H. R. 1804—33
1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeed-
ing fiscal years, to carry out section 220.
TITLE III—STATE AND LOCAL
EDUCATION SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENT
SEC. 301. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) all students can learn and achieve to high standards
and must realize their potential if the United States is to
prosper;
(2) the reforms in education from 1977 through 1992 have
achieved some good results, but such reform efforts often have
been limited to a few schools or to a single part of the edu-
cational system;
(3) leadership must come from teachers, related services
personnel, principals, and parents in individual schools, and
from policymakers at the local, State, tribal, and national levels,
in order for lasting improvements in student performance to
occur;
(4) simultaneous top-down and bottom-up education reform
is necessary to spur creative and innovative approaches by
individual schools to help all students achieve internationally
competitive standards;
(5) strategies must be developed by communities and States
to support the revitalization of all local public schools by fun-
damentally changing the entire system of public education
through comprehensive, coherent, and coordinated improve-
ment in order to increase student learning;
(6) parents, teachers, and other local educators, and busi-
ness, community, and tribal leaders must be involved in devel-
oping systemwide improvement strategies that reflect the needs
of their individual communities;
(7) State and local education improvement efforts must
incorporate strategies for providing all students and families
with coordinated access to appropriate social services, health
care, nutrition, and early childhood education, and child care
to remove preventable barriers to learning and enhance school
readiness for all students;
(8) States and local educational agencies, working together,
must immediately set about developing and implementing such
systemwide improvement strategies if our Nation is to educate
all children to meet their full potential and achieve the National
Education Goals described in title I;
(9) State and local systemic improvement strategies must
provide all students with effective mechanisms and appropriate
paths to the work force as well as to higher education;
(10) businesses should be encouraged—
(A) to enter into partnerships with schools;
(B) to provide information and guidance to schools
based on the needs of area businesses for properly educated
graduates in general and on the need for particular work-
place skills that the schools may provide;
(C) to provide necessary education and training mate-
rials and support; and
H. R. 1804—34
(D) to continue the lifelong learning process throughout
the employment years of an individual;
(11) schools should provide information to businesses
regarding how the business community can assist schools in
meeting the purposes of this Act;
(12) institutions of higher education should be encouraged
to enter into partnerships with schools to provide information
and guidance to schools on the skills and knowledge graduates
need in order to enter and successfully complete postsecondary
education, and schools should provide information and guidance
to institutions of higher education on the skills, knowledge,
and preservice training teachers need, and the types of profes-
sional development educators need in order to meet the pur-
poses of this Act;
(13) the appropriate and innovative use of technology,
including distance learning, can be very effective in helping
to provide all students with the opportunity to learn and meet
high standards;
(14) Federal funds should be targeted to support State
and local initiatives, and to leverage State and local resources
for designing and implementing systemwide education improve-
ment plans;
(15) all students are entitled to participate in a broad
and challenging curriculum and to have access to resources
sufficient to address other education needs; and
(16) quality education management services are being uti-
lized by local educational agencies and schools through contrac-
tual agreements among local educational agencies or schools
and businesses providing quality education management serv-
ices.
SEC. 302. PURPOSE.
(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to improve the
quality of education for all students by improving student learning
through a long-term, broad-based effort to promote coherent and
coordinated improvements in the system of education throughout
the Nation at the State and local levels.
(b) CONGRESSIONAL INTENT.—This title provides new authori-
ties and funding for the Nation’s school systems without replacing
or reducing funding for existing Federal education programs. It
is the intention of the Congress that no State or local educational
agency will reduce its funding for education or for education reform
on account of receiving any funds under this title.
SEC. 303. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $400,000,000 for the
fiscal year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each
of the fiscal years 1995 through 1998, to carry out this title.
SEC. 304. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.
(a) RESERVATIONS OF FUNDS.—From funds appropriated under
section 303, the Secretary—
(1) shall reserve a total of one percent to provide assistance,
in amounts determined by the Secretary—
(A) to the outlying areas;
(B) to the Secretary of the Interior to benefit Indian
students in schools operated or funded by the Bureau;
and
H. R. 1804—35
(C) to the Alaska Federation of Natives in cooperation
with the Alaska Native Education Council to benefit Alaska
Native students; and
(2) may reserve a total of not more than 5 percent for—
(A) national leadership activities under sections 313
and 314;
(B) the costs of peer review of State improvement plans
and applications under this title; and
(C) evaluation activities under section 221.
