IB
Union Calendar No. 109
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1853
[Report No. 105–177]
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education
Act.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 10, 1997
Mr. RIGGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce
JULY 14, 1997
Additional sponsors: Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. GREENWOOD, and
Mr. GRAHAM
JULY 14, 1997
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 10, 1997]
A BILL
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied
Technology Education Act.
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 ‘‘Carl D. Perkins Voca-
tional-Technical Education Act Amendments of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO ACT.
(a) SHORT TITLE OF ACT.—Section 1(a) of the Act
is amended by striking ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—’’ and further
by striking ‘‘Vocational and Applied Technology’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Vocational-Technical’’.
(b) REFERENCES TO ACT.—Except as otherwise ex-
pressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or
repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal
of, a title, chapter, part, subpart, section, subsection, or
other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made
to a title, chapter, part, subpart, section, subsection, or
other provision of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Tech-
nology Education Act as amended in subsection (a).
SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Section 1(b) is repealed.
SEC. 4. PURPOSE.
Section 2 of the Act is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
‘‘It is the purpose of this Act to develop more fully
the academic, occupational, and technical skills of individ-
uals participating in vocational-technical education pro-
grams. This purpose will be achieved through concentrating
resources on improving vocational-technical education pro-
grams leading to academic and technical skill competencies
needed to work in a technologically advanced society.’’.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 3 of the Act is amended—
(1) 
in 
subsection 
(a) 
by 
striking
‘‘$1,600,000,000’’ and all that follows and inserting
‘‘$1,300,000,000, for fiscal year 1998 and such sums
as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal
years to carry out the provisions of titles I and II.’’;
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(b) TITLE I.—Of the amounts made available under
subsection (a)—
‘‘(1) 1.5 percent shall be reserved to carry out
section 103, relating to Indian and Native Hawaiians
programs; and
‘‘(2) 0.2 percent shall be reserved to carry out
section 101A, relating to the territories.’’; and
(3) by striking subsections (c) through (f).
TITLE 
I—VOCATIONAL-TECH-
NICAL 
EDUCATION 
ASSIST-
ANCE TO THE STATES
SEC. 101. ALLOTMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I is amended by striking the
matter preceding the text of section 101 and inserting the
following:
‘‘TITLE 
I—VOCATIONAL-TECH-
NICAL 
EDUCATION 
ASSIST-
ANCE TO THE STATES
‘‘PART A—ALLOTMENT AND ALLOCATION’’
‘‘SEC. 101. ALLOTMENT.’’.
(b) ALLOTMENT.—
(1) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 101(a) are
amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) SPECIFIC POPULATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In each fiscal year, from
amounts made available under section 3(a), the Sec-
retary shall reserve—
‘‘(A) 1.5 percent to carry out section 103, of
which—
‘‘(i) 1.25 percent shall be available to
carry out section 103(c); and
‘‘(ii) 0.25 percent shall be available to
carry out section 103(i); and
‘‘(B) 0.2 percent for the purpose of carrying
out section 101A.
‘‘(2) REMAINDER OF FUNDS.—From the remain-
der of the sums appropriated pursuant to section 3,
the Secretary shall allot to each State for each fiscal
year—
‘‘(A) an amount which bears the same ratio
to 50 percent of the sums being allotted as the
product of the population aged 15 to 19 inclu-
sive, in the State in the fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year for which the determination is made
and the State’s allotment ratio bears to the sum
of the corresponding products for all the States;
and
‘‘(B) an amount which bears the same ratio
to 50 percent of the sums being allotted as the
product of the population aged 20 to 24, inclu-
sive, in the State in the fiscal year preceding the
fiscal year for which the determination is made
and the State’s allotment ratio bears to the sum
of the corresponding products for all the States.’’
(2) Paragraph (3) of section 101(a) is amend-
ed—
(A) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (C);
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (B)
and (D) as (A) and (B), respectively;
(C) in subparagraph (A), as redesignated,
by striking clause (i), and inserting the follow-
ing:
‘‘(i) Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law and subject to subparagraph (B)
and clause (ii), no State shall receive less
than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the amount available
for each such program for each fiscal year
under this subsection.’’; and
(D) in subparagraph (A)(ii), as redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘or part A, B, C, D, or E of
title III’’.
