I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3499 
To restore State sovereignty over public elementary and secondary education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2005 
Mr. CULBERSON (for himself, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BISHOP of 
Utah, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PENCE, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POE, and 
Mr. ROHRABACHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To restore State sovereignty over public elementary and 
secondary education. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Local Control of Edu-
cation Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDING. 
The Congress finds that the creation, funding, sup-
port, maintenance, operation, and all other aspects of ele-
mentary and secondary education are residual core sov-
ereign functions reserved to the control of the States
under the United States Constitution, as expressed in the 
Tenth Amendment. 
SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
This Act shall be liberally construed and shall be vig-
orously and promptly enforced so as to ensure the preser-
vation of the States’ core sovereign authority over all as-
pects of elementary and secondary education under the 
United States Constitution, as expressed in the Tenth 
Amendment. 
SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY WITH RE-
SPECT TO CERTAIN FEDERAL EDUCATION 
FUNDS. 
(a) FUNDING TO STATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any program 
under which Federal funds may be provided to a 
State under the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), unless 
the legislature of the State has by law expressly and 
specifically authorized operation of the program and, 
in doing so, has waived the State’s rights and au-
thorities to act inconsistently with any requirement 
that might be imposed by the Federal Government 
as a condition of receiving Federal funds under the 
program—
(A) the Secretary of Education may not 
provide any funds to the State pursuant to the 
program; 
(B) no officer, employee, or other authority 
of the Federal Government shall enforce against 
an authority of the State, nor shall any author-
ity of the State have any obligation to obey, any 
requirement of the program; and 
(C) the program shall not operate within 
the State. 
(2) TERM OF AUTHORIZATION.—If a State en-
acts (and does not repeal or otherwise terminate) a 
law authorizing operation of an education program 
described in paragraph (1), such authorization shall 
have effect for purposes of paragraph (1) until the 
later of— 
(A) the end of the 5-year period beginning 
on the date of the enactment of the law; or 
(B) the end of any regular legislative ses-
sion of the State that begins during the last 
year of such 5-year period and is ongoing at the 
end of such period. 
(b) FUNDING
TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTI-
TIES.—With respect to any program under which Federal 
funds may be provided to a local governmental entity (in-
cluding any local educational agency, public kindergarten, 
public elementary school, or public secondary school) 
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Secretary of Education 
may not provide any funds to the local governmental enti-
ty under such program unless the chief law enforcement 
officer of the State involved certifies that participation by 
the entity in the program is consistent with any applicable 
requirements under the law of the State. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘authority of a State’’ includes 
any officer or employee of the State and any local 
government authority of the State. 
(2) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu-
cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 
meanings given to those terms in section 9101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section applies in each 
State beginning at the end of the first regular session of 
the legislature of that State that begins after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and shall continue to apply in 
subsequent years until otherwise provided by law. 
Æ