(b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—From the amount appropriated under
section 303 and not reserved under subsection (a) in each fiscal
year the Secretary shall make allotments to State educational agen-
cies as follows:
(1) 50 percent of such amount shall be allocated in accord-
ance with the relative amounts each State would have received
under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year if funds
under such chapter in such preceding fiscal year were not
reserved for the outlying areas.
(2) 50 percent of such amount shall be allocated in accord-
ance with the relative amounts each State would have received
under part A of chapter 2 of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year
if funds under such chapter in such preceding fiscal year were
not reserved for the outlying areas.
(c) REALLOTMENTS.—If the Secretary determines that any
amount of a State educational agency’s allotment for any fiscal
year under subsection (b) will not be needed for such fiscal year
by the State, the Secretary shall reallot such amount to other
State educational agencies that need additional funds, in such man-
ner as the Secretary determines is appropriate.
(d) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Each recipient of funds under
this title, in utilizing the proceeds of an allotment received under
this title, shall maintain the expenditures of such recipient for
the activities assisted under this title at a level equal to not less
than the level of such expenditures maintained by such recipient
for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which such allotment
is received, except that the Secretary may reduce, temporarily or
permanently, the level of expenditures required by this subsection
if the Secretary determines that such recipient has justifiable rea-
sons for a reduction in the level of expenditures required by this
subsection.
SEC. 305. STATE APPLICATIONS.
(a) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each State educational agency that
desires to receive an allotment under this title shall submit
an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner
as the Secretary may determine.
(2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In addition to the informa-
tion described in subsections (b) and (c), each such application
shall include—
(A) an assurance that the State educational agency
will cooperate with the Secretary in carrying out the Sec-
retary’s responsibilities under section 312, and will comply
with reasonable requests of the Secretary for data related
H. R. 1804—36
to the State’s progress in developing and implementing
its State improvement plan under section 306;
(B) an assurance that State law provides adequate
authority to carry out each component of the State’s
improvement plan developed, or to be developed under
section 306, or that such authority will be sought;
(C) an assurance that the State content standards
and State student performance standards developed for
student achievement are not less rigorous than such stand-
ards used prior to the date of enactment of this Act;
(D) an assurance that the State will provide for broad
public participation in the planning process; and
(E) such other assurances and information as the Sec-
retary may require.
(b) FIRST YEAR.—A State educational agency’s application for
the first year of assistance under this title shall—
(1) describe the process by which the State educational
agency will develop a State improvement plan that meets the
requirements of section 306; and
(2) describe how the State educational agency will use
funds received under this title for such year, including how
such agency will make subgrants to local educational agencies
in accordance with section 309(a), and how such agency will
use funds received under this title for education preservice
programs and professional development activities in accordance
with section 309(b).
(c) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—A State educational agency’s applica-
tion for the second year of assistance under this title shall—
(1) cover the second through fifth years of the State’s
participation;
(2) include a copy of the State’s improvement plan that
meets the requirements of section 306, or if the State improve-
ment plan is not complete, a statement of the steps the State
will take to complete the plan and a schedule for doing so;
and
(3) include an explanation of how the State educational
agency will use funds received under this title, including how
such agency will make subgrants to local educational agencies
in accordance with section 309(a), and how such agency will
use such funds received under this title for education preservice
programs and professional development activities in accordance
with section 309(b).
SEC. 306. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.
(a) BASIC SCOPE
OF PLAN.—Except as provided in section
305(c)(2) and consistent with the requirements of this section, any
State educational agency that wishes to receive an allotment under
this title after its first year of participation shall develop and
implement a State improvement plan for the improvement of
elementary and secondary education in the State.
(b) PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—A State improvement plan under this
title shall be developed by a broad-based State panel in coopera-
tion with the State educational agency and the Governor. The
panel shall include—
(A) the Governor and the chief State school officer,
or their designees;
H. R. 1804—37
(B) the chairperson of the State board of education
and the chairpersons of the appropriate authorizing
committees of the State legislature, or their designees;
(C) teachers, principals, and administrators who have
successfully improved student performance, and deans or
senior administrators of a college, school, or department
of education;
(D) representatives of teacher’s organizations, parents,
secondary school students, institutions of higher education,
business and labor leaders, community-based organizations
of demonstrated effectiveness, organizations serving young
children, local boards of education, State and local officials
responsible for health, social, and other related services,
private schools in which students or teachers participate
in Federal education programs, and, as appropriate, Indian
tribes and others;
(E) representatives from rural and urban local edu-
cational agencies in the State, as appropriate; and
(F) experts in educational measurement and assess-
ment.
