I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1623
To reduce class size, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 29, 1999
Mr. CLAY (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, and Mr. MARTINEZ) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
A BILL
To reduce class size, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. CLASS SIZE REDUCTION.
Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘PART E—CLASS SIZE REDUCTION
‘‘SEC. 6601. SHORT TITLE.
‘‘This part may be cited as the ‘Class Size Reduction
and Teacher Quality Act of 1999’.
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‘‘SEC. 6602. FINDINGS.
‘‘Congress finds as follows:
‘‘(1) Rigorous research has shown that students
attending small classes in the early grades make
more rapid educational progress than students in
larger classes, and that these achievement gains per-
sist through at least the elementary grades.
‘‘(2) The benefits of smaller classes are greatest
for lower achieving, minority, poor, and inner-city
children. One study found that urban fourth-graders
in smaller-than-average classes were 3⁄4 of a school
year ahead of their counterparts in larger-than-aver-
age classes.
‘‘(3) Teachers in small classes can provide stu-
dents with more individualized attention, spend more
time on instruction and less on other tasks, cover
more material effectively, and are better able to
work with parents to further their children’s edu-
cation.
‘‘(4) Smaller classes allow teachers to identify
and work more effectively with students who have
learning disabilities and, potentially, can reduce
those students’ need for special education services in
the later grades.
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‘‘(5) Students in smaller classes are able to be-
come more actively engaged in learning than their
peers in large classes.
‘‘(6) Efforts to improve educational achieve-
ment by reducing class sizes in the early grades are
likely to be more successful if—
‘‘(A) well-prepared teachers are hired and
appropriately assigned to fill additional class-
room positions; and
‘‘(B) teachers receive intensive, continuing
training in working effectively in smaller class-
room settings.
‘‘(7) Several States have begun a serious effort
to reduce class sizes in the early elementary grades,
but these actions may be impeded by financial limi-
tations or difficulties in hiring well-prepared teach-
ers.
‘‘(8) The Federal Government can assist in this
effort by providing funding for class-size reductions
in grades 1 through 3, and by helping to ensure that
the new teachers brought into the classroom are well
prepared.
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‘‘SEC. 6603. PURPOSE.
‘‘The purpose of this part is to help States and local
educational agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000 addi-
tional teachers over a 7-year period in order to—
‘‘(1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades 1
through 3, to an average of 18 students per class-
room; and
‘‘(2) improve teaching in the early grades so
that all students can learn to read independently
and well by the end of the third grade.
‘‘SEC. 6604. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the
purpose of carrying out this part, there are authorized to
be appropriated, $1,400,000,000 for fiscal year 2000,
$1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, $1,700,000,000 for
fiscal year 2002, $1,735,000,000 for fiscal year 2003,
$2,300,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, and $2,800,000,000
for fiscal year 2005.
‘‘(b) ALLOTMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro-
priated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year the
Secretary—
‘‘(A) shall make a total of 1 percent avail-
able to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and the out-
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lying areas for activities that meet the purpose
of this part; and
‘‘(B) shall allot to each State the same
percentage of the remaining funds as the per-
centage it received of funds allocated to States
for the previous fiscal year under section 1122
or section 2202(b), whichever percentage is
greater, except that such allotments shall be
ratably decreased as necessary.
‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF STATE.—In this part the
term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States of
the United States, the District of Columbia and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
‘‘(3) STATE-LEVEL
EXPENSES.—Each State
may use not more than a total of 1⁄2 of 1 percent
of the amount the State receives under this part, or
$50,000, whichever is greater, for a fiscal year, for
the administrative costs of the State educational
agency.
‘‘(c) WITHIN STATE DISTRIBUTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives an
allotment under this section shall distribute the
amount of the allotted funds that remain after using
funds in accordance with subsection (b)(3) to local
educational agencies in the State, of which—
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‘‘(A) 80 percent of such remainder shall be
allocated to such local educational agencies in
proportion to the number of children, aged 5 to
17, who reside in the school district served by
such local educational agency and are from
families with incomes below the poverty line (as
defined by the Office of Management and
Budget and revised annually in accordance with
section 673(2) of the Community Services
Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) applica-
ble to a family of the size involved) for the most
recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data is
available compared to the number of such indi-
viduals who reside in the school districts served
by all the local educational agencies in the State
for that fiscal year, except that a State may ad-
just such data; and
‘‘(B) 20 percent of such remainder shall be
allocated to such local educational agencies in
accordance with the relative enrollments of chil-
dren, aged 5 to 17, in public and private non-
profit elementary schools and secondary schools
in the school districts within the boundaries of
such agencies.
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‘‘(2) AWARD
RULE.—Notwithstanding para-
graph (1), if the award to a local educational agency
under this section is less than the starting salary for
a new teacher in that agency, the State shall not
make the award unless—
‘‘(A) the local educational agency agrees to
form a consortium with not less than 1 other
local educational agency for the purpose of re-
ducing class size; or
‘‘(B) the local educational agency agrees to
supplement the award with non-Federal funds
sufficient to pay the cost of hiring a teacher.
‘‘SEC. 6605. USE OF FUNDS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agency
that receives funds under this part shall use such funds
to carry out effective approaches to reducing class size
with highly qualified teachers to improve educational
achievement for both regular and special-needs children,
with particular consideration given to reducing class size
in the early elementary grades for which some research
has shown class size reduction is most effective.
‘‘(b) CLASS REDUCTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each such local educational
agency may pursue the goal of reducing class size
through—
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‘‘(A) recruiting, hiring, and training cer-
tified regular and special education teachers
and teachers of special-needs children, including
teachers certified through State and local alter-
native routes;
‘‘(B) testing new teachers for academic
content knowledge, and to meet State certifi-
cation requirements that are consistent with
title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965;
and
‘‘(C) providing professional development to
teachers, including special education teachers
and teachers of special-needs children, con-
sistent with title II of the Higher Education
Act of 1965.
‘‘(2) RESTRICTION.—A local educational agency
may use not more than a total of 15 percent of the
funds received under this part for each of the fiscal
years 2000 through 2003 to carry out activities de-
scribed in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph
(1), and may not use any funds received under this
part for fiscal year 2004 or 2005 for those activities.
‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—A local educational agen-
cy that has already reduced class size in the early
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mitted under section 6303 a description of the agency’s
program under this part to reduce class size by hiring ad-
ditional highly qualified teachers.
‘‘SEC. 6608. REPORTS.
‘‘(a) STATE.—Each State receiving funds under this
part shall report on activities in the State under this sec-
tion, consistent with section 6202(a)(2).
‘‘(b) SCHOOL.—Each school receiving assistance
under this part, or the local educational agency serving
that school, shall produce an annual report to parents, the
general public, and the State educational agency, in easily
understandable language, regarding student achievement
that is a result of hiring additional highly qualified teach-
ers and reducing class size.’’.
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