(3) By amending subsection (c) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(c) ALLOTMENT RATIO.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The allotment ratio for any
State shall be 1.00 less the product of—
‘‘(A) 0.50; and
‘‘(B) the quotient obtained by dividing the
per capita income for the State by the per capita
income for all the States (exclusive of Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands), except that—
‘‘(i) the allotment ratio in no case shall
be more than 0.55 or less than 0.40; and
‘‘(ii) the allotment ratio for Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands shall be 0.55.
‘‘(2) ALLOTMENT RATIOS.—The allotment ratios
shall be promulgated by the Secretary for each fiscal
year between October 1 and December 31 of the fiscal
year preceding the fiscal year for which the deter-
mination is made. Allotment ratios shall be computed
on the basis of the average of the appropriate per cap-
ita incomes for the 3 most recent consecutive fiscal
years for which satisfactory data are available.
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—The term ‘per capita income’
means, with respect to a fiscal year, the total personal
income in the calendar year ending in such year, di-
vided by the population of the area concerned in such
year.
‘‘(4) POPULATION
DETERMINATION.—For the
purposes of this section, population shall be deter-
mined by the Secretary on the basis of the latest esti-
mates available to the Department.’’.
SEC. 101A. THE TERRITORIES.
Section 101A of the Act is amended by inserting after
subsection (c) the following new subsection:
‘‘(d) RESTRICTION.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Fed-
erated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau shall
not receive any funds under this part for any fiscal year
that begins after September 30, 2001.’’.
SEC. 102. WITHIN STATE ALLOTMENTS.
Section 102 is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘at least’’
and all that follows through the semicolon and
inserting ‘‘an amount equal to not less than 90
percent of the allotment shall be available for
basic programs under part B of title II;’’;
(B) by striking paragraph (2);
(C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and
(4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;
(D) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by
striking ‘‘8.5’’ and inserting ‘‘8’’ and further by
adding after the semicolon ‘‘and’’;
(E) in paragraph (3), as redesignated—
(i) by striking ‘‘5’’ and inserting ‘‘2’’;
(ii) by striking ‘‘of which—’’ and all
that follows through ‘‘and’’ at the end and
inserting the following:
‘‘which may be used for the costs of—
‘‘(A) developing the State application;
‘‘(B) reviewing local applications;
‘‘(C) monitoring and evaluating program
effectiveness; and
‘‘(D) assuring compliance with all applica-
ble Federal laws.’’; and
(F) by striking paragraph (5);
(2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘(a)(4)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a)(3)’’; and
(3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the
following:
‘‘(c) RURAL RESERVE.—A State may reserve not more
than 10 percent of the allotment made under section
102(a)(1) to use for grants to rural areas.
‘‘(d) INCENTIVE AWARDS.—A State may reserve not
more than 5 percent of the allotment made under section
102(a)(1) to make awards—
‘‘(1) to a local eligible recipient that meets or ex-
ceeds the State benchmarks described in section 114;
‘‘(2) to a local eligible recipient that meets or ex-
ceeds the average State graduation rate; or
‘‘(3) to assist a local eligible recipient that has
significantly failed to meet the State benchmarks de-
scribed in section 114, or has a graduation rate that
is significantly below the average State graduation
rate.’’
SEC. 103. INDIAN AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN PROGRAMS.
Section 103 of the Act is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 103. NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) INDIAN POLICY.—All programs assisted under
this section shall be administered in a manner consistent
with the principles of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) and the
government-to-government relationship between the Federal
Government and Indian tribal governments.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) ALASKA NATIVE.—The term ‘Alaska Native’
means a Native as such term is defined in section
3(b) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43
U.S.C. 1602(b)).
‘‘(2) BUREAU FUNDED.—The term ‘Bureau fund-
ed school’ means—
‘‘(A) a Bureau school;
‘‘(B) a contract school; or
‘‘(C) a school for which assistance is pro-
vided under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act
of 1988.
‘‘(3) INDIAN, INDIAN TRIBE, AND TRIBAL ORGANI-
ZATION.—The terms ‘Indian’, ‘Indian tribe’, and
‘tribal organization’ have the meanings given such
terms in subsections (d), (e), and (l), respectively, of
section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The
term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning
given such term in section 1201(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)).
