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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education Flexibility
Partnership Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) States differ substantially in demographics,
in school governance, and in school finance and
funding. The administrative and funding mecha-
nisms that help schools in 1 State improve may not
prove successful in other States.
(2) Although the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 and other Federal education
statutes afford flexibility to State and local edu-
cational agencies in implementing Federal programs,
certain requirements of Federal education statutes
or regulations may impede local efforts to reform
and improve education.
(3) By granting waivers of certain statutory
and regulatory requirements, the Federal Govern-
ment can remove impediments for local educational
agencies in implementing education reforms and
raising the achievement levels of all children.
(4) State educational agencies are closer to
local school systems, implement statewide education
reforms with both Federal and State funds, and are
responsible for maintaining accountability for local
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activities consistent with State standards and assess-
ment systems. Therefore, State educational agencies
are often in the best position to align waivers of
Federal and State requirements with State and local
initiatives.
(5) The Education Flexibility Partnership Dem-
onstration Act allows State educational agencies the
flexibility to waive certain Federal requirements,
along with related State requirements, but allows
only 12 States to qualify for such waivers.
(6) Expansion of waiver authority will allow for
the waiver of statutory and regulatory requirements
that impede implementation of State and local edu-
cational improvement plans, or that unnecessarily
burden program administration, while maintaining
the intent and purposes of affected programs, such
as the important focus on improving math and
science performance under title II of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965, (Dwight D.
Eisenhower Professional Development Program),
and maintaining such fundamental requirements as
those relating to civil rights, educational equity, and
accountability.
(7) To achieve the State goals for the education
of children in the State, the focus must be on results
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in raising the achievement of all students, not proc-
ess.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ATTENDANCE
AREA.—The term ‘‘attend-
ance area’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘school
attendance area’’ in section 1113(a)(2)(A) of the El-
ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(2) ED-FLEX PARTNERSHIP STATE.—The term
‘‘Ed-Flex Partnership State’’ means an eligible State
designated 
by 
the 
Secretary 
under 
section
4(a)(1)(B).
(3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDU-
CATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘local educational
agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the
meaning given such terms in section 14101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Education.
(5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying
areas.
SEC. 4. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP.
(a) EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM.—
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(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may
carry out an education flexibility program under
which the Secretary authorizes a State edu-
cational agency that serves an eligible State to
waive statutory or regulatory requirements ap-
plicable to 1 or more programs or Acts de-
scribed in subsection (b), other than require-
ments described in subsection (c), for the State
educational agency or any local educational
agency or school within the State.
(B) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall
designate each eligible State participating in the
program described in subparagraph (A) to be
an Ed-Flex Partnership State.
(2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For the purpose of this
subsection the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State
that—
(A)(i) has—
(I) developed and implemented the
challenging State content standards, chal-
lenging State student performance stand-
ards, and aligned assessments described in
section 1111(b) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965, and for
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which local educational agencies in the
State are producing the individual school
performance profiles required by section
1116(a) of such Act; or
(II) developed and implemented con-
tent standards and interim assessments
and made substantial progress, as deter-
mined by the Secretary, toward developing
and implementing performance standards
and final aligned assessments, and toward
having local educational agencies in the
State produce the profiles, described in
subclause (I); and
(ii) holds local educational agencies and
schools accountable for meeting the educational
goals described in the local applications submit-
ted under paragraph (4); and
(B) waives State statutory or regulatory
requirements relating to education while holding
local educational agencies or schools within the
State that are affected by such waivers account-
able for the performance of the students who
are affected by such waivers.
