Union Calendar No. 93

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1804

[Report No. 103–168]

A BILL

To improve learning and teaching by providing a

for other purposes.system of skill standards and certifications; andvelopment and adoption of a voluntary nationalFederal education programs; to promote the deto provide a framework for reauthorization of allcational achievement for all American students;cational opportunities and high levels of edutemic changes needed to ensure equitable edumote the research, consensus building, and sysnational framework for education reform; to proJULY 1, 1993

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 93

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1804

[Report No. 103–168]

To improve learning and teaching by providing a national framework for

education reform; to promote the research, consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunities and

high levels of educational achievement for all American students; to

provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal education programs; to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national

system of skill standards and certifications; and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 22, 1993

Mr. KILDEE (for himself, Mr. FORD of Michigan, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. OWENS,

Mrs. UNSOELD, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GREEN, Ms. WOOLSEY,

Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́,

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. BAESLER, and Mr. CLYBURN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

JULY 1, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr.

TOWNS, Mr. KLINK, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. MAZZOLI, Mr. FROST, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BLACKWELL, Mr. GORDON, Mr. BARLOW, Ms. ENGLISH of Arizona, Mr. PASTOR, Ms. FURSE, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. PARKER, Mr. MCCURDY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. EVANS, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. STUPAK, and Mr. DE LUGO

JULY 1, 1993

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 22, 1993]
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A BILL

To improve learning and teaching by providing a national

framework for education reform; to promote the research,

consensus building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunities and high levels

of educational achievement for all American students;

to provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal

education programs; to promote the development and

adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards

and certifications; 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 ‘‘Goals 2000: Educate

5 America Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to provide a framework for

8 meeting the National Education Goals established by title

9 I of this Act by—

10 (1) promoting coherent, nationwide, systemic

11 education reform;

12 (2) improving the quality of learning and teach13 ing in the classroom and in the workplace;

14 (3) defining appropriate and coherent Federal,

15 State, and local roles and responsibilities for edu16 cation reform and lifelong learning;
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1 (4) establishing valid, reliable, and fair mecha2 nisms for—

3 (A) building a broad national consensus on

4 American education reform;

5 (B) assisting in the development and certifi6 cation of high-quality, internationally competi7 tive content and student performance standards;

8 (C) assisting in the development and certifi9 cation of opportunity-to-learn standards; and

10 (D) assisting in the development and cer11 tification of high-quality assessment measures

12 that reflect the internationally competitive con13 tent and student performance standards;

14 (5) supporting new initiatives at the Federal,

15 State, local, and school levels to provide equal edu16 cational opportunity for all students to meet high

17 standards and to succeed in the world of employment

18 and civic participation;

19 (6) providing a framework for the reauthoriza20 tion of all Federal education programs by—

21 (A) creating a vision of excellence and eq22 uity that will guide all Federal education and

23 related programs;

24 (B) providing for the establishment of high25 quality, internationally competitive content and
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1 student performance standards that all students

2 will be expected to achieve;

3 (C) providing for the establishment of high

4 quality, internationally competitive opportunity5 to-learn standards that all States, local edu6 cational agencies, and schools should achieve;

7 (D) encouraging and enabling all State

8 educational agencies and local educational agen9 cies to develop comprehensive improvement plans

10 that will provide a coherent framework for the

11 implementation of reauthorized Federal edu12 cation and related programs in an integrated

13 fashion that effectively educates all children ena14 bling them to participate fully as workers, par15 ents, and citizens;

16 (E) providing resources to help individual

17 schools, including those serving students with

18 high needs, develop and implement comprehen19 sive improvement plans;

20 (7) stimulating the development and adoption of

21 a voluntary national system of skill standards and

22 certification to serve as a cornerstone of the national

23 strategy to enhance workforce skills; and

24 (8) assisting every elementary and secondary

25 school that receives funds under this Act to actively
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1 involve parents and families in supporting the aca2 demic work of their children at home and in provid3 ing parents with skills to advocate for their children

4 at school.

5 TITLE I—NATIONAL EDUCATION

6 GOALS

7 SEC. 101. PURPOSE.

8 The purpose of this title is to establish national edu9 cation goals.

10 SEC. 102. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS.

11 The Congress declares that the National Education

12 Goals are the following:

13 (1) SCHOOL READINESS.—(A) By the year 2000,

14 all children in America will start school ready to

15 learn.

16 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

17 (i) all children will have access to high18 quality and developmentally appropriate pre19 school programs that help prepare children for

20 school;

21 (ii) every parent in America will be a

22 child’s first teacher and devote time each day to

23 helping his or her preschool child learn, and par24 ents will have access to the training and support

25 they need; and
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1 (iii) all children will receive the nutrition

2 and health care needed to arrive at school with

3 healthy minds and bodies, and to maintain the

4 mental alertness necessary to be prepared to

5 learn, and the number of low-birthweight babies

6 will be significantly reduced through enhanced

7 prenatal health systems.

8 (2) SCHOOL COMPLETION.—(A) By the year

9 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to

10 at least 90 percent.

11 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

12 (i) the Nation must dramatically reduce its

13 dropout rate, and 75 percent of those students

14 who do drop out will successfully complete a high

15 school degree or its equivalent; and

16 (ii) the gap in high school graduation rates

17 between American students from minority back18 grounds and their non-minority counterparts

19 will be eliminated.

20 (3) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND CITIZENSHIP.—

21 (A) By the year 2000, all students will leave grades

22 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over

23 challenging subject matter including English, mathe24 matics, science, foreign languages, civics and govern25 ment, arts, history, and geography, and every school
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1 in America will ensure that all students learn to use

2 their minds well, so they may be prepared for respon3 sible citizenship, further learning, and productive em4 ployment in our modern economy.

5 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

6 (i) the academic performance of all students

7 at the elementary and secondary level will in8 crease significantly in every quartile, and the

9 distribution of minority students in each level

10 will more closely reflect the student population

11 as a whole;

12 (ii) the percentage of all students who dem13 onstrate the ability to reason, solve problems,

14 apply knowledge, and write and communicate ef15 fectively will increase substantially;

16 (iii) all students will be involved in activi17 ties that promote and demonstrate good citizen18 ship, community service, and personal respon19 sibility;

20 (iv) the percentage of all students who are

21 competent in more than one language will sub22 stantially increase; and

23 (v) all students will be knowledgeable about

24 the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and

25 about the world community.
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1 (4) TEACHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL

2 DEVELOPMENT.—(A) By the year 2000, the Nation’s

3 teaching force will have access to programs for the

4 continued improvement of their professional skills and

5 the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills

6 needed to instruct and prepare all American students

7 for the next century.

8 (B) The objectives of this goal are that—

9 (i) every State will establish opportunity-to10 learn standards and create an integrated strat11 egy to attract, recruit, prepare, retrain, and sup12 port the continued professional development of

13 teachers, administrators, and other educators, so

14 that there is a highly talented workforce of pro15 fessional educators to teach challenging stand16 ards;

17 (ii) subgrants for preservice teacher edu18 cation and professional development activity will

19 be made to local educational agencies, institu20 tions of higher education, private nonprofit orga21 nizations, or consortia of such organizations, to

22 support continuing, sustained, professional devel23 opment activities for all educators; and

24 (iii) partnerships shall be established, when25 ever possible, between local educational agencies,
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1 institutions of higher education, local labor, busi2 ness, and professional associations to provide

3 and support programs for the professional devel4 opment of educators, particularly in the area of

5 emerging new technologies in education.

6 (5) MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE.—(A) By the

7 year 2000, United States students will be first in the

8 world in mathematics and science achievement.

9 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

10 (i) math and science education will be

11 strengthened throughout the system, especially in

12 the early grades;

13 (ii) the number of teachers with a sub14 stantive background in mathematics and science

15 will increase by 50 percent; and

16 (iii) the number of United States under17 graduate and graduate students, especially

18 women and minorities, who complete degrees in

19 mathematics, science, and engineering will in20 crease significantly.

21 (6) ADULT LITERACY AND LIFELONG LEARN22 ING.—(A) By the year 2000, every adult American

23 will be literate and will possess the knowledge and

24 skills necessary to compete in a global economy and

25 exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
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1 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

2 (i) every major American business will be

3 involved in strengthening the connection between

4 education and work;

5 (ii) all workers will have the opportunity to

6 acquire the knowledge and skills, from basic to

7 highly technical, needed to adapt to emerging

8 new technologies, work methods, and markets

9 through public and private educational, voca10 tional, technical, workplace, or other programs;

11 (iii) the number of quality programs, in12 cluding those at libraries, that are designed to

13 serve more effectively the needs of the growing

14 number of part-time and midcareer students will

15 increase substantially;

16 (iv) the proportion of those qualified stu17 dents, especially minorities, who enter college,

18 who complete at least two years, and who com19 plete their degree programs will increase sub20 stantially;

21 (v) the proportion of college graduates who

22 demonstrate an advanced ability to think criti23 cally, communicate effectively, and solve prob24 lems will increase substantially; and
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1 (vi) schools, in implementing comprehensive

2 parent involvement programs, will offer more

3 adult literacy, parent training and life-long

4 learning opportunities to improve the ties be5 tween home and school, and enhance parents’

6 work and home lives.

7 (7)(A) SAFE, DISCIPLINED, AND DRUG-FREE

8 SCHOOLS.—By the year 2000, every school in Amer9 ica will be free of drugs and violence and will offer

10 a disciplined environment conducive to learning.

11 (B) The objectives for this goal are that—

12 (i) every school will implement a firm and

13 fair policy on use, possession, and distribution of

14 drugs and alcohol;

15 (ii) parents, businesses, and community or16 ganizations will work together to ensure the

17 rights of students to study in a safe and secure

18 environment that is free of drugs and crime;

19 (iii) every school district will develop a

20 comprehensive K–12 drug and alcohol prevention

21 education program. Drug and alcohol curricula

22 should be taught as an integral part of health

23 education. In addition, community-based teams

24 should be organized to provide all students and

25 teachers with needed support; and
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1 (iv) every school district will develop and

2 implement a policy to ensure that all schools are

3 free of weapons and violence.

4 TITLE II—NATIONAL EDUCATION

5 REFORM, LEADERSHIP,

6 STANDARDS, AND ASSESS7 MENTS

8 PART A—NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL

9 SEC. 201. PURPOSE.

10 It is the purpose of this part to establish a bipartisan

11 mechanism for—

12 (1) building a national consensus for education

13 improvement;

14 (2) reporting on progress toward achieving the

15 National Education Goals; and

16 (3) reviewing and commenting upon the vol17 untary national content and student performance

18 standards and opportunity-to-learn standards cer19 tified by the National Education Standards and Im20 provement Council, as well as the criteria for their

21 certification, and the criteria for the certification of

22 State assessments by the National Education Stand23 ards and Improvement Council.
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1 SEC. 202. NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the exec3 utive branch a National Education Goals Panel (referred

4 to in this Act as the ‘‘Goals Panel’’) to advise the President,

5 the Secretary, and the Congress.

6 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Goals Panel shall be composed

7 of eighteen members (referred to in this part as ‘‘members’’),

8 including—

9 (1) two members appointed by the President;

10 (2) eight members who are Governors, three of

11 whom shall be from the same political party as the

12 President and five of whom shall be of the opposite

13 political party of the President, appointed by the

14 Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the National

15 Governors’ Association, with each appointing rep16 resentatives of his or her respective political party, in

17 consultation with each other;

18 (3) four Members of Congress appointed as fol19 lows—

20 (A) one member appointed by the majority

21 leader of the Senate from among the Members of

22 the Senate;

23 (B) one member appointed by the minority

24 leader of the Senate from among the Members of

25 the Senate;
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1 (C) one member appointed by the majority

2 leader of the House of Representatives from

3 among the Members of the House of Representa4 tives; and

5 (D) one member appointed by the minority

6 leader of the House of Representatives from

7 among the Members of the House of Representa8 tives; and

9 (4) four members of State legislatures appointed

10 by the President of the National Conference of State

11 Legislatures, of whom not more than two may be of

12 the same political party as the President of the

13 United States.

14 (c) SPECIAL APPOINTMENT RULES.—(1) The members

15 appointed pursuant to subsection (b)(2) shall be appointed

16 as follows:

17 (A) If the Chairperson of the National Gov18 ernors’ Association is from the same political party

19 as the President, the Chairperson shall appoint three

20 individuals and the Vice Chairperson shall appoint

21 five individuals.

22 (B) If the Chairperson of the National Gov23 ernors’ Association is from the opposite political

24 party as the President, the Chairperson shall appoint
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1 five individuals and the Vice Chairperson shall ap2 point three individuals.

3 (2) If the National Governors’ Association has ap4 pointed a panel that meets the requirements of subsections

5 (b) and (c), except for the requirements of subsection (b)(4),

6 prior to the date of enactment of this title, then the members

7 serving on such panel shall be deemed to be in compliance

8 with subsections (b) and (c) and shall not be required to

9 be reappointed pursuant to such subsections.

10 (3) To the extent feasible, the membership of the Goals

11 Panel shall be geographically representative and reflect the

12 racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the United States.

13 (d) TERMS.—The terms of service of members shall be

14 as follows—

15 (1) Members appointed under subsection (b)(1)

16 shall serve at the pleasure of the President.

17 (2) Members appointed under subsection (b)(2)

18 shall serve a two-year term, except that the initial ap19 pointments under such paragraph shall be made to

20 ensure staggered terms with one-half of such members’

21 terms concluding every two years.

22 (3) Members appointed under subsection (b) (3)

23 and (4) shall serve a term of two years.
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1 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

2 shall be appointed not later than sixty days after the date

3 of enactment of this Act.

4 (f) INITIATION.—The Goals Panel may begin to carry

5 out its duties under this part when ten members of the

6 Goals Panel have been appointed.

7 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Goals Panel shall

8 not affect the powers of the Goals Panel, but shall be filled

9 in the same manner as the original appointment.

10 (h) TRAVEL.—Each member may be allowed travel ex11 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as author12 ized by section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for each

13 day the member is engaged in the performance of duties

14 away from the home or regular place of business of the

15 member.

16 (i) CHAIRPERSON.—From among the members, the

17 President shall appoint the Chairperson who shall serve a

18 one-year term and shall alternate between political parties.

19 (j) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—A member of the Goals

20 Panel who is an elected official of a State which has devel21 oped content, student performance, or opportunity-to-learn

22 standards may not participate in Goals Panel consider23 ation of such standards.

24 (k) EX OFFICIO MEMBER.—If the President has not

25 appointed the Secretary of Education as 1 of the 2 members
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1 he appoints pursuant to subsection (b)(1), then the Sec2 retary shall serve as an ex officio member of the Goals

3 Panel.

4 SEC. 203. DUTIES.

5 (a) DUTIES.—The Goals Panel shall—

6 (1) report to the President, the Secretary, and

7 the Congress regarding the progress the Nation and

8 the States are making toward achieving the National

9 Education Goals established under title I of this Act,

10 including issuing an annual report;

11 (2) report on State opportunity-to-learn stand12 ards and the progress of States in meeting such

13 standards;

14 (3) review, after taking into consideration the

15 public comments received pursuant to section 216,

16 and comment upon the—

17 (A) criteria developed by the National Edu18 cation Standards and Improvement Council for

19 the certification of content and student perform20 ance standards, assessments, and opportunity-to21 learn standards; and

22 (B) voluntary national content and student

23 performance standards and opportunity-to-learn

24 standards certified by the National Education

25 Standards and Improvement Council;
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1 (4) report on promising or effective actions being

2 taken at the national, State, and local levels, in the

3 public and private sectors, to achieve the National

4 Education Goals; and

5 (5) help build a nationwide, bipartisan consen6 sus for the reforms necessary to achieve the National

7 Education Goals.

8 (b) REPORT.—(1) The Goals Panel shall annually pre9 pare and submit to the President, the Secretary, the appro10 priate committees of Congress, and the Governor of each

11 State a report that shall—

12 (A) report on the progress of the United States

13 toward achieving the National Education Goals;

14 (B) identify actions that should be taken by Fed15 eral, State, and local governments to enhance progress

16 toward achieving the National Education Goals and

17 State opportunity-to-learn standards; and

18 (C) report on State opportunity-to-learn stand19 ards and the progress of States in meeting such

20 standards.

