HR 800 EAS

In the Senate of the United States,

March 11, 1999.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 800) entitled `An Act to provide for education flexibility partnerships.', do pass with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) States differ substantially in demographics, in school governance, and in school finance and funding. The administrative and funding mechanisms that help schools in 1 State improve may not prove successful in other States.

(2) Although the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and other Federal education statutes afford flexibility to State and local educational agencies in implementing Federal programs, certain requirements of Federal education statutes or regulations may impede local efforts to reform and improve education.

(3) By granting waivers of certain statutory and regulatory requirements, the Federal Government can remove impediments for local educational agencies in implementing educational reforms and raising the achievement levels of all children.

(4) State educational agencies are closer to local school systems, implement statewide educational reforms with both Federal and State funds, and are responsible for maintaining accountability for local activities consistent with State standards and assessment systems. Therefore, State educational agencies are often in the best position to align waivers of Federal and State requirements with State and local initiatives.

(5) The Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act allows State educational agencies the flexibility to waive certain Federal requirements, along with related State requirements, but allows only 12 States to qualify for such waivers.

(6) Expansion of waiver authority will allow for the waiver of statutory and regulatory requirements that impede implementation of State and local educational improvement plans, or that unnecessarily burden program administration, while maintaining the intent and purposes of affected programs, and maintaining such fundamental requirements as those relating to civil rights, educational equity, and accountability.

(7) To achieve the State goals for the education of children in the State, the focus must be on results in raising the achievement of all students, not process.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY; STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY- The terms `local educational agency' and `State educational agency' have the meanings given such terms in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(2) OUTLYING AREA- The term `outlying area' means Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

(3) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Education.

(4) STATE- The term `State' means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each outlying area.

SEC. 4. EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PARTNERSHIP.

(a) EDUCATION FLEXIBILITY PROGRAM-

(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED-

(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary may carry out an education flexibility program under which the Secretary authorizes a State educational agency that serves an eligible State to waive statutory or regulatory requirements applicable to 1 or more programs or Acts described in subsection (b), other than requirements described in subsection (c), for any local educational agency or school within the State.

(B) DESIGNATION- Each eligible State participating in the program described in subparagraph (A) shall be known as an `Ed-Flex Partnership State'.

(2) ELIGIBLE STATE- For the purpose of this subsection the term `eligible State' means a State that--

(A)(i) has--

(I) developed and implemented the challenging State content standards, challenging State student performance standards, and aligned assessments described in section 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, including the requirements of that section relating to disaggregation of data, and for which local educational agencies in the State are producing the individual school performance profiles required by section 1116(a) of such Act; or

(II) made substantial progress, as determined by the Secretary, toward developing and implementing the standards and assessments, and toward having local educational agencies in the State produce the profiles, described in subclause (I); and

(ii) holds local educational agencies and schools accountable for meeting educational goals and for engaging in the technical assistance and corrective actions consistent with section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, for the local educational agencies and schools that do not make adequate yearly progress as described in section 1111(b) of that Act; and

(B) waives State statutory or regulatory requirements relating to education while holding local educational agencies or schools within the State that are affected by such waivers accountable for the performance of the students who are affected by such waivers.

(3) STATE APPLICATION-

(A) IN GENERAL- Each State educational agency desiring to participate in the education flexibility program under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require. Each such application shall demonstrate that the eligible State has adopted an educational flexibility plan for the State that includes--

(i) a description of the process the State educational agency will use to evaluate applications from local educational agencies or schools requesting waivers of--

(I) Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A); and

(II) State statutory or regulatory requirements relating to education;

(ii) a detailed description of the State statutory and regulatory requirements relating to education that the State educational agency will waive;

(iii) a description of how the educational flexibility plan is consistent with and will assist in implementing the State comprehensive reform plan or, if a State does not have a comprehensive reform plan, a description of how the educational flexibility plan is coordinated with activities described in section 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

(iv) a description of how the State educational agency will meet the requirements of paragraph (8); and

(v) a description of how the State educational agency will evaluate, (consistent with the requirements of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965), the performance of students in the schools and local educational agencies affected by the waivers.

(B) APPROVAL AND CONSIDERATIONS- The Secretary may approve an application described in subparagraph (A) only if the Secretary determines that such application demonstrates substantial promise of assisting the State educational agency and affected local educational agencies and schools within the State in carrying out comprehensive educational reform, after considering--

(i) the eligibility of the State as described in paragraph (2);

(ii) the comprehensiveness and quality of the educational flexibility plan described in subparagraph (A);

(iii) the ability of such plan to ensure accountability for the activities and goals described in such plan;

(iv) the significance of the State statutory or regulatory requirements relating to education that will be waived; and

(v) the quality of the State educational agency's process for approving applications for waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A) and for monitoring and evaluating the results of such waivers.

