I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2728

To authorize a program of grants to States to improve the use of technology

in elementary and secondary schools.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 23, 1993

Mr. SAWYER (for himself and Mr. KILDEE) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To authorize a program of grants to States to improve

the use of technology in elementary and secondary schools.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

5 ‘‘Technology Education Assistance Act of 1993’’.

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

7 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title, table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Statement of Purpose.

Sec. 4. Definitions.

TITLE I—STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY GRANTS

Sec. 101. In-State Apportionment.
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Sec. 102. Elementary and Secondary Education Programs.

Sec. 103. Higher Education Partnership Programs.

Sec. 104. Library and Literacy Programs.

Sec. 105. State Educational Technology Plan.

Sec. 106. Local Educational Technology Plan.

Sec. 107. Federal Administration.

TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE

Sec. 201. Educational Technology Council.

Sec. 202. Educational Technology Authority.

TITLE III—REGIONAL SUPPORT, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Sec. 301. Regional Educational Technology Assistance Consortia.

Sec. 302. Educational Technology Research and Development Grants.

TITLE IV—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 401. Authorization of Appropriations.

Sec. 402. Allocation of Funds.

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) the use of technology as a tool in the learn4 ing process is essential to the development and

5 maintenance of a technologically literate citizenry

6 and an internationally competitive work force;

7 (2) the acquisition and use of technology in

8 education throughout the United States has been in9 hibited by the absence of Federal leadership, the in10 ability of many State and local educational agencies

11 to invest in and support needed technologies, and

12 the limited availability of appropriate technology-en13 hanced curriculum, instruction, teacher training, and

14 administrative support resources and services in the

15 educational marketplace;
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1 (3) educational equalization concerns and school

2 restructuring needs can be addressed through edu3 cational telecommunications and technology by offer4 ing universal access to high-quality teaching and

5 programs, particularly in urban and rural areas;

6 (4) in the absence of appropriate educational

7 technology policies, the disparity between rich and

8 poor students will become even greater in a world

9 where technology and telecommunications increas10 ingly have become an integral part of many house11 holds;

12 (5) the increasing use of new technologies and

13 telecommunications systems in business and industry

14 has furthered the gap between schooling and work

15 force preparation;

16 (6) telecommunications can be a conduit for on17 going teacher training and improved professional de18 velopment by providing to teachers constant access

19 to updated research in teaching and learning;

20 (7) research consistently shows that the

21 planned use of technology combined with teachers

22 who are adequately trained in its use can increase

23 opportunities for more students to develop higher

24 order thinking and technical skills than is possible

25 with traditional instruction;
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1 (8) technology can—

2 (A) engage students in learning through

3 media with which they are comfortable;

4 (B) prove to be an effective learning tool,

5 particularly when correlated with State and na6 tional curriculum standards; and

7 (C) produce benefits to students that far

8 outweigh its costs;

9 (9) schools need new ways of financing the ac10 quisition and maintenance of educational technology;

11 and

12 (10) the needs for educational technology differ

13 from State to State.

14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

15 The purpose of this Act is—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—to support a comprehensive

17 system for the acquisition and use by elementary

18 and secondary schools in the United States of tech19 nology and technology-enhanced curricula, instruc20 tion, and administrative support resources and serv21 ices, such system shall include—

22 (A) national leadership with respect to the

23 need for, and the provision of, appropriate tech24 nology-enhanced curriculum, instruction and
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1 administrative programs to improve student

2 learning in the United States;

3 (B) funding mechanisms which will sup4 port the development, interconnection, imple5 mentation, improvement and maintenance of an

6 effective educational technology infrastructure;

7 (C) information dissemination networks to

8 facilitate access to information on effective

9 learning programs, assessment and evaluation

10 of such programs, research findings, and sup11 porting resources (including instructionally

12 based, technology-enhanced programs, research

13 and resources) by educators throughout the

14 United States;

15 (D) an extensive variety of opportunities

16 for teacher, inservice training, and administra17 tive training and technical assistance with re18 spect to effective uses of technologies in edu19 cation;

20 (E) consortia for the development, produc21 tion, distribution, and adaptation of technology

22 and technology-enhanced curricula, instruction

23 and administrative support resources and serv24 ices with Federal assistance;
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1 (F) utilizing and strengthening, not dupli2 cating, existing telecommunications infrastruc3 tures dedicated to educational purposes;

4 (G) development and evaluation of new

5 and emerging educational technologies and tele6 communications networks; and

7 (H) assessment data regarding state-of8 the-art uses of technologies in United States

9 education upon which businesses, noncommer10 cial telecommunications entities, and govern11 ments can rely on for decisionmaking about the

12 need for, and provision of, appropriate tech13 nologies for education in the United States.

14 (2) SPECIFICALLY TO.—

15 (A) authorize grants to States that —

16 (i) improve the academic performance

17 of students through technology;

18 (ii) strengthen the skills of teachers in

19 effectively utilizing technology for student

20 learning;

21 (iii) promote the planned application

22 of technology in education by those who

23 will use the technology; and

24 (iv) encourage collaborative relation25 ships between the State agency for higher
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1 education, the State library administrative

2 agency and the State agency for education

3 in the area of technology support to

4 strengthen elementary and secondary edu5 cation;

6 (B) establish within the Department of

7 Education, a Council with primary responsibil8 ity for—

9 (i) guiding Federal education policy,

10 including as appropriate national guide11 lines for the introduction, use, and upgrad12 ing of technology in schools;

13 (ii) developing policy that will leverage

14 the knowledge and resources of libraries

15 and of institutions of higher education for

16 the purposes of improving education for

17 students at the local level through the use

18 of technology;

19 (iii) representing the Department of

20 Education with other agencies and depart21 ments of the Federal government on issues

22 related to technology;

23 (iv) reducing barriers which may im24 pede the use of technology in schools and

25 other appropriate learning environments,
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1 for learning, technical assistance, and in2 formation exchange between schools, li3 braries, museums, and other knowledge

4 and information providers in different lo5 calities and States; and

6 (v) reviewing State plans for edu7 cational technology to assure that they ad8 dress State needs while supporting na9 tional educational goals;

10 (C) establish the Educational Technology

11 Authority, a non-profit corporation to—

12 (i) work with States and others to de13 velop a variety of funding mechanisms for

14 education technology that will enable

15 schools to acquire educational technology;

16 and

17 (ii) assure the technical and fiscal fea18 sibility of State plans supported under the

19 provisions of this Act;

20 (D) establish Regional Educational Tech21 nology Assistance Consortia to—

22 (i) support technology planning and

23 implementation for States, schools, dis24 tricts, regional agencies, and institutions of

25 higher education;
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1 (ii) promote interstate coordination of

2 technology planning and implementation;

