I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4013 
To create an equitable and excellent education system in the United States 
so that every child, regardless of race, ethnicity, social class, or State 
of residence, can receive a high-quality, academically rigorous education 
in a local public school. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2015 
Mr. HONDA (for himself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. DELANEY, Ms. 
EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 
HINOJOSA, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Mr. 
TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To create an equitable and excellent education system in 
the United States so that every child, regardless of race, 
ethnicity, social class, or State of residence, can receive 
a high-quality, academically rigorous education in a local 
public school. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equity and Excellence 
in American Education Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to create a public edu-
cation system in the United States that has the capacity 
to deliver an excellent education to every child, irrespective 
of race, ethnicity, English language proficiency, special 
needs, social class, or State of residence. Building that ca-
pacity on an equitable basis requires our Nation to make 
new, substantial financial investments in the education of 
our children, designed— 
(1) to overcome the widely varying fiscal and 
economic capacities to fund education that exist 
from State to State and community to community, 
which historically have resulted in far too many pub-
lic schools having insufficient resources to cover the 
costs of providing their students with a high-quality, 
academically rigorous education; 
(2) to support capacity building at the school 
level focused on implementing educational practices 
that have been demonstrated to enhance student 
achievement; 
(3) to move away from outdated concepts of 
school finance that are focused primarily on State 
and local considerations, such as ‘‘property valuation 
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per pupil’’ and ‘‘per pupil foundation levels’’ tied to 
State fiscal capacity, and to move to an education fi-
nance system focused on the actual cost of delivering 
a high-quality public education to each child based 
on that child’s needs; 
(4) to ensure all social, health and other nec-
essary ‘‘wrap-around’’ services are available in public 
schools that serve a significant population of chil-
dren who come from poverty; and 
(5) to target new Federal investments to those 
schools that serve— 
(A) a high percentage of children from 
poverty or otherwise economically disadvan-
taged families and communities; or 
(B) a high percentage of children who are 
part of a racial or ethnic minority group or are 
English language learners and who have histori-
cally demonstrated an achievement gap in aca-
demic performance compared to the perform-
ance of non-minority children. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that— 
(1) lack of financial capacity has been one of 
the consistent obstacles to providing the meaningful 
education opportunity each child in the United 
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States needs to attain high levels of achievement in 
rigorous academic programs and build the skills nec-
essary to attend college, compete in a global econ-
omy, and become a responsible, productive, and en-
gaged citizen; 
(2) this Act will address that financial short-
coming and help create an education funding system 
that is sufficient in amount, equitable in application 
based on student need, and predictable and sustain-
able over time. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) EMPLOYMENT
COST
INDEX.—The term 
‘‘Employment Cost Index’’ means the Employment 
Cost Index for total compensation (not seasonally 
adjusted) for civilian workers, by occupational group 
and industry, educational services, elementary and 
secondary schools, published by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (or any successor index thereto). 
(2) ENHANCED INVESTMENT.—The term ‘‘en-
hanced investment’’ means a year-to-year increase in 
the average per-pupil expenditure made by a State, 
after the effective date of this Act, in the education 
of children attending targeted schools who live in 
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that State, that satisfies both of the following re-
quirements: 
(A) The initial amount of such increase in 
elementary and secondary education funding is 
at least $250 per pupil more than the amount 
of total expenditures per pupil from all sources 
in such targeted schools for the immediately 
preceding school year (taking into account the 
percent increase, if any, in the Employment 
Cost Index in the most recently completed cal-
endar year). 
(B) The entire amount of such enhanced 
investment comes from State funds, and does 
not include local or Federal sources. 
(3) 
EVIDENCE-BASED
COST
ANALYSIS 
MODEL.—The term ‘‘evidence-based cost analysis 
model’’ means a research-based evaluation of the ac-
tual cost of educating all children in a State to 
achieve high academic standards and otherwise cre-
ate a meaningful educational opportunity, that— 
(A) considers only educational practices, 
personnel levels and qualifications, strategies, 
programs and other educational resources that 
have been demonstrated through evidence-based 
research to enhance student achievement; 
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(B) adjusts for specific student demo-
graphics including poverty, English language 
proficiency, minority status, ethnic status, and 
special needs; and 
(C) adjusts for the specific expense of pro-
viding each of the resources described in sub-
paragraph (A) based on the regional costs in a 
State. 