21 (2) Reports shall be presented in a form, and include

22 data, that is understandable to parents and the general

23 public.
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1 SEC. 204. POWERS OF THE GOALS PANEL.

2 (a) HEARINGS.—(1) The Goals Panel shall, for the

3 purpose of carrying out this part, conduct such hearings,

4 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony,

5 and receive such evidence, as the Goals Panel considers ap6 propriate.

7 (2) In carrying out this part, the Goals Panel shall

8 conduct hearings to receive reports, views, and analyses of

9 a broad spectrum of experts and the public on the establish10 ment of voluntary national content and student perform11 ance standards, assessments, and opportunity-to-learn

12 standards.

13 (b) INFORMATION.—The Goals Panel may secure di14 rectly from any department or agency of the United States

15 information necessary to enable the Goals Panel to carry

16 out this part. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Goals

17 Panel, the head of a department or agency shall furnish

18 such information to the Goals Panel to the extent permitted

19 by law.

20 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Goals Panel may use the

21 United States mail in the same manner and under the same

22 conditions as other departments and agencies of the United

23 States.

24 (d) GIFTS; USE OF FACILITIES.—The Goals Panel

25 may—
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1 (1) accept, administer, and utilize gifts or dona2 tions of services, money, or property, whether real or

3 personal, tangible or intangible; and

4 (2) with consent, use the research, equipment,

5 services, and facilities of any agency or instrumental6 ity of the United States, or of any State or political

7 subdivision thereof.

8 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP9 PORT.—(1) The Secretary shall provide to the Goals Panel,

10 on a reimbursable basis, such administrative support serv11 ices as the Goals Panel may request.

12 (2) The Secretary shall, to the extent appropriate, and

13 on a reimbursable basis, make contracts and other arrange14 ments that are requested by the Goals Panel to help it com15 pile and analyze data or carry out other functions necessary

16 to the performance of such responsibilities.

17 SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

18 (a) MEETINGS.—The Goals Panel shall meet on a reg19 ular basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson of

20 the Goals Panel or a majority of its members.

21 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con22 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

23 (c) VOTING.—No individual may vote, or exercise any

24 of the powers of a member, by proxy.
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1 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Goals Panel shall ensure

2 public access to its proceedings (other than proceedings, or

3 portions of proceedings, relating to internal personnel and

4 management matters) and make available to the public, at

5 reasonable cost, transcripts of such proceedings.

6 SEC. 206. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT7 ANTS.

8 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Goals Panel

9 shall, without regard to the provisions of title 5, United

10 States Code, relating to the appointment and compensation

11 of officers or employees of the United States, appoint a Di12 rector to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic

13 pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

14 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—(1)(A)

15 The Director may appoint not more than four additional

16 employees to serve as staff to the Goals Panel without regard

17 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

18 appointments in the competitive service.

19 (B) The employees appointed under paragraph (1)(A)

20 may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter

21 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating

22 to classification and General Schedule pay rates, but shall

23 not be paid a rate that exceeds the maximum rate of basic

24 pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule.
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1 (2) The Director may appoint additional employees to

2 serve as staff to the Goals Panel consistent with title 5,

3 United States Code.

4 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Goals Panel

5 may procure temporary and intermittent services of experts

6 and consultants under section 3019(b) of title 5, United

7 States Code.

8 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the request

9 of the Goals Panel, the head of any department or agency

10 of the United States may detail any of the personnel of such

11 agency to the Goals Panel to assist the Goals Panel in its

12 duties under this part.

13 SEC. 207. EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT.

14 (a) GENERAL.—(1) The Goals Panel shall support the

15 work of its Resource and Technical Planning Groups on

16 School Readiness (referred to in this section as the Groups)

17 to improve the methods of assessing the readiness of children

18 for school that would lead to alternatives to currently used

19 norm-referenced early childhood assessments.

20 (2) The Groups shall—

21 (A) create clear guidelines regarding the nature,

22 functions, and uses of early childhood assessments, in23 cluding a model of school readiness that addresses a

24 broad range of early childhood developmental needs;
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1 (B) monitor and evaluate early childhood assess2 ments, including the ability of existing assessments to

3 provide valid information on the readiness of children

4 for school; and

5 (C) monitor and report on the long-term collec6 tion of data on the status of young children to im7 prove policy and practice, including the need for new

8 sources of data necessary to assess the broad range of

9 early childhood developmental needs.

10 (b) ADVICE.—The Groups shall advise and assist the

11 Congress, the Secretary, the Goals Panel, and others regard12 ing how to improve the assessment of young children and

13 how such assessments can improve services to children.

14 (c) REPORT.—The Goals Panel shall provide reports

15 on the work of the Groups to the Congress, the Secretary,

16 and the public.

17 PART B—NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS

18 AND IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL

19 SEC. 211. PURPOSE.

20 The purpose of this part is to establish a mechanism

21 to—

22 (1) certify and regularly review voluntary na23 tional content and student performance standards

24 that define what all students should know and be able

25 to do;
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1 (2) certify content and student performance

2 standards submitted by States on a voluntary basis,

3 if such standards are of equal or higher quality to the

4 voluntary national content and student performance

5 standards certified by the National Education Stand6 ards and Improvement Council;

7 (3) certify and regularly review voluntary na8 tional opportunity-to-learn standards that describe

9 the conditions of teaching and learning necessary for

10 all students to have a fair opportunity to achieve the

11 knowledge and skills described in the voluntary na12 tional content and student performance standards

13 certified by the National Education Standards and

14 Improvement Council;

15 (4) certify opportunity-to-learn standards sub16 mitted by States on a voluntary basis, if such stand17 ards are of equal or higher quality as compared with

18 the voluntary national opportunity-to-learn stand19 ards; and

20 (5) certify systems of assessments submitted by

21 States on a voluntary basis, if such systems are

22 aligned with State content standards certified by the

23 National Education Standards and Improvement

24 Council and if such systems are valid, reliable, and

25 consistent with relevant, nationally recognized, profes-
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1 sional and technical standards for assessment when

2 used for their intended purposes.

3 SEC. 212. NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IM4 PROVEMENT COUNCIL.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the exec6 utive branch a National Education Standards and Im7 provement Council (referred to in this title as the

8 ‘‘Council’’).

9 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed of

10 twenty members (referred in this part as ‘‘members’’) who

11 shall be appointed as follows:

12 (1) 8 members (2 from each of subparagraphs

13 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap14 pointed by the President;

15 (2) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

16 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap17 pointed by the Speaker of the House of Representa18 tives, in consultation with the majority and minority

19 leaders of House;

20 (3) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

21 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap22 pointed by the majority leader of the Senate, in con23 sultation with the minority leader of the Senate; and
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1 (4) 4 members (1 from each of subparagraphs

2 (A) through (D) of subsection (c)(1)) shall be ap3 pointed by the National Education Goals Panel.

4 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—(1) The members of the Council

5 shall include—

6 (A) 5 professional educators, including elemen7 tary and secondary classroom teachers, preschool edu8 cators and other school-based professionals, local dis9 trict or State administrators, related service person10 nel, and other educators;

11 (B) 5 representatives of business and industry,

12 organized labor, and postsecondary educational insti13 tutions, including at least 1 representative of post14 secondary educational institutions, at least 1 rep15 resentative of organized labor, and at least 1 rep16 resentative of business who is also a member of the

17 National Skill Standards Board;

18 (C) 5 representatives of the public, including

19 representatives of advocacy, civil rights and disability

20 groups, parents, civic leaders, and local and State

21 education policymakers (including State, local, or

22 tribal school boards); and

23 (D) 5 education experts, including experts in

24 measurement and assessment, curriculum, school fi25 nance and equity, and school reform.
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1 (2) To the extent feasible, the membership of the Coun2 cil shall be geographically representative of the United

3 States and reflect the diversity of the United States with

4 regard to race, ethnicity, gender, and disability characteris5 tics.

6 (3) One-third of the Council shall consist of individ7 uals with expertise in the educational needs of children who

8 are from low-income families, minority backgrounds, have

9 limited-English proficiency, or have disabilities.

10 (d) TERMS.—(1) Members shall be appointed for 3-

11 year terms, with no member serving more than 2 consecu12 tive terms.

13 (2) The Council shall establish by lot initial terms for

14 individuals of one, two, or three years in order to establish

15 a rotation in which one third of the members are selected

16 each year.

17 (e) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The initial members

18 shall be appointed not later than 120 days after the date

19 of enactment of this Act.

20 (f) INITIATION.—The Council shall begin to carry out

21 the duties of the Council under this part when all 20 mem22 bers have been appointed.

23 (g) RETENTION.—In order to retain an appointment

24 to the Council, a member must attend at least two-thirds

25 of the scheduled meetings of the Council in any given year.
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1 (h) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Council shall not af2 fect the powers of the Council, but shall be filled in the same

3 manner as the original appointment.

4 (i) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Council who are

5 not regular full-time employees of the United States may,

6 while attending meetings or hearings of the Council, be pro7 vided compensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary, but

8 not exceeding the maximum rate of basic pay payable for

9 GS–15 of the General Schedule.

10 (j) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—(1) A member of the

11 Council may not concurrently serve as a member of the

12 Goals Panel.

13 (2) Section 208 of title 18 of the United States Code

14 shall apply to members of the Council except that, for the

15 purposes of making written determinations under sub16 section (b)(1), the Government official responsible for the

17 appointment of any member of the Council is deemed to

18 be the Director of the Office of Government Ethics.

19 (3) A member of the Council who resides in a State

20 which has developed standards and assessments may not

21 participate in Council consideration of such standards and

22 assessments.

23 (k) TRAVEL.—Each member of the Council may be al24 lowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsist25 ence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5, United States
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1 Code, for each day the member is engaged in the perform2 ance of duties away from the home or regular place of busi3 ness of the member.

4 (l) OFFICERS.—The members of the Council shall select

5 officers from among its members. The officers of the Council

6 shall serve for one-year terms.

7 SEC. 213. DUTIES.

8 (a) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL CONTENT STANDARDS.—

9 (1) The Council shall—

10 (A) identify areas in which voluntary national

11 content standards need to be developed;

12 (B) certify voluntary national content and stu13 dent performance standards using the criteria devel14 oped under paragraph (2)(A)(i), that define what all

15 students should know and be able to do;

16 (C) forward such voluntary national content and

17 student performance standards to the Goals Panel for

18 review and comment; and

19 (D) develop a process for regularly reviewing

20 any national voluntary content, student performance,

21 and opportunity-to-learn standards that have been

22 certified.

23 (2)(A) The Council shall—
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1 (i) identify and develop criteria to be used for

2 certifying the voluntary national content and student

3 performance standards; and

4 (ii) before applying such criteria, forward them

5 to the Goals Panel for review and comment.

6 (B) The criteria developed by the Council shall ad7 dress—

8 (i) the extent to which the proposed standards

9 are internationally competitive and comparable to the

10 best in the world;

11 (ii) the extent to which the proposed content and

12 student performance standards reflect the best avail13 able knowledge about how all students learn and

14 about how the content area can be most effectively

15 taught;

16 (iii) the extent to which the proposed content and

17 student performance standards have been developed

18 through an open and public process that provides for

19 input and involvement of all relevant parties, includ20 ing teachers, related services personnel, and other pro21 fessional educators, employers and postsecondary edu22 cation institutions, curriculum and subject matter

23 specialists, parents, advocacy groups, and the public;

24 and
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1 (iv) other factors that the Council deems appro2 priate.

3 (C) In developing the criteria, the Council shall work

4 with entities that are developing, or have already developed,

5 content and student performance standards, and any other

6 entities that the Council deems appropriate, to identify ap7 propriate certification criteria.

8 (b) VOLUNTARY STATE CONTENT STANDARDS.—The

9 Council may certify content and student performance

10 standards presented on a voluntary basis by States, using

11 the criteria developed under subsection (a)(2)(A)(i), if such

12 standards are of equal or higher quality to the voluntary

13 national content and student performance standards cer14 tified by the Council.

15 (c) VOLUNTARY NATIONAL OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

16 STANDARDS.—(1) The Council shall certify exemplary, vol17 untary national opportunity-to-learn standards that will

18 establish a basis for providing all students a fair oppor19 tunity to achieve the knowledge and skills set out in the

20 voluntary national content standards certified by the

21 Council.

22 (2) The voluntary national opportunity-to-learn

23 standards certified by the Council shall address—
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1 (A) the quality and availability of curricula, in2 structional materials, and technologies, including dis3 tance learning, to all students;

4 (B) the capability of teachers to provide high5 quality instruction to meet diverse learning needs in

6 each content area to all students;

7 (C) the extent to which teachers, principals, and

8 administrators have ready and continuing access to

9 professional development, including the best knowl10 edge about teaching, learning, and school improve11 ment;

12 (D) the extent to which curriculum, instructional

13 practices, and assessments are aligned to content

14 standards;

15 (E) the extent to which school facilities provide

16 a safe and secure environment for learning and in17 struction and have the requisite libraries, labora18 tories, and other resources necessary to provide an op19 portunity to learn;

20 (F) the extent to which schools utilize policies,

21 curricula, and instructional practices which ensure

22 nondiscrimination on the basis of gender; and

23 (G) other factors that the Council deems appro24 priate to ensure the students receive a fair oppor25 tunity to achieve the knowledge and skills described in
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1 the voluntary content and student performance stand2 ards certified by the Council.

3 (3) In carrying out this subsection, the Council shall—

4 (A) identify what countries with rigorous content

5 standards do to—

6 (i) provide their children with opportunities

7 to learn;

8 (ii) prepare their teachers; and

9 (iii) provide continuing professional devel10 opment opportunities for their teachers; and

11 (B) develop criteria to be used for certifying the

12 voluntary national and State opportunity-to-learn

13 standards and, before applying such criteria, forward

14 them to the Goals Panel for review and comment.

15 (4) The Council shall assist in the development of the

16 voluntary national opportunity-to-learn standards devel17 oped by the consortium under section 219 by—

18 (A) making recommendations to the Secretary

19 regarding priorities and selection criteria for the

20 award made under section 219; and

21 (B) coordinating with the consortium receiving

22 an award under section 219 to ensure that the oppor23 tunity-to-learn standards the consortium develops are

24 appropriate for the needs of all students, are of high
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1 quality, and are consistent with the criteria developed

2 by the Council for the certification of such standards.

3 (5) The Council shall forward the voluntary national

4 opportunity-to-learn standards it certifies to the Goals

5 Panel for review and comment.

6 (d) VOLUNTARY STATE OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN

7 STANDARDS.—The Council may certify opportunity-to8 learn standards submitted voluntarily by a State, using the

9 criteria developed under subsection (c)(3)(B), if such stand10 ards are of equal or higher quality as compared to the vol11 untary national opportunity-to-learn standards.

12 (e) GENERAL PROVISION REGARDING VOLUNTARY NA13 TIONAL STANDARDS.—The Council may certify voluntary

14 national content, student performance, and opportunity-to15 learn standards if such standards are sufficiently general

16 to be used by any State without restricting State and local

17 control of curriculum and prerogatives regarding instruc18 tional methods to be employed.

