I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2300
To allow a State to combine certain funds to improve the academic
achievement of all its students.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 22, 1999
Mr. GOODLING (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. DELAY, Mr.
WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr.
MCKEON, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
HILLEARY, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr.
DEMINT, Mr. TALENT, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SALMON, Mr. PETRI, Mr.
MCINTOSH, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs.
NORTHUP, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. MILLER of Florida,
Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Ms. DUNN, Mrs. MYRICK,
Mr. BAKER, Mr. METCALF, Mr. HILL of Montana, Mr. PITTS, Mr.
SUNUNU, Mr. HERGER, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr.
BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. GARY MIL-
LER of California, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. STUMP,
Mr. FORBES, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. PETERSON of
Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HAYES,
Mr. CANNON, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr.
PACKARD, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. EWING, Mr. COOK, Mr.
POMBO, Mr. TERRY, Mr. CHAMBLISS, and Mr. HOSTETTLER) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
A BILL
To allow a State to combine certain funds to improve the
academic achievement of all its students.
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 ‘‘Academic Achievement
for All Act (Straight A’s Act)’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to create options for States
and communities—
(1) to improve the academic achievement of all
students, and to focus the resources of the Federal
Government upon such achievement;
(2) to give States and communities maximum
freedom in determining how to boost academic
achievement and implement education reforms;
(3) to hold States and communities accountable
for boosting the academic achievement of all stu-
dents, especially disadvantaged children; and
(4) to narrow achievement gaps between the
lowest and highest performing groups of students so
that no child is left behind.
SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—A State may, at its op-
tion, execute a performance agreement with the Secretary
under which the provisions of law described in section 4(a)
shall not apply to such State except as otherwise provided
in this Act.
(b) APPROVAL OF PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—A
performance agreement submitted to the Secretary under
this section shall be approved by the Secretary unless the
Secretary makes a written determination, within 60 days
after receiving the performance agreement, that the per-
formance agreement is in violation of the provisions of this
Act.
(c) TERMS OF PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—Each
performance agreement executed pursuant to this Act
shall include the following provisions:
(1) TERM.—A statement that the term of the
performance agreement shall be 5 years.
(2) APPLICATION
OF
PROGRAM
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—A statement that no program requirements
of any program included by the State in the per-
formance agreement shall apply, except as otherwise
provided in this Act.
(3) LIST.—A list provided by the State of the
programs that it wishes to include in the perform-
ance agreement.
(4) USE
OF
FUNDS
TO
IMPROVE
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT.—Include a 5-year plan describing
how the State intends to combine and use the funds
from programs included in the performance agree-
ment to advance the education priorities of the
State, improve student achievement, and narrow
achievement gaps between students.
(5) 
ACCOUNTABILITY
SYSTEM
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—If a State includes part A of title I of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
in its performance agreement, the State shall include
a certification that the State has done the following:
(A)(i) developed and implemented the chal-
lenging State content standards, challenging
State student performance standards, and
aligned 
assessments 
described 
in 
section
1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965, and for which local edu-
cational agencies in the State are producing the
individual school performance profiles required
by section 1116(a)(3) of such Act; or
(ii) developed and implemented a system to
measure the degree of change from 1 school
year to the next in student performance on such
assessments;
(B) established a system under which as-
sessment information is disaggregated by race,
ethnicity, sex, English proficiency status, and
socioeconomic status for the State, each local
educational agency, and each school, except
that such disaggregation shall not be required
in cases in which the number of students in any
such group is insufficient to yield statistically
reliable information or would reveal the identity
of an individual student;
(C) established specific, measurable, nu-
merical performance objectives for student
achievement, including—
(i) a definition of performance consid-
ered to be satisfactory by the State on the
assessment instruments described under
subparagraphs (A) and (B) with perform-
ance objectives established for all students
and for specific student groups, including
groups for which data is disaggregated
under subparagraph (B); and
(ii) the objective of improving the per-
formance of all groups and narrowing gaps
in performance between those groups; and
(D) developed and implemented a state-
wide system for holding its local educational
agencies and schools accountable for student
performance that includes—
(i) a procedure for identifying local
educational agencies and schools in need of
improvement;
(ii) assisting and building capacity in
local educational agencies and schools iden-
tified as in need of improvement to im-
prove teaching and learning; and
(iii) implementing corrective actions if
the assistance and capacity building under
clause (ii) is not effective.