3 (iii) assist technology initiatives to

4 support the national educational goals and

5 reform strategies; and

6 (iv) provide for professional develop7 ment related to educational technology

8 products that will serve the needs and be

9 accessed by educators for programs in local

10 schools throughout all regions of the Unit11 ed States;

12 (E) conduct research to identify and vali13 date effective applications of current and

14 emerging technologies to support student learn15 ing; and

16 (F) ensure that students and educators in

17 rural, suburban and urban communities and

18 students with special educational needs and di19 verse ethnic backgrounds have equal access to

20 the resources provided under this Act by—

21 (i) assuring that all resources under

22 this Act are equitably accessed by all pub23 lic schools throughout the United States;

24 (ii) assuring that all technologies

25 under this Act are made available in a va-
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1 riety of formats responding to the needs of

2 students with disabilities;

3 (iii) assessing the extent to which

4 such equitable access is delivered; and

5 (iv) assuring that all projects and pro6 grams under this Act provide for the edu7 cational needs of all students regardless of

8 ethnicity, special education needs, primary

9 language, socioeconomic status, or geo10 graphical proximity to the resources.

11 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The terms used in this Act, unless

13 otherwise specified, shall have the same meaning given to

14 such terms by section 1471 of the Elementary and

15 Secondary Act of 1965.

16 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of

17 this Act—

18 (1) the terms ‘‘institution of higher education’’

19 and ‘‘State agency for higher education’’ shall have

20 the same meaning given to such terms in section

21 1201(a) and 1201(h) of the Higher Education Act

22 of 1965;

23 (2) the terms ‘‘library’’ and ‘‘State library ad24 ministrative agency’’ shall have the same meaning
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1 given to such terms in section 3 of the Library Serv2 ices and Construction Act (Public Law 84–579);

3 (3) the term ‘‘Deputy Secretary’’ means the

4 Deputy Secretary of Education;

5 (4) the term ‘‘Council’’ means the Council for

6 Educational Technology;

7 (5) the term ‘‘Authority’’ means the Edu8 cational Technology Authority;

9 (6) the term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Fund for Edu10 cational Technology;

11 (7) the term ‘‘Regional Education Laboratory’’

12 shall have the same meaning given to such term in

13 sec. 405 of the Department of Education Organiza14 tion Act, (Public Law 96–88);

15 (8) the term ‘‘Consortia’’ means the Regional

16 Educational Technology Assistance Consortia;

17 (9) the term ‘‘technology’’ includes closed cir18 cuit television systems, public telecommunications

19 entities, cable television, satellite, copper and fiber

20 optic transmission, computer, video and audio laser

21 and CD ROM disc, video and audio tapes or other

22 technologies;

23 (10) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the

24 Assistant Secretary for the Office of Educational

25 Research and Improvement;
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1 (11) the term ‘‘credit enhancement’’ means a fi2 nancial arrangement that enhances the credit quality

3 of the issuer or the financial instrument being used;

4 (12) the term ‘‘interoperability’’ means the abil5 ity to communicate with operating systems developed

6 nationally and internationally using multiple network

7 media;

8 (13) the term ‘‘disabilities’’ means functional

9 limitations of hearing, vision, movement, manipula10 tion, speech, and interpretation of information;

11 (14) the term ‘‘school’’ includes a day or resi12 dential school which provides special education, as

13 determined under State and Federal law; and

14 (15) the term ‘‘student’’ means students from

15 a broad range of backgrounds and circumstances, in16 cluding disadvantaged students, students with di17 verse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, Amer18 ican Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, stu19 dents with disabilities, students with limited English

20 proficiency, and academically talented students.

21 TITLE I—STATE AND LOCAL

22 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY GRANTS

23 SEC. 101. IN-STATE APPORTIONMENT.

24 (a) AUTHORIZATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized

25 to make grants to States in accordance with the provisions
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1 of this title to strengthen the skills of teachers and im2 prove student learning through the use of technology.

3 (b) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION PRO4 GRAMS.—(1) For each fiscal year, an amount equal to 70

5 percent of each State’s allotment under section 402(a)(2)

6 shall be used for elementary and secondary education pro7 grams by the state education agency in accordance with

8 section 102.

9 (2) Not less than 90 percent of a State’s allotment

10 under this subsection shall be available to local educational

11 agencies through competitive application—

12 (A) not less than 20 percent of the funds avail13 able for a project shall be used for professional de14 velopment during the first two years and not less

15 than 10 percent in succeeding years;

16 (B) not less than 7 percent of the funds avail17 able for a project shall be used for local planning

18 and evaluation activities; and

19 (C) not more than 5 percent of the funds avail20 able to the local education agency for any fiscal year

21 may be used for local administration.

22 (3) Not more than 10 percent of the amount allocated

23 under subsection (a) may be used by the State education

24 agency of which—
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1 (A) not less than $100,000 shall be used for

2 technical assistance to local education agencies; and

3 (B) not less than $20,000 shall be used for pro4 gram evaluations.

5 (c) HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—(1) For each

6 fiscal year 20 percent of each State’s allotment under sec7 tion 402(a) shall be used by the State higher education

8 agency designated in the State plan for partnership pro9 grams between local education agencies and higher edu10 cation institutions in accordance with section 103.

11 (2) Not less than 90 percent of the amount available

12 for this subsection shall be used by the State for grants

13 to institutions of higher education for partnership pro14 grams in accordance with the provisions of section 103.

15 (3) 5 percent of the amount allocated to the State’s

16 higher education partnership program under this section,

17 or $20,000, whichever is greater, shall be used for the

18 costs incurred for the evaluation of programs assisted

19 under section 103.

20 (4) Not more than 5 percent of the amount allocated

21 to the State’s higher education partnership program under

22 this subsection may be used in any fiscal year for adminis23 trative costs of the State’s higher education agency des24 ignated in the State plan.
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1 (d) LIBRARY AND LITERACY PROGRAMS.—(1) For

2 each fiscal year 10 percent of each State’s allocation under

3 section 402(a) shall be used by the State library adminis4 trative agency to support collaborative activities among li5 braries, literacy programs, and local educational agencies

6 in accordance with section 104.

7 (2) Not less than 90 percent of the amount available

8 for this section shall be used by the State for grants to

9 local public libraries and literacy programs in accordance

10 with the provisions of section 104.

11 (3) Not more than 5 percent of the amount available

12 under this section, or $20,000, whichever is greater, may

13 be used by the State for the costs incurred for evaluation

14 of programs assisted under Section 104.

15 (4) Not more than 5 percent of the amount available

16 under this subsection may be used in any fiscal year by

17 the State library administrative agency for administrative

18 costs.

