[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3390 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3390

  To provide assistance to local elementary schools through its local 
  educational agency for the prevention and reduction of conflict and 
                               violence.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 27, 1993

   Mr. Rush introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide assistance to local elementary schools through its local 
  educational agency for the prevention and reduction of conflict and 
                               violence.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Conflict Resolution and Mediation 
Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the violence within elementary schools across the 
        Nation has escalated dramatically during the past 5 years, 
        spreading from inner cities to the suburbs;
            (2) violence is devastating the future generation of our 
        children, who are committing more serious crimes than ever 
        before;
            (3) juveniles between the ages of 10 and 17 accounted for 
        17 percent of all violent-crime arrests in 1991;
            (4) between 1987 and 1991, the number of youths arrested 
        for murder around the country increased by 85 percent;
            (5) 13 percent of all incidents involving guns in schools 
        occur in elementary and preschools;
            (6) an estimated 100,000 children bring guns to school 
        every day and that some 2,000 students and 40 teachers are 
        attacked every hour;
            (7) discipline problems plague classrooms and schools;
            (8) conflicts involving racial and cultural differences are 
        increasing, truancy is epidemic, and violence is escalating;
            (9) conflicts among students and between students and staff 
        occur with frequency and consume considerable teacher and 
        administrator time;
            (10) greater attempts are needed for establishing and 
        maintaining a conducive atmosphere for educating children in 
        potentially hostile school environments; and
            (11) local educational agencies are already financially 
        overwhelmed with trying to meet educational needs, therefore 
        Federal resources are needed to help confront violence and 
        crime within the schools.
    (b) Purposes.--The purpose of this Act is to provide assistance to 
local elementary schools through its local educational agency for the 
prevention and reduction of conflict and violence in schools throughout 
the country.

SEC. 3. CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND MEDIATION PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education is authorized to make 
grants to local elementary schools to provide assistance to schools 
most directly affected by conflict and violence.
    (b) Model Project.--The Secretary shall develop a written model for 
conflict resolution and mediation written within 90 days and make such 
model available to any local elementary school that requests such 
information.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be 
necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1999 to carry out 
the projects under this Act.

SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS.

    Grants made by the Secretary under this Act shall be used to 
develop programs for conflict resolution and mediation for students, 
teachers, and other personnel in regular contact with students at 
school.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.

    (a) In General.--In order to be eligible to receive a grant under 
this Act for any fiscal year, a local elementary school shall submit an 
application to the Secretary in such form and containing such 
information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
    (b) Requirements.--Each application under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) a request for funds for the purposes described in 
        section 2(b);
            (2) information of the school and communities to be served 
        by the grant, including the nature of the conflict and violence 
        problems within and around the school;
            (3) statistical information in such form and containing 
        such information that the Secretary may require regarding 
        conflict and violence within the elementary school and 
        surrounding communities; and
            (4) assurances that Federal funds received under this Act 
        shall be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds 
        that would otherwise be available for activities funded under 
        this Act.
    (c) Comprehensive Plan.--Each application shall include a 
comprehensive plan that shall contain--
            (1) a description of the conflict and violence problems 
        within the elementary school and surrounding community targeted 
        for assistance;
            (2) a description of the resources available in the 
        community to help implement the plan together with a 
        description of the areas in the plan that cannot be filled with 
        existing resources; and
            (3) a description of the system the applicant will 
        establish to prevent and reduce ongoing conflict and violence 
        problems.

SEC. 6. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON GRANTS.

    (a) Administrative Cost Limitation.--The Secretary shall use not 
more than 5 percent of the funds available under this Act for the 
purposes of administration and technical assistance.
    (b) Renewal of Grants.--A grant under this Act may be renewed for 
not more than 2 additional years after the first fiscal year during 
which the recipient receives an initial grant under this Act, subject 
to the availability of funds, if--
            (1) the Secretary determines that the funds made available 
        to the recipient during the previous year were used in a manner 
        required under the approved application; and
            (2) the Secretary determines that an additional grant is 
        necessary to implement the violence prevention program 
        described in the comprehensive plan as required by section 
        5(c).

SEC. 7. AWARD OF GRANTS.

    (a) Selection of Recipients.--The Secretary shall consider the 
following factors in awarding grants to local elementary schools:
            (1) Conflict and violence problem.--The nature and scope of 
        the violence problem in the targeted schools.
            (2) Need and ability.--Demonstrated need and evidence of 
        the ability to provide the services described in the plan 
        required under section 5(c).
            (3) Population.--The number of students to be served by the 
        plan required under section 5(c).
    (b) Geographic Distribution.--The Secretary shall attempt, to the 
extent practicable, to achieve an equitable geographic distribution of 
grant awards.

SEC. 8. REPORTS.

    (a) Reports.--Local elementary schools that receive funds under 
this Act shall submit to the Secretary a detailed report not later than 
March 1 of each year that describes progress achieved in carrying out 
the plan required under section 5(c).
    (b) Report to Congress.--The Secretary shall submit to the Congress 
a report by October 1 of each year in which grants are made available 
under this Act which shall contain a detailed statement regarding grant 
awards, activities of grant recipients, a compilation of statistical 
information submitted by applicants under section 5(b)(3), and an 
evaluation of programs established under this Act.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act:
            (1) The term ``local educational agency'' has the same 
        meaning given such term under section 1471(12) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Education.

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