19 (f) ASSESSMENTS.—(1)(A) The Council may certify a

20 system of assessments that is submitted voluntarily by a

21 State, using the criteria developed under paragraph (2)(A),

22 if such system is aligned with the State’s content standards

23 certified by the Council.

24 (B) Systems of assessments shall be certified by the

25 Council for the purposes of—
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1 (i) informing students, parents, teachers, and re2 lated services personnel about the progress of all stu3 dents toward the standards;

4 (ii) improving classroom instruction and im5 proving the learning outcomes for all students;

6 (iii) exemplifying for students, parents, and

7 teachers the kinds and levels of achievement that

8 should be expected of all students, including the iden9 tification of student performance standards;

10 (iv) measuring and motivating individual stu11 dents, schools, districts, States, and the Nation to im12 prove educational performance; and

13 (v) assisting education policymakers in making

14 decisions about education programs.

15 (C) The Council shall certify a system of assessments

16 only if—

17 (i) the State has established or adopted oppor18 tunity-to-learn standards; and

19 (ii) such system will not be used to make deci20 sions regarding graduation, grade promotion, or re21 tention of students for a period of five years from the

22 date of enactment of this Act.

23 (2)(A) The Council shall develop and, no sooner than

24 three years or later than four years after the enactment of

25 this Act, begin utilizing criteria for the certification of as-
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1 sessment systems for the purposes indicated in paragraph

2 (1)(B). Before using such criteria, the Council shall forward

3 the criteria to the Goals Panel for review and comment.

4 (B) The certification criteria developed by the Council

5 shall address the extent to which the assessment system—

6 (i) is aligned with State content standards cer7 tified by the Council; and

8 (ii) is to be used for a purpose for which it is

9 valid, reliable, free of discrimination, and is consist10 ent with relevant, nationally recognized professional

11 and technical standards for assessment.

12 (C) In determining appropriate certification criteria,

13 the Council shall—

14 (i) consider standards and criteria being devel15 oped by other national organizations, research on as16 sessment, and emerging new State and local assess17 ments;

18 (ii) recommend needed research;

19 (iii) encourage the development and field testing

20 of systems of assessments; and

21 (iv) provide a public forum for discussing, debat22 ing, and building consensus for the criteria to be used

23 for the certification of assessment systems.
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1 (D) Prior to determining the certification criteria, the

2 Council shall seek public comment regarding the proposed

3 criteria.

4 (E) The Council shall certify a system of assessments

5 only if such system includes all students.

6 (g) PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES.—In carrying out its

7 responsibilities under this title, the Council shall—

8 (1) provide for a process of broad public input

9 as part of the process of developing criteria for stand10 ards and assessments;

11 (2) work with Federal and non-Federal agencies

12 and organizations which are conducting research,

13 studies, or demonstration projects to determine inter14 nationally competitive standards and assessments,

15 and may establish subject matter and other panels to

16 advise it on particular content, student performance,

17 and opportunity-to-learn standards and on assess18 ments;

19 (3) shall establish cooperative arrangements with

20 the National Skill Standards Board to promote the

21 coordination of the development of content and stu22 dent performance standards under this title with the

23 development of skill standards under title IV of this

24 Act;
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1 (4) recommend studies to the Secretary that are

2 necessary to carry out the Council’s responsibilities;

3 (5) inform the public about what constitutes high

4 quality, internationally competitive, content, student

5 performance, and opportunity-to-learn standards, and

6 assessment systems;

7 (6) on a regular basis, review and update cri8 teria for certifying content, student performance, and

9 opportunity-to-learn standards, and assessment sys10 tems; and

11 (7) periodically recertify, as appropriate, the vol12 untary national content and student performance

13 standards, and the voluntary national opportunity14 to-learn standards that it certifies under this section.

15 SEC. 214. ANNUAL REPORTS.

16 Not later than one year after the date the Council con17 cludes its first meeting, and in each succeeding year, the

18 Council shall prepare and submit a report to the President,

19 the Secretary, the appropriate committees of Congress, the

20 Governor of each State, and the Goals Panel regarding its

21 work.

22 SEC. 215. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

23 (a) HEARINGS.—(1) The Council shall, for the purpose

24 of carrying out its responsibilities, conduct such hearings,

25 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony,
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1 and receive such evidence, as the Council considers appro2 priate.

3 (2) In carrying out this part, the Council shall conduct

4 public hearings in different geographic areas of the United

5 States, both urban and rural, to receive the reports, views,

6 and analyses of a broad spectrum of experts and the public

7 on the establishment of voluntary national content, student

8 performance, and opportunity-to-learn standards, and as9 sessment systems.

10 (b) INFORMATION.—The Council may secure directly

11 from any department or agency of the United States infor12 mation necessary to enable the Council to carry out this

13 part. Upon request of the Chairperson of the Council, the

14 head of a department or agency shall furnish such informa15 tion to the Council to the extent permitted by law.

16 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Council may use the

17 United States mail in the same manner and under the same

18 conditions as other departments and agencies of the United

19 States.

20 (d) GIFTS; USE OF FACILITIES.—The Council may—

21 (1) accept, administer, and utilize gifts or dona22 tions of services, money, or property, whether real or

23 personal, tangible or intangible; and

24 (2) with their consent, use the research, equip25 ment, services, and facilities of any agency or instru-
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1 mentality of the United States, or of any State or po2 litical subdivision thereof.

3 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND SUP4 PORT.—(1) The Secretary shall provide to the Council, on

5 a reimbursable basis, such administrative support services

6 as the Council may request.

7 (2) The Secretary shall, to the extent appropriate, and

8 on a reimbursable basis, make contracts and other arrange9 ments that are requested by the Council to help it compile

10 and analyze data or carry out other functions necessary to

11 the performance of its responsibilities.

12 SEC. 216. PUBLICATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.

13 (a) TRANSMITTAL.—For the purpose of obtaining pub14 lic comment through publication in the Federal Register,

15 the Council shall transmit to the Secretary—

16 (1) proposed criteria for certifying national and

17 State content and performance standards;

18 (2) proposed criteria for certifying national and

19 State opportunity-to-learn standards;

20 (3) proposed criteria for certifying State assess21 ment systems; and

22 (4) proposed national content and opportunity23 to-learn standards.
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1 (b) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish such

2 proposed procedures, standards, and criteria in the Federal

3 Register.

4 SEC. 217. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

5 (a) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet on a regular

6 basis, as necessary, at the call of the Chairperson of the

7 Council, or a majority of its members.

8 (b) QUORUM.—A majority of the members shall con9 stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

10 (c) VOTING.—The Council shall take all action of the

11 Council by a majority vote of the total membership of the

12 Council, ensuring the right of the minority to issue written

13 views. No individual may vote or exercise any of the powers

14 of a member by proxy.

15 (d) PUBLIC ACCESS.—The Council shall ensure public

16 access to its proceedings (other than proceedings, or por17 tions of proceedings, relating to internal personnel and

18 management matters) and make available to the public, at

19 reasonable cost, transcripts of such proceedings.

20 SEC. 218. DIRECTOR AND STAFF; EXPERTS AND CONSULT21 ANTS.

22 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Chairperson of the Council shall,

23 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

24 Code, relating to the appointment and compensation of offi25 cers or employees of the United States, appoint a Director
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1 to be paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay

2 payable for level V of the Executive Schedule.

3 (b) APPOINTMENT AND PAY OF EMPLOYEES.—(1)(A)

4 The Director may appoint not more than four additional

5 employees to serve as staff to the Council without regard

6 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

7 appointments in the competitive service.

8 (B) The employees appointed under subparagraph (A)

9 may be paid without regard to the provisions of chapter

10 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relating

11 to classification and General Schedule pay rates, but shall

12 not be paid a rate that exceeds the maximum rate of basic

13 pay payable for GS–15 of the General Schedule.

14 (2) The Director may appoint additional employees to

15 serve as staff of the Council consistent with title 5, United

16 States Code.

17 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Council may

18 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

19 3019(b) of title 5, United States Code.

20 (d) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the request

21 of the Council, the head of any department or agency of

22 the United States may detail any of the personnel of such

23 department or agency to the Council to assist the Council

24 in its duties under this part.
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1 SEC. 219. OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT GRANT.

2 (a) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT

3 GRANT.—(1) The Secretary is authorized to make a grant,

4 on a competitive basis, to a consortium of individuals and

5 organizations to develop voluntary national opportunity-to6 learn standards consistent with the provisions of section

7 213(c).

8 (2) To the extent possible, such consortium shall in9 clude the participation of—

10 (A) State-level policymakers, such as Governors,

11 State legislators, chief State school officers, and State

12 school board members;

13 (B) local policymakers and administrators, such

14 as local school board members, superintendents, and

15 principals;

16 (C) teachers (especially teachers involved in the

17 development of content standards);

18 (D) parents and individuals with experience in

19 promoting parental involvement in education;

20 (E) representatives of business;

21 (F) experts in vocational-technical education;

22 (G) representatives of regional accrediting asso23 ciations;

24 (H) individuals with expertise in school finance

25 and equity, the education of at-risk students, and the
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1 preparation and training of teachers and school ad2 ministrators;

3 (I) curriculum and school reform experts;

4 (J) student and civil rights advocacy groups;

5 (K) representatives of higher education; and

6 (L) secondary school students.

7 (3) In developing voluntary national opportunity-to8 learn standards, such consortium shall—

9 (A) draw upon current research about student

10 achievement and the necessary conditions for effective

11 teaching and learning; and

12 (B) provide for the development of several con13 secutive drafts of standards which incorporate the

14 comments and recommendations of educators and

15 other knowledgeable individuals across the Nation.

16 (4) One-third of the consortium shall consist of indi17 viduals with expertise in the educational needs and assess18 ment of children who are from low-income families, minor19 ity backgrounds, have limited-English proficiency, or have

20 disabilities.

21 (5) The membership of the consortium shall be geo22 graphically representative and reflect the racial, ethnic, and

23 gender diversity of the United States.

24 (b) APPLICATIONS.—(1) Any consortium that desires

25 to receive a grant under this subsection shall submit an ap-
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1 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such manner,

2 and containing such information and assurances as the

3 Secretary may require.

4 (2) In awarding such grant, the Secretary shall give

5 priority to applications from consortia which involve indi6 viduals and organizations with the greatest diversity of per7 spectives and points of view.

8 (3) In establishing additional priorities and selection

9 criteria for such grant, the Secretary shall give serious con10 sideration to the recommendations made by the Council

11 pursuant to section 213(c)(4)(A).

12 (c) REPORT.—After the development of the voluntary

13 national opportunity-to-learn standards, the consortium

14 funded under this section shall submit a report to the Sec15 retary which discusses the background, important issues,

16 and rationale regarding such standards.

17 SEC. 220. ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

18 GRANTS.

19 (a) GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary is authorized to

20 make grants to States and local educational agencies or

21 consortia of such agencies to help defray the cost of develop22 ing, field testing, and evaluating systems of assessments, to

23 be used for some or all of the purposes indicated in section

24 213(f)(1)(B), that are aligned to State content standards

25 certified by the Council.
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1 (2) The Secretary shall reserve a portion of the funds

2 allocated under section 219(a)(1) for grants to State edu3 cational agencies and local educational agencies for pur4 poses of developing such assessments in languages other

5 than English.

6 (b) APPLICATIONS.—A State, local educational agency,

7 or consortium of such agencies that desires to receive a

8 grant under subsection (a)(1) shall submit an application

9 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and contain10 ing such information and assurances as the Secretary may

11 require.

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—(1) A recipient of a grant under

13 this section shall—

14 (A) examine the validity and reliability of an

15 assessment, or system of assessments, for the particu16 lar purposes for which such assessment or system was

17 developed;

18 (B) ensure that an assessment, or system of as19 sessments, is consistent with relevant, nationally rec20 ognized professional and technical standards for as21 sessments; and

22 (C) devote special attention to how an assess23 ment, or system of assessments, treats all students, es24 pecially with regard to the race, gender, ethnicity,

25 disability, and language proficiency.
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1 (2) An assessment, or system of assessments, developed

2 and evaluated with funds under this section may not be

3 used for decisions about individual students relating to pro4 gram placement, promotion, or retention, graduation, or

5 employment for a period of five years from the date of en6 actment of this Act.

7 SEC. 221. EVALUATION.

8 (a) GRANT.—From funds reserved under section

9 304(a)(2), the Secretary annually shall make a grant, in

10 an amount not to exceed $500,000, to the Commission on

11 Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the Na12 tional Academy of Sciences (referred to in this part as the

13 Commission) to—

14 (1) evaluate—

15 (A) the technical quality of the work per16 formed by the Goals Panel and the Council;

17 (B) the process the Council uses to develop

18 criteria for certification of standards and assess19 ments;

20 (C) the process the Council uses to certify

21 voluntary national standards as well as stand22 ards and assessments voluntarily submitted by

23 States; and
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1 (D) the process the Goals Panel uses to ap2 prove certification criteria and voluntary na3 tional standards;

4 (2) periodically provide to the Goals Panel and

5 the Council, as appropriate, information from the

6 evaluation under paragraph (1); and

7 (3) report on the activities authorized under sec8 tions 219 and 220.

9 (b) REPORT.—The Commission shall periodically re10 port to the Congress, the Secretary, and the public regard11 ing findings and shall make a final report not later than

12 January 1, 1998.

13 PART C—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

14 SEC. 231. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 (a) NATIONAL EDUCATION GOALS PANEL.—There are

16 authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fiscal year

17 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the

18 four succeeding fiscal years to carry out part A of this title.

19 (b) NATIONAL EDUCATION STANDARDS AND IMPROVE20 MENT COUNCIL.—There are authorized to be appropriated

21 $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be

22 necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to

23 carry out part B of this title.

24 (c) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN DEVELOPMENT GRANT.—

25 There are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 for fis-
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1 cal year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal

2 year 1995 to carry out the Opportunity-to-Learn Develop3 ment Grant Program established under section 219 of this

4 title.

5 (d) ASSESSMENT DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

6 GRANTS.—There are authorized to be appropriated

7 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be

8 necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998 to

9 carry out the Assessment Development and Evaluation

10 Grants Program established under section 220 of this title.

11 TITLE III—STATE AND LOCAL

12 EDUCATION SYSTEMIC IM13 PROVEMENT

14 SEC. 301. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

15 The Congress finds that—

16 (1) all students can learn and achieve high

17 standards and must realize their potential if the

18 United States is to prosper;

19 (2) the reforms in education of the last 15 years

20 have achieved some good results, but these efforts often

21 have been limited to a few schools or to a single part

22 of the educational system;

23 (3) leadership must come both from teachers, re24 lated services personnel, principals, and parents in

25 individual schools and from policymakers at the local,
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1 State, tribal, and national levels, in order for lasting

2 improvements in student performance to occur;

3 (4) simultaneous top-down and bottom-up edu4 cation reform is necessary to spur creative and inno5 vative approaches by individual schools to help all

6 students achieve internationally competitive stand7 ards;

8 (5) strategies must be developed by communities

9 and States to support the revitalization of all local

10 public schools by fundamentally changing the entire

11 system of public education through comprehensive, co12 herent, and coordinated improvement in order to in13 crease student learning;

14 (6) parents, teachers, and other local educators,

15 and business, community, and tribal leaders must be

16 involved in developing systemwide improvement strat17 egies that reflect the needs of their individual commu18 nities;

19 (7) State and local education improvement ef20 forts must incorporate strategies for providing all stu21 dents and families with coordinated access to appro22 priate social services, health care, nutrition, and child

23 care to remove preventable barriers to learning and

24 enhance school readiness for all students;
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1 (8) States and local educational agencies, work2 ing together, must immediately set about developing

3 and implementing such systemwide improvement

4 strategies if the Nation is to educate all children to

5 meet their full potential and achieve the National

6 Education Goals listed in title I of this Act;

7 (9) State and local systemic improvement strate8 gies must provide all students with effective mecha9 nisms and appropriate paths to the workforce as well

10 as to higher education;

11 (10) business should be encouraged to enter into

12 partnerships with schools, provide information and

13 guidance to schools on the needs of area business for

14 properly educated graduates in general and on the

15 need for particular workplace skills, that the schools

16 may provide necessary material and support, and

17 continue the lifelong learning process throughout the

18 employment years of an individual, and schools

19 should provide information to business regarding how

20 the business community can assist schools in meeting

21 the goals of this Act;

22 (11) institutions of higher education should be

23 encouraged to enter into partnerships with schools to

24 provide information and guidance to schools on the

25 skills and knowledge graduates need in order to enter
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1 and successfully complete postsecondary education,

2 and schools should provide information and guidance

3 to institutions of higher education on the skills,

4 knowledge, and preservice training teachers need, and

5 the types of professional development educators need

6 in order to meet the goals of this Act;

7 (12) the appropriate and innovative use of tech8 nology, including distance learning, can be very effec9 tive in helping to bring all students the opportunity

10 to learn and meet high standards; and

11 (13) Federal funds should be targeted to support

12 local and State initiatives, and to leverage State and

13 local resources for designing and implementing sys14 tem-wide improvement plans.