19 SEC. 102. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION PRO20 GRAMS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amount apportioned under

22 section 101(b) from each State’s allotment shall be used

23 by the State education agency to strengthen elementary

24 and secondary education programs in accordance with the

25 provisions of this section.
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1 (b) LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCIES.—(1) Each local

2 education agency shall use the educational technology

3 funds available under section 101(b)(2) for—

4 (A) developing, adapting, or expanding existing

5 and new technological applications to support the

6 school reform effort; and

7 (B) funding projects of sufficient size and scope

8 to improve student learning, support professional de9 velopment, and provide administrative support.

10 (2) To be eligible to receive educational technology

11 funds under this section for school or other school man12 aged alternative learning environments a local education

13 agency must receive State approval of a technology use

14 plan which includes —

15 (A) a description of how the local education

16 agency plans to use the financial assistance received

17 under section 101(b)(2) to improve the use of tech18 nology in instruction, professional development and

19 administration;

20 (B) a description of how funds under section

21 101(b)(2) will be coordinated with other State, local

22 and Federal resources;

23 (C) a description of how the school programs

24 will use other resources of the community and in25 volve public agencies, private industry, institutions
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1 of higher education, public and private nonprofit or2 ganizations, and other appropriate institutions, and

3 how other appropriate learning environments and

4 adult technology, learning and literacy programs

5 might link and share resources;

6 (D) assurances that the programs will be evalu7 ated and outcomes reported in terms of the level of

8 implementation of the technology-based resources

9 funded by this Act, the impact on teaching and

10 learning, the changes in the school program, and the

11 extent to which the school will sustain the project

12 after funding is terminated;

13 (E) assurances that the plan will be consistent

14 with district level planning for educational tech15 nology, and will support local and State curriculum

16 frameworks;

17 (F) assurances that the plan will be developed

18 in conjunction with other Federal, State and local

19 policies as appropriate, including chapter 1 and spe20 cial education;

21 (G) provisions to support, as needed, individual

22 teachers to develop and implement technology-based

23 intervention projects, including those which respond

24 to the needs of students with disabilities;
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1 (H) a description of how the financial assist2 ance will be used for the expansion and improvement

3 of inservice training and retraining and, if appro4 priate, preservice training, of teachers and other ap5 propriate school personnel regarding the use of tech6 nology in schools, including the use of computers,

7 videos, and telecommunications to enhance learn8 ing—

9 (i) such training and instruction may be

10 carried out through agreements with public

11 agencies, private industry, institutions of higher

12 education, regional educational laboratories and

13 national research centers, nonprofit organiza14 tions, (including museums) libraries, edu15 cational television stations, and other appro16 priate institutions including the Regional Edu17 cational Technology Assistance Consortia, es18 tablished under section 301;

19 (ii) a local education agency may carry out

20 the activities authorized by this paragraph with

21 one or more other local education agencies,

22 State education agencies, or both; and

23 (iii) each local education agency shall as24 sure that programs of training, inservice train25 ing and retraining will take into account the
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1 need for greater access to and participation in

2 the use of technology;

3 (I) a description of how the plan will address

4 the special needs of urban and rural schools;

5 (J) a description of a strategy for the enhanced

6 involvement of parents through the use of tech7 nology; and

8 (K) a description of how the plan will address

9 the needs of students with disabilities.

10 (3) A local education agency for any fiscal year may

11 apply for financial assistance as part of a consortium with

12 other local education agencies, institutions of higher edu13 cation, intermediate educational units or other appropriate

14 education entities to provide local programs. The State

15 education agency may assist in the formation of consortia

16 between local education agencies, institutions of higher

17 education, intermediate educational units or other appro18 priate education entities to provide services for the teach19 ers and students in a local education agency at the request

20 of such local education agency.

21 SEC. 103. HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amount apportioned under

23 section 101(c) from each State’s allotment shall be used

24 by the State for education programs in accordance with

25 the provisions of this section.
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1 (b) GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU2 CATION.—(1) The State agency for higher education, in

3 accordance with the State education technology plan filed

4 under section 105, shall make grants available on a com5 petitive basis to institutions of higher education in the

6 State which form partnerships with one or more local edu7 cation agencies.

8 (2) The State shall make every effort to ensure equi9 table participation of private and public institutions of

10 higher education.

11 (3) The amount available under subsection 101(c)(2)

12 shall be used for—

13 (A) training programs for new teachers in the

14 use of technology as an educational adjunct;

15 (B) inservice training for elementary, second16 ary, and vocational school teachers and training for

17 other appropriate school personnel to improve their

18 ability to use educational technology in their teach19 ing; and

20 (C) programs to improve student performance

21 in academic and work skill areas through the use of

22 technology.

23 (4) No institution of higher education may receive as24 sistance under paragraph (3)(A), (B), and (C) of this sub25 section unless the institution enters into an agreement
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1 with a local education agency, or consortium of such agen2 cies, to provide inservice training and retraining for the

3 elementary and secondary school teachers in the public

4 and private schools of the school district of each agency.

5 (c) COOPERATIVE PROGRAM.—The State higher edu6 cation agency may use funds described in section

7 101(c)(2) to achieve the objectives of section 103(b) by

8 establishing cooperative programs among institutions of

9 higher education, private industry, and non-profit organi10 zations, that include one or more local education agencies,

11 for the development and dissemination of projects to im12 prove student performance in academic or work skill

13 areas.

14 (d) REPORTING.—In accordance with section 101(c),

15 5 percent of the funding available for higher education

16 partnerships shall be used by the agency for higher edu17 cation for reporting the progress of the programs funded

18 under this section and such reports shall, be provided to

19 the State education agency annually.

20 SEC. 104. LIBRARY AND LITERACY PROGRAMS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph

22 (2), the amount apportioned under section 101(d) from

23 each State’s allotment under this section shall be used by

24 the State to assist literacy and education programs in ac25 cordance with the provisions of this section.
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1 (b) GRANTS TO LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.—(1) In

2 accordance with the State education technology plan filed

3 under section 105, the State library administrative agency

4 shall make grants available on a competitive basis to local

5 public libraries in the State which demonstrate involve6 ment of one or more local education agencies and literacy

7 programs or organizations in their activities.

8 (2) The amount available under section 101(d)(2)

9 shall be used for—

10 (A) developing programs that help libraries,

11 local education agencies, and literacy programs use

12 technology to share services and resources and de13 velop collaborative activities that improve their per14 formance and that of the students in academic and

15 work skill areas; and

16 (B) inservice training for library, literacy, and

17 other appropriate personnel to improve their skills in

18 the use of educational technology and telecommuni19 cations.

20 (c) COOPERATIVE PROGRAM.—The State library ad21 ministration agency may use funds described in section

22 101(d)(2) to achieve the objectives of section 104(b) by

23 establishing cooperative programs among public libraries,

24 literacy organizations, private industries, and nonprofit

25 education organizations, if such programs include one or
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1 more local education agencies and literacy programs, for

2 the development and dissemination of projects to improve

3 the performance of literacy programs and of students in

4 academic or work skill areas.

