(22) Computer software and hardware for in-
structional use.
(23) Developing, adapting, or expanding exist-
ing and new applications of technology.
(24) Acquiring connectivity linkages, resources,
and services, including the acquisition of hardware
and software, for use by teachers, students, and
school library media personnel in the classroom or in
school library media centers, in order to improve
student learning.
(25) After-school programs designed to engage
children in a constructive manner and to promote
their academic, developmental, and personal growth;
(26) Developing, constructing, acquiring, main-
taining, operating, and obtaining technical assist-
ance in the use of telecommunications audio and vis-
ual facilities and equipment for use in the classroom.
(27) Developing, acquiring, and obtaining tech-
nical assistance in the use of educational and in-
structional video programming for use in the class-
room.
(c) PARENT INVOLVEMENT.—Each local educational
agency receiving assistance under this section shall involve
parents and members of the public in planning for the use
of funds provided under this section.
SEC. 104. PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PRI-
VATE SCHOOLS.
Each local educational agency that receives funds
under this title shall provide for the participation of chil-
dren enrolled in private schools, and their teachers or
other educational personnel, in the activities and services
assisted under such section in the same manner as private
school children, and their teachers or other educational
personnel, participate in activities and services under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) pursuant to sections 14503, 14504,
14505, and 14506 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 8893, 8894,
8895, and 8896).
SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.
In this title—
(1) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the
meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 8801);
(2) the term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has
the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 8801);
(3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Education; and
(4) except as otherwise provided, the term
‘‘State’’ means each of the several States of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, and the United States Virgin Islands.
SEC. 106. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
(a) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title
shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of
the Federal Government to require, direct, or control a
State, local educational agency or school’s specific instruc-
tional content of pupil performance standards and assess-
ments, curriculum, or program of instruction as a condi-
tion of eligibility to receive funds under this title.
(b) STATE AND LOCAL DETERMINATION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall not
issue any regulation regarding the type of classroom
activities or services that may be assisted under this
title.
(2) INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD AND SETTING.—
No local educational agency shall be required to pro-
vide services under this title through a particular in-
structional method or in a particular instructional
setting in order to receive funding under this title.
SEC. 107. REPEALS.
The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Title III of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer-
ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5881 et seq.).
(2) Title IV of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer-
ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5911 et seq.).
(3) Title VI of the Goals 2000: Educate Amer-
ica Act (20 U.S.C. 5951).
(4) Titles II, III, and IV of the School-to-Work
Opportunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6121 et seq.,
6171 et seq., and 6191 et seq.).
(5) section 1502 of the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6492).
(6) section 1503 of the Elementary and Second-
ary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6493).
(7) section 1002(g)(2) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(8) Part A of title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6621
et seq.).
(9) Part B of title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6641
et seq.).
(10) Title III of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6801 et seq.).
(11) Part A of title V of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7201
et seq.).
(12) Part B of title V of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7231
et seq.).
(13) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7311 et seq.).
(14) Part B of title IX of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901
et seq.).
(15) Part C of title IX of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7931
et seq.).
(16) Part A of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001
et seq.).
(17) Part B of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8031
et seq.).
(18) Part D of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8091
et seq.).
(19) Part F of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8141
et seq.).
(20) Part G of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8161
et seq.).
(21) Part I of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8241
et seq.).
(22) Part J of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8271
et seq.).
(23) Part K of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8331
et seq.).
(24) Part L of title X of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8351
et seq.).
(25) Part A of title XIII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8621
et seq.).
(26) Part C of title XIII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8671
et seq.).
(27) Subtitle B of title VII of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11421 et seq.).
SEC. 108. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this 
title, 
$2,740,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
1999,
$2,800,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $2,870,000,000 for
fiscal year 2001, $2,940,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and
$3,001,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. EXPANSION OF ED-FLEX DEMONSTRATIONS.
(a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (c), the Secretary may waive any statutory
or regulatory requirement applicable to any program
or Act described in subsection (b) for a State edu-
cational agency, local educational agency, or school
if—
(A) and only to the extent that, the Sec-
retary determines that such requirement im-
pedes the ability of the State, or of a local edu-
cational agency or school in the State, to carry
out the State or local improvement plan;
(B) the State educational agency has
waived, or agrees to waive, similar requirements
of State law;
(C) in the case of a statewide waiver, the
State educational agency—
(i) provides all local educational agen-
cies and parent organizations in the State
with notice and an opportunity to comment
on the State educational agency’s proposal
to seek a waiver; and
(ii) submits the local educational
agencies’ comments to the Secretary; and
(D) in the case of a local educational agen-
cy waiver, the local educational agency provides
parents, community groups, and advocacy or
civil rights groups with the opportunity to com-
ment on the proposed waiver.
(2) APPLICATION.—(A)(i) To request a waiver
under paragraph (1), a local educational agency or
school that receives funds under this title, or a local
educational agency or school shall transmit an appli-
cation for such a waiver to the State educational
agency. The State educational agency then shall sub-
mit approved applications for waivers under para-
graph (1) to the Secretary.
(ii) A State educational agency may request a
waiver under paragraph (1) by submitting an appli-
cation for such waiver to the Secretary.
