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‘‘(2) the funds are used to provide school drop-
out prevention and reentry activities related to
schoolwide efforts; and
‘‘(3) the community-based organization has
demonstrated the organization’s ability to provide ef-
fective services as described in section 107(a) of the
Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1517(a)),
or section 122 of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (29 U.S.C. 2842).
‘‘(f) COORDINATION.—Each school that receives a
grant under this subpart shall coordinate the activities as-
sisted under this subpart with other Federal programs,
such as programs assisted under chapter 1 of subpart 2
of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1070a–11 et seq.) and the School-to-Work Op-
portunities Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).
‘‘SEC. 5315. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES.
‘‘Each school that receives a grant under this subpart
shall provide information and technical assistance to other
schools within the school district, including presentations,
document sharing, and joint staff development.
‘‘SEC. 5316. PROGRESS INCENTIVES.
‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each
local educational agency that receives funds under title I
shall use such funding to provide assistance to schools
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served by the agency that have not made progress toward
lowering school dropout rates after receiving assistance
under this subpart for 2 fiscal years.
‘‘SEC. 5317. SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE CALCULATION.
‘‘For purposes of calculating a school dropout rate
under this subpart, a school shall use—
‘‘(1) the annual event school dropout rate for
students leaving a school in a single year determined
in accordance with the National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics’ Common Core of Data, if available;
or
‘‘(2) in other cases, a standard method for cal-
culating the school dropout rate as determined by
the State educational agency.
‘‘SEC. 5318. REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
‘‘(a) REPORTING.—In order to receive funding under
this subpart for a fiscal year after the first fiscal year a
school receives funding under this subpart, the school shall
provide, on an annual basis, to the Director a report re-
garding the status of the implementation of activities
funded under this subpart, the disaggregated outcome
data for students at schools assisted under this subpart
such as dropout rates, and certification of progress from
the eligible entity whose strategies the school is imple-
menting.
179
‘‘(b) ACCOUNTABILITY.—On the basis of the reports
submitted under subsection (a), the Director shall evaluate
the effect of the activities assisted under this subpart on
school dropout prevention compared to a control group.
‘‘SEC. 5319. PROHIBITION ON TRACKING.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A school shall be ineligible to re-
ceive funding under this subpart for a fiscal year, if the
school—
‘‘(1) has in place a general education track;
‘‘(2) provides courses with significantly dif-
ferent material and requirements to students at the
same grade level; or
‘‘(3) fails to encourage all students to take a
core curriculum of courses.
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promul-
gate regulations implementing subsection (a).
‘‘Subpart 3—Definitions; Authorization of
Appropriations
‘‘SEC. 5321. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this Act:
‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means
the Director of the Office of Dropout Prevention and
Program Completion established under section 220
of the General Education Provisions Act.
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‘‘(2) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘low-income’,
used with respect to an individual, means an indi-
vidual determined to be low-income in accordance
with measures described in section 1113(a)(5) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)).
‘‘(3) SCHOOL
DROPOUT.—The term ‘school
dropout’ has the meaning given the term in section
4(17) of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of
1994 (20 U.S.C. 6103(17)).
‘‘SEC. 5322. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) SUBPART 1.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out subpart 1, $5,000,000 for fiscal year
2000 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the
4 succeeding fiscal years.
‘‘(b) SUBPART 2.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out subpart 2, $145,000,000 for fiscal
year 2000 and such sums as may be necessary for each
of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which—
‘‘(1) $125,000,000 shall be available to carry
out section 5312; and
‘‘(2) $20,000,000 shall be available to carry out
section 5313.’’.
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SEC. 403. OFFICE OF DROPOUT PREVENTION AND PRO-
GRAM COMPLETION.
Title II of the Department of Education Organization
Act (20 U.S.C. 3411) is amended—
(1) by redesignating section 216 (as added by
Public Law 103–227) as section 218; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 220. OFFICE OF DROPOUT PREVENTION AND PRO-
GRAM COMPLETION.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the De-
partment of Education an Office of Dropout Prevention
and Program Completion (hereafter in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘Office’), to be administered by the Direc-
tor of the Office of Dropout Prevention and Program
Completion. The Director of the Office shall report di-
rectly to the Secretary and shall perform such additional
functions as the Secretary may prescribe.
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Director of the Office of Dropout
Prevention and Program Completion (hereafter in this
section referred to as the ‘Director’), through the Office,
shall—
‘‘(1) help coordinate Federal, State, and local
efforts to lower school dropout rates and increase
program completion by middle school, secondary
school, and college students;
182
‘‘(2) recommend Federal policies, objectives,
and priorities to lower school dropout rates and in-
crease program completion;
‘‘(3) oversee the implementation of subpart 2 of
part C of title V of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965;
‘‘(4) develop and implement the National
School Dropout Prevention Strategy under section
5302 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965;
‘‘(5) annually prepare and submit to Congress
and the Secretary a national report describing ef-
forts and recommended actions regarding school
dropout prevention and program completion;
‘‘(6) recommend action to the Secretary and the
President, as appropriate, regarding school dropout
prevention and program completion; and
‘‘(7) consult with and assist State and local
governments regarding school dropout prevention
and program completion.
‘‘(c) SCOPE OF DUTIES.—The scope of the Director’s
duties under subsection (b) shall include examination of
all Federal and non-Federal efforts related to—
‘‘(1) promoting program completion for children
attending middle school or secondary school;
183
‘‘(2) programs to obtain a secondary school di-
ploma or its recognized equivalent (including general
equivalency diploma (GED) programs), or college
degree programs; and
‘‘(3) reentry programs for individuals aged 12
to 24 who are out of school.
‘‘(d) DETAILING.—In carrying out the Director’s du-
ties under this section, the Director may request the head
of any Federal department or agency to detail personnel
who are engaged in school dropout prevention activities
to another Federal department or agency in order to im-
plement the National School Dropout Prevention Strat-
egy.’’.
SEC. 404. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.
Title XIV is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘PART I—DROPOUT PREVENTION
‘‘SEC. 14851. DROPOUT PREVENTION.
‘‘In order to receive any assistance under this Act,
a State educational agency shall comply with the following
provisions regarding school dropouts:
‘‘(1) UNIFORM DATA COLLECTION.—Within 1
year after the date of the enactment of the Access
to Excellence in Education for the 21st Century Act,
a State educational agency shall report to the Sec-
184
retary and statewide, all school district and school
data regarding school dropout rates in the State,
and demographic breakdowns, according to proce-
dures that conform with the National Center for
Education Statistics’ Common Core of Data.
‘‘(2) ATTENDANCE
NEUTRAL
FUNDING
POLI-
CIES.—Within 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of the Access to Excellence in Education for
the 21st Century Act, a State educational agency
shall develop and implement education funding for-
mula policies for public schools that provide appro-
priate incentives to retain students in school
throughout the school year, such as—
‘‘(A) a student count methodology that
does not determine annual budgets based on at-
tendance on a single day early in the academic
year; and
‘‘(B) specific incentives for retaining en-
rolled students throughout each year.
‘‘(3) SUSPENSION AND EXPULSION POLICIES.—
Within 2 years after the date of the enactment of
the Access to Excellence in Education for the 21st
Century Act, a State educational agency shall de-
velop uniform, long-term suspension and expulsion
policies for serious infractions resulting in more than
185
10 days of exclusion from school per academic year
so that similar violations result in similar pen-
alties.’’.
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