(6) PERFORMANCE GOALS.—
(A) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA.—Each
State shall establish student performance goals
for the 5-year term of the performance agree-
ment that, at a minimum—
(i) establish a single high standard of
performance for all students;
(ii) take into account the progress of
students from every local educational agen-
cy and school in the State;
(iii) measure changes in the percent-
ages of students at selected grade levels
meeting specified proficiency levels of
achievement (established by the State) in
the final year of the performance agree-
ment, compared to such percentages in the
baseline year (as described in subpara-
graph (C));
(iv) set numerical goals to attain by
the end of the term of the performance
agreement to—
(I) improve the performance of
the groups specified in paragraph
(5)(B); and
(II) reduce achievement gaps be-
tween the highest and lowest per-
forming groups of students by raising
the achievement levels of the lowest
performing students in mathematics
and reading, at a minimum; and
(v) require all students in the State to
make substantial gains in achievement.
(B) ADDITIONAL
INDICATORS
OF
PER-
FORMANCE.—A State may identify in the per-
formance agreement any additional indicators
of performance such as graduation, dropout, or
attendance rates.
(C) BASELINE PERFORMANCE DATA.—To
determine student achievement levels for the
baseline year, the State shall use its most re-
cent achievement data when executing the per-
formance agreement.
(D) 
CONSISTENCY
OF
PERFORMANCE
MEASURES.—A State shall maintain, at a min-
imum, the same challenging State student per-
formance standards and assessments through-
out the term of the performance agreement.
(7) FISCAL RESPONSIBILITIES.— An assurance
that the State will use fiscal control and fund ac-
counting procedures that will ensure proper dis-
bursement of, and accounting for, Federal funds
paid to the State under this Act.
(8) CIVIL
RIGHTS.—An assurance that the
State will meet the requirements of applicable Fed-
eral civil rights laws.
(9) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.—An as-
surance that the State will provide for the equitable
participation of students and professional staff in
private schools in accordance with section 14503 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8893).
(10) STATE
FINANCIAL
PARTICIPATION.—An
assurance that the State will not reduce the level of
spending of State funds for education during the
term of the performance agreement.
(11) ANNUAL REPORT.—An assurance that not
later than 1 year after the execution of the perform-
ance agreement, and annually thereafter, each State
shall disseminate widely to the general public, sub-
mit to the Secretary, distribute to print and broad-
cast media, and post on the Internet, a report that
includes—
(A) 
student 
performance 
data,
disaggregated 
as 
provided 
in 
paragraph
(5)(A)(ii); and
(B) a detailed description of how the State
has used Federal funds to improve student per-
formance and reduce achievement gaps to meet
the terms of the performance agreement.
(d) SPECIAL RULE.—If a State does not include part
A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in its performance agreement, the State
shall—
(1) certify that it has developed a system to
measure the academic performance of all students;
and
(2) establish performance goals in accordance
with subsection (c)(6) for such other programs.
(e) AMENDMENT TO PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.—
A State may submit an amendment to the performance
agreement to the Secretary under the following cir-
cumstances:
(1) REDUCE SCOPE OF PERFORMANCE AGREE-
MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the execution of
the performance agreement, a State may amend the
performance agreement through a request to with-
draw a program from such agreement. If the Sec-
retary approves the amendment, the requirements of
existing law shall apply for any program withdrawn
from the performance agreement.
(2) EXPAND SCOPE OF PERFORMANCE AGREE-
MENT.—Not later than 1 year after the execution of
the performance agreement, a State may amend its
performance agreement to include additional pro-
grams and performance indicators for which it will
be held accountable.
SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.
(a) ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.—The provisions of law re-
ferred to in section 3(a) except as otherwise provided in
subsection (b), are as follows:
(1) Part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(2) Part B of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(3) Part C of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(4) Part D of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965.
(5) Section 1502, part E of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(6) Part B of title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(7) Section 3132 of title III of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(8) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(9) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
(10) Section 307 of the Department of Edu-
cation Appropriation Act of 1999.
(11) Comprehensive school reform programs as
authorized under section 1502 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and described
on pages 96–99 of the Joint Explanatory Statement
of the Committee of Conference included in House
Report 105–390 (Conference Report on the Depart-
ments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 1998)’’.
(12) Part C of title VII of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
(13) Title III of the Goals 2000: Educate
America Act.
(14) Sections 115 and 116, and parts B and C
of title I of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Technical
Education Act.
(15) Subtitle B of title VII of the Stewart B.
McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.
(b) ALLOCATION AMOUNTS.—A State may choose to
combine funds from any or all of the programs described
in subsection (a) without regard to the program require-
ments of such provisions, except as otherwise provided in
this Act and except that allocation ratios provided under
the provisions referred to in subsection (a) shall remain
in effect unless otherwise provided.
(c) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available under
this Act to a State shall be used for any educational pur-
pose permitted by State law of the participating State.
SEC. 5. WITHIN-STATE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The distribution of funds from
programs included in the performance agreement from a
State to a local educational agency within the State shall
be determined by the State legislature and the Governor
of the State. In a State in which the constitution or State
law designates another individual, entity, or agency to be
responsible for education, such other individual, entity, or
agency shall work in consultation with the Governor and
State legislature to determine the local distribution of
funds.