(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Governor and the chief State school
officer shall each appoint half the members of the panel and
shall jointly select the Chairperson of the panel and the rep-
resentative of private schools described in paragraph (1)(D).
(3) REPRESENTATION.—(A) To the extent feasible, the mem-
bership of the panel shall be geographically representative of
the State and reflect the diversity of the population of the
State with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, and disability
characteristics.
(B) The membership of the panel shall be composed so
that the minimum total number of members of the panel with
expertise or background in the educational needs or assess-
ments of children from low-income families, children with
minority backgrounds, children with limited-English pro-
ficiency, or children with disabilities, serving on the panel—
(i) bears the same relation to the total number of
members serving on the panel as the total number of
all such children in the State bears to the total number
of all children in the State; or
(ii) is at least one-third of the number of members
of the panel,
whichever is less.
(4) CONSULTATION.—The panel shall consult the Governor,
the chief State school officer, the State board of education,
and relevant committees of the State legislature in developing
the State improvement plan.
(5) OUTREACH.—The panel shall be responsible for conduct-
ing a statewide, grassroots outreach process, including conduct-
ing public hearings, to involve educators, related services
personnel, parents, local officials, tribal government officials
as appropriate, individuals representing private nonprofit
elementary and secondary schools, community and business
leaders, citizens, children’s advocates, secondary school stu-
dents, and others with a stake in the success of students
and their education system, and who are representative of
the diversity of the State and the State’s student population,
including, students of limited-English proficiency, students with
H. R. 1804—38
disabilities, and, as appropriate, American Indian, Alaska
Native, and Native Hawaiian students, in the development
of the State improvement plan and in a continuing dialogue
regarding the need for and nature of standards for students
and local and State responsibilities for helping all students
achieve such standards in order to assure that the development
and implementation of the State improvement plan reflects
local needs and experiences and does not result in a significant
increase in paperwork for teachers.
(6) PROCEDURE AND APPROVAL.—The panel shall develop
a State improvement plan, provide opportunity for public com-
ment, and submit such plan to the State educational agency
for approval.
(7) SUBMISSION.—The State educational agency shall sub-
mit the original State improvement plan developed by the panel
and the State improvement plan if modified by such agency,
together with an explanation of any changes made by such
agency to the plan developed by the panel, to the Secretary
for approval.
(8) MATTERS NOT UNDER THE JURISDICTION OF THE STATE
EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—If any portion of a State improvement
plan addresses matters that, under State or other applicable
law, are not under the authority of the State educational
agency, the State educational agency shall obtain the approval
of, or changes to, such portion, with an explanation thereof,
from the Governor or other official responsible for that portion
before submitting such plan to the Secretary.
(9) MONITORING; REVISIONS; REPORTING.—After approval of
the State improvement plan by the Secretary, the panel shall
be informed of progress on such plan by the State educational
agency, and such agency, in close consultation with teachers,
principals, administrators, advocates and parents in local edu-
cational agencies and schools receiving funds under this title,
shall monitor the implementation and operation of such plan.
The panel shall review such plan, and based on the progress
described in the preceding sentence, determine if revisions to
such plan are appropriate and necessary. The panel shall
periodically report such determination to the public.