‘‘(5) NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN
ORGANIZATION.—The terms ‘Native Hawaiian’ and
‘Native Hawaiian organization’ have the meanings
given such terms in paragraphs (1) and (3), respec-
tively, of section 9212 of the Native Hawaiian Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 7912).
‘‘(6) TRIBALLY
CONTROLLED
COMMUNITY
COL-
LEGE.—The term ‘tribally controlled community col-
lege’ has the meaning given such term in section
2(a)(4) of the Tribally Controlled Community College
Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801(a)(4)).
‘‘(7) TRIBALLY
CONTROLLED
POSTSECONDARY
VOCATIONAL
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘tribally con-
trolled postsecondary vocational institution’ means an
institution of higher education that—
‘‘(A) is formally controlled, or has been for-
mally sanctioned or chartered, by the governing
body of an Indian tribe or Indian tribes;
‘‘(B) offers a technical degree or certificate
granting program;
‘‘(C) is governed by a board of directors or
trustees, a majority of whom are Indians;
‘‘(D) demonstrates adherence to stated goals,
a philosophy, or a plan of operation, that fosters
individual Indian economic and self-sufficiency
opportunity, including programs that are appro-
priate to stated tribal goals of developing indi-
vidual entrepreneurships and self-sustaining eco-
nomic infrastructures on reservations;
‘‘(E) has been in operation for at least 3
years;
‘‘(F) holds accreditation with or is a can-
didate for accreditation by a nationally recog-
nized accrediting authority for postsecondary vo-
cational-technical education; and
‘‘(G) enrolls the full-time equivalent of not
less than 100 students, of whom a majority are
Indians.
‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—From amounts reserved
under section 101(a)(1)(A)(i), the Secretary shall
make grants to Indian tribes, tribal organizations
and Alaska Native entities to carry out the authorized
programs described in subsection (d), except that such
terms shall not include secondary school programs in
Bureau funded schools.
‘‘(2) SPECIAL AUTHORITY RELATING TO SECOND-
ARY SCHOOLS OPERATED OR SUPPORTED BY THE BU-
REAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.—An Indian tribe, a tribal
organization, or an Alaska Native entity, that re-
ceives funds through a grant made or contract entered
into under paragraph (1) may use the funds to pro-
vide assistance to a secondary school operated or sup-
ported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to enable such
school to carry out vocational-technical education
programs.
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED PROGRAMS.—Funds made avail-
able under this section shall be used to carry out vocational-
technical education programs consistent with the purposes
of this Act.
‘‘(e) GRANT APPLICATION.—In order to receive a grant
under this section an entity described in subsection (c) shall
submit an application to the Secretary and shall include
an assurance that such entity shall comply with the require-
ments of this Act.
‘‘(f) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary, in
making grants under subsection (c), shall give special con-
sideration to—
‘‘(1) grants which involve, coordinate with, or
encourage tribal economic development plans; and
‘‘(2) applications from tribally controlled com-
munity colleges which—
‘‘(A) are accredited or are candidates for
accreditation by a nationally recognized accredi-
tation organization as an institution of post-
secondary vocational-technical education; or
‘‘(B) operate vocational-technical education
programs that are accredited or are candidates
for accreditation by a nationally recognized ac-
creditation organization and issue certificates for
completion of vocational-technical education pro-
grams.
‘‘(g) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.—Each entity receiv-
ing assistance under this section may consolidate such as-
sistance with assistance received from related programs in
accordance with the provisions of the Indian Employment,
Training and Related Services Demonstration Act of 1992
(25 U.S.C 3401 et seq.).
‘‘(h) NONDUPLICATIVE
AND NONEXCLUSIVE SERV-
ICES.—Nothing in this section shall be construed—
‘‘(1) to limit the eligibility of any entity de-
scribed in subsection (c) to participate in any activ-
ity offered by a State or local entity under this title;
or
‘‘(2) to preclude or discourage any agreement,
between any entity described in subsection (c) and
any State or local entity, to facilitate the provision
of services by such entity or to the population served
by such entity.