(4) 
MEANINGFUL
EDUCATIONAL
OPPOR-
TUNITY.—The term ‘‘meaningful educational oppor-
tunity’’ means the provision of a combination of edu-
cational resources, including programs, practices, 
technology, physical facilities, wrap-around services, 
instructional materials, enrichment programs and 
qualified teaching, administrative and support per-
sonnel, necessary to ensure each child attending a 
targeted school receives a rigorous public education 
of sufficient quality to allow that child to achieve 
high academic standards and to graduate high 
school with the skills needed to be college and career 
ready. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
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(6) TARGETED SCHOOL.—A ‘‘targeted school’’ 
is a public elementary school or secondary school 
that satisfies one of the following requirements: 
(A) Twenty percent or more of the stu-
dents at such school are eligible for free or re-
duced priced lunch under the Richard B. Rus-
sell National School Lunch Act. 
(B) Twenty percent or more of the stu-
dents at such school qualify as limited English 
proficient. 
(C) Twenty-five percent or more of the 
students at such school are racial or ethnic mi-
norities, Indian, or migratory. 
(7) 
WRAP-AROUND
SERVICES.—The 
term 
‘‘wrap-around services’’ means any social, coun-
seling, health, nutritional, and other support services 
needed by students attending targeted schools. 
(8) ESEA TERMS.—Any term that is defined in 
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall have the 
meaning given the term in such section. 
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TITLE I—EQUITY AND 
EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE 
SEC. 100. AUTHORIZATION OF THE EQUITY AND EXCEL-
LENCE INITIATIVE. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary shall carry out a grant pro-
gram, known as the ‘‘Equity and Excellence Initiative’’, 
to provide— 
(1) an initial grant to each eligible State to 
match the enhanced investment made by such State 
for providing a meaningful educational opportunity 
for children who attend targeted schools in such 
State; and 
(2) subsequent grants to each State receiving a 
grant described in paragraph (1), for the fiscal year 
following the receipt of such grant and each subse-
quent fiscal year, provided such State satisfies the 
maintenance-of-effort requirement under section 
102. 
(b) CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible 
to receive a grant under subsection (a), a State shall sub-
mit to the Secretary a certification, prepared by the State 
educational agency of such State and signed by the head 
of such agency, that— 
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(1) verifies that the State has made an en-
hanced investment, or has satisfied the maintenance- 
of-effort requirement under section 102, for the ap-
propriate fiscal year; 
(2) identifies the amount of such enhanced in-
vestment or maintenance-of-effort requirement, and 
provides specific documentation of the calculation of 
such amount in sufficient detail to permit the 
verification of such amount by the Secretary; 
(3) provides a detailed list of the targeted 
schools that will receive such enhanced investment or 
maintenance-of-effort requirement amount, includ-
ing— 
(A) the basis on which each such school 
qualifies as a targeted school; 
(B) the number and demographic composi-
tion (including race, ethnicity, gender, English 
language proficiency, and low income status) of 
the students attending each such school; and 
(C) a metric for reviewing how each such 
school is performing academically, including 
performance by demographic categories within 
such school; 
(4) includes verification that the entire amount 
of enhanced investment or maintenance-of-effort re-
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quirement comes exclusively from State funds, and 
does not include any local or Federal funds; and 
(5) includes such other information as the Sec-
retary may require by regulation. 
The Secretary may issue a standard form for use by 
States for certification of eligibility under this subsection, 
provided that any such form shall not be more than 10 
pages in length. 
(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—In addition 
to the grants described in subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall, subject to the availability of appropriations, provide 
the State educational agency of each State that is awarded 
an initial grant under subsection (a)(1) with a technical 
assistance grant of $250,000 to assist the State edu-
cational agency in meeting the reporting, certification, 
data collection, and filing requirements under this title. 
The Secretary shall renew such technical assistance grant 
for each fiscal year for which a State is awarded a subse-
quent grant under subsection (a)(2). 
SEC. 101. GRANT AMOUNTS AND DISTRIBUTION. 
(a) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 
(1) INITIAL GRANT.—The amount of the initial 
grant to a State under section 100(a)(1) shall be 
equal to the enhanced investment made by such 
State during the previous fiscal year, multiplied by 
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from such State in accordance with section 100(b). Not 
later than 30 days after receipt of grant funds under sec-
tion 100(a), a State shall, through the State educational 
agency, distribute to each targeted school located in such 
State a percentage of such grant funds that is equal to 
the number of students attending such targeted school di-
vided by the total number of students attending all tar-
geted schools in such State. 