15 SEC. 302. PURPOSE.

16 The purpose of this title is to improve the quality of

17 education for all students by improving student learning

18 through a long-term, broad-based effort to promote coherent

19 and coordinated improvements in the system of education

20 throughout the Nation at the local and State levels. This

21 title provides new authorities and funding for the Nation’s

22 school systems without replacing or reducing funding for

23 existing Federal education programs. It is the intention of

24 the Congress that no State or local educational agency will
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1 reduce its funding for education or for education reform on

2 account of receiving any funds under this title.

3 SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 For the purpose of carrying out this title, there are

5 authorized to be appropriated $393,000,000 for the fiscal

6 year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each

7 of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998.

8 SEC. 304. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.

9 (a) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—From funds appro10 priated under section 303, the Secretary—

11 (1) shall reserve a total of one percent to provide

12 assistance, in amounts determined by the Secretary—

13 (A) to the outlying areas; and

14 (B) to the Secretary of the Interior to bene15 fit Indian students in schools operated or funded

16 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (referred to in

17 this Act as the ‘‘Bureau’’); and

18 (2) may reserve a total of up to 6 percent for—

19 (A) national leadership activities under sec20 tion 313;

21 (B) the costs of peer review of State im22 provement plans and applications under this

23 title; and

24 (C) evaluation activities under section 221.
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1 (b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—The Secretary shall allot

2 the remaining amount appropriated under section 303 for

3 each fiscal year to the States (which for the purposes of this

4 subsection does not include the outlying areas) as follows:

5 (1) 50 percent of such remaining amount shall

6 be allocated in accordance with the relative amounts

7 such State received under chapter 1 of title I of the

8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for

9 the preceding fiscal year.

10 (2) 50 percent of such remaining amount shall

11 be allocated in accordance with the relative amounts

12 each such State received under part A of chapter 2 of

13 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education

14 Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year.

15 (c) REALLOTMENTS.—If the Secretary determines that

16 any amount of a State’s allotment for any fiscal year under

17 subsection (b) will not be needed for such fiscal year by the

18 State, the Secretary shall reallot such amount to other

19 States that need additional funds, in such manner as the

20 Secretary determines is appropriate.

21 SEC. 305. STATE APPLICATIONS.

22 (a) GENERAL.—(1) If a State desires to receive a grant

23 under this title, the State educational agency shall submit

24 an application to the Secretary at such time and in such

25 manner as the Secretary may determine.
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1 (2) In addition to the information described in sub2 sections (b) and (c), each such application shall include—

3 (A) an assurance that the State educational

4 agency will cooperate with the Secretary in carrying

5 out the Secretary’s responsibilities under section 312,

6 and will comply with reasonable requests of the Sec7 retary for data related to the State’s progress in de8 veloping and implementing its State improvement

9 plan under this title;

10 (B) an assurance that State law provides ade11 quate authority to carry out each component of the

12 State’s improvement plan developed, or to be devel13 oped under section 306, or that such authority will be

14 sought;

15 (C) an assurance that the standards developed

16 for student achievement are not less rigorous than stu17 dent achievement standards used prior to the date of

18 enactment of this Act;

19 (D) an assurance that the State will provide for

20 broad public participation in the planning process;

21 and

22 (E) such other assurances and information as

23 the Secretary may require.

24 (b) FIRST YEAR.—A State’s application for the first

25 year of assistance under this title shall—
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1 (1) describe the process by which the State will

2 develop a school improvement plan that meets the re3 quirements of section 306; and

4 (2) describe how the State educational agency

5 will use funds received under this title for such year,

6 including how the State educational agency will make

7 subgrants to local educational agencies and for teach8 er training.

9 (c) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—A State’s second applica10 tion under this title shall—

11 (1) cover the second through fifth years of its

12 participation;

13 (2) include a copy of the State’s improvement

14 plan that meets the requirements of section 306 or, if

15 the State plan is not complete, a statement of the

16 steps it will take to complete the plan and a schedule

17 for doing so; and

18 (3) include an explanation of how the State will

19 use funds received under this title, including how it

20 will make subgrants to local educational agencies and

21 for teacher training under section 309(b)(1).

22 SEC. 306. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.

23 (a) BASIC SCOPE OF PLAN.—Any State educational

24 agency that wishes to receive a grant under this title after

25 its first year of participation shall develop and implement
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1 a plan for the fundamental restructuring and improvement

2 of elementary and secondary education in the State. This

3 plan must address—

4 (1) in accordance with subsection (c), the estab5 lishment or adoption of challenging content and stu6 dent performance standards for all students and the

7 use of curricula, instructional practices, assessments,

8 technology, parental involvement programs, and pro9 fessional preparation and development approaches

10 appropriate to help all students reach such standards;

11 (2) in accordance with subsection (d) and the

12 factors described in section 213(c)(2), the establish13 ment or adoption of opportunity-to-learn standards

14 that will define the conditions of teaching and learn15 ing that provide all students the opportunity to meet

16 the challenging content and student performance

17 standards;

18 (3) in accordance with subsection (e), needed

19 changes in the governance and management of the

20 education system in order to effectively focus schools

21 on, and assist them in, preparing all students to meet

22 the challenging State standards;

23 (4) in accordance with subsection (f), comprehen24 sive strategies to involve communities, including par25 ents, businesses, libraries, institutions of higher edu-
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1 cation, employment and training agencies, health and

2 human service agencies, advocacy groups, cultural in3 stitutions, and other public and private agencies that

4 provide social services, health care, child care, early

5 childhood education, and nutrition to students, in

6 helping all students meet the challenging State stand7 ards;

8 (5) in accordance with subsection (g), strategies

9 for ensuring that all local educational agencies and

10 schools within the State are involved in developing

11 and implementing needed improvements within a

12 specified period of time;

13 (6) in accordance with subsection (h), strategies

14 for ensuring that comprehensive, systemic reform is

15 promoted from the bottom up in communities, local

16 educational agencies, and schools; and

17 (7) the needs of the children, ages 5 through 18,

18 who are out of school and the extent to which such

19 children can be brought back into the education sys20 tem and meet the standards set forth in this Act.

21 (b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—(1) A State improvement

22 plan under this title must be developed by a broad-based

23 panel (referred to in this title as the ‘‘panel’’) in coopera24 tion with the State educational agency and the Governor.

25 The panel shall include—
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1 (A) the Governor and the chief State school offi2 cer, or their designees;

3 (B) the chairman of the State board of education

4 and the chairmen of the appropriate authorizing com5 mittees of the State legislature, or their designees;

6 (C) teachers, principals, and administrators who

7 have successfully improved student performance and

8 deans of colleges of education;

9 (D) representatives of teacher organizations, par10 ents, institutions of higher education, business and

11 labor leaders, community-based organizations, Indian

12 tribes, local boards of education, State and local offi13 cials responsible for health, social services, and other

14 related services, and others, as appropriate;

15 (E) representatives from rural and urban local

16 educational agencies in the State; and

17 (F) experts in educational measurement and as18 sessment.

19 (2) The Governor and the chief State school officer

20 shall each appoint half the members of the State panel. The

21 full panel shall establish the procedures regarding the oper22 ation of the panel, including the designation of the panel

23 chairperson.

24 (3) To the extent feasible, the membership of the panel

25 shall be geographically representative of the State and re-
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1 flect the diversity of the population of the State with regard

2 to race, ethnicity, gender, and disability characteristics.

3 (4) One-third of the panel members shall be individ4 uals with expertise in the educational needs and assess5 ments of children who are from low-income families, minor6 ity group backgrounds, have limited-English proficiency, or

7 have disabilities.

8 (5) The panel shall consult the Governor, the chief

9 State school officer, the State board of education, and rel10 evant committees of the State legislature in developing the

11 plan.

12 (6) The panel shall be responsible for conducting a

13 statewide, grassroots outreach process, including conducting

14 public hearings, to involve educators, related services per15 sonnel, parents, secondary school students, local officials,

16 private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools, com17 munity and business leaders, Indian tribes, citizens, chil18 dren’s advocates, and others with a stake in the success of

19 students and their education system, and who are represent20 ative of the diversity of the State and its student popu21 lation, in the development of the State plan and in a con22 tinuing dialog regarding the need for and nature of chal23 lenging standards for all students and local and State re24 sponsibilities for helping all students achieve them.
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1 (7) The panel shall develop a continuing process for

2 interacting with local educational agencies and individual

3 schools engaged in systemic reform, especially including

4 local educational agencies and schools which receive

5 subgrants under section 309 of this Act, to ensure that the

6 development and implementation of the State plan reflects

7 their needs and experiences.

8 (8) The panel shall develop a State plan, provide op9 portunity for public comment, and submit the State plan

10 to the State educational agency for approval.

11 (9) The State educational agency shall submit the

12 original State improvement plan developed by the panel

13 and the State improvement plan if modified by such agen14 cy, together with an explanation of any changes made by

15 such agency to the plan developed by the panel, to the Sec16 retary for approval.

17 (10) If any portion of the State plan addresses matters

18 that, under State or other applicable law, are not under

19 the authority of the State educational agency, the State edu20 cational agency shall obtain the approval of, or changes to,

21 such portion, with an explanation from the Governor or

22 other official responsible for that portion before submitting

23 the plan to the Secretary.

24 (11) After approval of the State plan by the Secretary,

25 the panel, in close consultation with teachers, principals,
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1 administrators, school boards, advocacy groups, advocates

2 of children with disabilities and parents in local edu3 cational agencies and schools receiving funds under this

4 title, shall monitor the implementation and effectiveness of

5 the State plan to determine if revisions are appropriate,

6 and shall periodically report its findings to the public.

7 (c) TEACHING, LEARNING, STANDARDS, AND ASSESS8 MENTS.—Each State plan shall establish strategies and a

9 timetable for improving teaching and learning, including—

10 (1) a process for developing or adopting chal11 lenging content and student performance standards

12 for all students which includes coordinating the

13 standards developed pursuant to section 115 of the

14 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology

15 Education Act of 1990;

16 (2) a process for providing assistance and sup17 port to local educational agencies and schools to give

18 them the capacity and responsibility to provide all

19 students the opportunity to increase education

20 achievement and meet challenging State content and

21 student performance standards;

22 (3) assessing the effectiveness and equity of the

23 school finance program of the State to identify dis24 parities in the resources available to each local edu25 cational agency and school in such State and how
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1 such disparities affect the ability of the State edu2 cational agency and local educational agencies to de3 velop and implement plans under this title;

4 (4) a process for developing, adopting, or rec5 ommending instructional materials, including gender

6 equitable and multicultural materials, and technology

7 to support and assist local educational agencies and

8 schools to provide all students the opportunity to meet

9 the challenging State content and student perform10 ance standards;

11 (5) a process for developing and implementing a

12 valid and nondiscriminatory assessment system or set

13 of locally-based assessment systems which are consist14 ent with relevant, nationally recognized, professional

15 and technical standards for assessment, and are capa16 ble of providing coherent information about student

17 attainments relative to the State content standards;

18 (6) a process for monitoring the implementation

19 of such system or systems and the impact on im20 proved instruction for all students;

21 (7) a process for improving the State’s system of

22 teacher and school administrator preparation, licen23 sure, and continuing professional development so that

24 all teachers, related services personnel, and adminis25 trators develop the subject matter and pedagogical ex-
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1 pertise needed to prepare all students to meet the

2 challenging standards under paragraph (1);

3 (8) a process for providing appropriate and ef4 fective professional development, including the use of

5 technology, distance learning, and gender-equitable

6 methods, necessary for teachers, school administrators,

7 and others to help all students meet the challenging

8 standards under paragraph (1); and

9 (9) a process to ensure widespread participation

10 of classroom teachers in developing the portions of the

11 plan described in this subsection.

12 (d) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN STANDARDS.—Each

13 State plan shall establish a strategy and timetable for—

14 (1) adopting or establishing opportunity-to-learn

15 standards prior to or simultaneous with the establish16 ment or adoption of challenging content and student

17 performance standards;

18 (2) ensuring that every school in the State is

19 making demonstrable progress toward meeting the

20 State’s opportunity-to-learn standards;

21 (3) ensuring that the State’s opportunity-to22 learn standards address the need of all students;

23 (4) providing for periodic, independent assess24 ments of the extent to which opportunity-to-learn

25 standards are being met throughout the State; and
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1 (5) periodically reporting to the public on the ex2 tent of the State’s improvement in achieving such

3 standards and providing all students with a fair op4 portunity to achieve the knowledge and skill levels

5 that meet the State’s content and student performance

6 standards.

7 (e) GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT.—Each State

8 plan shall establish strategies for improved governance and

9 management of its education system, such as—

10 (1) aligning responsibility, authority, and ac11 countability throughout the education system, so that

12 decisions regarding content and student performance

13 standards are coordinated and decisions regarding the

14 means for achieving such standards are made closest

15 to the learners;

16 (2) creating an integrated and coherent ap17 proach to attracting, recruiting, preparing and li18 censing, appraising, rewarding, retaining, and sup19 porting the continued professional development of

20 teachers (including vocational teachers), administra21 tors, and other educators, including bilingual edu22 cators and special education providers, so that there

23 is a highly talented workforce of professional edu24 cators capable of preparing all students to reach chal25 lenging standards, with special attention to the re-
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1 cruitment, training, and retention of qualified mi2 norities into the education profession within the State

3 to ensure that the profession reflects the racial and

4 ethnic diversity of the student population;

5 (3) providing incentives for high performance,

6 such as—

7 (A) working with employers and institu8 tions of higher education to devise strategies to

9 reward student achievement;

10 (B) incentives for classroom teachers, prin11 cipals, and other professional educators to par12 ticipate in professional development activities;

13 and

14 (C) school-based incentives for schools and

15 local educational agencies to improve student

16 performance;

17 (4) increasing the proportion of State and local

18 funds allocated to direct instructional purposes; and

19 (5) increasing flexibility for local educational

20 agencies and schools by, for example—

21 (A) waiving State regulations and other re22 quirements that impede educational improve23 ment;
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1 (B) focusing accountability on educational

2 outcomes rather than monitoring compliance

3 with input requirements; and

4 (C) fostering conditions that allow teachers,

5 principals, and parents in the school community

6 to be creative in helping all students meet chal7 lenging standards.

