I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1337
To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for the purpose of
extending the length of the academic year at such schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 15, 1993
Mr. TORRICELLI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
A BILL
To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for
the purpose of extending the length of the academic
year at such schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the President has set several ambitious na-
tional goals to improve education in the United
States as part of the America 2000 program;
(2) the length of the academic year at most ele-
mentary and secondary schools in the United States
consists of approximately 175 to 180 academic days
while the length of the academic year at elementary
and secondary schools in a majority of the other in-
dustrialized countries consists of approximately 190
to 240 academic days;
(3) an international testing organization has
found in various studies of 15 developed and less de-
veloped countries that secondary students from the
United States scored at or near the bottom in geom-
etry, advanced algebra, and calculus;
(4) various studies indicate that extending the
length of the academic year at elementary and sec-
ondary schools results in a significant increase in ac-
tual student learning time, even when much of the
time in the extended portion of the academic year is
used for increased teacher training and increased
parent-teacher interaction;
(5) extending the length of the academic year
at elementary and secondary schools will lessen the
need for review at the beginning of an academic year
of course material covered in the previous academic
year;
(6) in 1988 the report entitled ‘‘A Nation At
Risk’’ recommended that school districts extend the
length of the academic year at elementary and sec-
ondary schools to 220 academic days and increase
the academic day from 6 to 7 hours; and
(7) elementary and secondary schools in the
United States have increased the number and types
of courses they offer students, including health edu-
cation courses and driver education courses, without
increasing the overall amount of time spent for
course instruction.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION GRANT PRO-
GRAM.
(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, from
amounts appropriated under section 3, provide grants to
secondary schools to extend the length of the academic
year at such schools to not fewer than 200 academic days.
A grant under this subsection may extend over a period
of not more than 3 fiscal years. The provision of payments
under such grant shall be subject to annual approval by
the Secretary and subject to the availability of appropria-
tions for the fiscal year involved to make the payments.
(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To receive a
grant under subsection (a), a secondary school shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application which contains assur-
ances satisfactory to the Secretary that—
(1) such school will extend the length of each
of the 3 consecutive academic years falling within
the years for which such school receives payments of
a grant under subsection (a) to not fewer than 200
academic days, with each such academic day to con-
sist of not fewer than 7 hours devoted to actual in-
struction, as determined by the Secretary; and
(2) except as provided in subsection (c), such
school will provide funds from non-Federal sources,
in an amount equal to 20 percent of the Federal
funds provided in the grant, for the purpose of ex-
tending the length of its academic year.
(c) GOOD-FAITH EXCEPTION.—A secondary school
shall be considered to have satisfied the requirement of
subsection (b)(2) if such school makes a good-faith at-
tempt to satisfy such requirement, as determined by the
Secretary.
(d) SELECTION
REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary
shall select secondary schools to receive grants under sub-
section (a) which—
(1) have submitted an application in accordance
with subsection (b);
(2) currently have academic years consisting of
fewer than 200 academic days;
(3) to the extent practicable, consist of a high
percentage of students from single-parent homes or
homes where both parents work; and
(4) to the extent practicable, are located in eco-
nomically depressed communities which have a high
percentage of individuals—
(A) with alcohol abuse and other drug
abuse problems; and
(B) involved in gang-related activities.
(e) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY REQUIREMENT.—To the
extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that second-
ary schools which receive grants under subsection (a) are
equitably distributed among the various regions of the
United States and among rural and urban areas within
such regions.
(f) SELECTION OF REPLACEMENT SCHOOLS.—If any
secondary school which receives a grant under subsection
(a) fails to comply with any of the requirements of the
demonstration grant program, then the Secretary may se-
lect another secondary school which complies with such re-
quirements to replace such school for the remaining num-
ber of years in such grant.
(g) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary
shall notify each State and local educational agency of a
secondary school which receives a grant under subsection
(a) that such school is participating in the demonstration
grant program.
ant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit a
final report containing such information to each of
the authorities described in paragraph (1) not later
than January 1, 1997.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000
for each of the fiscal years 1994, 1995, and 1996, and
such sums may remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’,
‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the
respective meanings given such terms in section
1471 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965.
(2) The term ‘‘secondary school’’ has the mean-
ing given such term in section 1471 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, except
that such term does not include any education pro-
vided below grade 7.
(3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Education.
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