I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5071 
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 
APRIL 20, 2010 
Mr. FATTAH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
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 ‘‘ESEA 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, ensuring that 
these funds serve their original purpose of sub-
sidizing the increased costs associated with edu-
cating 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: 
‘‘(c) COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES.— 
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‘‘(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 only if the average ex-
penditure per pupil of State and local funds in 
each school served under this part is at least 97 
percent of the average expenditure per pupil of 
State and local funds across all schools that are 
not receiving funds under this part. 
‘‘(B) 
COMPARABLE
FUNDING
AMONG 
SCHOOLS.—If the local educational agency is 
serving all of such agency’s schools under this 
part, such agency may receive funds under this 
part only if the average expenditure per pupil of 
State and local funds in each higher poverty 
school is at least 97 percent of the average ex-
penditure per pupil of State and local funds 
across all lower poverty schools. 
‘‘(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 an up-to-date school-by- 
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school listing of per-pupil expenditures of State 
and local funds for each school served by the 
agency; and 
‘‘(B) the listing identified in clause (i) 
demonstrates comparability across schools as 
required by subparagraph (A) or (B) of para-
graph (1). 
‘‘(3) BASIS.—A local educational agency may 
meet the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and 
(B) of paragraph (1) across all schools or among 
schools serving a particular grade span, if the local 
educational agency compares schools within no more 
than three grade spans. 
‘‘(4) MONITORING.— 
‘‘(A) REGULATIONS BY SECRETARY.—Not 
later than 4 months after the date of the enact-
ment of the ESEA Fiscal Fairness Act, the 
Secretary shall issue regulations concerning 
State educational agencies’ and local edu-
cational agencies’ responsibilities for meeting 
the requirements of this subsection. 
‘‘(B) 
REGULATIONS
BY
STATES.—Not 
later than 6 months after the date on which the 
regulations required by subparagraph (A) are 
issued, each State educational agency shall cre-
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ate and distribute to local educational agencies, 
and make available to the public, regulations on 
the responsibilities of local educational agencies 
for meeting the requirements of this subsection. 
‘‘(C) PLAN BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CIES.—Not later than 14 months after the date 
on which regulations required by subparagraph 
(B) are distributed, each local educational agen-
cy shall develop and submit to the State edu-
cational agency a plan, including a time line 
and annual benchmarks, that will ensure com-
parability as described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (1) not later than 3 years 
after the date on which the regulations required 
by subparagraph (B) are distributed. The plan 
shall be made available to the public. 
‘‘(D) AUDIT.—In each of the fourth and 
fifth years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Inspector General of the Depart-
ment shall audit 5 States and 10 local edu-
cational agencies to determine progress in meet-
ing 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. 
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