I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 637
To give gifted and talented students the opportunity to develop their
capabilities.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 9, 1999
Mr. GALLEGLY (for himself, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr.
ETHERIDGE, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. SHOWS, and
Mrs. MORELLA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To give gifted and talented students the opportunity to
develop their capabilities.
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 ‘‘Gifted and Talented
Students Education Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Gifted and talented students give evidence
of high performance capability in specific academic
fields, or in areas such as intellectual, creative, artis-
tic, or leadership capacity, and require services or
activities not ordinarily provided by a school in order
to fully develop such capabilities. These children are
from all cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds,
and socioeconomic groups; some have disabilities and
for some, English is not their first language. Many
of these students have been historically underrep-
resented in gifted education programs.
(2) Because gifted and talented students gen-
erally are more advanced academically, are able to
learn more quickly and study in more depth and
complexity than others their age, their special edu-
cational needs require opportunities and experiences
that are different from those generally available in
regular education programs.
(3) There currently is no Federal requirement
to identify or serve the Nation’s approximately
3,000,000 gifted and talented students.
(4) While some States and school districts allo-
cate resources to educate gifted and talented stu-
dents, others do not. Additionally, State laws and
State and local funding, identification, and account-
ability mechanisms vary widely, resulting in a vast
disparity of services for this special-needs popu-
lation.
(5) If the United States is to compete success-
fully in the global economy, it is important that
more students achieve to higher levels, and that
highly capable students receive an education that
prepares them to perform the most highly innovative
and creative work necessary in today’s workplace.
(6) The performance of twelfth-grade advanced
students in the United States on the Third Inter-
national Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
was among the lowest in the world. In each of 5
physics content areas and in each of 3 math content
areas, the performance of physics and advanced
mathematics students in the United States was
among the lowest of participating countries.
(7) Typical elementary school students with
academic gifts and talents have already mastered 35
to 50 percent of the school year’s content in several
subject areas before the year begins.
(8) In 1990, fewer than 2 cents out of every
$100 spent on elementary and secondary education
in the United States was devoted to providing chal-
lenging programming for the Nation’s gifted and tal-
ented students.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide
grants to States to support programs, classes, and other
services designed to meet the needs of the Nation’s gifted
and talented students in elementary and secondary
schools.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION AND ACTIVITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to
provide grants to States for use by public schools to de-
velop or expand gifted and talented education programs
through one or more of the following activities:
(1) 
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
PRO-
GRAMS.—States may expend funds to develop and
implement programs to address State and local
needs for inservice training programs for general
educators, specialists in gifted and talented edu-
cation, administrators, school counselors, or other
personnel at the elementary and secondary levels.
(2) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE.—A State may
make materials and services available through State
regional education service centers, universities, col-
leges, or other entities.
(3) INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.—
States may support innovative approaches and cur-
ricula used by school districts, individual schools, or
consortia of schools or school districts.
(4) EMERGING
TECHNOLOGIES.—States may
provide funds to provide challenging, high-level
course work to individual students or groups of stu-
dents in schools and school districts that do not have
the resources to otherwise provide the courses
through new and emerging technologies, including
distance learning. Funds may be used to develop
curriculum packages, compensate distance-learning
educators, or for other relevant purposes, but may
not be used for the purchase or upgrading of techno-
logical hardware.
(b) STATE INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS.—Not more
than 10 percent of the total amount received under this
Act may be used for State educational agency administra-
tive costs, such as facilitating the coordination of gifted
and talented education programs and services, disseminat-
ing information and materials to teachers and parents,
creating State gifted education advisory boards, and ad-
ministering funds received under this Act.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant
award under this Act, a State educational agency shall
submit an application to the Secretary at such time and
in such form and manner as the Secretary may reasonably
require.
(b) CONTENTS.—The application shall include assur-
ances that—
(1) funds received under this Act shall be used
to support gifted and talented students in public
schools, including students from all economic, ethnic,
and racial backgrounds, students of limited English
proficiency, gifted students with disabilities and
highly gifted students;
(2) not less than 90 percent of the funds re-
ceived by the State will be distributed to public
schools within the State; and
(3) funds received under this Act shall be used
only to supplement, but not supplant, the amount of
State and local funds expended for the specialized
education and related services provided for the edu-
cation of gifted and talented students.
(4) States shall develop and implement program
assessment models to evaluate educational effective-
ness and ensure program accountability.
(c) APPROVAL.—To the extent funds are made avail-
able for this Act, the Secretary shall approve an applica-
tion of a State educational agency if such application
meets the requirements of this section.
SEC. 5. ALLOTMENT TO STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), of the total amount made available for this Act, the
Secretary shall award to each State an amount that bears
the same relation to the total amount as the number of
children ages 5 through 18 in the State for the preceding
academic year bears to the total number of all such chil-
dren in all States for such year.
(b) MINIMUM AWARD.—If sufficient funds are made
available for this Act for each State to receive $1,000,000
in each fiscal year, each State that meets the requirements
of this Act shall receive not less than $1,000,000 each fis-
cal year.
(c) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the amount made
available for this Act is insufficient to allocate the amount
specified in subsection (b), the allocation shall be ratably
reduced for each State.
SEC. 6. REPORTING.
The State educational agency shall submit a report
to the Secretary beginning one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act and each subsequent year that de-
scribes the number of students served and the activities
supported with funds provided under this Act. The report
shall include a description of the measures taken to com-
ply with the accountability requirements of section 4.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘gifted and talented’’ has the
meaning such term has under State law or as such
term is defined by the State or local educational
agency, or in the case of a State that does not have
a law that defines the term and the State or local
educational agency has not defined the term, the
term has the meaning given such term under section
14101(16) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 8801(16)).
(2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Education.
(3) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50
States and the District of Columbia.
(4) The term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has
the same meaning given such term under section
14101(28) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 8801(28)).
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.
There 
are 
authorized 
to 
be 
appropriated
$160,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of the fiscal
years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
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