8 (f) PARENTAL AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND IN9 VOLVEMENT.—Each State plan shall describe strategies for

10 how the State will involve parents and other community

11 members in planning, designing, and implementing its

12 plan, including such strategies as—

13 (1) educating the public about the need for high14 er standards, systemic improvement, and awareness

15 of diverse learning needs;

16 (2) involving parents, communities, and advo17 cacy groups in the standard-setting and improvement

18 process;

19 (3) linking the family and school in supporting

20 students to meet the challenging student content and

21 performance standards established;

22 (4) reporting, on an ongoing basis, to parents,

23 educators, and the public on the progress in imple24 menting the plan and improving student perform25 ance;
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1 (5) focusing public and private community re2 sources and public school resources on prevention and

3 early intervention to address the needs of all students

4 by—

5 (A) identifying and removing unnecessary

6 regulations and obstacles to coordination;

7 (B) improving communication and infor8 mation exchange; and

9 (C) providing appropriate training to agen10 cy personnel; and

11 (6) increasing the access of all students to social

12 services, health care, nutrition, related services, and

13 child care services, and locating such services in

14 schools, cooperating service agencies, community15 based centers, or other convenient sites designed to

16 provide ‘‘one-stop shopping’’ for parents and students.

17 (g) MAKING THE IMPROVEMENTS SYSTEMWIDE.—To

18 help provide all students throughout the State the oppor19 tunity to meet challenging State standards, each State plan

20 shall describe strategies such as—

21 (1) ensuring that the improvement efforts expand

22 from the initial local educational agencies, schools,

23 and educators involved to all local educational agen24 cies, schools, and educators in the State education

25 system through such approaches as teacher and ad-
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1 ministrator professional development, technical assist2 ance, whole school projects, intensive summer train3 ing, and networking of teachers and other educators,

4 consortia of schools, and local educational agencies

5 undertaking similar improvements;

6 (2) developing partnerships among preschools, el7 ementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher

8 education, cultural institutions, health and social

9 service providers, and employers to improve teaching

10 and learning at all levels of the education system for

11 all students and to foster collaboration and continu12 ous improvement;

13 (3) strategies to provide for the close coordina14 tion of standards development and improvement ef15 forts among institutions of higher education and sec16 ondary, and elementary schools;

17 (4) conducting parental involvement activities

18 and outreach programs aimed at parents whose lan19 guage is a language other than English, individuals

20 with disabilities, and other special populations, in21 cluding American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and Na22 tive Hawaiians, to involve all segments of the commu23 nity in the development of the State plan;

24 (5) developing partnerships with Indian tribes

25 and schools funded by the Bureau, where appropriate,
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1 to improve consistency and compatibility in curricu2 lum among public and such schools funded by the

3 Bureau at all grade levels;

4 (6) allocating all available local, State, and Fed5 eral resources to achieve system-wide improvement;

6 (7) providing for the development of objective cri7 teria and measures against which the success of local

8 plans will be evaluated;

9 (8) providing for the availability of curricular

10 materials, learning technologies, including distance

11 learning, and professional development in a manner

12 ensuring equal access by all local educational agencies

13 in the State;

14 (9) taking steps to ensure that all local edu15 cational agencies, schools, and educators in the State

16 benefit from successful programs and practices sup17 ported by funds made available to local educational

18 agencies and schools under this title; and

19 (10) providing assistance to students, teachers,

20 schools, and local educational agencies that are iden21 tified through the assessment system developed under

22 subsection (c)(5) as needing such assistance.

23 (h) PROMOTING BOTTOM-UP REFORM.—Each State

24 plan shall include strategies for ensuring that comprehen25 sive, systemic reform is promoted from the bottom up in
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1 communities, local educational agencies, and schools, as

2 well as guided by coordination and facilitation from State

3 leaders, including strategies such as—

4 (1) ensuring that the State plan is responsive to

5 the needs and experiences of local educational agen6 cies, schools, teachers, the community, and parents;

7 (2) establishing mechanisms for continuous

8 input from local schools, communities, advocacy

9 groups, institutions of higher education, and local

10 educational agencies into, and feedback on, the imple11 mentation of the State plan;

12 (3) providing discretionary resources that enable

13 teachers and schools to purchase needed professional

14 development and other forms of assistance consistent

15 with their improvement plan from high-quality pro16 viders of their choice;

17 (4) establishing collaborative networks of teachers

18 centered on content standards and assessments for the

19 purpose of improving teaching and learning;

20 (5) providing flexibility to individual schools

21 and local educational agencies to enable them to

22 adapt and integrate State content standards into

23 courses of study appropriate for individual schools

24 and communities;
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1 (6) facilitating the provision of waivers from

2 State rules and regulations that impede the ability of

3 local educational agencies or schools to carry out local

4 education improvement plans; and

5 (7) facilitating communication among educators

6 within and between local educational agencies for the

7 purpose of sharing innovative and effective practices,

8 including, through the use of telecommunications, dis9 tance learning, site visits, and other means.

10 (i) BENCHMARKS AND TIMELINES.—Each State plan

11 shall include specific benchmarks of improved student per12 formance and of progress in implementing the improvement

13 plan, and timelines against which the progress of the State

14 in carrying out its plan, including the elements described

15 in subsections (c) through (h), can be measured.

16 (j) COORDINATING STRATEGIES.—Each State plan

17 shall include strategies for coordinating the integration of

18 academic and vocational instruction pursuant to the Carl

19 D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education

20 Act.

21 (k) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—

22 Each State shall describe—

23 (1) how the State will monitor progress towards

24 implementing the State and local plans; and
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1 (2) procedures the State will use to ensure

2 schools and school districts meet State opportunity-to3 learn and content standards within the established

4 time lines.

5 (l) PEER REVIEW AND SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—(1)

6 The Secretary shall review each State improvement plan

7 prepared under this section, and each application submit8 ted under section 305, with the assistance and advice of

9 State and local education policymakers, educators, class10 room teachers, related services personnel, experts on edu11 cational innovation and improvement, parents, advocates

12 for children with disabilities, representatives of other advo13 cacy groups, and other appropriate individuals. The peer

14 review process shall be performed by individuals representa15 tive of the diversity of the United States with regard to ge16 ography, race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. The review

17 process shall include at least one site visit to each State.

18 (2) The Secretary shall approve a State’s plan when

19 the Secretary determines, after considering the peer review20 ers’ comment, that it—

21 (A) reflects a widespread commitment within the

22 State;

23 (B) holds reasonable promise of enabling all stu24 dents to achieve at the high levels called for by this

25 Act;
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1 (C) meets the requirements of subsections (a)

2 through (k); and

3 (D) allows local schools, local educational agen4 cies and communities the flexibility to implement

5 local improvement plans in a manner which reflects

6 local needs and requirements in order to promote a

7 ‘bottom up’ system of school reform.

8 (3) The Secretary shall not decline to approve a State’s

9 plan, or any State application submitted under section 305,

10 before offering the State—

11 (A) an opportunity to revise its plan or applica12 tion; and

13 (B) a hearing.

14 (m) REGULAR REVIEW.—Each State plan shall in15 clude a process for regularly reviewing and updating any

16 State content, student performance, and opportunity-to17 learn standards and systems of assessments.

18 (n) AMENDMENTS TO PLAN.—(1) Each State shall pe19 riodically review its plan and revise it, as appropriate, in

20 accordance with the process described in subsection (b).

21 (2) The Secretary shall review major amendments to

22 a State’s plan through the same process, described in sub23 section (j), used to review the original plan.

24 (o) PREEXISTING STATE PLANS AND PANELS.—(1) If

25 a State has developed a comprehensive and systemic im-
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1 provement plan to help all students meet challenging stand2 ards, or any component of such a plan, that otherwise meets

3 the requirements of this section, the Secretary may approve

4 such plan or component notwithstanding that it was not

5 developed in accordance with subsection (b), if the Secretary

6 determines that such approval would further the purposes

7 of State systemic education improvement.

8 (2) If, before the enactment of this Act, a State has

9 made substantial progress in developing a plan that other10 wise meets, or is likely to meet, the requirements of this

11 section, but was developed by a panel that does not meet

12 the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of sub13 section (b), the Secretary may, at the request of the Gov14 ernor and the State educational agency, treat such panel

15 as meeting the requirements of this title if the Secretary

16 determines that there has been statewide involvement of edu17 cators, parents, students, advocacy groups, other interested

18 members of the public in the development of the plan.

19 SEC. 307. SECRETARY’S REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS; PAY20 MENTS.

21 (a) FIRST YEAR.—The Secretary shall approve the ini22 tial year application of a State educational agency under

23 section 305(b) if the Secretary determines that—

24 (1) such application meets the requirements of

25 this title; and
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1 (2) there is a substantial likelihood that the re2 newal application of the State will be able to develop

3 and implement an education improvement plan that

4 complies with section 306.

5 (b) SECOND THROUGH FIFTH YEARS.—The Secretary

6 shall approve a renewal application of a State educational

7 agency under section 305(c) for the second through fifth

8 years only if—

9 (1)(A) the Secretary has approved the State’s

10 improvement plan under section 306(l); or

11 (B) the Secretary determines that the State has

12 made substantial progress in developing such plan;

13 and

14 (2) such application meets the other require15 ments of this title.

16 (c) PAYMENTS.—For any fiscal year for which a State

17 has an approved application under this title, the Secretary

18 shall make a grant to the State educational agency in the

19 amount determined under section 304(b).

20 SEC. 308. STATE USE OF FUNDS.

21 (a) FIRST YEAR.—In the first year for which a State

22 educational agency receives a grant under this title, the

23 State—

24 (1) shall use at least 75 percent of such funds to

25 make subgrants, in accordance with section 309(a), to
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1 local educational agencies for the development or im2 plementation of local improvement plans and to make

3 subgrants, in accordance with section 309(b), to im4 prove educator preservice programs and for profes5 sional development activities consistent with the State

6 plan, if the amount allocated to States under section

7 304(b) for such year is at least $50,000,000. The

8 State may use such funds for such subgrants if such

9 amount is less than $50,000,000; and

10 (2) shall use the remainder of such funds to de11 velop, revise, expand, or implement an education im12 provement plan described in section 306.

13 (b) SUCCEEDING YEARS.—A State that receives assist14 ance under this title for any year after the first year of

15 participation shall—

16 (1) use at least 90 percent of such assistance in

17 each succeeding year to make subgrants—

18 (A) to local educational agencies, in accord19 ance with section 309(a), for the implementation

20 of the State improvement plan and of local im21 provement plans; and

22 (B) in accordance with section 309(b), to

23 improve educator preservice programs and for

24 professional development activities that are con25 sistent with the State improvement plan; and
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1 (2) use the remainder of such assistance for State

2 activities designed to implement its improvement

3 plan, such as—

4 (A) supporting the development or adoption

5 of State content and student performance stand6 ards, State opportunity-to-learn standards, and

7 assessments linked to the standards, including

8 through consortia of States, and in conjunction

9 with the National Education Standards and Im10 provement Council established under part B of

11 title II of this Act;

12 (B) supporting the implementation of high13 performance management and organizational

14 strategies, such as site-based management, shared

15 decisionmaking, or quality management prin16 ciples, to promote effective implementation of

17 such plan;

18 (C) supporting the development and imple19 mentation, at the local educational agency and

20 school building level, of improved human re21 source development systems for recruiting, select22 ing, mentoring, supporting, evaluating, and re23 warding educators;

24 (D) providing special attention to the needs

25 of minority, limited-English proficient, disabled,
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1 and female students, including instructional pro2 grams and activities that encourage such stu3 dents in elementary and secondary schools to as4 pire to enter post secondary education or train5 ing;

6 (E) supporting the development, at the

7 State or local level, of performance-based ac8 countability and incentive systems for schools;

9 (F) outreach related to education improve10 ment to parents, Indian tribal officials, class11 room teachers, related services personnel, and

12 other educators, and the public;

13 (G) providing technical assistance and other

14 services to increase the capacity of local edu15 cational agencies and schools to develop and im16 plement local systemic improvement plans, im17 plement new assessments, and develop curricula

18 consistent with the content and student perform19 ance standards of the State;

20 (H) promoting public magnet schools, pub21 lic ‘‘charter schools’’, and other mechanisms for

22 increasing choice among public schools; and

23 (I) collecting and analyzing data.

24 (c) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In each year,

25 a State may use not more than four percent of its annual
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1 allotment under this title, or $100,000, whichever is greater,

2 for administrative expenses, not including the activities of

3 the panel established under section 306(b)(1).

4 SEC. 309. SUBGRANTS FOR LOCAL REFORM AND PROFES5 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

6 (a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN7 CIES.—(1)(A) Each State educational agency shall make

8 subgrants to local educational agencies (or consortia of such

9 agencies) consistent with subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)

10 of section 308 through a competitive process.

11 (B) In making such subgrants, the State educational

12 agency shall award at least 1 subgrant in each fiscal year

13 to a rural local educational agency, or a consortium of

14 rural local educational agencies, except that this provision

15 shall not apply to the District of Columbia. Rural local edu16 cational agencies may include or be represented as a fiscal

17 agent by an educational service agency.

18 (C) In making such subgrants, the State educational

19 agency shall award at least 1 subgrant in each fiscal year

20 to an urban local educational agency.

21 (D) Each subgrant shall be for a project of sufficient

22 duration and of sufficient size, scope, and quality to carry

23 out the purpose of this title effectively.

24 (2) A local educational agency wishing to receive a

25 subgrant under this title for the purpose of developing a
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1 comprehensive local plan shall submit an application to the

2 State educational agency. Such application shall contain

3 assurances that the local educational agency intends to de4 velop a plan that meets the requirements of this section.

5 (3) Each local educational agency wishing to receive

6 a subgrant for the purpose of implementing a plan under

7 this subsection shall submit a local plan to the State edu8 cational agency which—

9 (A) is developed by a broad-based panel that—

10 (i) is appointed by the local educational

11 agency and is representative of the diversity of

12 students and community with regard to race,

13 language, ethnicity, gender, disability, and socio14 economic characteristics and includes teachers,

15 parents, advocacy groups, school administrators,

16 business representatives, and others, as appro17 priate; and

18 (ii) shall, following the selection of its mem19 bers, establish the procedures regarding the oper20 ation of the panel, including the designation of

21 the chairperson;

22 (B) includes a comprehensive local plan for dis23 trictwide education improvement, directed at enabling

24 all students to meet the challenging content and stu25 dent performance standards of the State, including
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1 specific goals and benchmarks, consistent with the

2 State improvement plan (either approved or under

3 development) and includes a strategy for—

4 (i) implementing opportunity-to-learn

5 standards;

6 (ii) improving teaching and learning;

7 (iii) improving governance and manage8 ment;

9 (iv) generating and strengthening parental

10 and community involvement; and

11 (v) expanding improvements throughout the

12 local educational agency;

13 (C) promotes the flexibility of local schools in de14 veloping plans which address the particular needs of

15 their school and community and are consistent with

16 the local plan;

17 (D) describes a process of broad-based commu18 nity participation in the development, implementa19 tion, and evaluation of the local plan;

20 (E) describes how the local educational agency

21 will encourage and assist schools to develop com22 prehensive school improvement plans that focus on

23 helping all students reach challenging content and

24 student performance standards and that address rel-
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1 evant elements of the improvement plan of the local

2 educational agency identified in subparagraph (B);

3 (F) describes how the local educational agency

4 will implement specific programs aimed at ensuring

5 improvements in school readiness and the ability of

6 students to learn effectively at all grade levels by

7 identifying the most pressing needs facing students

8 and their families with regard to social services,

9 health care, nutrition, and child care, and by entering

10 into partnerships with public and private agencies to

11 increase the access of students and families to coordi12 nated services in a school setting or at a nearby site;

13 (G) describes how the subgrant will be used by

14 the local educational agency, and the procedures to be

15 used to make funds available to schools in accordance

16 with paragraph (6)(A);

17 (H) identifies, with an explanation, any State or

18 Federal requirements that the local educational agen19 cy believes impede educational improvement and that

20 such local educational agency requests be waived in

21 accordance with section 311 (such requests shall

22 promptly be transmitted to the Secretary by the State

23 educational agency); and

24 (I) contains such other information as the State

25 educational agency may reasonably require.
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1 (4) A local educational agency which has approved a

2 local plan shall submit such plan to the State for approval

3 together with a description of modifications to such plan

4 and any comments from the local panel regarding such

5 plan.