‘‘(i) NATIVE HAWAIIAN PROGRAMS.—From the funds
reserved pursuant to section 101(a)(1)(A)(ii), the Secretary
is directed to enter into contracts with organizations pri-
marily serving and representing Native Hawaiian Pro-
grams which are recognized by the Governor of the State
of Hawaii to plan, conduct, and administer programs, or
portions thereof, which are authorized by and consistent
with the provisions of this section for the benefit of Native
Hawaiian Programs.’’.
SEC. 104. TRIBALLY CONTROLLED POSTSECONDARY VOCA-
TIONAL INSTITUTIONS.
Part A of title I of the Act is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 104. TRIBALLY CONTROLLED POSTSECONDARY VOCA-
TIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall, sub-
ject to the availability of appropriations, make grants pur-
suant to this section to tribally controlled postsecondary vo-
cational-technical institutions to provide basic support for
the education and training of Indian students.
‘‘(b) USE OF GRANTS.—Amounts made available pur-
suant to this section shall be used for vocational-technical
education programs.
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENTS.—To be eligible for
assistance under this section a tribally controlled post-
secondary vocational-technical institution shall—
‘‘(1) be governed by a board of directors or trust-
ees, a majority of whom are Indians;
‘‘(2) have been in operation for at least 3 years;
‘‘(3) hold accreditation with or be a candidate
for accreditation by a nationally recognized accredit-
ing authority for postsecondary vocational-technical
education; and
‘‘(4) enroll the full-time equivalent of not less
than 100 students, of whom a majority are Indians.
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Any tribally controlled post-
secondary vocational-technical institution that desires to re-
ceive a grant under this section shall submit an application
to the Secretary in such manner and form as the Secretary
may require.
‘‘(e) OTHER PROGRAMS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically pro-
vided in this Act, eligibility for assistance under this
section shall not preclude any tribally controlled post-
secondary vocational-technical institution from re-
ceiving Federal financial assistance under any pro-
gram authorized under the Higher Education Act of
1965 or any other applicable program for the benefit
of institutions of higher education or vocational-tech-
nical education.
‘‘(2) PROHIBITION
ON
ALLOCATION
OF
GRANT
AMOUNT.—The amount of any grant for which trib-
ally controlled postsecondary vocational-technical in-
stitutions are eligible under this subpart shall not be
altered because of funds allocated to any such institu-
tion from funds appropriated under the Act of No-
vember 2, 1921.
‘‘(3) PROHIBITION
ON
CONTRACT
DENIAL.—No
tribally controlled postsecondary vocational-technical
institution for which an Indian tribe has designated
a portion of the funds appropriated for the tribe from
funds appropriated under the Act of November 2,
1921, may be denied a contract for such portion
under the Indian Self-Determination and Education
Assistance Act (except as provided in that Act), or de-
nied appropriate contract support to administer such
portion of the appropriated funds.
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) INDIAN.—The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian
tribe’ have the meanings given such terms in section
2 of the Tribally Controlled Community College As-
sistance Act of 1978.
‘‘(2) TRIBALLY
CONTROLLED
POSTSECONDARY
VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL
INSTITUTION.—The 
term
‘tribally controlled postsecondary vocational-technical
institution’ means an institution of higher education
which is formally controlled, or has been formally
sanctioned or chartered by the governing body of an
Indian tribe or tribes which offers technical degrees or
certificate granting programs.
‘‘(3) INDIAN
STUDENT
COUNT.—The term ‘In-
dian student count’ means a number equal to the
total number of Indian students enrolled in each trib-
ally controlled vocational-technical institution, deter-
mined as follows:
‘‘(A) REGISTRATIONS.—The registrations of
Indian students as in effect on October 1 of each
year.
‘‘(B) SUMMER
TERM.—Credits or clock
hours toward a certificate earned in classes of-
fered during a summer term shall be counted to-
ward the computation of the Indian student
count in the succeeding fall term.
‘‘(C) ADMISSION
CRITERIA.—Credits or
clock hours toward a certificate earned in classes
during a summer term shall be counted toward
the computation of the Indian student count if
the institution at which the student is in attend-
ance has established criteria for the admission of
such student on the basis of the student’s ability
to benefit from the education or training offered.