(c) TEACHING, LEARNING, STANDARDS, AND ASSESSMENTS.—Each
State educational agency, with broad-based classroom teacher input,
shall establish and include in its State improvement plan strategies
for meeting the National Education Goals by improving teaching
and learning and students’ mastery of basic and advanced skills
in core content areas, such as English, mathematics, science (includ-
ing physics), history, geography, foreign languages, the arts, civics
and government, and economics. Such strategies—
(1) shall include—
(A) a process for developing or adopting State content
standards and State student performance standards for
all students, which process shall include coordinating the
standards developed pursuant to section 115 of the Carl
D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education
Act;
(B) a process for developing and implementing valid,
nondiscriminatory, and reliable State assessments—
(i) which assessments shall—
H. R. 1804—39
(I) be aligned with such State’s content stand-
ards;
(II) involve multiple measures of student
performance;
(III) provide for—
(aa) the participation in such assessments
of all students with diverse learning needs;
and
(bb) the adaptations and accommodations
necessary to permit such participation;
(IV) be consistent with relevant, nationally
recognized professional and technical standards for
such assessments;
(V) be capable of providing coherent informa-
tion about student attainments relative to the
State content standards; and
(VI) support effective curriculum and instruc-
tion; and
(ii) which process shall provide for monitoring the
implementation of such assessments and the impact
of such assessments on improved instruction for all
students;
(C) a process for aligning State or local curricula,
instructional materials, and State assessments with the
State content standards and State student performance
standards; and
(D) a process for familiarizing teachers with the State
content standards and State student performance stand-
ards and developing the capability of teachers to provide
high quality instruction within the content areas described
in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of this subsection;
(2) may include strategies such as—
(A) a process for providing assistance and support to
local educational agencies and schools to strengthen the
capacity of such agencies and schools to provide all students
the opportunity to increase educational achievement and
meet State content standards and State student perform-
ance standards;
(B) assessing the effectiveness and equity of the school
finance program of the State to identify disparities in the
resources available to each local educational agency and
school in such State and how such disparities affect the
ability of the State educational agency and local educational
agencies to develop and implement plans under this title;
(C) a process for developing, selecting, or recommend-
ing instructional materials, including gender equitable and
multicultural materials, and technology to support and
assist local educational agencies and schools to provide
all students the opportunity to meet State content stand-
ards and State student performance standards;
(D) a process for providing appropriate and effective
professional development, including the use of technology,
distance learning, and gender-equitable methods, necessary
for teachers, school administrators, and others to help all
students meet State content standards and State student
performance standards; and
H. R. 1804—40
(E) a process for improving the State’s system of
teacher and school administrator preparation and licensure,
and of continuing professional development programs,
including the use of technology at both the State and
local levels, so that all teachers, related services personnel,
and administrators develop the subject matter and peda-
gogical expertise needed to prepare all students to meet
State content standards and State student performance
standards.
(d) OPPORTUNITY-TO-LEARN STANDARDS AND STRATEGIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State improvement plan shall estab-
lish standards or strategies for providing all students with
an opportunity to learn. Such standards or strategies shall
include such factors as the State deems appropriate to ensure
that all students receive a fair opportunity to achieve the
knowledge and skills as described in State content standards
and State student performance standards adopted by the State.
(2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this Act, the implementation of opportunity-to-learn
standards or strategies shall be voluntary on the part of the
States, local educational agencies, and schools.
(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be con-
strued to—
(A) mandate equalized spending per pupil for a State,
local educational agency, or school; or
(B) mandate national school building standards for
a State, local educational agency, or school.
(e) GOVERNANCE, ACCOUNTABILITY AND MANAGEMENT.—Each
State improvement plan shall establish strategies for improved
governance, accountability and management of the State’s education
system, such as—
(1) aligning responsibility, authority, and accountability
throughout the education system, so that decisions regarding
the means for achieving State content standards and State
student performance standards are made closest to the learners;
and
(2) creating an integrated and coherent approach to recruit-
ing, retaining and supporting the continued professional devel-
opment of teachers (including vocational teachers), and other
educators, giving special attention to the recruitment into and
retention of qualified minorities in the education profession.
(f) PARENTAL AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND INVOLVEMENT.—
Each State improvement plan shall describe strategies for how
the State educational agency will involve parents and other commu-
nity representatives in planning, designing, and implementing the
State improvement plan, including strategies such as—
(1) focusing public and private community resources and
public school resources on prevention and early intervention
to address the needs of all students by identifying and removing
unnecessary regulations and obstacles to coordination; and
(2) increasing the access of all students to social services,
health care, nutrition, related services, and child care services,
and locating such services in schools, cooperating service agen-
cies, community-based centers, or other convenient sites
designed to provide ‘‘one-stop shopping’’ for parents and stu-
dents.
H. R. 1804—41
(g) MAKING THE IMPROVEMENTS SYSTEMWIDE.—To help provide
all students throughout the State the opportunity to meet State
standards, each State improvement plan shall describe strategies,
such as strategies that—
(1) provide for the availability of curricular materials,
learning technologies, including distance learning, and profes-
sional development in a manner that ensures equal access
by all local educational agencies in the State; and
(2) develop partnerships with Indian tribes and schools
funded by the Bureau, where appropriate, to improve consist-
ency and compatibility in curriculum among public elementary
and secondary schools, and such schools funded by the Bureau
at all grade levels.
