Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-06-06 00:00:00

Every Child Ready for College or Career Act of 2013 - Revises and reauthorizes programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

Title I: Improving Basic Programs Operated by State and Local Educational Agencies - Amends the school improvement program under part A of title I of the ESEA to eliminate the requirement that local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools make adequate yearly progress toward state academic content and achievement standards.

Requires states to adopt challenging academic content and achievement standards for mathematics, reading or language arts, and science that ensure that all of their public school students graduate from high school fully prepared for postsecondary education or the workforce.

Requires states to implement a set of high-quality assessments of student progress toward those standards in mathematics and reading or language arts that: (1) involve multiple measures of student achievement; (2) measure the overall performance of students in each public school and the performance of their poor, minority, disabled, and English learner subgroups; and (3) are used as the primary means of determining the yearly performance of each of their schools.

Allows states to adopt alternate academic achievement standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

Requires states to annually: (1) identify their public schools that need improvement based on the overall performance of their students, achievement gaps between student subgroups, or graduation rates; and (2) assist their LEAs in developing and implementing appropriate improvement strategies for such schools.

Includes among the assistance strategies that LEAs must develop for schools their state has identified as needing improvement:

 replacing the school's principal; replacing ineffective teachers; giving the school the operational flexibility needed to fully implement a comprehensive strategy to improve student achievement; providing ongoing, high-quality professional development to instructional staff; implementing strategies to recruit, place, and retain effective staff; using data to identify and implement an instructional program that is aligned with state academic standards or to inform and differentiate instruction that meets the needs of individual students; converting a school or closing and reopening the school; closing a school and enrolling it students in higher performing schools; and adopting a new governance structure for the school. Allows LEAs to give students in those schools the option to transfer to another public school in their jurisdiction, provided the option is not prohibited by state law.

Eliminates the requirement that all teachers be highly qualified, requiring instead that they meet applicable state certification and licensure requirements.

Authorizes states to allocate their part A grants among LEAs on the basis of the number of impoverished children enrolled in each LEA's public schools.

Replaces the program under part B (Student Reading Skills Improvement Grants) with a program awarding grants to states to assist them in developing academic assessments and academic content and achievement standards.

Repeals: (1) the demonstrations of innovative practices, assessment evaluation, and Close Up Fellowship programs under part E; (2) part F (Comprehensive School Reform); (3) part G (Advanced Placement Programs); and (4) part H (School Dropout Prevention) of title I of the ESEA.

Eliminates fiscal maintenance of effort requirements imposed on LEAs receiving funds under part A.

Title II: High-Quality Teachers and Principals - Creates a new title II (Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals) of the ESEA consisting of a part A (Fund for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning) and part B (Teacher Incentive Fund).

Moves teacher liability and internet safety provisions to title IX of the ESEA.

Allocates part A grants to states and, through them, subgrants to LEAs pursuant to a formula that apportions: (1) 20% of the funding to states and LEAs on the basis of their share of students aged 5-17 on the national and state level, respectively; and (2) 80% of such funding on the basis of their share of impoverished students in that age group.

Requires states to use 95% of those funds for subgrants to LEAs, with the remainder being used for specified state activities.

Lists the projects which the subgrants may fund, including: (1) teacher and principal recruitment, training, and retention efforts; (2) teacher and principal evaluation systems that are based in significant part on student achievement; (3) model instructional programs in the core academic subjects; (4) measures that improve students' access to school library materials, postsecondary level coursework, and extended learning opportunities; and (5) the provision of general liability insurance coverage to teachers.

Requires those projects to meet certain principles of effectiveness and undergo a periodic evaluation to assess their progress in providing students with a high-quality education in the core academic subjects that improves student academic achievement.

Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide technical assistance to part A grantees and subgrantees; (2) evaluate part A activities; and (3) award competitive matching grants to institutions of higher education or national educational organizations to provide LEAs with teachers and school leaders from nontraditional routes, professional development activities, and other services and learning opportunities.

Directs the Secretary to reserve at least 10% of the funding under title II for the part B program, after reserving funds for certain national activities under part A.

Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants under part B to states, LEAs, or partnerships between those entities and profit or nonprofit organizations to develop, implement, improve, or expand performance-based compensation systems for teachers and principals.

Requires priority to be given to grant applicants that focus on teachers and principals serving in high-need schools.

Directs the Secretary to arrange for an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of part B programs.

Title III: Safe and Healthy Students - Replaces title IV (21st Century Schools) of the ESEA with a new title IV (Safe and Healthy Students) program.

Moves the gun-free schools requirement and part C (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) of title IV to title IX (General Provisions) of the ESEA.

Allots grants to states and, through them, subgrants to LEAs in amounts that reflect their share of impoverished children aged 5-17 on the national and state level, respectively.

Requires states to use 98% of those funds for subgrants to LEAs.

Requires the subgrants to be used to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive programs and activities that: (1) improve students' physical and mental health, diet, and physical fitness; (2) prevent and reduce substance abuse, school violence, and bullying; and (3) strengthen parent and community involvement in these efforts.

Requires those programs and activities to meet certain principles of effectiveness and undergo a periodic evaluation to assess their progress in improving students' safety, health, and fitness.

Title IV: Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools - Repeals part A (Innovative Programs), subpart 3 (Voluntary Public School Choice Programs) of part B (Public Charter Schools), and part D (Fund for the Improvement of Education) of title V (Promoting Informed Parental Choice and Innovative Programs) of the ESEA.

Revises the program currently under subpart 1 (Charter School Programs) of part B and subsumes the program currently under subpart 2 (Credit Enhancement Initiatives to Assist Charter School Facility Acquisition, Construction, and Renovation) under that revised program.

Replaces the current charter school grant program with a program awarding renewable competitive grants to states, authorized public chartering agencies, and LEAs and, through them, renewable subgrants to charter school developers to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools.

Requires such grantees to use 10% of the grant funds to provide technical assistance to subgrantees and authorized public chartering agencies and to work with those agencies to improve the charter school authorization process.

Makes authorized public chartering agencies, LEAs, and charter management organizations eligible to receive renewable competitive grants to open new charter schools and expand and replicate high-quality charter schools.

Revises the per-pupil facilities aid program (under which the Secretary makes competitive matching grants to states to provide per-pupil financing to charter schools) to allow states to: (1) partner with organizations to provide up to 50% of the state share of funding for the program; and (2) receive more than one program grant, so long as the amount of the grant funds provided to charter schools increases with each successive grant.

Directs the Secretary to conduct certain national activities that include awarding competitive grants directly to charter school developers to open, replicate, and expand charter schools in states that have not received, or are nearing the end of, a grant for that purpose.

Allows charter schools to serve prekindergarten or postsecondary school students.

Title V: State Innovation and Flexibility - Amends title VI (Flexibility and Accountability) of the ESEA to allow LEAs to transfer up to 100% of their allocations under titles II and IV between the two programs or into the school improvement program under part A of title I. Allows states to do the same with the amounts allotted to them under such programs for state level activities.

 Amends title IX (General Provisions) of the ESEA to revise the process by which states, LEAs, and Indian tribes obtain waivers of the Act's statutory and regulatory requirements. Prohibits the Secretary from imposing requirements on states, LEAs, or Indian tribes in exchange for the approval of a waiver request.

Repeals the requirement that LEAs maintain their education funding at certain levels in order to receive funds under covered ESEA programs.

Establishes an approval and disapproval process for state plans and LEA applications under titles II and IV of the ESEA.

Title VI: Extensions of Authorizations - Reauthorizes appropriations under the ESEA and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act through FY2018.