5 (d) REPORTING.—In accordance with section 101(d),

6 5 percent of the funding available for library and literacy

7 programs shall be used by the library administrative agen8 cy for reporting the progress of the programs funded

9 under this section and such reports shall be provided to

10 the State education agency annually.

11 SEC. 105. STATE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PLAN.

12 (a) APPLICATION.—Each State education agency

13 which desires to receive a grant under this title shall, in

14 consultation with the State agency for higher education

15 and the State library administrative agency, file a single

16 educational technology plan with the Secretary of Edu17 cation which covers a period of 5 fiscal years. The State

18 education agency shall be responsible for funding, super19 vising, and coordinating programs described under this

20 title and shall file the educational technology plan at such

21 time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied by

22 such financial, educational and technological information

23 as this section requires or as the Secretary may reasonably

24 require.
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1 (b) CONTENTS OF THE PLAN.—Each such plan shall

2 include financial information (items 1–6 at minimum),

3 educational information (items 7–10 at minimum), and

4 technological information (items 11–14 at minimum), and

5 shall—

6 (1) designate the State agency or agencies re7 sponsible for administering the elementary and sec8 ondary programs under section 102, and the higher

9 education programs under section 103 and designate

10 the State library administrative agency to administer

11 the library and literacy programs under section 104

12 in support of improved student learning;

13 (2) describe a financial plan developed by the

14 State education agency, which must be approved and

15 recommended to the Secretary by the Educational

16 Technology Authority, established in section 202.

17 The financial plan shall—

18 (A) design financial assistance mechanisms

19 to best fit the technology needs of the State.

20 Such mechanisms, which must be included in

21 the plan, may include, but not be limited to—

22 (i) grants;

23 (ii) matching grants;

24 (iii) loans;

25 (iv) loan guarantees; and
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1 (v) other credit enhancements as de2 fined in section 4(b)(11);

3 (B) describe procedures for submitting ap4 plications for programs described in sections

5 102, 103, and 104 for funding assistance under

6 section 101 within the State;

7 (C) describe procedures for approval of ap8 plications by the appropriate State administra9 tive agency including appropriate procedures to

10 assure that such administrative agency will not

11 disapprove an application without notice and

12 opportunity for a hearing;

13 (D) delineate processes for auditing and

14 monitoring the use of funds by recipients;

15 (E) determine priorities for awarding

16 funds under various funding mechanisms; and

17 (F) construe nothing in subsection (b)(2)

18 to implicitly or explicitly imply that the funds

19 made available under this subsection, through

20 whatever mechanism is chosen by the State

21 agency, and recommended for approval to the

22 Secretary by the Educational Technology Au23 thority, are backed by the full faith and credit

24 of the Federal Government;
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1 (3) designate the State education agency or an2 other single agency to carry out the financial plan

3 developed by the State education agency and to allo4 cate funds received under sections 101 and

5 402(a)(2). Such designated agency shall be respon6 sible for—

7 (A) maintaining appropriate records of al8 location of funds, and, in the case of loans, ade9 quate collection procedures and records;

10 (B) reporting annually to the Educational

11 Technology Authority, established under section

12 202, on the use of the funds it has received

13 from the Authority; and

14 (C) reporting annually to the Secretary on

15 the use of funds received under section

16 402(a)(2);

17 (4) describe an implementation strategy to co18 ordinate the expenditure of financial assistance paid

19 under sections 101 and 402(a)(2) with other State

20 and local funds, other Federal funds and resources,

21 and any resources and funding made available under

22 section 202(i);

23 (5) provide assurances that—
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1 (A) financial assistance shall be distributed

2 by the State in accordance with the provisions

3 of section 101;

4 (B) the State shall provide such fiscal con5 trol and funds accounting as the Secretary may

6 require; and

7 (C) financial assistance provided under

8 section 101 shall supplement, not supplant,

9 State and local funds made available for activi10 ties authorized under sections 102, 103, and

11 104;

12 (6) describe how business, industry, and other

13 public and private agencies including libraries, lit14 eracy programs, institutions of higher education, and

15 the Regional Technology Assistance Consortia can

16 participate in the implementation, ongoing planning,

17 and support of the plan;

18 (7) delineate educational problems and needs in

19 the State, describe all learning environments sup20 ported by the State plan, and specify how the appli21 cation of technology will address those and other

22 needs including but not limited to the special needs

23 of—

24 (A) urban and rural schools;

25 (B) students with disabilities; and
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1 (C) students who are underrepresented in

2 the population at large;

3 (8) provide assurances that—

4 (A) during the 5-year period of the plan,

5 the State shall evaluate its standards for teach6 er preparation in the use of technology; and

7 (B) programs conducted with State funds

8 available under this title shall be evaluated and

9 an evaluation report shall be submitted to the

10 Secretary at the close of the second year of

11 funding and every 2 years thereafter, and such

12 evaluation report shall include, but not be lim13 ited to—

14 (i) statistics on the number of stu15 dents and teachers involved in these pro16 grams, the use of educational technology,

17 the status of infrastructure development,

18 and the allocation of resources for the pur19 poses provided for under this Act;

20 (ii) progress on meeting the provisions

21 of section 105(b)(7); and

22 (iii) a summary of the evaluations of

23 programs funded under sections 102, 103,

24 and 104;
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1 (9) document how the plan is coordinated with

2 other State educational plans;

3 (10) assure that educators involved in the devel4 opment of the plan represent the ethnic balance and

5 all geographic areas of the State;

6 (11) describe how the State educational agency

7 will promote the purchase of equipment by local

8 school districts and schools that, when placed in op9 eration, will provide the greatest accessibility and eq10 uity for students and meet the highest level of inter11 operability and open system design among—

12 (A) telecommunications and technology

13 hardware and software either when used on a

14 stand-alone basis or when connected together

15 within a local area network, a wide area net16 work, or Federal, State and regional networks;

17 and

18 (B) schools within the State;

19 (12) describe the State’s strategy for ensuring

20 that teachers, administrators and other education

21 personnel have access to the necessary staff develop22 ment and technical assistance to effectively apply the

23 appropriate technologies to improve teaching, learn24 ing, school management, and the electronic transfer

25 of, and access to, information;
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1 (13) establish a method for continuously gath2 ering and disseminating current and emerging infor3 mation on all aspects of educational technology to all

4 educators within the State;

5 (14) describe how the State’s planned use of

6 technology is supportive of the national education

7 goals;

8 (15) provide an evaluation method for the State

9 plan; and

10 (16) create a planning process through which

11 such plan is reviewed and updated periodically.

