[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2252 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2252

To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for the purpose of 
       extending the length of the academic year at such schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 4, 1995

Mr. Torricelli (for himself, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Lipinski, Ms. 
  Rivers, Mr. Frazer, and Mr. Serrano) introduced the following bill; 
    which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational 
                             Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide demonstration grants to secondary schools for the purpose of 
       extending the length of the academic year at such schools.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the President has set several ambitious national goals 
        to improve education in the United States as part of the 
        America 2000 program;
            (2) the length of the academic year at most elementary and 
        secondary schools in the United States consists of 
        approximately 175 to 180 academic days while the length of the 
        academic year at elementary and secondary schools in a majority 
        of the other industrialized countries consists of approximately 
        190 to 240 academic days;
            (3) an international testing organization has found in 
        various studies of 15 developed and less developed countries 
        that secondary students from the United States scored at or 
        near the bottom in geometry, advanced algebra, and calculus;
            (4) various studies indicate that extending the length of 
        the academic year at elementary and secondary schools results 
        in a significant increase in actual student learning time, even 
        when much of the time in the extended portion of the academic 
        year is used for increased teacher training and increased 
        parent-teacher interaction;
            (5) extending the length of the academic year at elementary 
        and secondary schools will lessen the need for review at the 
        beginning of an academic year of course material covered in the 
        previous academic year;
            (6) in 1988 the report entitled ``A Nation At Risk'' 
        recommended that school districts extend the length of the 
        academic year at elementary and secondary schools to 220 
        academic days and increase the academic day from 6 to 7 hours; 
        and
            (7) elementary and secondary schools in the United States 
        have increased the number and types of courses they offer 
        students, including health education courses and driver 
        education courses, without increasing the overall amount of 
        time spent for course instruction.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMONSTRATION GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall, from amounts appropriated 
under section 3, provide grants to secondary schools to extend the 
length of the academic year at such schools to not fewer than 200 
academic days. A grant under this subsection may extend over a period 
of not more than 3 fiscal years. The provision of payments under such 
grant shall be subject to annual approval by the Secretary and subject 
to the availability of appropriations for the fiscal year involved to 
make the payments.
    (b) Application Requirements.--To receive a grant under subsection 
(a), a secondary school shall submit to the Secretary an application 
which contains assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that--
            (1) such school will extend the length of each of the 3 
        consecutive academic years falling within the years for which 
        such school receives payments of a grant under subsection (a) 
        to not fewer than 200 academic days, with each such academic 
        day to consist of not fewer than 7 hours devoted to actual 
        instruction, as determined by the Secretary; and
            (2) except as provided in subsection (c), such school will 
        provide funds from non-Federal sources, in an amount equal to 
        20 percent of the Federal funds provided in the grant, for the 
        purpose of extending the length of its academic year.
    (c) Good-Faith Exception.--A secondary school shall be considered 
to have satisfied the requirement of subsection (b)(2) if such school 
makes a good-faith attempt to satisfy such requirement, as determined 
by the Secretary.
    (d) Selection Requirements.--The Secretary shall select secondary 
schools to receive grants under subsection (a) which--
            (1) have submitted an application in accordance with 
        subsection (b);
            (2) currently have academic years consisting of fewer than 
        200 academic days;
            (3) to the extent practicable, consist of a high percentage 
        of students from single-parent homes or homes where both 
        parents work; and
            (4) to the extent practicable, are located in economically 
        depressed communities which have a high percentage of 
        individuals--
                    (A) with alcohol abuse and other drug abuse 
                problems; and
                    (B) involved in gang-related activities.
    (e) Geographic Diversity Requirement.--To the extent practicable, 
the Secretary shall ensure that grants received by secondary schools 
under this Act are equitably distributed among the various regions of 
the United States and among rural and urban areas within such regions.
    (f) Selection of Replacement Schools.--If any secondary school 
which receives a grant under subsection (a) fails to comply with any of 
the requirements of the demonstration grant program, then the Secretary 
may select another secondary school which complies with such 
requirements to replace such school for the remaining number of years 
in such grant.
    (g) Notification Requirement.--The Secretary shall notify each 
State and local educational agency of a secondary school which receives 
a grant under subsection (a) that such school is participating in the 
demonstration grant program.
    (h) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study which shall--
            (1) include a test of the students at each secondary school 
        which receives a grant under subsection (a) by measuring the 
        extent to which the extended academic year increased the 
        learning retention of such students;
            (2) examine the effects of the extended academic year on 
        the learning process of such students in general, including the 
        extent to which the demonstration grant program has--
                    (A) increased the daily attendance rate and 
                decreased the drop-out rate of such students;
                    (B) increased the parental involvement at each such 
                school;
                    (C) increased the number of such students attending 
                post-secondary educational institutions;
                    (D) positively influenced the behavioral and social 
                skills of such students; and
                    (E) reduced alcohol abuse, other drug abuse, and 
                gang-related activities among such students; and
            (3) examine the extent to which such students, teachers, 
        parents of such students, and the local educational agency and 
        State educational agency of such secondary school, believe the 
        extended academic year to have been successful with respect to 
        the goals specified in paragraphs (1) and (2).
    (i) Reports.--
            (1) Preliminary report.--The Secretary shall submit a 
        preliminary report to the President, the Congress, and each 
        State educational agency of a secondary school which receives a 
        grant under subsection (a) not later than August 1, 1999, 
        containing--
                    (A) a compilation of the information resulting from 
                the study conducted pursuant to subsection (h);
                    (B) a description of the extent to which the 
                Secretary believes the demonstration grant program to 
                have been successful; and
                    (C) recommendations for changes and improvements in 
                such demonstration grant program.
            (2) Final report.--To the extent significant additional 
        information from the study is received after the submission of 
        the preliminary report pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall submit a final report containing such information to each 
        of the authorities described in paragraph (1) not later than 
        January 1, 2000.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 1997, 1998, and 1999, and such sums may remain available 
until expended.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The terms ``local educational agency'', ``State'', and 
        ``State educational agency'' have the respective meanings given 
        such terms in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965.
            (2) The term ``secondary school'' has the meaning given 
        such term in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965, except that such term does not include 
        any education provided below grade 7.
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        Education.
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