kota Territories); and the Acts of Congress per-
taining to the admission of each of the States.) 
(5) Over the years since the landmark ruling in 
Brown v. Board of Education, when a unanimous 
United States Supreme Court held that ‘‘the oppor-
tunity of an education . . . , where the state has un-
dertaken to provide it, is a right which must be 
made available to all on equal terms’’, courts in 44 
of the States have heard challenges to the establish-
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 public school districts within States because 
the States relied too significantly on local district fi-
nancing for educational revenues, and that reforms 
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-
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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-
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 
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(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 
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 
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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 
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 fundamentals of edu-
cational opportunity 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 
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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 fundamentals of educational 
opportunity described in section 112(a) to enable the 
children 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 fun-
damentals of educational opportunity 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 
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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. 
TITLE I—EDUCATIONAL OPPOR-
TUNITY 
IN 
STATE 
PUBLIC 
SCHOOL SYSTEMS 
Subtitle A—Access to Educational 
Opportunity 
SEC. 111. ADEQUATE AND EQUITABLE STATE PUBLIC 
SCHOOL SYSTEMS. 
Each State receiving Federal financial assistance for 
elementary or secondary education shall maintain a public 
school system that meets the requirements of section 112 
and provides all students in the State with— 
(1) the educational resources needed to succeed 
academically and in life; and 
(2) an education that enables the students— 
(A) to acquire the knowledge and skills 
necessary for responsible citizenship; 
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(B) to participate fully in the political 
process through informed electoral choice; and 
(C) to be able to compete and succeed in 
a global economy. 
SEC. 112. STATE EDUCATIONAL ADEQUACY AND EQUITY 
REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) FUNDAMENTALS
OF
EDUCATIONAL
OPPOR-
TUNITY.—A State shall provide for all public schools in 
the State access, at levels defined by the State under sec-
tion 113 as ideal or adequate, to each of the following fun-
damentals of educational opportunity: 
(1) HIGH-QUALITY CLASSROOM TEACHERS AND 
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS.—High-quality classroom 
instruction and school-level administrators, as meas-
ured by the following: 
(A) The proportion of teachers in core aca-
demic subjects who are highly qualified (as that 
term is defined in section 9101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801)). 
(B) Leadership, management, and guid-
ance from school principals (and other school- 
level administrators) certified under an applica-
ble State or national program. 
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(2) RIGOROUS
ACADEMIC
STANDARDS, CUR-
RICULA, AND METHODS OF INSTRUCTION.—Rigorous 
academic standards, curricula, and methods of in-
struction, as measured by the extent to which each 
public school district succeeds in providing high- 
quality academic standards, curricula, and methods 
of instruction to students in each public elementary 
school and secondary school within the district. 
(3) SMALL CLASS SIZES.—Small class sizes, as 
measured by the following: 
(A) The average class size and the range 
of class sizes. 
(B) The proportion of classes with 17 or 
fewer students. 
(4) QUALITY FACILITIES, TEXTBOOKS, AND IN-
STRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES.—Quality 
school facilities, textbooks, and instructional mate-
rials and supplies, as measured by the following: 
(A)(i) The physical condition of school 
buildings and major school building features. 
(ii) Environmental conditions in school 
buildings. 
(iii) The quality of instructional space. 
(B) The proportion of students who begin 
the school year with school-issued textbooks. 
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(C) The average age of textbooks and in-
structional materials and supplies used in core 
academic subjects. 
(5) UP-TO-DATE LIBRARY RESOURCES.—High- 
quality, up-to-date, and state-of-the-art library re-
sources, as measured by the following: 
(A) The size and qualifications of library 
staff, including whether the library is staffed by 
a full-time librarian certified under an applica-
ble State or national program. 
(B) The size (relative to the number of 
students) and quality of the library’s collection 
of books and periodicals. 
(C) Hours of library operation. 
(6) UP-TO-DATE
COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY.— 
Computer technology, as measured by the following: 
(A) The ratio of computers to students. 
(B) The quality of computers and software 
available to students at school, including the 
type, processing speed, age, or version of such 
computers or software. 
(C) The availability of Internet access. 
(D) The quality of system maintenance 
and technical assistance for the computers. 
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(E) The number of computer laboratory 
courses taught by qualified computer instruc-
tors. 
(7) PUPIL
SERVICES
PERSONNEL.—Access to 
the services of qualified pupil services personnel, as 
measured by the ratio of students to respective pupil 
services personnel who have obtained certification 
under a State or national program in providing di-
rect professional services to students. 
(b) 
COMPARABLE
EDUCATIONAL
SERVICES.—A 
State shall provide educational services in public school 
districts that receive funds under part A of title I of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) that are, taken as a whole, at least 
comparable to educational services provided in public 
school districts not receiving such funds. 
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH COURT ORDERS.—A State 
shall comply with any substantive Federal or State court 
order in any matter concerning the adequacy or equity of 
the State’s public school system, to the extent required 
in the order. 
SEC. 113. STATE-ESTABLISHED STANDARDS FOR ACCESS 
TO EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out section 
112(a), a State educational agency, in consultation with 
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