(3) STATE APPLICATION.—
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(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational
agency desiring to participate in the education
flexibility program under this section shall sub-
mit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may reasonably re-
quire. Each such application shall demonstrate
that the eligible State has adopted an education
flexibility plan for the State that includes—
(i) a description of the process the
State educational agency will use to evalu-
ate applications from local educational
agencies or schools requesting waivers of—
(I) Federal statutory or regu-
latory requirements as described in
paragraph (1)(A); and
(II) State statutory or regulatory
requirements relating to education;
and
(ii) a detailed description of the State
statutory and regulatory requirements re-
lating to education that the State edu-
cational agency will waive;
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(iii) a description of specific edu-
cational objectives the State intends to
meet under such a plan;
(iv) a description of the process by
which the State will measure the progress
of local educational agencies in meeting
specific goals described in subsection
(a)(4)(A)(iii); and
(v) an assurance that, not less than
30 days prior to waiving any Federal stat-
utory or regulatory requirement, or in ac-
cordance with State law, the State edu-
cational agency shall give public notice in
widely-read publications, such as large cir-
culation newspapers and community news-
papers, of its intent to grant such a waiv-
er, a description of the Federal statutory
or regulatory requirements that the State
educational agency proposes to waive, any
improved performance of students that is
expected to result from the waiver, and the
State official—
(I) to whom comments on the
proposed waiver may be sent by inter-
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ested individuals and organizations;
and
(II) who will make all the com-
ments received available for review by
any member of the public.
(B) APPROVAL
AND
CONSIDERATIONS.—
The Secretary may approve an application de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) only if the Sec-
retary determines that such application dem-
onstrates substantial promise of assisting the
State educational agency and affected local edu-
cational agencies and schools within such State
in carrying out comprehensive education re-
form, after considering—
(i) the comprehensiveness and quality
of the education flexibility plan described
in subparagraph (A);
(ii) the ability of such plan to ensure
accountability for the activities and goals
described in such plan;
(iii) the degree to which the State’s
objectives 
described 
in 
subparagraph
(A)(iii)—
(I) are specific and measurable;
and
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(II) measure the performance of
local educational agencies or schools
and specific groups of students af-
fected by waivers;
(iv) the significance of the State stat-
utory or regulatory requirements relating
to education that will be waived; and
(v) the quality of the State edu-
cational agency’s process for approving ap-
plications for waivers of Federal statutory
or regulatory requirements described in
paragraph (1)(A) and for monitoring and
evaluating the results of such waivers.
(4) LOCAL APPLICATION.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational
agency or school requesting a waiver of a Fed-
eral statutory or regulatory requirement de-
scribed in paragraph (1)(A) and any relevant
State statutory or regulatory requirement from
a State educational agency shall submit an ap-
plication to the State educational agency at
such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the State educational agency
may reasonably require. Each such application
shall—
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(i) indicate each Federal program af-
fected and the statutory or regulatory re-
quirement that will be waived;
(ii) describe the purposes and overall
expected results of waiving each such re-
quirement;
(iii) describe, for each school year,
specific, measurable, educational goals for
each local educational agency, school, and
group of students affected by the proposed
waiver;
(iv) explain why the waiver will assist
the local educational agency or school in
meeting such goals; and
(v) provide an assurance that, not less
than 30 days prior to submitting the appli-
cation to the State educational agency for
a waiver under this section, or in accord-
ance with State law, the local educational
agency or school shall give public notice in
widely-read publications, such as large cir-
culation newspapers and community news-
papers, of its intent to request the waiver,
a description of the Federal statutory or
regulatory 
requirements 
that 
will 
be
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waived, any improved performance of stu-
dents that is expected to result from the
waiver, and the name and address of the
local educational agency official—
(I) to whom comments on the
proposed waiver may be sent by inter-
ested individuals and organizations;
and
(II) who will make all the com-
ments received available for review by
any member of the public.
(B) EVALUATION
OF
APPLICATIONS.—A
State educational agency shall evaluate an ap-
plication submitted under subparagraph (A) in
accordance with the State’s education flexibility
plan described in paragraph (3)(A).
(C) 
APPROVAL.—A 
State 
educational
agency shall not approve an application for a
waiver under this paragraph unless—
(i) the local educational agency or
school requesting such waiver has devel-
oped a local reform plan that is applicable
to such agency or school, respectively;
(ii) the waiver of Federal statutory or
regulatory requirements described in para-
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graph (1)(A) will assist the local edu-
cational agency or school in meeting its
educational goals; and
(iii) the State educational agency is
satisfied that the underlying purposes of
the statutory requirements of each pro-
gram or Act for which a waiver is granted
continue to be met.