SEC. 102. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with the fiscal year fol-
lowing the first fiscal year for which the State receives 
a grant under section 100(a) for its targeted schools, the 
State shall use State funds to maintain an investment in 
an amount equal to such grant amount for its targeted 
schools, which amount shall be adjusted on an annual 
basis by the percentage change in the Employment Cost 
Index for the most recently completed calendar year. 
(b) REDUCTION OF OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—If, in 
any school year a State fails to satisfy the requirement 
described in subsection (a)— 
(1) the Secretary may assist the targeted 
schools in such State by awarding a local edu-
cational agency a grant under section 201 in an 
amount that the State should have provided under 
subsection (a); and 
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(2) in a case in which the Secretary of Edu-
cation awards such a grant to such State, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall reduce other Federal 
funding owed to such State under any Federal as-
sistance program (except for than the Medicaid pro-
gram under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396 et seq.)), part A of title IV and section 
1108(b) of the Social Security Act (other than under 
subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 403 of such 
Act), or the special supplemental nutrition program 
for women, infants, and children under section 17 of 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, on a dollar-for-dol-
lar basis, and shall provide an accounting thereof to 
the such State. 
SEC. 103. USE OF GRANT FUNDS BY TARGETED SCHOOLS. 
(a) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A targeted school shall 
use any grant funds received under this title to create a 
meaningful educational opportunity for each student at-
tending such school, and shall include a combination of 
one or more of the activities described in subsection (b). 
(b) AUTHORIZED USES.—Grant funds received by a 
targeted school shall be used for building education capac-
ity by implementing systems-based reforms, programs or 
initiatives that have been demonstrated, in the United 
States or abroad, to enhance student achievement, learn-
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ing or critical thinking skills over time. Such reforms, pro-
grams or initiatives may include the following: 
(1) ENHANCING PEDAGOGICAL SKILLS OF EX-
TANT
TEACHING
STAFF.—To support the crucial 
role teachers play in creating a meaningful edu-
cational opportunity— 
(A) induction, mentoring, training and 
other professional development programs for 
teachers that are based on best practices, 
aligned with college and career ready standards, 
embedded in daily practice, and that have evi-
dence-based support; and 
(B) collaborative teaching programs across 
schools and local educational agencies that en-
courage teachers to work in groups and share 
effective strategies. 
(2) ENHANCING
INSTRUCTIONAL
CAPACITY.— 
To provide robust educational resources and pro-
gramming— 
(A) implement extended learning time ini-
tiatives pursuant to which the school day or 
year is extended in conjunction with a plan that 
incorporates additional substantive learning, tu-
toring 
or 
enrichment 
programming 
dem-
onstrated to correlate to enhanced student 
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learning, achievement or development of either 
critical thinking or social/emotional learning; 
(B) implement high-quality after-school, 
summer, and vacation programs; 
(C) implement social/emotional learning 
curriculum including all teacher training or pro-
fessional development necessary for such imple-
mentation to be successful; 
(D) introduce, supplement or implement 
fully rigorous academic programming including 
but not limited to programming needed for ef-
fective implementation of the college and career 
ready standards, advanced placement, honors or 
gifted programs, and academic tutoring pro-
grams, including but not limited to acquisition 
of all associated textbooks, library materials, 
computers, smart-boards, electronic tablets or 
similar devices, lab materials, virtual resources 
and other technology, pedagogical material or 
instructional supplies, as well as all professional 
development necessary for effective implementa-
tion thereof; 
(E) implement effective response to inter-
vention 
programming 
using 
appropriately 
skilled professional staff to target instructional 
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interventions to children’s areas of specific need 
as soon as those needs become apparent; 
(F) implement appropriate programs and 
services for English language learners; 
(G) implement meaningful enrichment pro-
gramming that includes cultural, athletic, aca-
demic, civic, community service, and other en-
richment activities, except that a targeted 
school shall use no more than 5 percent of the 
funds received for enrichment programs out-
lined in this subparagraph, unless such targeted 
school receives a waiver of the preceding limit 
from the Secretary; 
(H) implement appropriate programs and 
services for students with disabilities that are 
not funded under other State or Federal pro-
grams; 
(I) implement compensation programs de-
signed to attract and retain highly skilled 
teachers, particularly those qualified in the 
areas of science, technology and math and in-
struction of English language learners; 
(J) hire additional, professional, qualified, 
teaching staff and classroom assistants needed 
to reduce class sizes in kindergarten through 
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