under this subtitle.

13 TITLE IV—GENERAL

14 PROVISIONS

15 SEC. 401. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON RURAL SCHOOLS.

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

17 Interagency Council on Rural Schools (hereafter in this

18 section referred to as the ‘‘Council’’).

19 (b) COMPOSITION.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall consist

21 of—

22 (A) the Secretary of Education, who shall

23 serve as Chairperson of the Council;

24 (B) the Secretary of Labor;

25 (C) the Secretary of Health and Human

26 Services;
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1 (D) the Secretary of Agriculture;

2 (E) the Secretary of Energy;

3 (F) the Secretary of Commerce;

4 (G) the Director of the Environmental

5 Protection Agency;

6 (H) the Director of the Commission on

7 Civil Rights;

8 (I) the Chairperson of the Advisory Com9 mission on Intergovernmental Relations;

10 (J) the Chairperson of the National En11 dowments on the Arts and the Humanities;

12 (K) the Director of the National Science

13 Foundation;

14 (L) such other officers of the Federal Gov15 ernment as may be designated by the President

16 or the Chairperson of the Council to serve

17 wherever matters within the jurisdiction of the

18 agency headed by such an officer are to be con19 sidered by the Council.

20 (2) REPRESENTATION.—Each individual de21 scribed in paragraph (1) may designate a person to

22 represent such individual on the Council.

23 (3) DURATION.—Each member shall be ap24 pointed for as long as such member serves as the

25 head of the appropriate department or agency.
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1 (4) PRINCIPAL ADVISOR.—The Chairperson of

2 the Council shall be the President’s principal advisor

3 on rural schools.

4 (c) QUORUM.—Seven members of the Council shall

5 constitute a quorum for the purposes of transmitting rec6 ommendations and proposals to the President, but a lesser

7 number may meet for other reasons.

8 (d) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at least 2

9 times each year. When a Council member is unable to at10 tend a meeting, the Council member shall appoint an ap11 propriate Assistant Secretary or an equivalent individual

12 from the department or agency of the member to represent

13 the member for that meeting.

14 (e) DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council shall—

15 (1) review programs and activities conducted by

16 each department or agency represented on the Coun17 cil to determine the effects of such programs and ac18 tivities on the ability of rural schools to meet Na19 tional Education Goals;

20 (2) track progress of rural schools in meeting

21 National Education Goals;

22 (3) solicit information and advice from experts

23 in rural education and representatives of rural

24 schools, including representatives from rural post25 secondary education, on how the Federal Govern-
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1 ment may improve the programs and activities of the

2 Federal Government which serve rural school stu3 dents;

4 (4) review regulations across various depart5 ments or agencies of the Federal Government for

6 duplication or contradiction;

7 (5) issue an annual report to Congress and the

8 President on the progress rural schools are making

9 in meeting the National Education Goals, and on

10 how Congress might change Federal programs to

11 improve the effectiveness of such programs in rural

12 schools;

13 (6) review and make recommendations regard14 ing ways to improve or streamline various Federal

15 data collection activities in rural schools; and

16 (7) conduct such research as may be helpful to

17 rural school practitioners at the elementary, second18 ary and postsecondary level in improving the per19 formance of students attending rural schools.

20 SEC. 402. WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON RURAL EDU21 CATION.

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION TO CALL CONFERENCE.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized

24 to call and conduct a White House Conference on
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1 Rural Education (hereafter in this section referred

2 to as the ‘‘Conference’’).

3 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—For the purpose of this

4 section the term ‘‘Conference’’ means the Conference

5 on Rural Education.

6 (3) DATE.—The Conference described in para7 graph (2) shall be held not earlier than November

8 1, 1994, and not later than October 30, 1996.

9 (4) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Conference

10 shall be to—

11 (A) develop recommendations and strate12 gies for the improvement of rural education;

13 (B) marshal the forces of the private sec14 tor, governmental agencies at all levels, parents,

15 teachers, communities, and education officials

16 to assist rural schools in achieving National

17 Education Goals, and make recommendations

18 on the roles rural public schools can play to as19 sist with local rural community economic revi20 talization; and

21 (C) conduct the initial planning for a per22 manent national commission on rural education.