12 (c) APPROVAL OF PLANS.—(1) The State education

13 agency shall submit a plan for approval to the Secretary,

14 who shall —

15 (A) send such plans to the Educational Tech16 nology Council, created under section 201, and to

17 the Educational Technology Authority for review;

18 and

19 (B) expeditiously approve such State plan upon

20 receiving a favorable review from the Educational

21 Technology Council, and the Educational Technology

22 Authority.

23 (2) Any State that submits a plan that is not

24 approved shall receive assistance from the Secretary to

25 improve its plan.
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1 (3) If, after receiving assistance, a State plan fails

2 to receive a favorable review, the State shall have the right

3 to appeal to the Secretary, who shall convene a hearing

4 to review the plan within 30 days of receiving the request.

5 (4) A State shall be ineligible to have its plans ap6 proved or to continue to receive funding for an approved

7 plan if within the previous 24 months it reduced funding

8 for educational technology programs and activities within

9 the State by more than 20 percent, unless the State can

10 document that funding will be restored to at least 80 per11 cent of its previous funding level.

12 SEC. 106. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PLAN.

13 (a) APPLICATION.—A local education agency that de14 sires to receive financial assistance under section 102,

15 shall submit to the State education agency (singly or in

16 conjunction with other local education agencies, institu17 tions of higher education, or an intermediate educational

18 unit) a plan which covers a 3-year period.

19 (b) CONTENTS OF THE PLAN.—A local education

20 agency plan shall—

21 (1) describe how the local education agency will

22 use funds received under this subpart to improve the

23 use of technology in student learning with particular

24 attention to the needs of students with disabilities
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•HR 2728 IH

1 and students who are underrepresented in the popu2 lation at large;

3 (2) describe how funds received under this Title

4 will be coordinated with State and local and other

5 Federal resources;

6 (3) describe how the programs will use other re7 sources of the community, including libraries, and

8 involve public agencies, private industry, institutions

9 of higher education, public and private nonprofit or10 ganizations, and other appropriate institutions such

11 as the Regional Educational Technical Assistance

12 Consortia;

13 (4) assure that the programs will be evaluated,

14 and outcomes reported in terms of —

15 (A) the level of implementation of the tech16 nology-based resources funded by this Act;

17 (B) the impact on teaching and learning;

18 (C) the changes in the learning environ19 ment or educational program; and

20 (D) the extent to which the school or other

21 appropriate learning environments will sustain

22 the project after funding is terminated;

23 (5) be consistent with district level planning for

24 educational technology, and shall support the local

25 and State’s curriculum frameworks;
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1 (6) be developed in concert with Federal, State

2 and local policies, as appropriate, including Chapter

3 1;

4 (7) make provision for technical support and

5 professional development as needed for individual

6 teachers to develop and implement technology7 assisted instruction; and

8 (8) provide a strategy for the enhanced involve9 ment of parents through the use of technology.

10 (c) CONTINUATION OF PAYMENTS.—The State edu11 cation agency shall make payments to local education

12 agencies in accordance with section 105(b)(2) to carry

13 out—-

14 (1) the first and second year activities based

15 upon the application; and

16 (2) the third year activities under this section,

17 if the local education agency is making adequate

18 progress toward implementing the plan described in

19 section 106(b).

20 The State education agency will not disapprove an applica21 tion and discontinue payments without notice.

22 SEC. 107. FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.

23 (a) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—The Secretary

24 shall, with State and local representatives, develop proce-
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•HR 2728 IH

1 dures for State and local evaluations of the programs

2 under this title.

3 (b) EVALUATION SUMMARY.—The Secretary shall

4 submit to the Congress 3 years after the enactment of this

5 Act and every 2 years thereafter a summary of the State

6 evaluations of programs under this subpart.

7 TITLE II—EDUCATIONAL

8 TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE

9 SEC. 201. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL.

10 Title II of the Department of Education Organization

11 Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by adding at

12 the end thereof the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 205A. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL.

14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—To establish within the Department

15 of Education a council to promote intra- and interagency

16 utilization and coordination of technology and educational17 technology programs to improve learning, to represent

18 public education’s technology needs to regulatory agencies

19 and to the Nation, and to review the State plans.

20 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

21 ‘‘(1) COUNCIL ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary

22 shall establish within the Department of Education

23 an Educational Technology Council.

24 ‘‘(2) COUNCIL HEAD.—The Educational Tech25 nology Council (herein referred to as the ‘‘Council’’)
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•HR 2728 IH

1 shall be headed by the Deputy Secretary of Edu2 cation or his or her designee.

3 ‘‘(c) COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP.—The Deputy Secretary

4 shall appoint 9 members to the Council, of whom —

5 ‘‘(1) five members shall be personnel from with6 in the Department of Education who have dem7 onstrated competencies or expertise in technology

8 systems;

9 ‘‘(2) three members shall have past and ongo10 ing experience with education at the State or local

11 school level or shall be representatives of entities or

12 organizations with a direct interest in education

13 technology, such as participants in the Federal edu14 cation research and development system; and

15 ‘‘(3) one member shall be a member of the

16 Board of Directors of the Educational Technology

17 Authority.

18 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—In order to carry out the provi19 sions of this section, the Deputy Secretary may appoint

20 personnel in accordance with title 5, United States Code,

21 and may compensate such personnel in accordance with

22 the General Schedule described in section 5332 of title 5,

23 United States Code.

24 ‘‘(e) FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.—The Council,

25 through the Deputy Secretary, shall—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 ‘‘(1) coordinate educational technology pro2 grams and issues within the Department of Edu3 cation by—

4 ‘‘(A) providing leadership for policy devel5 opment and the coordination of technology-re6 lated education activities;

7 ‘‘(B) reviewing and, if appropriate, rec8 ommending for approval State educational tech9 nology plans submitted to the Secretary under

10 section 105 for their educational feasibility;

11 ‘‘(C) conducting forums throughout the

12 country on education technology applications;

13 ‘‘(D) providing technical assistance on the

14 educational aspects of technology uses as need15 ed and appropriate to States in the preparation

16 of State plans under section 105;

17 ‘‘(E) making recommendations for wider

18 applications of the use of technology in the De19 partment’s education programs;

20 ‘‘(F) collaborating with the Educational

21 Technology Authority to—

22 ‘‘(i) establish priorities related to the

23 application of technology and technology24 based resources in education;
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•HR 2728 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) suggest roles for business and in2 dustry to collaborate with educational enti3 ties and agencies at the regional and State

4 level; and

5 ‘‘(iii) determine the procedures for

6 making grants under section 202(i);

7 ‘‘(G) coordinating with the Regional Edu8 cational Technology Assistance Consortia to en9 sure that State and local education agencies

10 have access to information, technology pro11 grams, inservice programs for teachers, and

12 other resources made possible by this Act;

13 ‘‘(2) represent the Department of Education

14 with other agencies and Departments of the Federal

15 Government on technology issues by—

16 ‘‘(A) working with relevant Federal agen17 cies to reduce regulatory barriers and costs

18 which prevent schools from integrating tech19 nology into the classroom;

20 ‘‘(B) consulting and cooperating with other

21 Federal agencies to coordinate educational tech22 nology programs with analogous programs in

23 other agencies and to initiate interagency agree24 ments for the joint funding of such programs;

25 and
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•HR 2728 IH

1 ‘‘(C) collaborating with the Regional Edu2 cational Technology Assistance Consortia to—

3 ‘‘(i) facilitate the education commu4 nity’s assessment and effective utilization

5 of appropriate information resources pro6 duced and distributed electronically by

7 projects of the Education Department and

8 other Federal agencies; and

9 ‘‘(ii) establish, in conjunction with the

10 Federal Coordinating Council on Science,

11 Engineering and Technology and other

12 Federal agencies, cost effective integration,

13 utilization and upgrading of technology in

14 schools.’’.