The institution shall be presumed to have estab-
lished such criteria if the admission procedures
for such studies include counseling or testing
that measures the student’s aptitude to success-
fully complete the course in which the student
has enrolled. No credit earned by such student
for purposes of obtaining a high school degree or
its equivalent shall be counted toward the com-
putation of the Indian student count.
‘‘(D) DETERMINATION OF HOURS.—Indian
students earning credits in any continuing edu-
cation program of a tribally controlled voca-
tional-technical institution shall be included in
determining the sum of all credit or clock hours.
‘‘(E) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—Credits or
clock hours earned in a continuing education
program shall be converted to the basis that is in
accordance with the institution’s system for pro-
viding credit for participation in such programs.
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated not more than $4,000,000 for
fiscal year 1998 and such sums as may be necessary for
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years to carry out the provi-
sions of this section.’’.
PART B—STATE ORGANIZATIONAL AND
PLANNING RESPONSIBILITIES
SEC. 111. STATE ADMINISTRATION.
Section 111 of this Act is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘pursu-
ant to section 113(b)(8), section 116, and section
117’’;
(2) by striking subsection (a)(1)(B);
(3) in subsection (a)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘con-
sultation with’’ and all that follows through the semi-
colon at the end of subsection (a)(1)(C) and inserting
‘‘consultation with the Governor and appropriate
agencies, groups, and individuals, including business,
industry and representatives of employees involved in
the planning, administration, evaluation, and coordi-
nation of programs funded under this Act;’’; and
(4) by striking subsections (b) through (g) and
inserting the following:
‘‘(b) LIST OF PROGRAMS ASSISTED.—The State board
shall make available to each Private Industry Council es-
tablished under section 102 of the Job Training Partnership
Act within the State a listing of all programs assisted under
this Act.’’.
SEC. 112. STATE COUNCIL ON VOCATIONAL EDUCATION.
Section 112 of the Act is repealed.
SEC. 113. STATE APPLICATION.
Section 113 of the Act is amended—
(1) by redesignating such section as section 112;
(2) by striking ‘‘PLAN’’ in the section heading
and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’;
(3) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(A)’’
and further by striking all that follows after
‘‘Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘an application in
such manner and accompanied by such informa-
tion as the Secretary may require but which, at
a minimum, shall be for a 5-year period.’’;
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara-
graph (B);
(C) by amending paragraph (2) to read as
follows:
‘‘(2) The State board shall conduct public hearings in
the State, after appropriate and sufficient notice, for the
purpose of affording all segments of the public and inter-
ested organizations and groups an opportunity to present
their views and make recommendations regarding the State
application. A summary of such recommendations and the
State board’s response shall be included with the State ap-
plication.’’; and
(D) by striking paragraph (3); and
(4) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and in-
serting the following:
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each State application shall—
‘‘(1) describe the vocational-technical education
programs that will be carried out with funds received
by the State under this Act, including a description
of—
‘‘(A) the secondary and postsecondary voca-
tional-technical education programs to be carried
out at the State level pursuant to section 201,
including programs that will be carried out by
the State to develop, improve, and expand access
to quality, state-of-the-art technology in voca-
tional-technical education programs;
‘‘(B) the criteria that will be used by the
State in approving applications of eligible re-
cipients of funds under this Act; and
‘‘(C) how such programs will prepare voca-
tional-technical education students for opportu-
nities in postsecondary education or entry into
high skill, high wage jobs;
‘‘(2) describe how the State will actively involve
parents, teachers, local businesses (including small-
and medium-sized businesses) and representatives of
employees in the planning, development, and imple-
mentation of such vocational-technical education pro-
grams;
‘‘(3) describe how funds received by the State
through the allotment made under section 102 will be
allocated among secondary school vocational-technical
education, or postsecondary and adult vocational-
technical education, or both, including the rationale
for such allotment;
‘‘(4) describe how the State will—
‘‘(A) improve the academic and technical
skills of students participating in vocational-
technical education programs which includes
strengthening the academic component of voca-
tional-technical education programs through the
integration of academics with vocational-tech-
nical education to ensure learning in the core
academic subjects and provide students with
strong experience and understanding of all as-
pects of the industry; and
‘‘(B) ensure that students who participate
in such vocational-technical education programs
are taught to the same challenging academic pro-
ficiencies as are provided for all other students;
‘‘(5) describe how the State will annually evalu-
ate the effectiveness of such vocational-technical edu-
cation programs and describe how the State is coordi-
nating such programs to ensure nonduplication with
other existing Federal programs;
‘‘(6) identify the benchmarks that the State will
use to measure the progress of the State, including a
description of how such benchmarks will ensure con-
tinuous improvement for vocational-technical students
in meeting such benchmarks;
‘‘(7) describe how the State will—
‘‘(A) provide vocational-technical education
programs that lead to high skill, high wage ca-
reers for members of special populations, dis-
placed homemakers, single parents, and single
pregnant women; and
‘‘(B) ensure that members of special popu-
lations meet State benchmarks established under
section 114 and are prepared for postsecondary
education, further learning, and high skill, high
wage careers;
‘‘(8) provide a financial audit of funds received
under this Act; and
‘‘(9) provide assurances that none of the funds
expended under this Act will be used to acquire equip-
ment (including computer software) in any instance
in which such acquisition results in a direct financial
benefit to any organization representing the interests
of the purchasing entity or its employees or any affil-
iate of such an organization.