6 (5) The panel appointed under paragraph (3)(A) shall,

7 after approval by the State educational agency of the appli8 cation of the local educational agency, monitor the imple9 mentation and effectiveness of the local improvement plan

10 in close consultation with teachers, related services person11 nel, principals, administrators, community members, and

12 parents from schools receiving funds under this title, to de13 termine if revisions to the local plan should be recommended

14 to the local educational agency. The panel shall make public

15 its findings.

16 (6)(A) A local educational agency that receives a

17 subgrant under this subsection shall—

18 (i) in the first year, use not more than 25 per19 cent of subgrant funds to develop a local improvement

20 plan or to implement any local educational activities

21 approved by the State educational agency which are

22 reasonably related to carrying out the State or local

23 improvement plans, and not less than 75 percent of

24 such funds to support individual school improvement

25 initiatives directly related to providing all students
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1 in the school the opportunity to meet challenging

2 State content and student performance standards;

3 and

4 (ii) in subsequent years, use subgrant funds for

5 any activities approved by the State educational

6 agency which are reasonably related to carrying out

7 the State or local improvement plans, except that at

8 least 85 percent of such funds shall be made available

9 to individual schools to develop and implement com10 prehensive school improvement plans which are tai11 lored to meet the needs of their particular student

12 populations and are designed to help all students

13 meet challenging State content standards.

14 (B) At least 50 percent of the funds made available

15 by a local educational agency to individual schools under

16 this section in any fiscal year shall be made available to

17 schools with a special need for such assistance, as indicated

18 by a high number or percentage of students from low-income

19 families, low student achievement, or other similar criteria

20 developed by the local educational agency.

21 (C) A local educational agency may not use more than

22 five percent of its annual allotment under this Act for ad23 ministrative expenses.

24 (7) The State educational agency shall give priority

25 in awarding a subgrant to—
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1 (A) a consortium of local educational agencies;

2 or

3 (B) a local educational agency that makes assur4 ances that funds will be used to assist a consortium

5 of schools that has developed a plan for school im6 provement.

7 (b) SUBGRANTS FOR PRESERVICE TEACHER EDU8 CATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—

9 (1)(A) Each State educational agency shall make subgrants

10 to consortia of local educational agencies, institutions of

11 higher education, private nonprofit organizations, or com12 binations thereof, consistent with subsections (a)(1) and

13 (b)(1) of section 308 through a competitive, peer-reviewed

14 process to—

15 (i) improve preservice teacher education pro16 grams consistent with the State plan, including how

17 to work effectively with parents and the community;

18 and

19 (ii) support continuing, sustained professional

20 development activities for educators which will in21 crease student learning and are consistent with the

22 State plan.

23 (B)(i) In order to apply for a subgrant described in

24 subparagraph (A)(i), a consortium must include at least
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1 one local educational agency and at least one institution

2 of higher education.

3 (ii) In order to apply for a subgrant described in sub4 paragraph (A)(ii), a consortium must include at least one

5 local educational agency.

6 (2) A consortium that wishes to receive a subgrant

7 under this subsection shall submit an application to the

8 State educational agency which—

9 (A) describes how the applicant will use the

10 subgrant to improve teacher preservice and school ad11 ministrator education programs or to implement edu12 cator professional development activities consistent

13 with the State plan;

14 (B) identifies the criteria to be used by the ap15 plicant to judge improvements in preservice education

16 or the effects of professional development activities

17 consistent with the State plan; and

18 (C) contains any other information that the

19 State educational agency determines is appropriate.

20 (3) A recipient of a subgrant under this subsection

21 shall use the subgrant funds for activities supporting—

22 (A) the improvement of preservice teacher edu23 cation and school administrator programs so that

24 such programs equip educators with the subject mat-
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1 ter and pedagogical expertise necessary for preparing

2 all students to meet challenging standards; or

3 (B) the development and implementation of new

4 and improved forms of continuing and sustained pro5 fessional development opportunities for teachers, prin6 cipals, and other educators at the school or district

7 level that equip educators with such expertise, and

8 with other knowledge and skills necessary for leading

9 and participating in continuous education improve10 ment.

11 (4) A recipient may use the subgrant funds under this

12 subsection for costs related to release time for teachers to

13 participate in professional development activities.

14 (5) Professional development shall include related serv15 ices personnel as appropriate.

16 (c) SPECIAL AWARD RULE.—(1) Each State edu17 cational agency shall award at least 50 percent of subgrant

18 funds under subsection (a) in each fiscal year to local edu19 cational agencies that have a greater percentage or number

20 of disadvantaged children than the statewide average per21 centage or number for all local educational agencies in the

22 State.

23 (2) The State educational agency may waive the re24 quirement of paragraph (1) if such State does not receive
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1 a sufficient number of applications to comply with such

2 requirement.

3 SEC. 310. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND TRAINING.

4 (a) INFORMATION AND TRAINING.—Proportionate to

5 the number of children in a State or in a local educational

6 agency who are enrolled in private elementary or secondary

7 schools—

8 (1) a State educational agency or local edu9 cational agency which uses funds under this title to

10 develop goals, content standards, curricular materials,

11 and assessments shall, upon request, make informa12 tion related to such goals, standards, materials, and

13 assessments available to private schools; and

14 (2) a State educational agency or local edu15 cational agency which uses funds under this title for

16 teacher and administrator training shall provide in

17 its plan for the training of teachers and administra18 tors in private schools located in the geographical

19 area served by such agency.

20 (b) WAIVER.—If, by reason of any provision of law,

21 a State or local educational agency is prohibited from pro22 viding for the equitable participation of teachers and ad23 ministrators from private schools in training programs as24 sisted with Federal funds provided under this title, or if

25 the Secretary determines that a State or local educational
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1 agency has substantially failed or is unwilling to provide

2 for such participation, the Secretary shall waive such re3 quirements and shall arrange for the provision of training

4 consistent with State goals and content standards for such

5 teachers and administrators. Such waivers shall be subject

6 to consultation, withholding, notice, and judicial review in

7 accordance with section 1017 of the Elementary and

8 Secondary Education Act of 1965.

9 SEC. 311. WAIVERS OF STATUTORY AND REGULATORY RE10 QUIREMENTS.

11 (a) GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in subsection

12 (c), the Secretary may waive any requirement of any stat13 ute listed in subsection (b) or of the regulations issued under

14 such statute for a State educational agency, local edu15 cational agency, or school that requests such a waiver—

16 (A) if, and only to the extent that, the Secretary

17 determines that such requirement impedes the ability

18 of the State, or of a local educational agency or school

19 in the State, to carry out the State or local education

20 improvement plan;

21 (B) if the State educational agency has waived,

22 or agrees to waive, similar requirements of State law;

23 and

24 (C) if, in the case of a Statewide waiver, the

25 State educational agency—
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1 (i) provides all local educational agencies

2 and parent organizations in the State with no3 tice and an opportunity to comment on the pro4 posal of the State educational agency to seek a

5 waiver; and

6 (ii) submits the comments of such agencies

7 to the Secretary.

8 (2) To request a waiver, a State educational agency,

9 local educational agency, or school that receives funds under

10 this Act or a local educational agency that does not receive

11 funds under this Act but is undertaking school reform efforts

12 that meet the objectives of the State plan, shall submit an

13 application to the Secretary that includes—

14 (A) the identification of statutory or regulatory

15 requirements that are requested to be waived and the

16 goals that the State local educational agency or school

17 intends to achieve;

18 (B) a description of the action that the State has

19 undertaken to remove State statutory or regulatory

20 barriers identified in the applications of local edu21 cational agencies;

22 (C) a description of the goals of the waiver and

23 the expected programmatic outcomes if the request is

24 granted;
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1 (D) the numbers and types of students to be im2 pacted by such waiver;

3 (E) a timetable for implementing a waiver; and

4 (F) the process the State will use to monitor, on

5 a biannual basis, the progress in implementing a

6 waiver.

7 (3) The Secretary shall act promptly on a waiver re8 quest and state in writing the reasons for granting or deny9 ing such request. If a waiver is granted, the Secretary must

10 also include the expected outcome of granting such waiver.

11 (4) The Secretary’s decision shall be—

12 (A) published in the Federal Register; and

13 (B) disseminated by the State educational agen14 cy to interested parties, including educators, parents,

15 students, advocacy and civil rights organizations,

16 other interested parties, and the public.

17 (5) Each such waiver shall be for a period not to exceed

18 three years. The Secretary may extend such period if the

19 Secretary determines that the waiver has been effective in

20 enabling the State or affected local educational agencies to

21 carry out reform plans.

22 (b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutes subject to the

23 waiver authority of this section are as follows:

24 (1) Chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and

25 Secondary Education Act of 1965.
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1 (2) Part A of chapter 2 of title I of the Elemen2 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

3 (3) The Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and

4 Science Education Act (part A of title II of the Ele5 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965).

6 (4) The Emergency Immigrant Education Act of

7 1984 (part D of title IV of the Elementary and Sec8 ondary Education Act of 1965).

9 (5) The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act

10 of 1986 (title V of the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act of 1965).

12 (6) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied

13 Technology Education Act.

14 (c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

15 not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of the

16 programs listed in subsection (b) relating to—

17 (1) maintenance of effort;

18 (2) comparability of services;

19 (3) the equitable participation of students and

20 professional staff in private schools;

21 (4) parental participation and involvement; or

22 (5) the distribution of funds to State or to local

23 educational agencies.

24 (d) TERMINATION OF WAIVERS.—The Secretary shall

25 periodically review the performance of any State, local edu-
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1 cational agency, or school for which the Secretary has

2 granted a waiver and shall terminate the waiver if the per3 formance of the State, the local educational agency, or the

4 school in the area affected by the waiver has been inad5 equate to justify a continuation of the waiver.

6 SEC. 312. PROGRESS REPORTS.

7 (a) STATE REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.—Each

8 State educational agency that receives funds under this title

9 shall annually report to the Secretary regarding—

10 (1) progress in meeting State goals and plans;

11 (2) proposed State activities for the succeeding

12 year; and

13 (3) in summary form, the progress of local edu14 cational agencies in meeting local goals and plans

15 and increasing student learning.

16 (b) SECRETARY’S REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—By April

17 30, 1996, and every two years thereafter, the Secretary shall

18 submit a report to the Committee on Education and Labor

19 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on

20 Labor and Human Resources of the Senate describing the

21 activities and outcomes of grants under—

22 (1) section 220 of this Act, including—

23 (A) a description of the purpose, uses, and

24 technical merit of assessments evaluated with

25 funds under such section; and
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1 (B) an analysis of the impact of such as2 sessments on the performance of all students,

3 particularly students of different racial, gender,

4 ethnic, language groups, or individuals with dis5 abilities; and

6 (2) this title, including a description of the effect

7 of waivers granted under section 311.

8 SEC. 313. NATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

9 (a) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—From funds reserved

10 each year under section 304(a)(2)(A), the Secretary shall,

11 through the Office of Educational Research and Improve12 ment in accordance with the provisions of sections 405 and

13 406 of the General Education Provisions Act, directly or

14 through grants or contracts—

15 (1) provide technical assistance to States and

16 local educational agencies developing or implementing

17 school improvement plans, in a manner that ensures

18 that each such State has access to such assistance;

19 (2) gather data on, conduct research on, and

20 evaluate systemic education improvement, including

21 the programs authorized by this title;

22 (3) disseminate research findings and other in23 formation on systemic education improvement and

24 how it affects student learning; and
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1 (4) provide grants to tribal divisions of edu2 cation for coordination efforts between school reform

3 plans by the Bureau and the public schools described

4 in section 306(g)(5).

5 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—(1) The Secretary shall

6 use at least 50 percent of the funds reserved each year under

7 section 304(a)(2)(A) to make grants, consistent with the

8 provisions of section 309(a) that the Secretary finds appro9 priate, and provide technical and other assistance to urban

10 and rural local educational agencies with large numbers or

11 concentrations of students who are economically disadvan12 taged or who have limited English proficiency, to assist

13 such agencies in developing and implementing local school

14 improvement plans.

15 (2) The Secretary shall use not less than $1,000,000

16 of the funds reserved the first year under section

17 304(a)(2)(A) to survey coordinated services programs that

18 have been found to be successful in helping students and

19 families and improving student outcomes, and shall dis20 seminate information about such programs to schools that

21 plan to develop coordinated services programs.

22 SEC. 314. ASSISTANCE TO THE OUTLYING AREAS AND TO

23 THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

24 (a) OUTLYING AREAS.—(1) Funds reserved for outly25 ing areas under section 304(a)(1)(A) shall be distributed
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1 among such areas by the Secretary according to relative

2 need.

3 (2) The provisions of Public Law 95–134, permitting

4 the consolidation of grants to the insular areas, shall not

5 apply to funds received by such areas under this title.

6 (b) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The funds reserved to the Sec8 retary of the Interior under section 304 shall be made

9 in a payment which shall be pursuant to an agree10 ment between the Secretary and the Secretary of the

11 Interior containing such assurances and terms as the

12 Secretary determines shall best achieve the provisions

13 of this section and this Act. The agreement shall, at

14 a minimum, contain assurances that—

15 (A) a panel, as set forth in paragraph (4)

16 of this subsection, shall be established;

17 (B) a reform and improvement plan, de18 signed to increase student learning and assist

19 students in meeting the National Education

20 Goals, meeting the requirements pertaining to

21 State improvement plans required in section 306

22 and providing for the fundamental restructuring

23 and improvement of elementary and secondary

24 education in schools funded by the Bureau, shall

25 be developed by such panel; and
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1 (C) the provisions and activities required

2 under State improvement plans, including the

3 requirements for timetables for opportunity-to4 learn standards, shall be carried out in the same

5 time frames and under the same conditions stip6 ulated for the States in sections 305 and 306,

7 provided that for these purposes, the term ‘local

8 educational agencies’ shall be interpreted to

9 mean ‘schools funded by the Bureau’.

10 (2) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—The provisions

11 applicable to the States in section 213 of this Act

12 shall apply to the Bureau plan with regard to vol13 untary submission of standards and assessment sys14 tems to the National Education Standards and

15 Improvement Council for review and certification.

16 (3) PLAN SPECIFICS.—The reform and improve17 ment plan shall include, in addition to the require18 ments referenced above, specific provisions for—

19 (A) opportunity to learn standards pertain20 ing to residential programs and transportation

21 costs associated with programs located on or

22 near reservations or serving students in off-res23 ervation residential boarding schools;

24 (B) review and incorporation of the Na25 tional Education Goals and the voluntary na-
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1 tional content, student performance, and oppor2 tunity-to-learn standards developed under part

3 B of title II of this Act, provided that such re4 view shall include the issues of cultural and lan5 guage differences; and

6 (C) provision for coordination of the efforts

7 of the Bureau with the efforts for school improve8 ment of the States and local educational agencies

9 in which the schools funded by the Bureau are

10 located, to include, but not be limited to, the de11 velopment of the partnerships outlined in section

12 306(g)(5) of the Act.