15 SEC. 202. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AUTHORITY.

16 (a) PURPOSE.—The Congress hereby declares that it

17 is the purpose of this section to establish a private, not18 for-profit, corporation to—

19 (1) provide financing and technological system

20 design assistance to educational institutions to en21 able them to acquire educational technology to im22 prove the productivity of the nation’s education sec23 tor; and
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (2) assure equal access to educational tech2 nologies for all users regardless of age, race, eth3 nicity, or disability.

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) There is hereby estab5 lished a nonprofit corporation to be known as the Edu6 cational Technology Authority (hereinafter referred to as

7 the ‘‘Authority’’) which shall—

8 (A) review and, if appropriate, recommend for

9 approval State plans under section 105; and

10 (B) receive and allocate private, unrestricted

11 funding and resources to support and augment pro12 grams and projects established under the provisions

13 of this Act.

14 (2) Such Authority shall maintain its principal office

15 in the District of Columbia and shall be deemed, for the

16 purposes of venue and jurisdiction in civil actions, to be

17 a resident and citizen thereof.

18 (3) Offices may be established by the Authority in

19 such other place or places as it may deem necessary or

20 appropriate for the conduct of its business.

21 (c) EXEMPTION FROM STATE AND LOCAL TAXES.—

22 The Authority, including its franchise, capital, reserves,

23 surplus, mortgages, or other security holdings, and income

24 shall be exempt from all taxation now or hereafter imposed

25 by any State, territory, possession, Commonwealth, or de-
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•HR 2728 IH

1 pendency of the United States, or by the District of Co2 lumbia, or by any county, municipality, or local taxing au3 thority, except that any real property of the corporation

4 shall be subject to State, territorial, county, municipal, or

5 local taxation to the same extent according to its value

6 as other real property is taxed.

7 (d) ADMINISTRATOR OF THE AUTHORITY.—The Ad8 ministrator of the Authority shall be appointed by the

9 President for a term of five years.

10 (e) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—

11 (1) BOARD MEMBERSHIP.—The Authority shall

12 have a Board of Directors which shall consist of 11

13 persons, 1 of whom shall be designated Chairman by

14 the President, and who shall include—

15 (A) one Director, who shall be the Deputy

16 Secretary of Education;

17 (B) six Directors, who shall be appointed

18 by the President;

19 (C) two Directors, who shall be appointed

20 by the Speaker of the United States House of

21 Representatives; and

22 (D) two Directors, who shall be appointed

23 by the majority leader of the United States

24 Senate.

25 (2) COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD.—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (A) three directors shall be from represent2 atives of banks or other financial institutions;

3 (B) one director shall be an expert in

4 school finance;

5 (C) two directors shall be representatives

6 of major companies that develop and distribute

7 technology-based products used in the instruc8 tion of students from grades K–12;

9 (D) two directors shall be experts in tech10 nological system design;

11 (E) one director shall be a representative

12 of local education agencies; and

13 (F) one director shall be a representative

14 of State education agencies.

15 (3) TERMS OF APPOINTED MEMBERS.—The Di16 rectors appointed by the President, the Speaker of

17 the House, and the Majority Leader of the Senate

18 shall serve at the pleasure of the President, the

19 Speaker, or the Majority Leader and until their suc20 cessors have been appointed and have qualified.

21 (4) MEETINGS.—The Board of Directors shall

22 meet at the call of its Chairman, but at least semi23 annually.

24 (5) FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD.—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (A) The Board shall determine the general

2 policies which shall govern the operations of the

3 Authority.

4 (B) The Board shall adopt, amend, and re5 peal such bylaws, rules and regulations as may

6 be necessary to—

7 (i) conduct its business; and

8 (ii) establish offices of the Authority

9 and prescribe their executive functions,

10 powers and duties.

11 (C) The Chairman of the Board shall, with

12 the approval of the Board, select, appoint, and

13 compensate qualified persons to fill the offices

14 of the Authority to discharge all such executive

15 functions, powers, and duties as may be pre16 scribed in the bylaws or by the Board of Direc17 tors.

18 (f) DUTIES OF THE AUTHORITY.—The duties of the

19 Authority shall include, but not be limited to—

20 (1) reviewing and, if appropriate, recommend21 ing for approval State plans under section 105 for

22 their fiscal and technological feasibility to determine

23 whether such plans—

24 (A) contribute to the development of an

25 interoperable system that will enable local
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•HR 2728 IH

1 school districts, schools, classrooms, and stu2 dents nationwide to communicate via computer

3 systems, visual transmission systems including

4 broadband, closed circuit, cable, fiber optics,

5 microwave, or satellite transmission, the use of

6 video cassettes, video disc, and other systems or

7 devicses which produce visual images, and other

8 technological methods utilizing where needed

9 the Regional Educational Technology Assist10 ance Consortia; and

11 (B) contain a variety of funding proce12 dures that consider the special needs of districts

13 with high proportions of at-risk students or stu14 dents with disabilities and may include low-in15 terest loans or guarantees for loans for edu16 cational institutions to acquire, install, and use

17 learning technologies;

18 (2) providing technical assistance to States on

19 the fiscal aspects of the State plan and, in consulta20 tion with the Regional Educational Technology As21 sistance Consortia, provide assistance on the tech22 nology aspects of the State plans required under sec23 tion 105;

24 (3) collaborating with the Educational Tech25 nology Council to—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (A) establish priorities related to the appli2 cation of technology and technology-based re3 sources in education;

4 (B) suggest roles for business and industry

5 to collaborate with educational entities and

6 agencies at the regional and State level; and

7 (C) determine the procedures for making

8 grants under section 202(i);

9 (4) developing strategies for soliciting unre10 stricted donations of cash, services or property or

11 other assets to be used to provide fiscal assistance

12 for State and local education agency activities which

13 support the purposes of this Act.