(h) PROMOTING BOTTOM-UP REFORM.—Each State improvement
plan shall include strategies for ensuring that comprehensive, sys-
temic reform is promoted from the bottom up in communities,
local educational agencies, and schools, as well as guided by
coordination and facilitation from State leaders, including strategies
such as—
(1) providing flexibility to individual schools and local edu-
cational agencies to enable such schools and agencies to adapt
and integrate State content standards into courses of study
appropriate for individual schools and communities; and
(2) facilitating the provision of waivers from State rules
and regulations that impede the ability of local educational
agencies or schools to carry out local improvement plans.
(i) DROPOUT STRATEGIES.—Each State improvement plan shall
include strategies for assisting local educational agencies and
schools to enable such agencies and schools—
(1) to meet the needs of school-aged children who have
dropped out of school;
(2) to bring such children into the education system; and
(3) to help such students meet State content standards
and State student performance standards.
(j) COORDINATION WITH SCHOOL-TO-WORK PROGRAMS.—If a
State has received Federal assistance for the purpose of planning
for, expanding, or establishing a school-to-work program, then a
State shall include in the State improvement plan a description
of how such school-to-work program will be incorporated into the
school reform efforts of the State. In particular, the State improve-
ment plan shall include a description of how secondary schools
will be modified in order to provide career guidance, the integration
of academic and vocational education, and work-based learning,
if such programs are proposed in the State’s school-to-work plan.
(k) BENCHMARKS
AND TIMELINES.—Each State improvement
plan shall include specific benchmarks of improved student perform-
ance and of progress in implementing such plan, and timelines
against which the progress of the State in carrying out such plan,
including the elements described in subsections (c) through (j),
can be measured.
(l) COORDINATING STRATEGIES.—Each State plan shall include
strategies for coordinating the integration of academic and voca-
tional instruction pursuant to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and
Applied Technology Education Act.
(m) PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—Each State
improvement plan shall describe—
H. R. 1804—42
(1) how the State will monitor progress towards implement-
ing the State and local improvement plans; and
(2) procedures the State plans to use, consistent with State
law, to improve schools that are not meeting the State content
standards voluntarily adopted by the State within the estab-
lished timelines.
(n) PEER REVIEW AND SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) The Secretary shall review, within
a reasonable period of time, each State improvement plan pre-
pared under this section, and each application submitted under
section 305, through a peer review process involving the assist-
ance and advice of State and local education policymakers,
educators, classroom teachers, related services personnel,
experts on educational innovation and improvement, parents,
advocates, and other appropriate individuals. Such peer review
process shall be representative of the diversity of the United
States with regard to geography, race, ethnicity, gender and
disability characteristics. Such peer review process shall include
at least 1 site visit to each State, except during the period
when a State improvement plan is being developed.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (A),
in the first year that a State educational agency submits an
application for development of a State improvement plan under
this title the Secretary shall not be required to—
(i) review such application through a peer review proc-
ess; and
(ii) conduct a site visit.
(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve a State
improvement plan if such plan is submitted to the Secretary
not later than 2 years after the date the State educational
agency receives its first allotment under section 304(b), and
when the Secretary determines, after considering the peer
reviewers’ comment, that such plan—
(A) reflects a widespread commitment within the State;
(B) holds reasonable promise of helping all students
to achieve at the high levels called for by this Act;
(C) meets the requirements of subsections (a) through
(k); and
(D) allows local schools, local educational agencies and
communities the flexibility to implement local improvement
plans in a manner which reflects local needs and require-
ments in order to promote a ‘bottom up’ system of school
reform.
(3) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary shall not disapprove a
State improvement plan, or any State application submitted
under section 305, before offering the State—
(A) an opportunity to revise such plan or application;
and
(B) a hearing.
(o) REGULAR REVIEW.—Each State improvement plan shall
include a process for periodically reviewing and updating any State
content standards, State student performance standards, State
opportunity-to-learn standards or strategies, and State assessments.