(4) LOCAL APPLICATION-

(A) IN GENERAL- Each local educational agency or school requesting a waiver of a Federal statutory or regulatory requirement as described in paragraph (1)(A) and any relevant State statutory or regulatory requirement from a State educational agency shall submit an application to the State educational agency at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the State educational agency may reasonably require. Each such application shall--

(i) indicate each Federal program affected and the statutory or regulatory requirement that will be waived;

(ii) describe the purposes and overall expected results of waiving each such requirement;

(iii) describe for each school year specific, measurable, and educational goals for each local educational agency or school affected by the proposed waiver;

(iv) explain why the waiver will assist the local educational agency or school in reaching such goals; and

(v) in the case of an application from a local educational agency, describe how the local educational agency will meet the requirements of paragraph (8).

(B) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS- A State educational agency shall evaluate an application submitted under subparagraph (A) in accordance with the State's educational flexibility plan described in paragraph (3)(A).

(C) APPROVAL- A State educational agency shall not approve an application for a waiver under this paragraph unless--

(i) the local educational agency or school requesting such waiver has developed a local reform plan that is applicable to such agency or school, respectively; and

(ii) the waiver of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A) will assist the local educational agency or school in reaching its educational goals, particularly goals with respect to school and student performance.

(5) MONITORING AND PERFORMANCE REVIEW-

(A) MONITORING- Each State educational agency participating in the program under this section shall annually monitor the activities of local educational agencies and schools receiving waivers under this section and shall submit an annual report regarding such monitoring to the Secretary.

(B) PERFORMANCE REVIEW- The State educational agency shall annually review the performance of any local educational agency or school granted a waiver of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A) in accordance with the evaluation requirement described in paragraph (3)(A)(v), and shall terminate any waiver granted to the local educational agency or school if the State educational agency determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that the local educational agency or school's performance with respect to meeting the accountability requirement described in paragraph (2)(B) and the goals described in paragraph (4)(A)(iii) has been inadequate to justify continuation of such waiver.

(6) DURATION OF FEDERAL WAIVERS-

(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall not approve the application of a State educational agency under paragraph (3) for a period exceeding 5 years, except that the Secretary may extend such period if the Secretary determines that such agency's authority to grant waivers has been effective in enabling such State or affected local educational agencies or schools to carry out their local reform plans and to continue to meet the accountability requirement described in subsection (a)(2)(B), and has improved student performance.

(B) PERFORMANCE REVIEW- The Secretary shall periodically review the performance of any State educational agency granting waivers of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements as described in paragraph (1)(A) and shall terminate such agency's authority to grant such waivers if the Secretary determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that such agency's performance has been inadequate to justify continuation of such authority.

(7) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE WAIVERS- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized to carry out the education flexibility program under this subsection for each of the fiscal years 2000 through 2004.

(8) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT- Each State educational agency granted waiver authority under this section and each local educational agency receiving a waiver under this section shall provide the public adequate and efficient notice of the proposed waiver authority or waiver, consisting of a description of the agency's application for the proposed waiver authority or waiver in a widely read or distributed medium, shall provide the opportunity for parents, educators, and all other interested members of the community to comment regarding the proposed waiver authority or waiver, shall provide that opportunity in accordance with any applicable State law specifying how the comments may be received, and shall submit the comments received with the agency's application to the Secretary or the State educational agency, as appropriate.

(b) INCLUDED PROGRAMS- The statutory or regulatory requirements referred to in subsection (a)(1)(A) are any such requirements under the following programs or Acts:

(1) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (other than subsections (a) and (c) of section 1116 of such Act).

(2) Part B of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(3) Subpart 2 of part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (other than section 3136 of such Act).

(4) Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(5) Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(6) Part C of title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

(7) The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998.

(c) WAIVERS NOT AUTHORIZED- The Secretary and the State educational agency may not waive any statutory or regulatory requirement of the programs or Acts authorized to be waived under subsection (a)(1)(A)--

(1) relating to--

(A) maintenance of effort;

(B) comparability of services;

(C) the equitable participation of students and professional staff in private schools;

(D) parental participation and involvement;

(E) the distribution of funds to States or to local educational agencies;

(F) serving eligible school attendance areas in rank order under section 1113(a)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

(G) use of Federal funds to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds; and

(H) applicable civil rights requirements; and

(2) unless the underlying purposes of the statutory requirements of each program or Act for which a waiver is granted continue to be met to the satisfaction of the Secretary.

