H. R. 2264—36
award of $3,000 for that award year, the Secretary may increase
the income protection allowances in sections 475(g)(2)(D), and
476(b)(1)(A)(iv)(I), (II), and (III) up to the amounts at which Pell
Grant awards calculated using the increased income protection
allowances equal the funds available to make Pell Grants in award
year 1998–1999 with a $3,000 maximum award, except that the
income protection allowance in section 475(g)(2)(D) may not exceed
$2,200, 
the 
income 
protection 
allowance 
in 
sections
476(b)(1)(A)(iv)(I) and (II) may not exceed $4,250, and the income
protection allowance in section 476(b)(1)(A)(iv)(III) may not exceed
$7,250.
FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOAN PROGRAM ACCOUNT
For Federal administrative expenses to carry out guaranteed
student loans authorized by title IV, part B, of the Higher Education
Act, as amended, $46,482,000.
HIGHER EDUCATION
For carrying out, to the extent not otherwise provided, parts
A and B of title III, without regard to section 360(a)(1)(B)(ii),
titles IV, V, VI, VII, and IX, and part A, subpart 1 of part B,
and part E of title X and title XI of the Higher Education Act
of 1965, as amended, part G of title XV of Public Law 102–325,
the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, and
Public Law 102–423; $946,738,000, of which $13,700,000 for interest
subsidies under title VII of the Higher Education Act shall remain
available until expended: Provided, That funds available for part
D of title IX of the Higher Education Act shall be available to
fund new and noncompeting continuation awards for academic year
1998–1999 for fellowships awarded under part C of title IX of
said Act, under the terms and conditions of part C: Provided further,
That from the funds made available under Part A of title X of
the Higher Education Act, $1,000,000 shall be awarded to the
Advanced Technical Center at Mexico, Missouri for the delivery
of technical education in cooperation with community colleges and
State technical schools and $3,000,000 shall be for the delivery
of technical education and distance learning at Empire State College
in New York.
HOWARD UNIVERSITY
For partial support of Howard University (20 U.S.C. 121 et
seq.), $210,000,000: Provided, That from the amount available, the
University may at its discretion use funds for the endowment
program as authorized under the Howard University Endowment
Act (Public Law 98–480).
COLLEGE HOUSING AND ACADEMIC FACILITIES LOANS PROGRAM
For Federal administrative expenses to carry out activities
related to facility loans entered into under title VII, part C and
section 702 of the Higher Education Act, as amended, $698,000.
H. R. 2264—37
HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY CAPITAL FINANCING,
PROGRAM ACCOUNT
The total amount of bonds insured pursuant to section 724
of title VII, part B of the Higher Education Act shall not exceed
$357,000,000, and the cost, as defined in section 502 of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974, of such bonds shall not exceed zero.
For administrative expenses to carry out the Historically Black
College and University Capital Financing Program entered into
pursuant to title VII, part B of the Higher Education Act, as
amended, $104,000.
EDUCATION RESEARCH, STATISTICS, AND IMPROVEMENT
For carrying out activities authorized by the Educational
Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of
1994, including part E; the National Education Statistics Act of
1994; section 2102 of title II, and parts A, B, I, and K and section
10601 of title X, and part C of title XIII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended, and title VI of
Public Law 103–227, $431,438,000: Provided, That of the amount
provided for section 10101 of part A of title X of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965, $1,000,000 shall be awarded
to the National Museum of Women in the Arts; $500,000 shall
be for enhanced teacher training in reading in the District of
Columbia; $5,000,000 shall be for innovative learning opportunities
for at-risk children at children’s museums in Philadelphia, Balti-
more, Boston and museums in Chicago; $8,000,000 shall be for
a demonstration of public school facilities repair and construction
to the Iowa Department of Education; $350,000 shall be awarded
to the White Plains City School District to expand an after school
program; $100,000 shall be for the Montgomery County, Pennsylva-
nia library network; $55,000 shall be awarded to the St. Stephen
Life Center in Louisville, Kentucky; and $25,000,000 shall be avail-
able to demonstrate effective approaches to comprehensive school
reform to be allocated and expended in accordance with the instruc-
tions relating to this proviso in the statement of managers on
the conference report accompanying this Act: Provided further, That
the funds made available for comprehensive school reform shall
become available on July 1, 1998, and remain available through
September 30, 1999, and in carrying out this initiative, the Sec-
retary and the States shall support only approaches that show
the most promise of enabling children to meet challenging State
content standards and challenging State student performance
standards based on reliable research and effective practices, and
include an emphasis on basic academics and parental involvement:
Provided further, That (1) of the amount appropriated under this
heading and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec-
retary of Education may award $1,000,000 to a State educational
agency (as defined in section 14101 of the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)) to pay for appraisals,
resource studies, and other expenses associated with the exchange
of State school trust lands within the boundaries of a national
monument for Federal lands outside the boundaries of the monu-
ment; and (2) the State educational agency is eligible to receive
a grant under paragraph (1) only if the agency serves a State
that—
H. R. 2264—38
(A) has a national monument declared within the State
under the authority of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the preserva-
tion of American antiquities’’, approved June 8, 1906 (16 U.S.C.
