I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 106 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to restore 
State sovereignty over public education and parental rights over the 
education of their children. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2015 
Mr. CULBERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to restore State sovereignty over public edu-
cation and parental rights over the education of their 
children. 
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 ‘‘Restoration of Paren-
tal Rights and State Sovereignty Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY OVER PUB-
LIC 
EDUCATION 
AND 
PARENTAL 
RIGHTS 
OVER THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN. 
Part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subpart 3—Restoration of State Sovereignty Over 
Public Education and Parental Rights Over the 
Education of Their Children 
‘‘SEC. 9541. STATES TO RETAIN RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES 
THEY DO NOT EXPRESSLY WAIVE. 
‘‘(a) RETENTION OF RIGHTS AND AUTHORITIES.— 
No officer, employee, or other authority of the Secretary 
shall enforce against an authority of a State, nor shall 
any authority of a State have any obligation to obey, any 
requirement imposed as a condition of receiving assistance 
under a grant program established under this Act, nor 
shall such program operate within a State, unless the leg-
islature of that State shall have by law expressly approved 
that program and, in doing so, have waived the State’s 
rights and authorities to act inconsistently with any re-
quirement that might be imposed by the Secretary as a 
condition of receiving that assistance. 
‘‘(b) AMENDMENT OF TERMS OF RECEIPT OF FED-
ERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—An officer, employee, or 
other authority of the Secretary may release assistance 
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under a grant program established under this Act to a 
State only after the legislature of the State has by law 
expressly approved the program (as described in sub-
section (a)). This approval may be accomplished by a vote 
to affirm a State budget that includes the use of such Fed-
eral funds and any such State budget must expressly in-
clude any requirement imposed as a condition of receiving 
assistance under a grant program established under this 
Act so that by approving the budget, the State legislature 
is expressly approving the grant program and, in doing 
so, waiving the State’s rights and authorities to act incon-
sistently with any requirement that might be imposed by 
the Secretary as a condition of receiving that assistance. 
‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH BIENNIAL 
LEGISLATURES.—In the case of a State with a biennial 
legislature— 
‘‘(1) during a year in which the State legisla-
ture does not meet, subsections (a) and (b) shall not 
apply; and 
‘‘(2) during a year in which the State legisla-
ture meets, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply, and, 
with respect to any grant program established under 
this Act during the most recent year in which the 
State legislature did not meet, the State may by law 
expressly disapprove the grant program, and, if such 
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disapproval occurs, an officer, employee, or other au-
thority of the Secretary may not release any addi-
tional assistance to the State under that grant pro-
gram. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF STATE AUTHORITY.—As used 
in this section, the term ‘authority of a State’ includes 
any administering agency of the State, any officer or em-
ployee of the State, and any local government authority 
of the State. 
‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section applies in each 
State beginning on the 90th day after the end of the first 
regular session of the legislature of that State that begins 
5 years after the date of the enactment of the Restoration 
of Parental Rights and State Sovereignty Act of 2015 and 
shall continue to apply in subsequent years until otherwise 
provided by law. 
‘‘SEC. 9542. DEDICATION OF SAVINGS TO DEFICIT REDUC-
TION. 
‘‘Notwithstanding any formula reallocations stipu-
lated under this Act, any funds under this Act not allo-
cated to a State because a State did not affirmatively 
agree to the receipt of such funds shall not be reallocated 
among the States. 
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‘‘SEC. 9543. DEFINITION OF STATE WITH BIENNIAL LEGIS-
LATURE. 
‘‘In this Act, the term ‘State with a biennial legisla-
ture’ means a State the legislature of which meets every 
other year. 
‘‘SEC. 9544. INTENT OF CONGRESS. 
‘‘It is the intent of Congress that other than the 
terms and conditions expressly approved by State law 
under the terms of this subpart, control over public edu-
cation and parental rights to control the education of their 
children are vested exclusively within the autonomous zone 
of independent authority reserved to the States and indi-
vidual Americans by the United States Constitution, other 
than the Federal Government’s undiminishable obligation 
to enforce minimum Federal standards of equal protection 
and due process.’’. 
SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to subpart 2 of part E of title IX the following: 
‘‘SUBPART
3—RESTORATION
OF
STATE
SOVEREIGNTY
OVER
PUBLIC
EDU-
CATION
AND
PARENTAL
RIGHTS
OVER
THE
EDUCATION
OF
THEIR
CHIL-
DREN 
‘‘9541. States to retain rights and authorities they do not expressly waive. 
‘‘9542. Dedication of savings to deficit reduction. 
‘‘9543. Definition of State with biennial legislature. 
‘‘9544. Intent of Congress.’’. 
Æ 
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