(p) AMENDMENTS TO PLAN.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each State educational agency shall
periodically review its State improvement plan and revise such
H. R. 1804—45
(E) supporting innovative and proven methods of
enhancing a teacher’s ability to identify student learning
needs, and motivating students to develop higher order
thinking skills, discipline, and creative resolution methods;
(F) supporting the development, at the State or local
level, of performance-based accountability and incentive
systems for schools;
(G) outreach to and training for parents, tribal officials,
organizations serving young children, classroom teachers,
related services personnel, and other educators, and the
public, related to education improvement;
(H) providing technical assistance and other services
to increase the capacity of local educational agencies and
schools to develop and implement systemic local improve-
ment plans, implement new State assessments, and develop
curricula consistent with the State content standards and
State student performance standards;
(I) promoting public magnet schools, public ‘‘charter
schools’’, and other mechanisms for increasing choice
among public schools, including information and referral
programs which provide parents with information on avail-
able choices;
(J) supporting activities relating to the planning of,
and evaluation of, projects under which local educational
agencies or schools contract with private management
organizations to reform a school;
(K) supporting intergenerational mentoring programs;
(L) supporting the development, at the State or local
level, of school-based programs that restore discipline and
reduce violence in schools and communities, such as
community mobilization programs; and
(M) collecting and analyzing data.
(c) LIMIT
ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State educational
agency that receives an allotment under this title in any fiscal
year shall use not more than 4 percent of such allotment in such
year, or $100,000, whichever is greater, for administrative expenses,
which administrative expenses shall not include the expenses
related to the activities of the panel established under section
306(b)(1).
(d) SPECIAL RULE.—Any new public school established under
this title—
(1) shall be nonsectarian;
(2) shall not be affiliated with a nonpublic sectarian school
or religious institution; and
(3) shall operate under the authority of a State educational
agency or local educational agency.
SEC. 309. SUBGRANTS FOR LOCAL REFORM AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
(a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each State educational agency shall
make subgrants, through a competitive process to carry out
the authorized activities described in paragraph (4), to local
educational agencies (or consortia of such agencies) in accord-
ance with section 308.
(B) In making such subgrants, the State educational agency
shall award not less than 1 subgrant in each fiscal year to
H. R. 1804—46
an urban local educational agency and not less than 1 subgrant
in each fiscal year to a rural local educational agency, where
appropriate, except that this provision shall not apply to the
District of Columbia. An education service agency may serve
as a fiscal agent for a rural local educational agency.
(C) Each such subgrant shall be for a project of sufficient
duration and of sufficient size, scope, and quality to carry
out the purpose of this title effectively.
(2) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—(A) A local educational agency
desiring to receive a subgrant under this subsection for the
development of a local improvement plan shall submit an
application to the State educational agency. Such application
shall contain assurances that the local educational agency
intends to develop a local improvement plan that meets the
requirements of this section.
(B) A local educational agency only shall be eligible to
receive a subgrant under this subsection to develop a local
improvement plan for one fiscal year.
(3) PLAN REQUIRED.—Each local educational agency desir-
ing to receive a subgrant under this subsection to implement
a local improvement plan shall submit a local improvement
plan to the State educational agency. Each such plan shall—
(A) be developed by a broad-based panel that—
(i) is appointed by the local educational agency
and is representative of the diversity of students and
community with regard to race, language, ethnicity,
gender, disability, and socioeconomic characteristics
and includes teachers, parents, advocacy groups, school
administrators, business representatives, and others,
as appropriate; and
(ii) shall, following the selection of its members,
establish the procedures regarding the operation of
the panel, including the designation of the chairperson;
(B) 
address 
districtwide 
education 
improvement,
directed at enabling all students to meet the State content
standards and State student performance standards,
including specific goals and benchmarks, reflect the prior-
ities of the State improvement plan (either approved or
under development) and include a strategy for—
(i) ensuring that all students have a fair oppor-
tunity to learn;
(ii) improving teaching and learning;
(iii) improving governance and management;
(iv) generating, maintaining, and strengthening
parental and community involvement; and
(v) expanding improvements throughout the local
educational agency;
(C) promote the flexibility of local schools in developing
plans which address the particular needs of their school
and community and are consistent with the local improve-
ment plan;
(D) describe a process of broad-based community
participation in the development, implementation, and
evaluation of the local improvement plan;
(E) describe how the local educational agency will
encourage and assist schools to develop and implement
comprehensive school improvement plans that—
H. R. 1804—47
(i) focus on helping all students reach State content
standards and State student performance standards;
and
(ii) address relevant elements of the local improve-
ment plan of the local educational agency identified
in subparagraph (B);
(F) describe how the local educational agency will
implement specific programs aimed at ensuring improve-
ments in school readiness and the ability of students to
learn effectively at all grade levels by identifying the most
pressing needs facing students and their families with
regard to social services, health care, nutrition, and child
care, and entering into partnerships with public and private
nonprofit agencies to increase the access of students and
families to coordinated nonsectarian services in a school
setting or at a nearby site;
(G) describe how the subgrant funds will be used by
the local educational agency, and the procedures to be
used to make funds available to schools in accordance
with paragraph (6)(A);
(H) identify, with an explanation, any State or Federal
requirements that the local educational agency believes
impede educational improvement and that such agency
requests be waived in accordance with section 311, which
requests shall promptly be transmitted to the Secretary
by the State educational agency; and
(I) contain such other information as the State edu-
cational agency may reasonably require.