(B) Each application submitted to the Sec-
retary under subparagraph (A) shall—
(i) identify the statutory or regulatory re-
quirements that are requested to be waived and
the goals that the State educational agency or
local educational agency or school intends to
achieve;
(ii) describe the action that the State edu-
cational agency has undertaken to remove State
statutory or regulatory barriers identified in the
application of local educational agencies;
(iii) describe the goals of the waiver and
the expected programmatic outcomes if the re-
quest is granted;
(iv) describe the numbers and types of stu-
dents to be impacted by such waiver;
(v) describe a timetable for implementing a
waiver; and
(vi) describe the process the State edu-
cational agency will use to monitor, on a bian-
nual basis, the progress in implementing a
waiver.
(3) TIMELINESS.—The Secretary shall act
promptly on a request for a waiver under paragraph
(1) and shall provide a written statement of the rea-
sons for granting or denying such request.
(4) DURATION.—Each waiver under paragraph
(1) shall be for a period not to exceed 4 years. The
Secretary may extend such period if the Secretary
determines that the waiver has been effective in ena-
bling the State or affected local educational agencies
to carry out reform plans.
(b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS.—The statutory or regu-
latory requirements subject to the waiver authority of this
section are any such requirements under the following pro-
grams or Acts:
(1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(2) Part A of title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(3) Part A of title V of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(4) Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(5) Part B of title IX of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(6) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Education Act.
(c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary
may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of
the programs or Acts described in subsection (b)—
(1) relating to—
(A) maintenance of effort;
(B) comparability of services;
(C) the equitable participation of students
and professional staff in private schools;
(D) parental participation and involve-
ment; and
(E) the distribution of funds to States or
to local educational agencies; and
(2) unless the underlying purposes of the statu-
tory requirements of each program or Act for which
a waiver is granted continue to be met to the satis-
faction of the Secretary.
(d) TERMINATION
OF
WAIVERS.—The Secretary
shall periodically review the performance of any State,
local educational agency, or school for which the Secretary
has granted a waiver under subsection (a)(1) and shall
terminate the waiver if the Secretary determines that the
performance of the State, the local educational agency, or
the school in the area affected by the waiver has been in-
adequate to justify a continuation of the waiver.
(e) FLEXIBILITY DEMONSTRATION.—
(1) SHORT
TITLE.—This subsection may be
cited as the ‘‘Education Flexibility Partnership
Demonstration Act’’.
(2) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may
carry out an education flexibility demonstration
program under which the Secretary authorizes
not more than 50 State educational agencies
serving eligible States to waive statutory or reg-
ulatory requirements applicable to 1 or more
programs or Acts described in subsection (b),
other than requirements described in subsection
(c), for the State educational agency or any
local educational agency or school within the
State.
(B) AWARD RULE.—In carrying out sub-
paragraph (A), the Secretary shall select for
participation in the demonstration program de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) three State edu-
cational agencies serving eligible States that
each have a population of 3,500,000 or greater
and three State educational agencies serving eli-
gible States that each have a population of less
than 3,500,000, determined in accordance with
the most recent decennial census of the popu-
lation performed by the Bureau of the Census.
(C) DESIGNATION.—Each eligible State
participating in the demonstration program de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be known as
an ‘‘Ed-Flex Partnership State’’.
(3) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For the purpose of this
subsection the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State
that waives State statutory or regulatory require-
ments relating to education while holding local edu-
cational agencies or schools within the State that are
affected by such waivers accountable for the per-
formance of the students who are affected by such
waivers.
(4) STATE APPLICATION.—(A) Each State edu-
cational agency desiring to participate in the edu-
cation flexibility demonstration program under this
subsection shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may reasonably
require. Each such application shall demonstrate
that the eligible State has adopted an educational
flexibility plan for the State that includes—
(i) a description of the process the State
educational agency will use to evaluate applica-
tions from local educational agencies or schools
requesting waivers of—
(I) Federal statutory or regulatory re-
quirements described in paragraph (2)(A);
and
(II) State statutory or regulatory re-
quirements relating to education; and
(ii) a detailed description of the State stat-
utory and regulatory requirements relating to
education that the State educational agency will
waive.
(B) The Secretary may approve an application
described in subparagraph (A) only if the Secretary
determines that such application demonstrates sub-
stantial promise of assisting the State educational
agency and affected local educational agencies and
schools within such State in carrying out com-
prehensive educational reform, after considering—
(i) the comprehensiveness and quality of
the educational flexibility plan described in sub-
paragraph (A);
(ii) the ability of such plan to ensure ac-
countability for the activities and goals de-
scribed in such plan;
(iii) the significance of the State statutory
or regulatory requirements relating to education
that will be waived; and
(iv) the quality of the State educational
agency’s process for approving applications for
waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory re-
quirements described in paragraph (2)(A) and
for monitoring and evaluating the results of
such waivers.
(5) LOCAL APPLICATION.—(A) Each local edu-
cational agency or school requesting a waiver of a
Federal statutory or regulatory requirement de-
scribed in paragraph (2)(A) and any relevant State
statutory or regulatory requirement from a State
educational agency shall submit an application 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—
(i) indicate each Federal program affected
and the statutory or regulatory requirement
that will be waived;