(b) LOCAL HOLD HARMLESS OF PART A TITLE 1
FUNDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a State that
includes part A of title I in the performance agree-
ment, the agreement shall provide an assurance that
each local educational agency shall receive an
amount equal to or greater than the amount such
agency received under part A of title I of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in
the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the
performance agreement is executed.
(2) 
PROPORTIONATE
REDUCTION.—If 
the
amount made available to the State from the Sec-
retary for a fiscal year is insufficient to pay to each
local educational agency the amount made available
to such agency for the preceding fiscal year, the
State shall reduce the amount each local educational
agency receives by a uniform percentage.
SEC. 6. LOCAL PARTICIPATION.
(a) NONPARTICIPATING STATE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State chooses not to
submit a performance agreement under this Act, any
local educational agency in such State is eligible, at
its option, to submit to the Secretary a performance
agreement in accordance with this section.
(2) AGREEMENT.—The terms of a performance
agreement between an eligible local educational agency
and the Secretary shall specify the programs to be in-
cluded in the performance agreement, as agreed upon by
the State and the agency, from the list under section 4(a).
(b) STATE APPROVAL.—When submitting a perform-
ance agreement to the Secretary, an eligible local edu-
cational agency described in subsection (a) shall provide
written documentation from the State in which such agen-
cy is located that it has no objection to the agency’s pro-
posal for a performance agreement.
(c) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this
section, and to the extent applicable, the require-
ments of this Act shall apply to an eligible local edu-
cational agency that submits a performance agree-
ment in the same manner as the requirements apply
to a State.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions
shall not apply to an eligible local educational agen-
cy:
(A) WITHIN
STATE
DISTRIBUTION
FOR-
MULA NOT APPLICABLE.—The formula for the
allocation of funds under section 5 shall not
apply.
(B) 
STATE
SET
ASIDE
SHALL
NOT
APPLY.—The State set aside for administrative
funds in section 7 shall not apply.
SEC. 7. SET-ASIDE FOR STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI-
TURES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided
under subsection (b), a State that includes part A of title
I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
in the performance agreement may use not more than 1
percent of such total amount of funds allocated to such
State under the programs included in the performance
agreement for administrative purposes.
(b) EXCEPTION.—A State that does not include part
A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in the performance agreement may use not
more than 3 percent of the total amount of funds allocated
to such State under the programs included in the perform-
ance agreement for administrative purposes.
SEC. 8. PERFORMANCE REVIEW.
(a) FAILURE TO MEET TERMS.—If at the end of the
5-year term of the performance agreement a State has
ment or as soon thereafter as the State submits data re-
quired under the agreement, the Secretary shall renew, for
an additional 5-year term, the performance agreement of
any State that has met at least 80 percent of its perform-
ance goals.
SEC. 10. ACHIEVEMENT GAP REDUCTION REWARDS.
(a) CLOSING THE GAP REWARD FUND.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To reward States that make
significant progress in eliminating achievement gaps
by raising the achievement levels of the lowest per-
forming students, the Secretary shall annually set
aside sufficient funds from the Fund for the Im-
provement of Education under part A of title X of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 to grant a reward to States that meet the con-
ditions set forth in subsection (b) by the end of their
5-year performance agreement.
(2) REWARD AMOUNT.—The amount of the re-
ward referred to in paragraph (1) shall be not less
than 5 percent of funds allocated to the State during
the first year of the performance agreement for pro-
grams included in the agreement.
(b) CONDITIONS
OF PERFORMANCE REWARD.—A
State is eligible to receive a reward under this section if
the State reduces by not less than 25 percent, over the
5-year term of the performance agreement, the difference
between the percentage of highest and lowest performing
groups of students that meet the State’s definition of
‘‘proficient’’ as referenced in section 1111(b)(1)(D)(i)(II)
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,
for the following:
(A) CONTENT
AREAS.—The reduction in
the achievement gap shall include not less than
2 content areas, one of which shall be mathe-
matics or reading.
(B) GRADES TESTED.—The reduction shall
occur in at least 1 grade level.
SEC. 11. STRAIGHT A’S PERFORMANCE REPORT.
The Secretary shall make the annual State reports
described in section 3 available to the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions not
later than 60 days after the Secretary receives the report.
SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION.
To the extent that provisions of title XIV of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 are incon-
sistent with this Act, this Act shall be construed as super-
seding such provisions.
SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act:
(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the same meaning
given such term in section 14101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
8801).
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Education.
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States
Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
SEC. 14. EFFECT ON STATE LAW.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to supersede
or modify any provision of a State constitution or State
law that prohibits the expenditure of public funds in or
by sectarian institutions.
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