‘‘(c) AMENDMENTS.—The State board may submit
amendments to the State application, as necessary, during
the 5-year period. Such amendments shall be submitted in
accordance with section 113(c).’’.
SEC. 114. SUBMISSION OF STATE APPLICATION.
Section 114 of the Act is amended—
(1) by redesignating such section as section 113;
(2) by striking ‘‘STATE PLAN APPROVAL’’ in
the section heading and inserting ‘‘SUBMISSION OF
STATE APPLICATION’’;
(3) by striking subsections (a) and (b); and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—Each State application shall be
submitted to the Secretary by not later than May 1 preced-
ing the beginning of the first fiscal year for which a State
application is to be in effect.
‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The State board shall develop
the portion of each State application relating to the amount
and uses of any funds proposed to be reserved for adult vo-
cational-technical education, postsecondary vocational-tech-
nical education, tech-prep education, and secondary voca-
tional-technical education after consultation with the State
agency responsible for supervision of community colleges,
technical institutes, or other 2-year postsecondary institu-
tions primarily engaged in providing postsecondary voca-
tional-technical education, and the State agency responsible
for secondary education. If a State agency finds that a por-
tion of the final State application is objectionable, such
agency shall file such objections with the State board. The
State board shall respond to any objections of such agency
in submitting such application to the Secretary.
‘‘(c) APPLICATION SUBMISSION.—A State application
submitted to the Secretary under this section shall be ap-
proved by the Secretary unless the Secretary makes a writ-
ten determination, within 90 days after receiving the appli-
cation, that the application is in violation of the provisions
of this Act.’’.
SEC. 115. ACCOUNTABILITY.
Part B of title I is amended by inserting after section
113, as redesignated, the following:
‘‘SEC. 114. ACCOUNTABILITY.
‘‘(a) BENCHMARKS.—To be eligible to receive an allot-
ment under section 102, a State shall develop and identify
in the State application submitted under section 113 pro-
posed rigorous and quantifiable benchmarks to measure the
statewide progress of the State, which shall include, at a
minimum, measures, of—
‘‘(1) attainment of challenging State academic
proficiencies;
‘‘(2) attainment of secondary school diplomas or
general equivalency diplomas; and
‘‘(3) placement in, retention in, and completion
of, postsecondary education or advanced training, or
placement and retention in military service, or em-
ployment.
‘‘(b) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT AND SANCTIONS.—
‘‘(1) STATE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—If a
State fails to meet its State benchmarks as described
in the report submitted under subsection (c), the State
shall develop and implement a program improvement
plan in consultation with appropriate agencies, indi-
viduals, and organizations for the first program year
succeeding the program year in which the State failed
to meet its benchmarks in order to avoid a sanction
as provided under paragraph (3).
‘‘(2) LOCAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—If an eligible
recipient fails to meet its State benchmarks, the eligi-
ble recipient shall develop a program improvement
plan with appropriate agencies, individuals, and or-
ganizations for the succeeding program year.