13 (4) PANEL.—To carry out the provisions of this

14 section, and to develop the plan for system-wide re15 form and improvement required under the agreement

16 required under paragraph (1), the Secretary of the

17 Interior shall establish a panel coordinated by the As18 sistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.

19 Such panel shall consist of—

20 (A) the Director of the Office of Indian

21 Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian Af22 fairs and two heads of other divisions of such

23 Bureau as the Assistant Secretary shall des24 ignate;
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1 (B) a designee of the Secretary of Edu2 cation; and

3 (C) a representative nominated by each of

4 the following:

5 (i) The organization representing the

6 majority of teachers and professional per7 sonnel in schools operated by the Bureau.

8 (ii) The organization representing the

9 majority of nonteaching personnel in

10 schools operated by the Bureau, if not the

11 same organization as in clause (i).

12 (iii) School administrators of schools

13 operated by the Bureau.

14 (iv) Education line officers located in

15 Bureau area or agency offices serving

16 schools funded by the Bureau.

17 (v) The organization representing the

18 majority of contract or grant schools funded

19 by the Bureau not serving students on the

20 Navajo reservation.

21 (vi) The organization representing the

22 majority of contract or grant schools funded

23 by the Bureau serving students on the Nav24 ajo reservation.
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1 (vii) The organization representing the

2 school boards required by statute for schools

3 operated by the Bureau not serving students

4 on the Navajo reservation.

5 (viii) The organization representing

6 the school boards required by statute for

7 schools funded by the Bureau serving stu8 dents on the Navajo reservation.

9 Including the additional members required by para10 graph (5), a majority of the members of such panel

11 shall be from the entities designated under subpara12 graph (C).

13 (5) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—In addition, the

14 members of the panel stipulated above shall designate

15 for full membership four additional members—

16 (A) one of whom shall be a representative of

17 a national organization which represents pri18 marily national Indian education concerns; and

19 (B) three of whom shall be chairpersons (or

20 their designees) of Indian tribes with schools

21 funded by the Bureau on their reservations

22 (other than those specifically represented by or23 ganizations referred to in paragraph (4)), pro24 vided that preference for no less than two of these

25 members shall be given to Indian tribes with a
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1 significant number of schools funded by the Bu2 reau on their reservations, or with a significant

3 percentage of their children enrolled in schools

4 funded by the Bureau.

5 (c) BIA COST ANALYSIS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Secretary of the Inte7 rior shall reserve from the first allotment made to the

8 Department of the Interior pursuant to section 304

9 an amount not to exceed $500,000 to provide, through

10 the National Academy of Sciences, for an analysis of

11 the costs associated with meeting the academic and

12 home-living/residential standards of the Bureau of In13 dian Affairs for each school funded by such Bureau.

14 The purpose of such analysis shall be to provide the

15 Bureau and the Panel with baseline data regarding

16 the current state of operations funded by the Bureau

17 and to provide a framework for addressing the imple18 mentation of opportunity-to-learn standards.

19 (B) The results of such analysis shall be re20 ported, in aggregate and school specific form, to the

21 chairpersons and ranking minority members of the

22 Committees on Education and Labor and Appropria23 tions of the House of Representatives and the Select

24 Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on

25 Appropriations of the Senate, and to the Secretary of
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1 the Interior, the Secretary of Education (who shall

2 transmit the report to the proper entities under this

3 Act), and the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for

4 Indian Affairs, not later than 6 months after the date

5 of enactment of this Act.

6 (2) CONTENT.—Such analysis shall evaluate the

7 costs of providing a program in each school for the

8 next succeeding academic year and shall be based

9 on—

10 (A) the standards either published in the

11 Federal Register as having effect in schools oper12 ated by the Bureau on the date of enactment of

13 this Act or the standards incorporated into each

14 grant or contract in effect on such date with a

15 tribally controlled school funded under section

16 1128 of Public Law 95–561 (as amended);

17 (B) the best projections of student counts

18 and demographics, as provided by the Bureau

19 and as independently reviewed by the Academy;

20 and

21 (C) the pay and benefit schedules and other

22 personnel requirements for each school operated

23 by the Bureau, as existing on the date of enact24 ment.
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1 (d) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—The Secretary shall

2 consult with the Secretary of Defense to ensure that, to the

3 extent practicable, the purposes of this title are applied to

4 the Department of Defense schools.

5 TITLE IV—NATIONAL SKILL

6 STANDARDS BOARD

7 SEC. 401. PURPOSE.

8 It is the purpose of this title to establish a National

9 Board to serve as a catalyst in stimulating the development

10 and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill stand11 ards and certification that will serve as a cornerstone of

12 the national strategy to enhance workforce skills, and that

13 can be used, consistent with Federal civil rights laws—

14 (1) by the Nation, to ensure the development of

15 a high skills, high quality, high performance

16 workforce, including the most skilled front-line

17 workforce in the world, and that will result in in18 creased productivity, economic growth and American

19 economic competitiveness;

20 (2) by industries, as a vehicle for informing

21 training providers and prospective employees of skills

22 necessary for employment;

23 (3) by employers, to assist in evaluating the skill

24 levels of prospective employees and to assist in the

25 training of current employees;
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1 (4) by labor organizations, to enhance the em2 ployment security of workers by providing portable

3 credentials and skills;

4 (5) by workers, to obtain certifications of their

5 skills to protect against dislocation, to pursue career

6 advancement, and to enhance their ability to reenter

7 the workforce;

8 (6) by students and entry level workers, to deter9 mine the skill levels and competencies needed to be ob10 tained in order to compete effectively for high wage

11 jobs;

12 (7) by training providers and educators, to de13 termine appropriate training services to offer;

14 (8) by Government, to evaluate whether publicly15 funded training assists participants to meet skill

16 standards where they exist and thereby protect the in17 tegrity of public expenditures;

18 (9) to facilitate the transition to high perform19 ance work organizations;

20 (10) to increase opportunities for minorities and

21 women, including removing barriers to the entry of

22 women in non-traditional employment; and

23 (11) to facilitate linkages between other compo24 nents of the workforce investment strategy, including

25 school-to-work transition, secondary and postsecond-
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1 ary vocational-technical education, and job training

2 programs.

3 SEC. 402. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL BOARD.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a National

5 Skill Standards Board (in this title referred to as the

6 ‘‘National Board’’).

7 (b) COMPOSITION.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Board shall be

9 composed of 28 members, appointed in accordance

10 with paragraph (3), of whom—

11 (A) one member shall be the Secretary of

12 Labor;

13 (B) one member shall be the Secretary of

14 Education;

15 (C) one member shall be the Secretary of

16 Commerce;

17 (D) one member shall be the Chairperson of

18 the National Education Standards and Improve19 ment Council established pursuant to section

20 212(a);

21 (E) eight members shall be representatives

22 of small and large business and industry selected

23 from among individuals recommended by recog24 nized national business organizations and trade

25 associations;
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1 (F) eight members shall be representatives of

2 organized labor selected from among individuals

3 recommended by recognized national labor fed4 erations; and

5 (G) eight members shall be representatives

6 from the following groups, with at least one

7 member from each group:

8 (i) Educational institutions.

9 (ii) Community-based organizations.

10 (iii) State and local governments.

11 (iv) Nongovernmental organizations

12 with a demonstrated history of successfully

13 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic and

14 religious minorities, women, persons with

15 disabilities or older persons.

16 (2) DIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS.—The members

17 described in subparagraph (G) of paragraph (1) shall

18 have expertise in the area of education and training.

19 The members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

20 and (G) of paragraph (1) shall—

21 (A) in the aggregate, represent a broad

22 cross-section of occupations and industries; and

23 (B) to the extent feasible, be geographically

24 representative of the United States and reflect
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1 the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the

2 United States.

3 (3) APPOINTMENT.—The membership of the Na4 tional Board shall be appointed as follows:

5 (A) Twelve members (four from each class of

6 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

7 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

8 the President.

9 (B) Six members (two from each class of

10 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

11 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by

12 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of

13 whom three members (one from each class of

14 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

15 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be selected from

16 recommendations made by the Majority Leader

17 of the House of Representatives and three mem18 bers (one from each class of members described in

19 subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of paragraph

20 (1)) shall be selected from recommendations

21 made by the Minority Leader of the House of

22 Representatives.

23 (C) Six members (two from each class of

24 members described in subparagraphs (E), (F),

25 and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be appointed by
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1 the President pro tempore of the Senate, of whom

2 three members (one from each class of members

3 described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

4 paragraph (1)) shall be selected from rec5 ommendations made by the Majority Leader of

6 the Senate and three members (one from each

7 class of members described in subparagraphs (E),

8 (F), and (G) of paragraph (1)) shall be selected

9 from recommendations made by the Minority

10 Leader of the Senate.

11 (4) TERM.—Each member of the National Board

12 appointed under subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of

13 paragraph (1) shall be appointed for a term of 4

14 years, except that of the initial members of the Board

15 appointed under such paragraph—

16 (A) Twelve members shall be appointed for

17 a term of 3 years (four from each class of mem18 bers described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and

19 (G) of paragraph (1)), of whom—

20 (i) two from each class shall be ap21 pointed in accordance with paragraph

22 (3)(A);

23 (ii) one from each such class shall be

24 appointed in accordance with paragraph

25 (3)(B); and
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1 (iii) 1 from each such class shall be ap2 pointed in accordance with paragraph

3 (3)(C); and

4 (B) Twelve members shall be appointed for

5 a term of 4 years (four from each class of mem6 bers described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and

7 (G) of paragraph (1)), of whom—

8 (i) two from each such class shall be

9 appointed in accordance with paragraph

10 (3)(A);

11 (ii) one from each such class shall be

12 appointed in accordance with paragraph

13 (3)(B); and

14 (iii) one from each such class shall be

15 appointed in accordance with paragraph

16 (3)(C).

17 (c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—

18 (1) CHAIRPERSON.—The National Board shall

19 biennially elect a Chairperson from among the mem20 bers of the National Board by a majority vote of such

21 members.

22 (2) VICE CHAIRPERSONS.—The National Board

23 shall annually elect 3 Vice Chairpersons (each rep24 resenting a different class of the classes of members

25 described in subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of sub-
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1 section (b)(1)) from among its members appointed

2 under subsection (b)(3) by a majority vote of such

3 members, each of whom shall serve for a term of 1

4 year.

5 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—

6 (1) COMPENSATION.—Members of the National

7 Board who are not regular full-time employees or offi8 cers of the Federal Government shall serve without

9 compensation.

10 (2) EXPENSES.—The members of the National

11 Board shall receive travel expenses, including per

12 diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with sub13 chapter I of chapter 57, title 5, United States Code,

14 while away from their homes or regular places of

15 business in the performance of services for the Na16 tional Board.

17 (e) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Chair18 person of the National Board shall appoint an Executive

19 Director, who shall be compensated at a rate determined

20 by the National Board that shall not exceed the rate of pay

21 for level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316

22 of title 5, United States Code, and who shall appoint such

23 staff as is necessary in accordance with title 5, United

24 States Code. Such staff shall include at least one individual

25 with expertise in measurement and assessment.
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1 (f) GIFTS.—The National Board is authorized, in car2 rying out this title, to accept, purchase, or lease, and em3 ploy or dispose of in furtherance of the purposes of this title,

4 any money or property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible

5 or intangible, received by gift, devise, bequest, or otherwise,

6 and to accept voluntary and uncompensated services not7 withstanding the provisions of section 1342 of title 31,

8 United States Code.

9 (g) AGENCY SUPPORT.—

10 (1) USE OF FACILITIES.—The National Board

11 may use the research, equipment, services and facili12 ties of any agency or instrumentality of the United

13 States with the consent of such agency or instrumen14 tality.

15 (2) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the

16 request of the National Board, the head of any de17 partment or agency of the United States may detail

18 to the National Board, on a reimbursable basis, any

19 of the personnel of such department or agency to as20 sist the National Board in carrying out this title.

21 (h) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—An individual who has

22 served as a member of the National Board may not have

23 any financial interest in an assessment and certification

24 system developed or endorsed under this title for a period
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1 of three years after the termination of service of such indi2 vidual from the National Board.

3 SEC. 403. FUNCTIONS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD.

4 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONAL CLUSTERS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the

6 National Board, after extensive public review and

7 comment and study of the national labor market,

8 shall identify broad clusters of major occupations that

9 involve one or more than one industry in the United

10 States.

11 (2) PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFICATION.—Prior

12 to identifying broad clusters of major occupations

13 under paragraph (1), the National Board shall—

14 (A) develop procedures for the identification

15 of such clusters;

16 (B) publish such procedures in the Federal

17 Register; and

18 (C) allow for extensive public review of and

19 comment on such procedures.

20 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIPS TO DEVELOP STAND21 ARDS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of the occupational

23 clusters identified pursuant to subsection (a), the Na24 tional Board shall encourage and facilitate the estab-
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1 lishment of voluntary partnerships to develop a skill

2 standards system in accordance with subsection (d).

3 (2) REPRESENTATIVES.—Such voluntary part4 nerships shall include the full and balanced partici5 pation of—

6 (A) representatives of business and industry

7 who have expertise in the area of workforce skill

8 requirements, including representatives of large

9 and small employers, recommended by national

10 business organizations and trade associations

11 representing employers in the occupation or in12 dustry for which a standard is being developed,

13 and representatives of trade associations that

14 have received demonstration grants from the De15 partment of Labor or the Department of Edu16 cation to establish skill standards prior to the

17 enactment of this title;

18 (B) employee representatives who have ex19 pertise in the area of workforce skill require20 ments and who shall be—

21 (i) individuals recommended by recog22 nized national labor organizations rep23 resenting employees in the occupation or in24 dustry for which a standard is being devel25 oped; and
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1 (ii) such other individuals who are

2 nonmanagerial employees with significant

3 experience and tenure in such occupation or

4 industry as are appropriate given the na5 ture and structure of employment in the oc6 cupation or industry;

7 (C) representatives of—

8 (i) educational institutions;

9 (ii) community-based organizations;

10 (iii) State and local agencies with ad11 ministrative control or direction over edu12 cation, vocational-technical education, or

13 employment and training;

14 (iv) other policy development organiza15 tions with expertise in the area of workforce

16 skill requirements; and

17 (v) non-governmental organizations

18 with a demonstrated history of successfully

19 protecting the rights of racial, ethnic, and

20 religious minorities, women, individuals

21 with disabilities, and older persons; and

22 (D) individuals with expertise in measure23 ment and assessment, including relevant experi24 ence in designing unbiased assessments and per25 formance-based assessments.
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1 (3) EXPERTS.—The partnerships described in

2 paragraph (1) may also include such other individ3 uals who are independent, qualified experts in their

4 fields.

5 (c) RESEARCH, DISSEMINATION, AND COORDINA6 TION.—In order to support the development of a skill stand7 ards system in accordance with subsection (d), the National

8 Board shall—

9 (1) conduct workforce research relating to skill

10 standards (including research relating to how to use

11 skill standards in compliance with civil rights laws)

12 and make such research available to the public, in13 cluding the partnerships described in subsection (b);

14 (2) identify and maintain a catalog of skill

15 standards used by other countries and by States and

16 leading firms and industries in the United States;

17 (3) serve as a clearinghouse to facilitate the shar18 ing of information on the development of skill stand19 ards and other relevant information among represent20 atives of occupations and industries identified pursu21 ant to subsection (a), the voluntary partnerships rec22 ognized pursuant to subsection (b), and among edu23 cation and training providers through such mecha24 nisms as the Capacity Building and Information and
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1 Dissemination Network established under section

2 453(b) of the Job Training Partnership Act;

3 (4) develop a common nomenclature relating to

4 skill standards;

5 (5) encourage the development and adoption of

6 curricula and training materials for attaining the

7 skill standards developed pursuant to subsection (d)

8 that include structured work experiences and related

9 study programs leading to progressive levels of profes10 sional and technical certification and postsecondary

11 education;

12 (6) provide appropriate technical assistance; and

13 (7) facilitate coordination among voluntary

14 partnerships that meet the requirements of subsection

15 (b) to promote the development of a coherent national

16 system of voluntary skill standards.

