I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1294 
To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 to assure comparability of opportunity for educationally 
disadvantaged students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 31, 2011 
Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Mr. POLIS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 to assure comparability 
of opportunity for educationally disadvantaged students. 
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 ‘‘Fiscal Fairness Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
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(1) To remedy the inequitable distribution of 
State and local funds within the areas served by 
local educational agencies. 
(2) To reinforce the supplementary intent of 
funds made available under title I of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6301 et seq.), ensuring that these funds serve their 
original purpose of subsidizing the increased costs 
associated with educating students in concentrated 
poverty. 
(3) To address the statutory, regulatory, and 
enforcement weaknesses that have undermined the 
role of the comparability requirement in ensuring 
comparability within school districts. 
(4) To require the inclusion of real teacher sal-
aries in calculations of per-pupil expenditures. 
(5) To provide sufficient transparency, account-
ability, and disclosure to allow parents, communities, 
educators, and local agency officials to ensure stu-
dents have access to the resources they need to 
achieve at high levels. 
SEC. 3. COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES. 
Section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6321(c)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
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‘‘(c) COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) COMPARABLE
FUNDING
IN
GEN-
ERAL.—Except as provided in paragraphs (4) 
and (5), a local educational agency may receive 
funds under this part for a fiscal year only if, 
for the preceding fiscal year, the average ex-
penditure per pupil of State and local funds in 
each school served under this part was at least 
97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 
of State and local funds across all schools 
served by the local educational agency that are 
not receiving funds under this part. 
‘‘(B) 
COMPARABLE
FUNDING
AMONG 
TITLE I SCHOOLS.—In any case where all of the 
schools served by a local educational agency re-
ceive support under this part, such agency may 
receive funds under this part for a fiscal year 
only if, for the preceding fiscal year, the aver-
age expenditure per pupil of State and local 
funds in each higher poverty school is at least 
97 percent of the average expenditure per pupil 
of State and local funds across all lower poverty 
schools. 
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‘‘(2) EQUIVALENCE.—A local educational agen-
cy shall be considered to have met the requirements 
of paragraph (1), and to be eligible to receive funds 
under this part, if— 
‘‘(A) such agency has filed with the State 
educational agency current school-by-school list-
ing of per-pupil expenditures of State and local 
funds for each school served by the agency for 
the preceding fiscal year; and 
‘‘(B) the listing described in subparagraph 
(A) demonstrates comparability across schools 
as required by subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) BASIS.—A local educational agency may 
meet the requirements of paragraph (1) across all 
schools or among schools serving a particular grade 
span, if the local educational agency compares 
schools within not more than three grade spans. 
‘‘(4) MONITORING.— 
‘‘(A) REGULATIONS BY SECRETARY.—Not 
later than 120 days after the date of the enact-
ment of the Fiscal Fairness Act, the Secretary 
shall issue regulations concerning State edu-
cational agencies’ and local educational agen-
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Fiscal Fairness Act, the Inspector General of 
the Department shall audit 5 States and 10 
local educational agencies to determine progress 
in meeting the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(5) INAPPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall 
not apply to a local educational agency that does not 
have more than one building for each grade span. 
‘‘(6) COMPLIANCE.—For the purpose of deter-
mining compliance with paragraph (1), a local edu-
cational agency— 
‘‘(A) shall exclude State and local funds 
expended for the excess costs of providing 
English 
language 
instruction 
for 
Limited 
English Proficient students as determined by 
the local educational agency; 
‘‘(B) shall exclude State and local funds 
expended for the excess costs of providing serv-
ices to children with disabilities as determined 
by the local educational agency; and 
‘‘(C) may exclude supplemental State or 
local funds expended in any school attendance 
area or school for programs that meet the in-
tent and purpose of this part. 
‘‘(7) NO FORCED TRANSFERS.—Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed to require the forced or 
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involuntary transfer of any school personnel in order 
to comply with subparagraph (A) or (B) of para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(8) COMPARABILITY
AS
MINIMUM
STAND-
ARD.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to limit or discourage 
the allocation of State or local funds to schools 
served under this part in excess of 100 percent 
of the average per-pupil expenditure for schools 
not served under this part. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a local 
educational agency subject to the requirements 
of paragraph (1)(B), nothing shall be construed 
to discourage the allocation of State and local 
funds to any higher poverty schools served by 
the local educational agency in excess of 100 
percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in 
lower poverty schools served by the agency. 
‘‘(9) PUBLIC REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) SCHOOL REPORT CARDS.—Beginning 
with the first academic year that begins after 
the date of the enactment of the Fiscal Fair-
ness Act, and for each academic year there-
after, each local educational agency shall in-
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clude on the school report cards required under 
section 1111(h)(2) the following: 
‘‘(i) The average per-pupil expendi-
tures of State and local funds for the 
school. 
‘‘(ii) The average per-pupil expendi-
tures of State and local funds for schools 
in the local educational agency not served 
under this part or, in the case where all 
schools in a local educational agency are 
served under this part, for lower poverty 
schools. 
‘‘(iii) The mean of average per-pupil 
expenditures of State and local funds for 
all schools in the State. 
‘‘(B) CURRENT SCHOOL-BY-SCHOOL LIST-
ING.—Beginning with the first academic year 
that begins after the date of the enactment of 
the Fiscal Fairness Act and for each academic 
year thereafter, the State educational agency 
shall make publicly available the most current 
school-by-school listings of per-pupil expendi-
tures of State and local funds submitted by 
each local educational agency, as required 
under paragraph (2)(A)(i). 
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‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section: 
‘‘(A) EXPENDITURES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘expend-
itures’ means— 
‘‘(I) salary expenditures for class-
room teachers, including not only base 
salaries but also incentive pay, bo-
nuses, and supplemental stipends for 
mentoring or other additional roles; 
‘‘(II) salary expenditures for in-
structional and instructional support 
staff who are not classroom teachers 
(such as principals, librarians, para-
professionals, academic coaches, and 
curriculum specialists), including not 
only base salaries but also incentive 
pay, bonuses, and supplemental sti-
pends for mentoring or other addi-
tional roles; 
‘‘(III) salary expenditures for 
noninstructional staff, including stu-
dent support staff; and 
‘‘(IV) nonpersonnel expenditures 
such as— 
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‘‘(aa) professional develop-
ment for teachers and other 
staff; 
‘‘(bb) instructional materials 
and supplies; 
‘‘(cc) computers, software, 
and other technology; 
‘‘(dd) 
contracted 
services 
such as distance learning, art, 
athletics, and technology services; 
‘‘(ee) 
library 
books 
and 
media center materials; and 
‘‘(ff) such other expendi-
tures as the Secretary of Edu-
cation may require. 
‘‘(ii) 
DETERMINATIONS.—For 
pur-
poses of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 
(i), in the determination of salary expendi-
tures, salary differentials for years of em-
ployment shall be included. 
‘‘(B) HIGHER
POVERTY
SCHOOL.—The 
term ‘higher poverty school’ means a school 
that is in the highest three quartiles of schools 
served by a local educational agency, based on 
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the percentage of enrolled students from low-in-
come families. 
‘‘(C) 
LOWER
POVERTY
SCHOOL.—The 
term ‘lower poverty school’ means a school that 
is in the lowest quartile of schools served by a 
local educational agency, based on the percent-
age of enrolled students from low-income fami-
lies.’’. 
Æ 
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