‘‘(3) SANCTIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State fails to meet
the State benchmarks required under subsection
(a), and has not implemented an improvement
plan as described in paragraph (1), has not
demonstrated improvement in meeting its bench-
marks, or has failed to meet its benchmarks for
2 or more consecutive years, the Secretary may,
after notice and opportunity for a hearing, or
withhold from the State all, or a portion of, the
State’s allotment under this Act. The Secretary
may waive the sanction due to exceptional or
uncontrollable circumstances such as a natural
disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline
in the financial resources of the State.
‘‘(B) FUNDS
RESULTING
FROM
REDUCED
ALLOTMENTS.—The amount of funds retained by
the Secretary as a result of a reduction in an al-
lotment made under subparagraph (A) shall be
redistributed to other States in accordance with
section 101.
‘‘(c) REPORT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) INFORMATION.—Each State that re-
ceives an allotment under section 102 shall an-
nually prepare and submit to the Secretary a re-
port on how the State is performing on State
benchmarks that relate to vocational-technical
education programs. In preparing the report, the
State may include information on such addi-
tional vocational-technical education benchmarks
as the State may establish.
‘‘(B) SPECIAL
POPULATIONS.—The report
submitted by the State in accordance with sub-
paragraph (A) shall include a description of how
special populations, displaced homemakers, sin-
gle parents, and single pregnant women partici-
pating in vocational-technical education pro-
grams have met the vocational-technical edu-
cation benchmarks established by the State.
‘‘(2) INFORMATION
DISSEMINATION.—The Sec-
retary shall make the information contained in such
reports available to the general public through publi-
cation and other appropriate methods which may in-
clude electronic communication.
‘‘(3) BENCHMARK
PERFORMANCE.—Each local
recipient shall make available to the general public
information regarding how the local recipient is per-
forming in regard to the State benchmarks.’’.
SEC. 116. PROGRAM EVALUATION.
Sections 115, 116, 117, and 118 of the Act are re-
pealed.
TITLE II—BASIC STATE GRANTS
FOR VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL
EDUCATION
SEC. 201. STATE PROGRAMS.
(a) HEADING.—The heading for title II is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘TITLE II—BASIC STATE GRANTS
FOR VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL
EDUCATION’’.
(b) PROGRAMS.—Section 201 of the Act is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘102(a)(3)’’
and inserting ‘‘102(a)(2)’’;
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(b) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—The programs de-
scribed in subsection (a) shall include—
‘‘(1) an assessment of the vocational-technical
education programs carried out with funds under this
Act that includes an assessment of how the needs of
special populations are being met and how such pro-
grams will ensure that the benchmarks established
under section 114 are being met;
‘‘(2) developing, improving, or expanding the use
of technology in vocational-technical education which
may include—
‘‘(A) training of vocational-technical edu-
cation personnel to use State-of-the art tech-
nology, which may include distance learning;
‘‘(B) providing vocational-technical edu-
cation students with the academic and technical
(4) by adding after subsection (c) the following
new subsection:
‘‘(d) RESTRICTION ON USES OF FUNDS.—A State that
receives funds under section 102(a)(2) may not use any of
such funds to pay administrative costs.’’.
SEC. 202. SECONDARY, POSTSECONDARY, AND ADULT VOCA-
TION-TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
Part B of title II of the Act is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘PART B—SECONDARY, POSTSECONDARY, AND
ADULT VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION
PROGRAMS
‘‘Subpart 1—Within-State Allocation
‘‘SEC. 221. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TO SECONDARY
SCHOOL PROGRAMS.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as otherwise provided
in this section and section 223, each State shall distribute
the funds received under this Act and available in fiscal
year 1998 for secondary school vocational-technical edu-
cation to local educational agencies within the State as fol-
lows:
‘‘(1) From 70 percent of such funds, each local
educational agency shall be allocated an amount that
bears the same relationship to such 70 percent as the
amount such local educational agency was allocated
under section 1124 or such section’s predecessor au-
thority of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in the preceding fiscal year bears to the
total amount received under such section by local edu-
cational agencies in the State in such year.