17 (d) ENDORSEMENT OF SKILL STANDARDS SYSTEMS.—

18 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF ENDORSEMENT CRI19 TERIA.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The National Board,

21 after extensive public consultation, shall develop

22 objective criteria for endorsing skills standards

23 systems relating to the occupational clusters

24 identified pursuant to subsection (a). Such cri25 teria shall, at a minimum, include the compo-
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1 nents of a skill standards system described in

2 subparagraph (B). The endorsement criteria

3 shall be published in the Federal Register, and

4 updated as appropriate.

5 (B) COMPONENTS OF SYSTEM.—The compo6 nents of a skill standards systems shall include

7 the following:

8 (i) Voluntary skill standards, which at

9 a minimum—

10 (I) meet or exceed, to the extent

11 practicable, the highest standards used

12 in other countries and the highest

13 international standards;

14 (II) take into account content and

15 performance standards certified pursu16 ant to title II;

17 (III) take into account the re18 quirements of high performance work

19 organizations;

20 (IV) are in a form that allows for

21 regular updating to take into account

22 advances in technology or other devel23 opments within the occupational clus24 ter;
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1 (V) are formulated in such a

2 manner that promotes the portability

3 of credentials and facilitates worker

4 mobility within an occupational clus5 ter or industry and among industries;

6 and

7 (VI) are not discriminatory with

8 respect to race, color, gender, age, reli9 gion, ethnicity, disability, or national

10 origin, consistent with Federal civil

11 rights laws.

12 (ii) A voluntary system of assessment

13 and certification of the attainment of skill

14 standards developed pursuant to subpara15 graph (A), which at a minimum—

16 (I) takes into account, to the ex17 tent practicable, methods of assessment

18 and certification used in other coun19 tries;

20 (II) utilizes a variety of evalua21 tion techniques, including, where ap22 propriate, oral and written evalua23 tions, portfolio assessments and per24 formance tests; and
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1 (III) includes methods for estab2 lishing that the assessment and certifi3 cation system is not discriminatory

4 with respect to race, color, gender, age,

5 religion, ethnicity, disability, or na6 tional origin, consistent with Federal

7 civil rights laws.

8 (iii) A system to promote the use of

9 and to disseminate information relating to

10 skill standards, and assessment and certifi11 cation systems developed pursuant to this

12 paragraph (including dissemination of in13 formation relating to civil rights laws rel14 evant to the use of such standards and sys15 tems) to entities such as institutions of post16 secondary education offering professional

17 and technical education, labor organiza18 tions, trade associations, employers provid19 ing formalized training and other organiza20 tions likely to benefit from such systems.

21 (iv) A system to evaluate the imple22 mentation of the skill standards, and assess23 ment and certification systems developed

24 pursuant to this paragraph, and the effec25 tiveness of the information disseminated
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1 pursuant to subparagraph (C) for inform2 ing the users of such standards and systems

3 of the requirements of relevant civil rights

4 laws.

5 (v) A system to periodically revise and

6 update the skill standards, and assessment

7 and certification systems developed pursu8 ant to this paragraph, which will take into

9 account changes in standards in other coun10 tries.

11 (2) ENDORSEMENT.—The National Board, after

12 extensive public review and comment, shall endorse

13 those skill standards systems relating to the occupa14 tional clusters identified pursuant to subsection (a)

15 that—

16 (A) meet the objective endorsement criteria

17 that are developed pursuant to paragraph (1);

18 and

19 (B) are submitted by partnerships that meet

20 the representation requirements of subsection

21 (b)(2).

22 (e) LIMITATIONS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The National Board shall not

24 carry out the requirements of subsections (b) or (d)

25 with respect to any occupation or trade within any
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1 industry for which national apprenticeship stand2 ards—

3 (A) have been jointly developed by labor

4 and management representatives,

5 (B) are registered pursuant to the National

6 Apprenticeship Act, and

7 (C) are being actively used on a national

8 basis for training workers in such occupation or

9 trade,

10 unless labor and management representatives of such

11 occupation or trade and representatives of registered

12 apprenticeship programs within such occupation or

13 trade jointly request the assistance of the National

14 Board.

15 (2) RELATIONSHIP WITH ANTIDISCRIMINATION

16 LAWS.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title

18 shall be construed to modify or affect any Fed19 eral or State law prohibiting discrimination on

20 the basis of race, religion, color, ethnicity, na21 tional origin, gender, age, or disability.

22 (B) EVIDENCE.—The endorsement or ab23 sence of an endorsement by the Board of a skill

24 standard or assessment and certification system

25 under subsection (d) shall not be used in any ac-
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1 tion or proceeding to establish that the skill

2 standard or assessment and certification system

3 conforms or does not conform to the requirements

4 of civil rights laws.

5 (f) COORDINATION WITH EDUCATION STANDARDS.—

6 The National Board shall establish cooperative arrange7 ments with the National Education Standards and Im8 provement Council to promote the coordination of the devel9 opment of skill standards under this title with the develop10 ment of content and performance standards under title II.

11 (g) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds appropriated

13 pursuant to section 406(a), the Secretary of Labor

14 may award grants (including grants to the voluntary

15 partnerships in accordance with paragraph (2)) and

16 enter into contracts and cooperative arrangements

17 that are requested by the National Board for the pur18 poses of carrying out this title.

19 (2) GRANT PROGRAMS FOR VOLUNTARY PART20 NERSHIPS.—

21 (A) ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION.—Vol22 untary partnerships that meet the requirements

23 of subsection (b) shall be eligible to apply for a

24 grant under this subsection. Each such voluntary

25 partnership desiring a grant shall submit an ap-
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1 plication to the National Board at such time, in

2 such manner, and accompanied by such informa3 tion as the National Board may reasonably re4 quire.

5 (B) APPROVAL CRITERIA.—Prior to each

6 fiscal year, the National Board shall publish ob7 jective criteria for the approval of grant applica8 tions submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A).

9 (3) LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 20 per11 cent of the funds appropriated under section

12 406(a) for each fiscal year shall be used by the

13 National Board for the costs of administration.

14 (B) COSTS OF ADMINISTRATION DEFINED.—

15 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘costs

16 of administration’’ means costs relating to staff,

17 supplies, equipment, space, travel and per diem,

18 costs of conducting meetings and conferences,

19 and other related costs.

20 SEC. 404. DEADLINES.

21 Not later than December 31, 1996, the National Board

22 shall—

23 (1) identify occupational clusters pursuant to

24 section 403(a) representing a substantial portion of

25 the workforce; and
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1 (2) promote the development of an initial set of

2 skill standards in accordance with section 403(d) for

3 such clusters.

4 SEC. 405. REPORTS.

5 The National Board shall submit to the President and

6 the Congress in each fiscal year a report on the activities

7 conducted under this title, including the extent to which

8 skill standards have been adopted by employers, training

9 providers, and other entities and the effectiveness of such

10 standards in accomplishing the purposes described in sec11 tion 401.

12 SEC. 406. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro14 priated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as

15 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through

16 1998 to carry out this title.

17 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant

18 to subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.

19 SEC. 407. DEFINITIONS.

20 For purposes of this title, the following definitions

21 apply:

22 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.—The

23 term ‘‘community-based organizations’’ means such

24 organizations as defined in section 4(5) of the Job

25 Training Partnership Act.
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1 (2) EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—The term

2 ‘‘educational institution’’ means a high school, a vo3 cational school, and an institution of higher edu4 cation.

5 (3) SKILL STANDARD.—The term ‘‘skill stand6 ard’’ means the level of knowledge and competence re7 quired to successfully perform work-related functions

8 within an occupational cluster.

9 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS

10 SEC. 501. DEFINITIONS.

11 As used in this Act—

12 (1) the terms ‘‘all students’’ and ‘‘all children’’

13 mean students or children from a broad range of

14 backgrounds and circumstances, including disadvan15 taged students, students with diverse racial, ethnic,

16 and cultural backgrounds, American Indians, Alaska

17 Natives, Native Hawaiians, students with disabilities,

18 students with limited-English proficiency, migrant

19 children, school-aged children who have dropped out,

20 migrant children, and academically talented students;

21 (2) the terms ‘‘community’’, ‘‘public’’, and ‘‘ad22 vocacy group’’ are to be interpreted to include rep23 resentatives of organizations advocating for the edu24 cation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Na25 tive Hawaiian children and Indian tribes;
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1 (3) the term ‘‘content standards’’ means broad

2 descriptions of the knowledge and skills students

3 should acquire in a particular subject area;

4 (4) the term ‘‘Governor’’ means the chief execu5 tive of the State;

6 (5) the terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and

7 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meaning given

8 those terms in section 1471 of the Elementary and

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965;

10 (6) the term ‘‘opportunity-to-learn standards’’

11 means the criteria for, and the basis of, assessing the

12 sufficiency or quality of the resources, practices, and

13 conditions necessary at each level of the education

14 system (schools, local educational agencies, and

15 States) to provide all students with an opportunity to

16 learn the material in national or State content stand17 ards.

18 (7) the term ‘‘outlying areas’’ means Guam,

19 American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Common20 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau

21 (until the effective date of the Compact of Free Asso22 ciation with the Government of Palau);

23 (8) the term ‘‘performance standards’’ means

24 concrete examples and explicit definitions of what

25 students have to know and be able to do to dem-
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1 onstrate that they are proficient in the skills and

2 knowledge framed by content standards;

3 (9) the term ‘‘related services’’ has the same

4 meaning given such term under section 602(17) of the

5 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

6 (10) the term ‘‘school’’ means a school that is

7 under the authority of the State educational agency

8 and a local educational agency or, for the purpose of

9 carrying out section 314(b), a school that is operated

10 or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs;

11 (11) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, except where used in

12 title IV, means the Secretary of Education; and

13 (12) except as otherwise provided, the term

14 ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 States, the District of

15 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

16 each of the outlying areas.

17 SEC. 502. LIMITATIONS.

18 (a) ASSESSMENTS.—No funds provided under titles II

19 or III of this Act shall be used to undertake assessments

20 that will be used to make decisions regarding the gradua21 tion, grade promotion, or retention of students for five years

22 after the date of enactment of this Act.

23 (b) PUBLIC SCHOOL.—Nothing in this Act shall be

24 construed to authorize the use of funds under title III (ex-
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1 cept as provided in section 310) to directly or indirectly

2 benefit any school other than a public school.

3 TITLE VI—PARENTAL INFORMA4 TION AND RESOURCE CEN5 TERS

6 SEC. 601. PARENTAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCE CEN7 TERS.

8 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Education is

9 authorized to make grants each year to private, nonprofit

10 organizations for the purpose of providing training and in11 formation to parents of children enrolled in participating

12 schools and to individuals who work with such parents to

13 encourage a more effective working relationship with profes14 sionals in meeting the educational needs of children enrolled

15 in participating schools.

16 (b) GRANTS.—Such grants shall—

17 (1) be designed to meet the unique training and

18 information needs of parents of children enrolled in

19 participating schools, particularly parents who are

20 severely disadvantaged educationally or economically;

21 (2) be distributed geographically to the greatest

22 extent possible throughout all the States and give pri23 ority to grants which serve areas with high concentra24 tions of low-income families;
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1 (3) be targeted to parents of children enrolled in

2 participating schools in rural, suburban, and urban

3 areas;

4 (4) serve parents of low-income and minority

5 children enrolled in participating schools, including

6 limited-English-proficient children; and

7 (5) be funded at a sufficient size, scope, and

8 quality to ensure that the program is adequate to

9 serve the parents in the area.

10 SEC. 602. ELIGIBILITY.

11 (a) REPRESENTATION.—To receive a grant under sec12 tion 601, a private, nonprofit organization shall meet the

13 following requirements:

14 (1) Be governed by a board of directors in which

15 the membership includes, or be an organization that

16 represents the interests of, parents and establish a

17 special governing committee in which the membership

18 includes—

19 (A) a majority of parents of children en20 rolled in participating schools; and

21 (B) representation of education profes22 sionals with expertise in improving services for

23 disadvantaged children.

24 (2) Provide that the parent and professional

25 membership of the board or special governing commit-
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1 tee is broadly representative of minority, low-income,

2 and other individuals and groups that have an inter3 est in compensatory education and family literacy.

4 (3) Demonstrate the capacity and expertise to

5 conduct effective training and information activities

6 for which a grant may be made.

7 (4) Network with clearinghouses, other organiza8 tions and agencies, and with other established na9 tional, State, and local parent groups representing

10 the full range of parents of children enrolled in par11 ticipating schools, especially parents of low-income

12 and minority children.

13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board of Directors or spe14 cial governing committee of an organization receiving a

15 grant under this title shall meet at least once each calendar

16 quarter to review the parent training and information ac17 tivities for which the grant is made.

18 (c) GRANT RENEWAL.—Whenever an organization re19 quests the renewal of a grant under section 601 for a fiscal

20 year, the Board of Directors or the special governing com21 mittee shall submit to the Secretary a written review of the

22 parent training and information program conducted by

23 such organization during the preceding fiscal year.

24 SEC. 603. USES OF FUNDS.

25 Grants received under this title may be used—
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1 (1) for parent training and information pro2 grams that assist parents to—

3 (A) better understand their children’s edu4 cational needs;

5 (B) provide follow up support for their chil6 dren’s educational achievement;

7 (C) communicate more effectively with

8 teachers, counselors, administrators, and other

9 professional educators and support staff;

10 (D) participate in the design and provision

11 of assistance to students who are not making

12 adequate progress;

13 (E) obtain information about the range of

14 options, programs, services, and resources avail15 able at the national, State, and local levels to as16 sist children enrolled in participating schools

17 and their parents;

18 (F) seek technical assistance regarding com19 pliance with the requirements of this Act and of

20 other Federal programs relevant to achieving the

21 goals of this Act;

22 (G) participate in State and local decision23 making; and

24 (H) train other parents;
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1 (2) to include State or local educational person2 nel where such participation would further an objec3 tive of the program assisted by the grant; and

4 (3) to establish a parent training and informa5 tion center to carry out the activities in paragraphs

6 (1) and (2) and to represent parent interests at the

7 State level, including participation in the design of

8 the public outreach process described in section

9 306(b)(6), submitting recommendations concerning

10 State standards and plans, and commenting on pro11 posed waivers under this Act.

12 SEC. 604. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

13 The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, by

14 grant or contract, for the establishment, development, and

15 coordination of parent training and information programs

16 and centers.

17 SEC. 605. EXPERIMENTAL CENTERS.

18 After the establishment in each State of a parent train19 ing and information center, the Secretary shall provide for

20 the establishment of 5 additional experimental centers, 3

21 to be located in urban areas and 2 in rural areas where

22 there are large concentrations of poverty.

23 SEC. 606. REPORTS.

24 Not later than June 30, 1995, and not later than June

25 30 each succeeding year, the Secretary shall obtain data
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1 concerning programs and centers assisted under this title,

2 including—

3 (1) the number of parents, including the number

4 of minority and limited-English-proficient parents,

5 who receive information and training;

6 (2) the types and modes of information or train7 ing provided; and

8 (3) the strategies used to reach and serve parents

9 of minority and limited-English-proficient children

10 and parents with limited literacy skills.

11 SEC. 607. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for

13 fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for

14 each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998.

Amend the title so as to read ‘‘A bill to improve

learning and teaching by providing a national framework

for education reform; to promote the research, consensus

building, and systemic changes needed to ensure equitable educational opportunities and high levels of educational achievement for all students; to provide a framework for reauthorization of all Federal education programs; to promote the development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards and certifications; and for other purposes.’’.

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135

•HR 1804 RH

HR 1804 RH——6

HR 1804 RH——7

HR 1804 RH——8

HR 1804 RH——9