14 (g) GENERAL CORPORATE POWERS.—The Authority

15 shall have the power—

16 (1) to sue and be sued, complain and defend, in

17 its corporate name and through its own counsel;

18 (2) to adopt, alter, and use the corporate seal,

19 which shall be judicially noticed;

20 (3) to adopt, amend, and repeal by its Board of

21 Directors, bylaws, rules, and regulations as may be

22 necessary for the conduct of its business;

23 (4) to conduct its business, carry on its oper24 ations, and have officers and exercise the power
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•HR 2728 IH

1 granted by this section in any State without regard

2 to any qualification or similar statute in any State;

3 (5) to lease, purchase, or otherwise acquire,

4 own, hold, improve, use, or otherwise deal in and

5 with any property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible

6 or intangible, in aid of any of the purposes of the

7 Authority;

8 (6) to accept unrestricted gifts or donations of

9 services, or property, real, personal, or mixed, tan10 gible or intangible, in aid of any of the purposes of

11 the Authority;

12 (7) to sell, convey, mortgage, pledge, lease, ex13 change, and otherwise dispose of its property and

14 assets;

15 (8) to appoint such officers, attorneys, employ16 ees, and agents as may be required, to determine

17 their qualifications, to define their duties, to fix their

18 salaries, require bonds for them, and fix the penalty

19 thereof;

20 (9) to enter into contracts, to execute instru21 ments, to incur liabilities, and to do all things as are

22 necessary or incidental to the proper management of

23 its affairs and the proper conduct of its business;

24 and
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1 (10) in accordance with the provisions of this

2 section, to manage the fund created under section

3 202(i) for holding and distributing all funds and as4 sets made available by private non-profit and profit

5 making agencies, businesses, industries, and individ6 uals.

7 (h) ACCOUNTING, AUDITING, AND REPORTING.—The

8 accounts of the Authority shall be audited annually:

9 (1) Such audits shall be conducted in accord10 ance with generally accepted auditing standards by

11 independent certified public accountants or by inde12 pendent licensed public accountants, who are cer13 tified or licensed by a regulatory authority of a State

14 or other political subdivision of the United States.

15 (2) A report of each such audit shall be fur16 nished to the Secretary.

17 (3) The audit shall be conducted at the place or

18 places where the accounts are normally kept.

19 (4) Representatives of the Secretary shall —

20 (A) have access to all books, accounts, fi21 nancial records, reports, files, and all other pa22 pers, things, or property belonging to or in use

23 by the Authority and necessary to facilitate the

24 audit; and
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1 (B) be afforded full facilities for verifying

2 transactions with the balances or securities held

3 by depositories, fiscal agents, and custodians.

4 (i) EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY FUND.—

5 (1) There is hereby established in the Depart6 ment of Education a fund, to be known as the Edu7 cational Technology Fund (hereinafter referred to as

8 the ‘‘Fund’’) consisting of all funds and assets avail9 able from private nonprofit and profit making agen10 cies, businesses, industries, and individuals.

11 (2) The assets of the funds shall be available

12 for the Authority to provide grants to State edu13 cation agencies, local education agencies, or other

14 entities eligible to receive funding under this Act for

15 the purposes of augmenting the programs and

16 projects established under the provisions of this Act.

17 (j) REPORT ON OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.—The

18 Authority shall, as soon as practicable, after the end of

19 each fiscal year, transmit to the President, the Secretary,

20 and the Congress a report of its operations and activities

21 during such year.
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1 TITLE III—REGIONAL SUPPORT,

2 RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT

3 SEC. 301. REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY ASSIST4 ANCE CONSORTIA.

5 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

6 establish regional educational technology assistance con7 sortia to serve as regional educational technology re8 sources to facilitate the availability of technology to

9 schools; information dissemination; professional develop10 ment; technical support; evaluation of educational tech11 nology applications to States, regional educational organi12 zations, local educational agencies, and other appropriate

13 learning environments and conduct research on appro14 priate applications of educational technology to student

15 learning.

16 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—(1) The Secretary is au17 thorized to make grants to the ten regional educational

18 laboratories to establish Regional Educational Technology

19 Assistance Consortia in accordance with the provisions of

20 this section.

21 (2) Funds provided under sections 401 and 402(a),

22 are to be allocated to the 10 Regional Educational Tech23 nology Assistance Consortia based on student population

24 and with consideration of the geography and other factors

25 as needed to ensure equitable access to resources provided
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•HR 2728 IH

1 by the Regional Educational Technology Assistance Con2 sortia.

3 (c) FUNCTIONS OF THE CONSORTIA.—The Regional

4 Educational Technology Assistance Consortia shall—

5 (1) assist the States to ensure that students, in6 cluding those with special educational needs and of

7 diverse ethnic backgrounds, and educators in rural,

8 suburban, or urban communities have access to the

9 educational benefits provided by the use of tech10 nology;

11 (2) collaborate with the Council to support the

12 education community in accessing and effectively

13 utilizing—

14 (A) information resources distributed elec15 tronically and produced by projects by the De16 partment of Education and other Federal agen17 cies and programs; and

18 (B) information, technology programs, in19 service programs for teachers and other re20 sources made possible by this Act;

21 (3) provide regional access to educational tech22 nology programs, projects, and resources;

23 (4) establish, in conjunction with the Council,

24 guidelines for cost effective integration, utilization,

25 maintenance, and upgrading of technology in the
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•HR 2728 IH

1 schools through collaboration with the Federal Co2 ordinating Council on Science, Engineering and

3 Technology and other Federal agencies;

4 (5) support the dissemination of information to

5 local school districts, schools, classrooms, students,

6 and teachers by fostering—

7 (A) in conjunction with the Authority, the

8 development of an interoperable system that

9 will enable local school districts, schools, class10 rooms, and students to communicate using

11 computer systems, visual transmission systems,

12 including broadband, closed circuit, cable, fiber

13 optics, microwave, or satellite transmission, the

14 use of video cassettes, video disc, and other sys15 tems or devices which produce visual images, or

16 other technological methods;

17 (B) the development of activities that en18 courage the interactive transfer of information

19 and communication on electronic networks that

20 utilize the Internet and other existing and

21 emerging telecommunications networks;

22 (C) the establishment of a coordinated sys23 tem of distance education combining multiple

24 technologies, as appropriate, that can serve to

25 disseminate information and provide interactive
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1 student learning related to new research find2 ings, national educational initiatives, funding

3 and program resources, and educational tech4 nology developments and resources appropriate

5 to teaching and learning; and

6 (D) the dissemination of information about

7 technology related resources;

8 (6) provide for professional development that

9 will serve the needs of and be accessed by educators

10 in all regions of the United States by—

11 (A) facilitating interactive staff develop12 ment related to new research findings, national

13 education initiatives, funding and program re14 sources, and educational technology develop15 ments and resources appropriate to teaching

16 and learning;

17 (B) facilitating staff development for edu18 cators related to educational technology prod19 ucts and practices in conformance with existing