(D) TERMINATION.—If a local educational
agency or school that receives a waiver under
this section experiences a statistically signifi-
cant decrease in the level of performance in
achieving the objectives described in paragraph
(3)(A)(iii) or goals in paragraph (4)(A)(iii) for
2 consecutive years, the State educational agen-
cy shall, after notice and an opportunity for a
hearing to explain such decrease, terminate the
waiver authority granted to such local edu-
cational agency or school. If, after notice and
an opportunity for a hearing, the State edu-
cational agency determines that the decrease in
performance was justified due to exceptional or
uncontrollable circumstances such as a natural
disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline
in the financial resources of the local edu-
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cational agency or school, the waiver shall not
be terminated.
(5) OVERSIGHT AND REPORTING.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—
(i) OVERSIGHT.—Each State edu-
cational agency participating in the edu-
cation flexibility program under this sec-
tion shall annually monitor the activities of
local educational agencies and schools re-
ceiving waivers under this section. Such
monitoring shall include a review of rel-
evant audit, technical assistance, evalua-
tion, and performance reports.
(ii) REPORTING.—The State edu-
cational agency shall submit to the Sec-
retary an annual report on the results of
such oversight and its impact on the im-
provement of education programs.
(B) PERFORMANCE DATA.—
(i) STATE
REPORTING.—Not later
than 2 years after a State is designated as
an Ed-Flex Partnership State, each such
State shall include, as part of their report
to the Secretary under clause (ii) of sub-
paragraph (A), performance data dem-
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onstrating the degree to which progress
has been made toward meeting the objec-
tives outlined in section 3(A)(iii). The re-
port to the Secretary shall, when applica-
ble, include—
(I) information on the total num-
ber of waivers granted, including the
number of waivers granted for each
type of waiver;
(II) information describing the
types and characteristics of waivers
granted and their relationship to the
progress of local educational agencies
and schools toward meeting their per-
formance objectives; and
(III) an assurance from State
program managers that the data used
to measure performance of the edu-
cation flexibility program under this
section are reliable, complete, and ac-
curate, as defined by the State, or a
description of a plan for improving
the reliability, completeness, and accu-
racy of such data.
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(ii) SECRETARY
REPORT.—The Sec-
retary shall—
(I) make each State report avail-
able to Congress and the general pub-
lic;
(II) submit to Congress a report,
on a timely basis, that addresses the
impact that the education flexibility
program under this section has had
with regard to performance objectives
described in paragraph (3)(A)(iii).
The Secretary shall include in the report to
Congress an assurance that the data used
to measure performance of the education
flexibility program under this section are
complete, reliable, and accurate or a plan
for improving the reliability, completeness,
and accuracy of such data.
(6) DURATION OF FEDERAL WAIVERS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not
approve the application of a State educational
agency under paragraph (3) for a period ex-
ceeding 5 years, except that the Secretary may
extend such period if the Secretary determines
that such agency’s authority to grant waivers
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has been effective in enabling such State or af-
fected local educational agencies or schools to
carry out their local reform plans.
(B) PERFORMANCE REVIEW.—Three years
after a State is designated an Ed-Flex Partner-
ship State, the Secretary shall—
(i) review the performance of any
State educational agency in such State
that grants waivers of Federal statutory or
regulatory requirements described in para-
graph (1)(A); and
(ii) terminate such agency’s authority
to grant such waivers if the Secretary de-
termines, after notice and opportunity for
a hearing, that such agency has failed to
make measurable progress in meeting the
objectives outlined in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)
to justify continuation of such authority.
(7) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WAIVERS.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, the Secretary is
authorized to carry out the education flexibility pro-
gram under this subsection for each of the fiscal
years 1999 through 2004.
(b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regu-
latory requirements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) are
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any such requirements under the following programs or
Acts:
(1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(2) Part B of title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(3) Subpart 2 of part A of title III of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(other than section 3136 of such Act).
(4) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(5) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(6) Part C of title VII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(7) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Tech-
nical Education Act of 1998.
(c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary
may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of
the programs or Acts authorized to be waived under sub-
section (a)(1)(A)—
(1) relating to—
(A) maintenance of effort;
(B) comparability of services;