431 et seq.) (commonly known as the Antiquities Act of 1906)
that incorporates more than 100,000 acres of State school trust
lands within the boundaries of the national monument; and
(B) ranks in the lowest 25 percent of all States when
comparing the average per pupil expenditure (as defined in
section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801)) in the State to the average per
pupil expenditure for each State in the United States.
INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM AND LIBRARY SERVICES
For carrying out subtitle B of the Museum and Library Services
Act, $146,340,000.
DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
For carrying out, to the extent not otherwise provided, the
Department of Education Organization Act, including rental of con-
ference rooms in the District of Columbia and hire of two passenger
motor vehicles, $341,064,000.
OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
For expenses necessary for the Office for Civil Rights, as author-
ized by section 203 of the Department of Education Organization
Act, $61,500,000.
OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
For expenses necessary for the Office of the Inspector General,
as authorized by section 212 of the Department of Education
Organization Act, $30,242,000.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 301. No funds appropriated in this Act may be used
for the transportation of students or teachers (or for the purchase
of equipment for such transportation) in order to overcome racial
imbalance in any school or school system, or for the transportation
of students or teachers (or for the purchase of equipment for such
transportation) in order to carry out a plan of racial desegregation
of any school or school system.
SEC. 302. None of the funds contained in this Act shall be
used to require, directly or indirectly, the transportation of any
student to a school other than the school which is nearest the
student’s home, except for a student requiring special education,
to the school offering such special education, in order to comply
with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For the purpose
of this section an indirect requirement of transportation of students
includes the transportation of students to carry out a plan involving
the reorganization of the grade structure of schools, the pairing
of schools, or the clustering of schools, or any combination of grade
restructuring, pairing or clustering. The prohibition described in
this section does not include the establishment of magnet schools.
H. R. 2264—39
SEC. 303. No funds appropriated under this Act may be used
to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer
and meditation in the public schools.
(TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
SEC. 304. Not to exceed 1 percent of any discretionary funds
(pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control
Act, as amended) which are appropriated for the Department of
Education in this Act may be transferred between appropriations,
but no such appropriation shall be increased by more than 3 percent
by any such transfer: Provided, That the Appropriations Committees
of both Houses of Congress are notified at least fifteen days in
advance of any transfer.
SEC. 305. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal
law, no funds provided to the Department of Education or to an
applicable program (as defined in section 400(c)(1) of the General
Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221(c)(1))), in this Act or
in any other Act in fiscal year 1998, may be used to field test,
pilot test, implement, administer or distribute in any way, any
national tests.
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to the Third
International Math and Science Study or the National Assessment
of Educational Progress.
SEC. 306. (a) STUDY.—The National Academy of Sciences, in
consultation with the National Governors Association, the National
Conference of State Legislatures, the White House, the National
Assessment Governing Board, and the Congress, shall conduct a
feasibility study to determine if an equivalency scale can be devel-
oped that would allow test scores from commercially available
standardized tests and State assessments to be compared with
each other and the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
(b) REPORT OF FINDINGS TO CONGRESS.—(1) The National Acad-
emy of Sciences shall submit a written report to the White House,
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of
Representatives, the Committee on Labor and Human Resources
of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of the House
of Representatives and the Senate not later than September 1,
1998.
(2) The National Academy of Sciences shall submit an interim
report no later than June 15, 1998.
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD
SEC. 307 (a). Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
exclusive authority over all policies, direction, and guidelines for
developing 
voluntary 
national 
tests 
pursuant 
to 
contract
RJ97153001 previously entered into between the Department of
Education and the American Institutes for Research and executed
on August 15, 1997, shall be vested in the National Assessment
Governing Board established under section 412 of the National
Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9011); Provided, That
within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board
shall review the national test development contract in effect on
the date of enactment of this Act, and modify the contract as
the Board determines necessary and not inconsistent with this
Act or applicable laws: Provided further, That if the contract cannot
be modified to the extent determined necessary by the Board, the