SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; PURPOSE; 
DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act’’ or the 
‘‘A PLUS Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents; purpose; definitions. 
Sec. 2. Declaration of intent. 
Sec. 3. Transparency for results of public education. 
Sec. 4. Maintenance of funding levels spent by States on education. 
Sec. 5. Administrative expenses. 
Sec. 6. Equitable participation of private schools. 
(c) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows: 
(1) To give States and local communities max-
imum flexibility to determine how to improve aca-
demic achievement and implement education re-
forms. 
(2) To reduce the administrative costs and com-
pliance burden of Federal education programs in 
order to focus Federal resources on improving aca-
demic achievement. 
(3) To ensure that States and communities are 
accountable to the public for advancing the academic 
achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged 
children. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 
given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801 et seq.). 
(2) OTHER TERMS.—In this Act: 
(A) DECLARATION OF INTENT.—The term 
‘‘declaration of intent’’ means a decision by a 
State made by State Authorizing Officials or by 
referendum to assume full management respon-
sibility for the expenditure of Federal funds for 
certain eligible programs for the purpose of ad-
vancing on a more comprehensive and effective 
basis the educational policy of such State. 
(B) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 1122(e) of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6332(e)). 
(C) STATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS.—The 
term ‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the 
State officials who shall authorize the submis-
sion of a declaration of intent, and any amend-
ments thereto, on behalf of the State. Such offi-
cials shall include not less than 2 of the fol-
lowing: 
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(i) The governor of the State. 
(ii) The highest elected education offi-
cials of the State, if any. 
(iii) The legislature of the State. 
(D) STATE
DESIGNATED
OFFICER.—The 
term ‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the 
person designated by the State Authorizing Of-
ficials to submit to the Secretary on behalf of 
the State a declaration of intent, and any 
amendments thereto, and to function as the 
point-of-contact for the State for the Secretary 
and others relating to any responsibilities aris-
ing under this Act. 
(E) ACCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘ac-
countability’’ means that public schools are an-
swerable to parents and other taxpayers for the 
use of public funds and shall report student 
progress to them regularly. 
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF INTENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub-
mit to the Secretary a declaration of intent permitting the 
State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated basis to 
manage the expenditure of such funds to advance the edu-
cational policy of the State. 
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(b) PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE FOR CONSOLIDATION AND 
PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) SCOPE.—A State may choose to include 
within the scope of its declaration of intent any pro-
gram for which Congress makes funds available to 
the State if the program is for a purpose described 
in section 1001 of the Elementary and Education 
Secondary Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State 
may not include any program funded pursuant to 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 
(2) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to 
a State pursuant to a declaration of intent under 
this Act shall be used for any educational purpose 
permitted by State law of the State submitting a 
declaration of intent. 
(c) CONTENTS OF DECLARATION.—Each such dec-
laration shall contain— 
(1) a list of eligible programs that are subject 
to the declaration of intent; 
(2) an assurance that the submission of the 
declaration of intent has been authorized by the 
State Authorizing Officials, specifying the identity of 
the State Designated Officer; 
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(3) the duration of the declaration of intent 
shall not exceed 5 years; 
(4) an assurance that the State will use fiscal 
control and fund accounting procedures; 
(5) an assurance that the State will meet the 
requirements of applicable Federal civil rights laws 
in carrying out the declaration of intent and in con-
solidating and using the funds under the declaration 
of intent; 
(6) an assurance that in implementing the dec-
laration of intent the State will seek to advance edu-
cational opportunities for the disadvantaged; and 
(7) a description of the plan for maintaining di-
rect accountability to parents and other citizens of 
the State. 
(d) REVIEW
AND
RECOGNITION
BY
THE
SEC-
RETARY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review 
the declaration of intent received from the State 
Designated Officer within 60 days of the date of re-
ceipt, and shall recognize such declaration of intent 
unless it fails to meet the requirements of subsection 
(c). 
(2) RECOGNITION BY OPERATION OF LAW.—If 
the Secretary fails to take action within the time 
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