20 national statutes and in collaboration with local

21 and regional programs; and

22 (C) assisting colleges and universities in

23 partnerships with local educational agencies

24 within the region to develop and apply for fund25 ing provided to support the programs described
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1 under section 103 to implement preservice

2 training programs for students enrolled in

3 teaching programs and inservice training pro4 grams for classroom and vocational teachers;

5 (7) provide technical support to the States and

6 local education agencies in the development of edu7 cational technology plans by—

8 (A) maintaining a registry of appropriate

9 human and technical resources to assist local

10 educational agencies in the application of the

11 resources provided by this statute; and

12 (B) working with the Authority and the

13 Council to provide technical assistance on the

14 technical aspects of the State plans required

15 under section 105;

16 (8) assist in the evaluation of educational tech17 nology programs by—

18 (A) working with the States and local edu19 cation agencies in the planning, development,

20 and implementation of evaluation measures to

21 access educational programs, practices, and

22 projects made available by the provisions of this

23 Act in collaboration, as needed, with the United

24 States Department of Education; and
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (B) conducting periodic reviews of the ex2 tent to which the provisions of this statute are

3 implemented and make recommendations to the

4 Secretary regarding the extent of access, level

5 of use, and benefits to students and teachers of

6 the programs and resources made directly and

7 indirectly possibly by this Act;

8 (9) conduct applied research to address the

9 needs of the region and make available such results;

10 and

11 (10) develop ways to apply the findings of re12 search in educational technology and learning to im13 prove educational practice.

14 SEC. 302. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DE15 VELOPMENT GRANTS.

16 (a) EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND

17 DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.—The Secretary is authorized to

18 establish Educational Technology Research and Develop19 ment Grants to be administered by the Office of Edu20 cational Research and Improvement to provide for re21 search and development so that education agencies can be

22 continuously informed about the most effective applica23 tions of technology.

24 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the research and de25 velopment project grants shall be to conduct research to—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (1) identify and validate effective applications

2 of current and emerging technologies to support stu3 dent learning; and

4 (2) to support general education and to solve

5 educational problems and priorities as identified by

6 the Secretary.

7 (c) ELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE AWARDS.—Grants pro8 vided under this section may be awarded to—

9 (1) State education agencies;

10 (2) school districts;

11 (3) regional educational agencies;

12 (4) consortia of districts; and

13 (5) other non-profit educational agencies includ14 ing regional educational laboratories and national re15 search centers.

16 (d) CRITERIA FOR GRANTS.—Grants shall be award17 ed on a competitive basis based upon evidence—

18 (1) that educators have collaborated in the de19 velopment and will be involved in the implementation

20 of the project;

21 (2) that the proposed project offers an innova22 tive approach for educational improvement;

23 (3) that the project has a high probability of

24 being adopted or adapted by other schools in a vari-
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1 ety of demographic contexts and within existing re2 sources;

3 (4) of commitment from existing and emerging

4 public and private agencies and Regional Edu5 cational Technology Assistance Consortia as estab6 lished in this Act to collaborate in the dissemination

7 and installation of resources identified in the pro8 posed program or project;

9 (5) that a comprehensive evaluation of the im10 pact of the services provided will be conducted; and

11 (6) that the proposal includes research on how

12 schools could become effective vehicles for improving

13 literacy through the use of technology for popu14 lations within the schools and in the community.

15 TITLE IV—AUTHORIZATION OF

16 APPROPRIATIONS

17 SEC. 401. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 There are authorized to be appropriated for the pur19 poses of this Act, $550,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

20 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeed21 ing fiscal years.

22 SEC. 402. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) From the amount appro24 priated under section 401 for any fiscal year, the Sec25 retary shall reserve—
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•HR 2728 IH

1 (A) not more than $2,750,000, or one half of

2 one percent, for allocation among Guam, American

3 Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana

4 Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Is5 lands according to their respective needs for assist6 ance under this subpart;

7 (B) $2,750,000, or one half of 1 percent for

8 programs for Indian students served by schools

9 funded by the Secretary of the Interior consistent

10 with the purposes of this subpart;

11 (C) $1,000,000, or two tenths of 1 percent, for

12 Section 201 for salaries and expenses of the Council

13 Office;

14 (D) $5,000,000, or nine tenths of 1 percent, for

15 Section 202 for salaries and expenses of the Author16 ity;

17 (E) $33,500,000, or 6 percent, for Section 301;

18 and

19 (F) a minimum of $10,000,000, or 2 percent,

20 for Section 302.

21 (2) The remainder ($495,000,000, or 90 percent) of

22 the amount so appropriated after meeting the require23 ments of paragraph (1) shall be allocated among the

24 States (treating the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
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1 as States) with approved state plans under section 105

2 as follows—

3 (A) one-half of such remainder shall be allo4 cated among the States by allocating to each State

5 an amount which bears the same ratio to such 1/2

6 of such remainder as the number of children aged 5

7 to 17, inclusive, in the State bears to the number of

8 such children in all States;

9 (B) one-half of such remainder shall be allo10 cated among the States according to each State’s

11 share of allocations under chapter 1 of the Edu12 cation Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981

13 or part A of chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary

14 and Secondary Education Act of 1965, whichever

15 program was effective for the previous fiscal year,

16 except that no State shall receive less than 1/2 of 1

17 percent of the amount available under this sub18 section in any fiscal year or less than the amount al19 lotted to such State for fiscal year 1988 under title

20 II of the Education for Economic Security Act;

21 (C) for the purposes of this subsection, the

22 term ‘‘State’’ does not include Guam, American

23 Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana

24 Islands, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Is25 lands; and
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1 (D) the number of children aged 5 to 17, inclu2 sive, in the State and in all States shall be deter3 mined by the Secretary on the basis of the most re4 cent satisfactory data available to the Secretary.

5 (3) The Secretary shall make payments under para6 graphs (1)(A) and (1)(B) on whatever terms the Secretary

7 determines will best carry out the purposes of title I this

8 Act.

9 (b) REALLOTMENT OF UNUSED FUNDS.—The

10 amount of any State’s allotment under subsection (a) for

11 any fiscal year which the Secretary determines will not

12 be required for that fiscal year to carry out title I shall

13 be available for reallotment from time to time, on such

14 dates during that year as the Secretary may determine,

15 to other States in proportion to the original allotments to

16 those States under subsection (a) for that year but with

17 such proportionate amount for any of those other States

18 being reduced to the extent it exceeds the sum the Sec19 retary estimates that State needs and will be able to use

20 for that year; and the total of those reductions shall be

21 similarly reallotted among the States whose proportionate

22 amounts were not so reduced. Any amounts reallotted to

23 a State under this subsection during a year shall be

24 deemed a subpart of its allotment under subsection (a)

25 for that year.
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