H. R. 6—347
‘‘(D) schools, businesses, community-based organiza-
tions, tribal leaders, and other community agencies and
members should work together to foster effective learning
and enrichment programs and activities for students,
including programs that operate outside of the regular
school day or year;
‘‘(E) for most students in the United States, the school
year is 180 days long. In Japan students go to school
243 days per year, in Germany students go to school 240
days per year, in Austria students go to school 216 days
per year, in Denmark students go to school 200 days per
year, and in Switzerland students go to school 195 days
per year; and
‘‘(F) in the final four years of schooling, students in
schools in the United States are required to spend a total
of 1,460 hours on core academic subjects, less than half
of the 3,528 hours so required in Germany, the 3,280
hours so required in France, and the 3,170 hours so
required in Japan;
‘‘(2) increasing the amount and duration of intensive,
engaging and challenging learning activities geared to high
standards can increase student motivation and achievement;
‘‘(3) the benefits of extending learning time, including com-
mon core instructional time, can be maximized by concurrent
changes in curriculum and instruction, such as accelerated
learning, and engaging, interactive instruction based on chal-
lenging content;
‘‘(4) maximizing the benefit of increased common core and
other learning time will require the collaboration and coopera-
tion of teachers and administrators, students, parents, commu-
nity members and organizations, businesses and others to
develop strategies to meet the needs of students during and
beyond the school day and year;
‘‘(5) a competitive world economy requires that students
in the United States receive education and training that is
at least as rigorous and high-quality as the education and
training received by students in competitor countries;
‘‘(6) despite our Nation’s transformation from a farm-based
economy to one based on manufacturing and services, the school
year is still based on the summer needs of an agrarian economy;
‘‘(7) American students’ lack of formal schooling is not
counterbalanced with more homework. The opposite is true,
as half of all European students report spending at least two
hours on homework per day, compared to only 29 percent
of American students. Twenty-two percent of American students
watch five or more hours of television per day, while less
than eight percent of European students watch that much
television;
‘‘(8) more than half of teachers surveyed in the United
States cite ‘children who are left on their own after school’
as a major problem;
‘‘(9) over the summer months, disadvantaged students not
only fail to advance academically, but many forget much of
what such students had learned during the previous school
year;
H. R. 6—348
‘‘(10) funding constraints as well as the strong pull of
tradition have made extending the school year difficult for
most States and school districts; and
‘‘(11) experiments with extended and multi-track school
years have been associated with both increased learning and
more efficient use of school facilities.
‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this part to—
‘‘(1) provide seed money to schools and local educational
agencies to enable such agencies to devise and implement
strategies and methods for upgrading the quality of, and extend-
ing, challenging, engaging learning time geared to high stand-
ards for all students; and
‘‘(2) allow the Secretary to provide financial incentives and
assistance to States or local educational agencies to enable
such States or agencies to substantially increase the amount
of time that students spend participating in quality academic
programs, and to promote flexibility in school scheduling.
‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to award
grants to local educational agencies having applications
approved under subsection (d) to enable such agencies to carry
out the authorized activities described in subsection (e) in public
elementary and secondary schools.
‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall, to the extent prac-
ticable, provide an equitable distribution of grants under this
section.
‘‘(3) DURATION.—Each grant under subsection (a) shall be
awarded for a period of not more than three years.
‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to award-
ing grants under this part to local educational agencies that
serve schools with high percentages of students in poverty.
‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—Each local educational agency desiring a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information
as the Secretary may require. Each such application shall describe—
‘‘(1) the activities for which assistance is sought;
‘‘(2) any study or other information-gathering project for
which funds will be used;
‘‘(3) strategies and methods the applicant will use to enrich
and extend learning time for all students and to maximize
the percentage of common core learning time in the school
day, such as block scheduling, team teaching, longer school
days or years, and extending learning time through new dis-
tance-learning technologies;
‘‘(4) the strategies and methods the applicant will use,
including changes in curriculum and instruction, to challenge
and engage students and to maximize the productiveness of
common core learning time, as well as the total time students
spend in school and in school-related enrichment activities;
‘‘(5) the strategies and methods the applicant intends to
employ to provide continuing financial support for the
implementation of any extended school day or school year;
‘‘(6) with respect to any application seeking assistance for
activities described under subsection (e)(4), a description of
any feasibility or other studies demonstrating the sustainability
of a longer school year;
H. R. 6—349
‘‘(7) the extent of involvement of teachers and other school
personnel in investigating, designing, implementing and
sustaining the activities assisted under this part;
‘‘(8) the process to be used for involving parents and other
stakeholders in the development and implementation of the
activities assisted under this part;
‘‘(9) any cooperation or collaboration among public housing
authorities, libraries, businesses, museums, community-based
organizations, and other community groups and organizations
to extend engaging, high-quality, standards-based learning time
outside of the school day or year, at the school or at some
other site;
‘‘(10) the training and professional development activities
that will be offered to teachers and others involved in the
activities assisted under this part;
‘‘(11) the goals and objectives of the activities assisted
under this part, including a description of how such activities
will assist all students to reach State standards;
‘‘(12) the methods by which the applicant will assess
progress in meeting such goals and objectives; and
‘‘(13) how the applicant will use funds provided under
this part in coordination with other funds provided under this
Act or other Federal laws.
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Funds under this section may
be used—
‘‘(1) to study the feasibility of, and effective methods for,
extending learning time within or beyond the school day or
year, including consultation with other schools or local edu-
cational agencies that have designed or implemented extended
learning time programs;
‘‘(2) to conduct outreach to and consult with community
members, including parents, students, and other stakeholders,
such as tribal leaders, to develop a plan to extend learning
time within or beyond the school day or year;
‘‘(3) to develop and implement an outreach strategy that
will encourage collaboration with public housing authorities,
libraries, businesses, museums, community-based organiza-
tions, and other community groups and organizations to coordi-
nate challenging, high-quality educational activities outside of
the school day or year;
‘‘(4) to support public school improvement efforts that
include expansion of time devoted to core academic subjects
and the extension of the school year to 210 days;
‘‘(5) to research, develop and implement strategies, includ-
ing changes in curriculum and instruction, for maximizing the
quality and percentage of common core learning time in the
school day and extending learning time during or beyond the
school day or year;
‘‘(6) to provide professional development for school staff
in innovative teaching methods that challenge and engage stu-
dents, and also increase the productivity of extended learning
time; and
‘‘(7) to develop strategies to include parents, business rep-
resentatives, and other community members in the extended
time activities, especially as facilitators of activities that enable
teachers to have more time for planning, individual student
assistance, and professional development activities.
H. R. 6—350
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section the term
‘common core learning time’ means high-quality, engaging instruc-
tion in challenging content in each of the following core academic
subjects described in the third National Education Goal:
‘‘(1) English.
‘‘(2) Mathematics.
‘‘(3) Science.
‘‘(4) Foreign languages.
‘‘(5) Civics and government.
‘‘(6) Economics.
‘‘(7) Arts.
‘‘(8) History.
‘‘(9) Geography.
‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION.—
‘‘(1) PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary shall award grants under
this section pursuant to a peer review process.
‘‘(2) DIVERSITY.—In awarding grants under this section the
Secretary shall ensure that such grants are awarded to a diver-
sity of local educational agencies, including such agencies that
serve rural and urban areas.
‘‘(h) APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of carrying out this
section there are authorized to be appropriated $90,000,000
for fiscal year 1995 and such sums as may be necessary for
each of the four succeeding fiscal years.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Not less than 80 percent of any amount
appropriated under paragraph (1) shall be made available to
applicants seeking to extend their school year to not fewer
than 210 days.
‘‘PART M—TERRITORIAL ASSISTANCE
‘‘SEC. 10995. GENERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE VIRGIN ISLANDS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal
year 1995 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, for the
purpose of providing general assistance to improve public education
in the Virgin Islands.
‘‘TITLE XI—COORDINATED SERVICES
‘‘SEC. 11001. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
‘‘(1) Growing numbers of children are negatively affected
by influences outside of the classroom which increase such
children’s risk of academic failure.
‘‘(2) Factors such as poor nutrition, unsafe living conditions,
physical and sexual abuse, family and gang violence, inadequate
health care, unemployment, lack of child care, and substance
abuse, adversely affect family relationships and the ability of
a child to learn.
‘‘(3) Parents and other caregivers in today’s high pressure
society often face demands which place restraints on such par-
ents’ and caregivers’ time and affect such parents’ and
caregivers’ ability to adequately provide for the needs of the
families of such parents and caregivers.