‘‘(2) From 20 percent of such funds, each local
educational agency shall be allocated an amount that
bears the same relationship to such 20 percent as the
number of students with disabilities who have indi-
vidualized education programs under section 614(d)
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
who are served by such local educational agency in
the preceding fiscal year bears to the total number of
such students served by local educational agencies in
the State in such year.
‘‘(3) From 10 percent of such funds, each local
educational agency shall be allocated an amount that
bears the same relationship to such 10 percent as the
number of students enrolled in schools and adults en-
rolled in training programs under the jurisdiction of
such local educational agency in the preceding fiscal
year bears to the number of students enrolled in
schools and adults enrolled in training programs
under the jurisdiction of all local educational agencies
in the State in such year.
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION FOR SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—
In fiscal year 1999, and the succeeding 3 fiscal years, each
State shall distribute the funds available in any such fiscal
year for secondary school vocational-technical education
programs to local educational agencies within the State as
follows:
‘‘(1) POPULATION.—50 percent shall be allocated
to such agencies in proportion to the number of indi-
viduals aged 15 to 19, inclusive, who reside in the
school district served by such agency for the preceding
fiscal year compared to the total number of such indi-
viduals who reside in the school districts served by
all local educational agencies in the State for such
preceding year.
‘‘(2) INCOME.—50 percent shall be allocated to
such agencies in proportion to the number of individ-
uals aged 15 through 19, inclusive, who reside in the
school district served by such agency from families
with incomes below the poverty line (as defined by the
Office of Management and Budget and revised annu-
ally in accordance with section 673(2) of the Commu-
nity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)))
applicable to a family of the size involved for the fis-
cal year for which the determination is made com-
pared to the number of such individuals in all the
local educational agencies in the State.
‘‘(c) WAIVER FOR MORE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—
The Secretary may waive the application of subsection (b)
in the case of any State that submits to the Secretary an
application for such a waiver that—
‘‘(1) demonstrates that the formula described in
subsection (b) does not result in a distribution of
funds to local educational agencies within the State
that have the greatest economic need and that an al-
ternative formula would result in such a distribution;
and
‘‘(2) includes a proposal for such an alternative
formula.
‘‘(d) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), no local educational agency shall be eligi-
ble for a grant under this part unless the amount al-
located to such agency under subsections (a) and (b)
is not less than $7,500. A local educational agency
may enter into a consortium with other local edu-
cational agencies for purposes of meeting the mini-
mum allocation requirement of this paragraph.
‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The State shall waive the appli-
cation of paragraph (1) in any case in which the
local educational agency—
‘‘(A)(i) is located in a rural, sparsely popu-
lated area, or
‘‘(ii) is a public charter school operating
secondary vocational-technical education pro-
grams; and
‘‘(B) demonstrates that the agency is unable
to enter into a consortium for purposes of pro-
viding services under this part.
‘‘(3) REDISTRIBUTION.—Any amounts that are
not allocated by reason of paragraph (1) or para-
graph (2) shall be redistributed to local educational
agencies that meet the requirements of paragraph (1)
or (2) in accordance with the provisions of this sec-
tion.
‘‘(e) LIMITED JURISDICTION AGENCIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In applying the provisions
of subsections (a), (b), (c), and (d), no State receiving
assistance under this Act shall allocate funds to a
local educational agency that serves only elementary
schools, but shall distribute such funds to the local
educational agency or regional educational agency
that provides secondary school services to secondary
school students in the same attendance area.
‘‘(2) SECONDARY
SCHOOL
JURISDICTION.—The
amount to be allocated under paragraph (1) to a local
educational agency that has jurisdiction only over
secondary schools shall be determined based on the
number of students that were enrolled in such second-
ary schools in the previous year from the elementary
schools involved.
‘‘(f) ALLOCATIONS TO AREA VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL
EDUCATION SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGEN-
CIES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall distribute
funds available for secondary school vocational-tech-
nical education programs to the appropriate area vo-
cational-technical education school or educational
service agency in any case in which the area voca-
tional-technical education school or educational serv-
ice agency and the local educational agency con-
cerned—
‘‘(A) have formed or will form a consortium
for the purpose of receiving funds under this sec-
tion; or
‘‘(B) have entered into or will enter into a
cooperative arrangement for such purpose.