23 (b) COMPOSITION OF CONFERENCE.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Conference shall be

25 composed of—
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1 (A) representatives of eligible public school

2 systems, including board of education members,

3 school superintendents and classroom teachers;

4 (B) representatives of the Congress, the

5 Department of Education and other Federal

6 agencies;

7 (C) State elected officials and representa8 tives from State educational agencies;

9 (D) individuals with special knowledge of

10 and expertise in rural education, including indi11 viduals involved with rural postsecondary edu12 cation; and

13 (E) individuals with special knowledge of

14 and expertise in rural business.

15 (2) SELECTION.—The President shall select

16 one-third of the participants of the Conference, the

17 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall select

18 one-third of such participants, and the majority

19 leader of the Senate shall select the remaining one20 third of such participants.

21 (3) REPRESENTATION.—In selecting the par22 ticipants of the Conference the President, the Speak23 er of the House of Representatives, and the majority

24 leader of the Senate shall ensure that the partici-
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1 pants are as representative of the ethnic, racial, and

2 language diversity of rural areas as is practicable.

3 (c) REPORTS.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The final reports of the

5 Conference, containing such findings and rec6 ommendations as may be made by the Conference,

7 shall be submitted to the President not later than

8 120 days following the termination of the Con9 ference. The final reports shall be made public and,

10 within 90 days after receipt by the President, trans11 mitted to the Congress together with a statement of

12 the President containing recommendations for imple13 menting the reports.

14 (2) PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION.—The

15 Conference is authorized to publish and distribute

16 the reports described in this section. Copies of the

17 reports shall be provided to the Federal depository

18 libraries and made available to local rural school

19 leaders and teachers.

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

22 appropriated for fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996

23 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the pro24 visions of this section.
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1 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made available

2 pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) shall re3 main available until expended.

4 SEC. 403. FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLEMENT NOT SUP5 PLANT NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.

6 An eligible local educational agency may use funds

7 received under this Act only to supplement and, to the

8 extent practicable, increase the level of funds that would,

9 in the absence of such Federal funds, be made available

10 from non-Federal sources for the education of students

11 participating in activities assisted under this Act and in

12 no such case may such funds be used to supplant funds

13 from non-Federal sources.

14 SEC. 404. DEFINITIONS.

15 Except as otherwise provided, for the purposes of this

16 Act—

17 (1) the term ‘‘community-based organization’’

18 means a private nonprofit organization which is rep19 resentative of a community or significant segments

20 of a community and which has a proven record of

21 providing effective educational or related services to

22 individuals in the community;

23 (2) the term ‘‘Community as School Concept’’

24 means the mutual sharing of the local public school’s

25 and the local community’s human, financial, tech-
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1 nical, and environmental resources to help meet each

2 others needs;

3 (3) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ in4 cludes a rural eligible local educational agency;

5 (4) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

6 has the meaning given to such term in section

7 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

8 (5) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

9 meaning given to such term in section 1471(12) of

10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

11 1965;

12 (6) the term ‘‘poverty level’’ means the criteria

13 of poverty used by the Bureau of Census in compil14 ing the most recent decennial census for a family of

15 4 in such form as those criteria have been updated

16 by increases in the Consumer Price Index for All

17 Rural Consumers;

18 (7) the term ‘‘rural eligible local educational

19 agency’’ means a local educational agency—

20 (A) that is located in a county—

21 (i) in which at least 15 percent of the

22 children enrolled in the schools of such

23 county are eligible to be counted under sec24 tion 1005 of the Elementary and Second25 ary Education Act of 1965; and
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1 (ii) which is not in a metropolitan sta2 tistical area;

3 (B) in which at least 15 percent of the

4 children enrolled in the schools of such local

5 educational agency live at or below the poverty

6 level; or

7 (C) in which the total enrollment in the

8 schools of such local educational agency is less

9 than 2,500 students and that does not serve

10 schools located in a metropolitan statistical

11 area;

12 (8) the term ‘‘rural school consortia’’ means

13 two or more local rural public school districts co14 operating together for the purpose of increasing

15 their ability to provide educational services;

16 (9) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, except as otherwise

17 specified, means the Secretary of Education;

18 (10) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the sev19 eral States, but does not include the District of Co20 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth

21 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, the

22 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,

23 the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated

24 States of Micronesia, and Palau; and
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1 (11) the term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has

2 the meaning given to such term in section 1471(23)

3 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

4 1965.

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