(d) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY-

(1) IN GENERAL- Each State educational agency that is granted waiver authority under the provisions of law described in paragraph (2) shall be eligible to continue the waiver authority under the terms and conditions of the provisions of law as the provisions of law are in effect on the date of enactment of this Act.

(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW- The provisions of law referred to in paragraph (1) are as follows:

(A) Section 311(e) of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act.

(B) The proviso referring to such section 311(e) under the heading `education reform' in the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1996 (Public Law 104-134; 110 Stat. 1321-229).

(e) ACCOUNTABILITY- In deciding whether to extend a request for a State educational agency's authority to issue waivers under this section, the Secretary shall review the progress of the State education agency, local educational agency, or school affected by such waiver or authority to determine if such agency or school has made progress toward achieving the desired results and goals described in the application submitted pursuant to clauses (ii) and (iii) of subsection (a)(4)(A), respectively.

(f) PUBLICATION- A notice of the Secretary's decision to authorize State educational agencies to issue waivers under this section, including a description of the rationale the Secretary used to approve applications under subsection (a)(3)(B), shall be published in the Federal Register and the Secretary shall provide for the dissemination of such notice to State educational agencies, interested parties, including educators, parents, students, advocacy and civil rights organizations, other interested parties, and the public.

SEC. 5. PROGRESS REPORTS.

The Secretary, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, shall submit to Congress a report that describes--

(1) the Federal statutory and regulatory requirements for which waiver authority is granted to State educational agencies under this Act;

(2) the State statutory and regulatory requirements that are waived by State educational agencies under this Act;

(3) the effect of the waivers upon implementation of State and local educational reforms; and

(4) the performance of students affected by the waivers.

SEC. 6. FLEXIBILITY TO DESIGN CLASS SIZE REDUCTION PROGRAMS.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that if part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) were fully funded, local educational agencies and schools would have the flexibility in their budgets to design class size reduction programs, or any other programs deemed appropriate by the local educational agencies and schools that best address their unique community needs and improve student performance.

(b) AMENDMENT- Section 307 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1999, is amended by adding after subsection (g) the following:

`(h) Notwithstanding subsections (b)(2), and (c) through (g), a local educational agency may use funds received under this section to carry out activities under part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) in accordance with the requirements of such part.'.

SEC. 7. FLEXIBILITY TO DEVELOP DROPOUT PREVENTION PROGRAMS.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that if part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) were fully funded, local educational agencies and schools would have the flexibility in their budgets to develop dropout prevention programs, or any other programs deemed appropriate by the local educational agencies and schools, that best address their unique community needs and improve student performance.

(b) AMENDMENT- Section 307 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1999, is amended by adding after subsection (g) the following:

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

In addition to other funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.), there are authorized to be appropriated $150,000,000 to carry out such part.

SEC. 9. FLEXIBILITY TO DEVELOP AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that if part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) were fully funded, local educational agencies and schools would have the flexibility in their budgets to develop afterschool programs, or any other programs deemed appropriate by the local educational agencies and schools, that best address their unique community needs and improve student performance.

(b) AMENDMENT- Section 307 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1999, is amended by adding after subsection (g) the following:

SEC. 10. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

SEC. 11. FLEXIBILITY TO DEVELOP PROGRAMS TO REDUCE SOCIAL PROMOTION AND ESTABLISH SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY PROCEDURES.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that if part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) were fully funded, local educational agencies and schools would have the flexibility in their budgets to develop programs to reduce social promotion, establish school accountability procedures, or any other programs deemed appropriate by the local educational agencies and schools, that best address their unique community needs and improve student performance.

(b) AMENDMENT- Section 307 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1999, is amended by adding after subsection (g) the following:

SEC. 12. ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL SETTING.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 615(k)(1)(A)(ii)(I) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(k)(1)(A)(ii)(I)) is amended to read as follows:

`(I) the child carries or possesses a weapon to or at school, on school premises, or to or at a school function under the jurisdiction of a State or a local educational agency; or'.

(b) APPLICATION- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to conduct occurring not earlier than the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 13. FURTHER AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

Attest:

Secretary.

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 800

AMENDMENT

END