retary that the waiver request has been granted, to
remove State statutory or regulatory barriers for
such local educational agency.
‘‘(c) APPROVAL AND NOTICE.—
‘‘(1) APPROVAL.—Except as provided in sub-
section (d), the Secretary shall approve the request
of a local educational agency to waive certain Fed-
eral statutory or regulatory requirements if—
‘‘(A) such agency complies with this sec-
tion; and
‘‘(B) the State in which such agency is lo-
cated has granted one or more of the waivers
sought by the local educational agency or agrees
to grant, not later than 90 days after notifica-
tion by the Secretary that the waiver request
has been granted, one or more waivers that the
State and local educational agency find mutu-
ally acceptable.
‘‘(2) NOTICE.—The Secretary shall notify each
local educational agency for which a waiver request
is submitted whether the request complies with the
requirements of this section not later than 60 days
after receiving the request. If the Secretary does not
notify the local educational agency, as required
under this paragraph, the application shall be con-
sidered, for purposes of this section, to have been
determined to comply with the requirements of this
section and the local educational agency shall be
considered to have been notified of compliance upon
the expiration of such 60-day period.
‘‘(d) PROHIBITION AGAINST CERTAIN WAIVERS.—
The Secretary shall not waive any of the following provi-
sions:
‘‘(1) CIVIL
RIGHTS.—Civil rights protections
and discrimination prohibitions, including the safety
and procedural provisions under title VI of the Civil
Rights Act, title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, or the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.
‘‘(2) SERVICES FOR DISABLED.—Services pro-
vided under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act.
‘‘(3) FISCAL
ACCOUNTABILITY
MEASURES.—
Fiscal accountability measures, including—
‘‘(A) maintenance of effort or comparabil-
ity of services requirements under any program;
and
‘‘(B) requirements that Federal funds sup-
plement, not supplant non-Federal funds.
‘‘(4) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—Requirements
to provide for—
‘‘(A) the equitable participation of private
school students and teachers; and
‘‘(B) parental involvement in program ac-
tivities and services.
SEC. 6. EVALUATION.
Part D of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 is amended—
(1) by adding at the end of section 6402 the
following new subsection:
‘‘(j) APPLICATION.—This section shall not apply to
funds that a State or local educational agency uses to es-
tablish a voluntary public and private parental choice pro-
gram in accordance with section 6301(b)(9).’’; and
(2) by adding at the end of such part the fol-
lowing new sections:
‘‘SEC. 6404. EVALUATION.
‘‘(a) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—
‘‘(1) CONTRACT.—The Comptroller General of
the United States shall enter into a contract, with
an evaluating agency that has demonstrated experi-
ence in conducting evaluations, for the conduct of an
ongoing rigorous evaluation of the programs estab-
lished under section 6301(b)(9).
‘‘(2) ANNUAL
EVALUATION
REQUIREMENT.—
The contract described in paragraph (1) shall re-
quire the evaluating agency entering into such con-
tract to evaluate annually each program established
under section 6301(b)(9) in accordance with the
evaluation criteria described in subsection (b) and
each such program that has applied for an education
flexibility waiver under section 6304.
‘‘(3) TRANSMISSION.—The contract described
in paragraph (1) shall require the evaluating agency
entering into such contract to transmit to the Comp-
troller General of the United States the findings of
each annual evaluation under paragraph (1).
‘‘(b) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—The Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States, in consultation with the Sec-
retary, shall establish minimum criteria for evaluating
each program established under section 6301(b)(9). Such
criteria shall provide for—
‘‘(1) a description of the implementation of
each program established under section 6301(b)(9)
and the program’s effects on all participants,
schools, and communities in the program area, with
particular attention given to the effect of parent par-
ticipation in the life of the school and the level of
parental satisfaction with the program; and
‘‘(2) a comparison of the educational achieve-
ment of all students in the program area, including
a comparison between—
‘‘(A) students receiving a voluntary public
and private parental choice scholarships under
section 6301(b)(9); and
‘‘(B) students not receiving a voluntary
public and private parental choice scholarships
under such section.
‘‘(c) EVALUATION FUNDS.—Pursuant to the author-
ity provided under section 14701, the Secretary shall re-
serve not more than 0.50 percent of the amount of funds
made available under section 6002 to carry out this sec-
tion. To determine the amount necessary for evaluation
purposes, the Secretary shall consider the prospective
scale and scope of the evaluation, including the number
of local educational agencies conducting voluntary public
and private choice programs.
‘‘SEC. 6405. APPLICABILITY.
‘‘(a) NOT SCHOOL AID.—Subject to subsection (b),
funds used under this title to establish a voluntary public
and private parental choice program shall be considered
assistance to the student and shall not be considered as
assistance to any school that chooses to participate in such
program.
‘‘(b) NO FEDERAL CONTROL.—The Secretary is not
permitted to exercise any direction, supervision, or control
over curricula, program of instruction, administration, or
personnel of any school that chooses to participate in a
voluntary public and private choice program established
under 6309(b)(9).’’.
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