ment, maintenance, and operation of educationally 
inadequate or inequitable State public school sys-
tems. (347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954)). 
(6) In 1970, the Presidential Commission on 
School Finance found that significant disparities in 
the distribution of educational resources existed 
among local educational agencies within States be-
cause the States relied too significantly on local dis-
trict financing for educational revenues, and that re-
forms in systems of school financing would increase 
the Nation’s ability to serve the educational needs of 
all children. 
(7) In 1999, the National Research Council of 
the National Academy of Sciences published a report 
entitled ‘‘Making Money Matter, Financing Amer-
ica’s Schools’’, which found that the concept of fund-
ing adequacy, which moves beyond the more tradi-
tional concepts of finance equity to focus attention 
on the sufficiency of funding for desired educational 
outcomes, is an important step in developing a fair 
and productive educational system. 
(8) In 2001, the Executive order establishing 
the President’s Commission on Educational Re-
source Equity declared, ‘‘A quality education is es-
sential to the success of every child in the 21st cen-
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tury and to the continued strength and prosperity of 
our Nation. . . . [L]ong-standing gaps in access to 
educational resources exist, including disparities 
based on race and ethnicity.’’ (Executive Order 
13190, § 1 (January 15, 2001); 66 Fed. Reg. 
5424.) 
(9) According to the Secretary of Education, as 
stated in a letter (with enclosures) dated January 
19, 2002, from the Secretary to States— 
(A) racial and ethnic minorities continue to 
suffer from lack of access to educational re-
sources, including ‘‘experienced and qualified 
teachers, adequate facilities, and instructional 
programs and support, including technology, as 
well as . . . the funding necessary to secure 
these resources’’; and 
(B) these inadequacies are ‘‘particularly 
acute in high-poverty schools, including urban 
schools, where many students of color are iso-
lated and where the effect of the resource gaps 
may be cumulative. In other words, students 
who need the most may often receive the least, 
and these students often are students of color’’. 
(10) The Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended 
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by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public 
Law 107–110), provides that— 
(A) States must establish standards and 
assessments in mathematics, reading or lan-
guage arts, and science; 
(B) elementary schools and secondary 
schools must ensure that all students are pro-
ficient in such subjects within 12 years after 
the end of the 2001–2002 school year; and 
(C) elementary schools and secondary 
schools will be held accountable for the stu-
dents’ progress. 
(11) The standards and accountability move-
ment will succeed only if, in addition to standards 
and accountability, all schools have access to the 
educational resources necessary to enable students to 
achieve. 
(12) Raising standards without ensuring ade-
quate and equitable access to educational resources 
may, in fact, exacerbate achievement gaps and set 
children up for failure. 
(13) According to the World Economic Forum’s 
Global Competitiveness Report 2001–2002, the 
United States ranks last among developed countries 
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in the difference in the quality of schools available 
to rich and poor children. 
(14) Each State Government has ultimate au-
thority in determining every important aspect and 
priority of the public school system that provides ele-
mentary and secondary education to children in the 
State, including whether children throughout the 
State have high access to the opportunity to learn 
indicators described in section 112(a). 
(15) Since 1965, the Congress, in exercising its 
spending authority, has provided substantial Federal 
financial assistance to the States for the improve-
ment of their public school systems. In their expend-
iture and oversight of this assistance, the States 
have failed systematically to achieve the purpose of 
the Congress in providing the assistance, namely the 
effective education of all the children of the United 
States. 
(16) Because a well-educated populace is crit-
ical to the Nation’s political and economic well-being 
and national security, the Federal Government has 
a substantial interest in ensuring that States provide 
a high-quality education by ensuring that all chil-
dren have access to the opportunity to learn indica-
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tors described in section 112(a) to enable the chil-
dren to succeed academically and in life. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are the fol-
lowing: 
(1) To further the goals of the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–110) and the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) by holding States account-
able for providing all students access to the oppor-
tunity to learn indicators described in section 
112(a). 
(2) To ensure that all students in public ele-
mentary schools and secondary schools receive edu-
cational opportunities that enable the students— 
(A) to acquire the knowledge and skills 
necessary for responsible citizenship, including 
the ability to participate fully in the political 
process through informed electoral choice; 
(B) to meet challenging State student aca-
demic achievement standards; and 
(C) to be able to compete and succeed in 
a global economy. 
(3) To end the pervasive pattern of education-
ally inadequate or inequitable State public school 
systems. 
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