(4) SUBMISSION.—A local educational agency which has
approved a local improvement plan shall submit such plan
to the State educational agency for approval together with
a description of modifications to such plan and any comments
from the local panel regarding such plan.
(5) MONITORING.—The panel described in paragraph (3)(A),
after approval of the local educational agency’s application by
the State educational agency, shall be informed of progress
on such plan by the local educational agency, and the local
educational agency shall monitor the implementation and
effectiveness of the local improvement plan in close consultation
with teachers, related services personnel, principals, adminis-
trators, community members, and parents from schools receiv-
ing funds under this title, as well as assure that implementation
of the local improvement plan does not result in a significant
increase in paperwork for teachers. The panel shall review
such plan and based on the progress described in the preceding
sentence, determine if revisions to the local improvement plan
should be recommended to the local educational agency. The
panel shall periodically report such determination to the public.
(6) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—(A) A local educational agency
that receives a subgrant under this subsection—
(i) in the first year such agency receives the subgrant
shall use—
(I) not more than 25 percent of the subgrant funds
to develop a local improvement plan or for any local
educational agency activities approved by the State
educational agency that are reasonably related to
carrying out the State or local improvement plans,
H. R. 1804—48
which may include the establishment of innovative
new public schools; and
(II) not less than 75 percent of the subgrant funds
to support individual school improvement initiatives
related to providing all students in the school the
opportunity to meet State content standards and State
student performance standards; and
(ii) in subsequent years, shall use subgrant funds for
any activities approved by the State educational agency
which are reasonably related to carrying out the State
or local improvement plans which may include the
establishment of innovative new public schools, except that
at least 85 percent of such funds shall be made available
to individual schools to develop and implement comprehen-
sive school improvement plans which are designed to meet
the needs of their particular student population and help
all students meet State content standards and State stu-
dent performance standards.
(B) At least 50 percent of the funds made available by
a local educational agency to individual schools under this
section in any fiscal year shall be made available to schools
with a special need for such assistance, as indicated by a
high number or percentage of students from low-income fami-
lies, low student achievement, or other similar criteria devel-
oped by the local educational agency.
(C) A local educational agency may not use more than
five percent of the subgrant funds such agency receives in
each fiscal year under this title for administrative expenses.
(7) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The State educational agency
shall give special consideration in awarding a subgrant to—
(A) a consortium of local educational agencies; or
(B) a local educational agency that provides in the
application or local improvement plan described in para-
graph (2) or (3), respectively, that such subgrant funds
will be used to assist a consortium of schools that has
developed a plan for school improvement.
(b) SUBGRANTS
FOR PRESERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION
AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Each State educational agency shall
make subgrants, through a competitive, peer-reviewed process
to a local educational agency, or a consortium of local edu-
cational agencies, in cooperation with institutions of higher
education, nonprofit organizations, or any combination thereof,
in accordance with section 308 to—
(i) improve preservice teacher education programs
consistent with the State improvement plan, including how
to work effectively with parents and the community; and
(ii) support continuing, sustained professional develop-
ment activities for educators and school administrators
or related services personnel working with educators which
will increase student learning in accordance with the State
improvement plan.
(B) Each State educational agency awarding subgrants
under subparagraph (A) shall give priority to awarding such
subgrants to—