I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3009
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to State and local
educational agencies to support programs that promote a variety of
educational opportunities, options, and choices in public schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 4, 1999
Mr. ROEMER (for himself, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. HILL of Indi-
ana, Mr. LAMPSON, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, and Mr. MALONEY of
Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants
to State and local educational agencies to support pro-
grams that promote a variety of educational opportuni-
ties, options, and choices in public schools.
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 ‘‘Public School Choice
Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) a wide variety of educational opportunities,
options, and choices in the public school system is
needed to help all children achieve to high stand-
ards;
(2) high-quality public school choice programs
that are genuinely open and accessible to all stu-
dents (including poor, minority, limited English pro-
ficient, and disabled students) broaden educational
opportunities and promote excellence in education;
(3) current research shows that—
(A) students learn in different ways, bene-
fiting from different teaching methods and in-
structional settings; and
(B) family involvement in a child’s edu-
cation is a key factor supporting student
achievement;
(4) public school systems have begun to develop
a variety of innovative programs that offer expanded
choices to parents and students; and
(5) the Federal Government should support and
expand efforts to give students and parents the
high-quality public school choices they seek, to help
eliminate barriers to effective public school choice,
and to disseminate the lessons learned from high-
quality choice programs so that all public schools
can benefit from these efforts.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to iden-
tify and support innovative approaches to high-quality
public school choice by providing financial assistance for
the demonstration, development, implementation, and
evaluation of, and dissemination of information about,
public school choice projects that stimulate educational in-
novation for all public schools and contribute to standards-
based school reform efforts.
SEC. 3. GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—From funds appropriated under
section 6(a) and not reserved under section 6(b), the Sec-
retary is authorized to make grants to State and local edu-
cational agencies to support programs that promote inno-
vative approaches to high-quality public school choice.
(b) DURATION.—Grants under this Act shall not ex-
ceed three years.
SEC. 4. USES OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL—
(1) PUBLIC
SCHOOL
CHOICE.—Funds under
this Act may be used to demonstrate, develop, imple-
ment, evaluate, and disseminate information on in-
novative approaches to promote public school choice,
including the design and development of new public
school choice options, the development of new strate-
gies for overcoming barriers to effective public school
choice, and the design and development of public
school choice systems that promote high standards
for all students and the continuous improvement of
all public schools.
(2) 
INNOVATIVE
APPROACHES.—Such 
ap-
proaches at the school, local educational agency, and
State levels may include—
(A) inter-district approaches to public
school choice, including approaches that in-
crease equal access to high-quality educational
programs and diversity in schools;
(B) public elementary and secondary pro-
grams that involve partnerships with institu-
tions of higher education and that are located
on the campuses of those institutions;
(C) programs that allow students in public
secondary schools to enroll in postsecondary
courses and to receive both secondary and post-
secondary academic credit;
(D) worksite satellite schools, in which
State or local educational agencies form part-
nerships with public or private employers, to
create public schools at parents’’ places of em-
ployment; and
(E) approaches to school desegregation
that provide students and parents choice
through strategies other than magnet schools.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—Funds under this Act—
(1) shall supplement, and not supplant, non-
Federal funds expended for existing programs;
(2) may not be used for transportation; and
(3) may not be used to fund projects that are
specifically authorized under part A of title V, or
part C of title X, of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
SEC. 5. GRANT APPLICATION; PRIORITIES.
(a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—A State or local edu-
cational agency desiring to receive a grant under this Act
shall submit an application to the Secretary.
(b) APPLICATION
CONTENTS.—Each application
shall include—
(1) a description of the program for which
funds are sought and the goals for such program;
(2) a description of how the program funded
under this Act will be coordinated with, and will
complement and enhance, programs under other re-
lated Federal and non-Federal projects;
(3) if the program includes partners, the name
of each partner and a description of the partner’s
responsibilities;
(4) a description of the policies and procedures
the applicant will use to ensure—
(A) its accountability for results, including
its goals and performance indicators; and
(B) that the program is open and acces-
sible to, and will promote high academic stand-
ards for, all students; and
(5) such other information as the Secretary
may require.
(c) PRIORITIES.—
(1) HIGH-POVERTY AGENCIES.—The Secretary
shall give a priority to applications for projects that
would serve high-poverty local educational agencies.
(2) PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary may give a
priority to applications demonstrating that the appli-
cant will carry out its project in partnership with
one or more public and private agencies, organiza-
tions, and institutions, including institutions of high-
er education and public and private employers.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of carrying out
this Act, there are authorized to be appropriated
$20,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and such sums as may
be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
(b) RESERVATION FOR EVALUATION, TECHNICAL AS-
SISTANCE, AND DISSEMINATION.—From the amount ap-
propriated under subsection (a) for any fiscal year, the
Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent to carry
out evaluations under subsection (c), to provide technical
assistance, and to disseminate information.
(c) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary may use funds re-
served under subsection (b) to carry out one or more eval-
uations of programs assisted under this Act, which shall,
at a minimum, address—
(1) how, and the extent to which, the programs
supported with funds under this Act promote edu-
cational equity and excellence; and
(2) the extent to which public schools of choice
supported with funds under this Act are—
(A) held accountable to the public;
(B) effective in improving public education;
and
(C) open and accessible to all students.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) HIGH-POVERTY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘‘high-poverty local educational agen-
cy’’ means a local educational agency in which—
(A) the percentage of children, ages 5 to
17, from families with incomes below the pov-
erty line (as defined by the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget and revised annually in ac-
cordance with section 673(2) of the Community
Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)))
applicable to a family of the size involved for
the most recent fiscal year for which satisfac-
tory data are available is 20 percent or greater;
or
(B) the number of such children exceeds
10,000.
(2) OTHER TERMS.—Other terms used in this
Act shall have the meaning given such terms in sec-
tion 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
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