[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2846 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 236
105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2846

                          [Report No. 105-409]

   To prohibit spending Federal education funds on national testing 
               without explicit and specific legislation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 6, 1997

  Mr. Goodling (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Roukema, Mr. Paul, Mr. 
Norwood, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Hilleary, Mr. Duncan, Mr. DeLay, Mr. 
Largent, Mr. Pappas, Ms. Waters, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Gingrich, 
Mr. Weldon of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Souder, Mr. Armey, Mr. Blunt, 
 Mr. Wicker, and Mr. Kasich) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

                            January 30, 1998

 Additional sponsors: Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Ehrlich, Mr. Istook, 
  Mr. Ensign, Mr. Dickey, Mr. Bachus, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. 
 Boehner, Mr. Canady of Florida, Mr. Riggs, Mr. Talent, Mr. Hoekstra, 
Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. 
   Owens, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. 
 Cannon, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Tiahrt, Mr. Goode, Mr. Moran of 
 Kansas, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. LaHood, Mrs. Linda Smith of Washington, Mr. 
    Salmon, Mr. Lewis of Kentucky, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Gibbons, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Taylor of North Carolina, Mr. Cunningham, 
   Mr. Portman, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Cox of California, Mr. 
 Bliley, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Dunn, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Crane, 
    Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. Neumann, Mr. Solomon, Mr. Combest, Mr. 
Collins, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Barrett of Nebraska, 
Mr. Hostettler, Mr. Hefley, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Bunning, Mr. 
 Herger, Mr. Jones, Mr. Bass, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Porter, Mr. Leach, Mr. 
 Sessions, Mr. Brady, Mr. Packard, Mr. Latham, Mr. Hastert, Mr. Klink, 
  Mr. Christensen, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Riley, Mr. Sununu, Mr. 
  Linder, Mr. Pickering, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Pitts, Mrs. Chenoweth, Mr. 
  Scarborough, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Bonilla, Mr. Gillmor, Mr. Thune, Mr. 
Goss, Mr. Smith of Oregon, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Inglis 
     of South Carolina, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Crapo, and Mr. 
                              Knollenberg
  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To prohibit spending Federal education funds on national testing 
               without explicit and specific legislation.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. PROHIBITION ON NATIONAL TESTING.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) General Education Provisions.--Part C of the General 
Education Provisions Act is amended by adding at the end the 
following:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``SEC. 447. PROHIBITION ON NATIONAL TESTING.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    ``(a) General Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of Federal law, funds provided to the Department of Education 
or to an applicable program under this Act or any other Act, may not be 
used to develop, plan, implement (including pilot testing or field 
testing), or administer any national testing program in reading or 
mathematics or any other subject that is not specifically and 
explicitly provided for in authorizing legislation enacted into 
law.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to the 
Third International Math and Science Study.''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Fund for the Improvement of Education.--Section 10101 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended--
</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
        (e); and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) by inserting after subsection (c), the 
        following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(d) General Prohibition.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of this section, funds provided under this section 
        may not be used to develop, plan, implement (including pilot 
        testing or field testing), or administer any national testing 
        program in reading or mathematics or any other subject that is 
        not specifically and explicitly provided for in authorizing 
        legislation enacted into law.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to 
        the Third International Math and Science Study.''.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) High State and local standards in reading, mathematics, 
        and other core academic subjects are essential to the future 
        well-being of elementary and secondary education in this 
        country.
            (2) State and local control of education is the hallmark of 
        education in the United States.
            (3) Each of the 50 States already utilizes numerous tests 
        to measure student achievement, including State and 
        commercially available assessments. State assessments are based 
        primarily upon State and locally developed academic standards.
            (4) Public Law 105-78, the Labor, Health and Human Services 
        and Education Appropriations Act, 1998, ensures that Federal 
        funds may not be used to field test, pilot test, implement, 
        administer, or distribute in any way, any federally sponsored 
        national test in fiscal year 1998, requires the National 
        Academy of Sciences to conduct a study to determine whether an 
        equivalency scale can be developed that would allow existing 
        tests to be compared one to another, and permits very limited 
        test development activities in fourth grade reading and eighth 
        grade mathematics in fiscal year 1998.
            (5) There is no specific or explicit authority in current 
        Federal law authorizing the proposed federally sponsored 
        national tests in fourth grade reading and eighth grade 
        mathematics.
            (6) The decision of whether or not this country implements, 
        administers, disseminates, or otherwise has federally sponsored 
        national tests in fourth grade reading and eighth grade 
        mathematics or any other subject, will be determined primarily 
        through the normal legislative process involving Congress and 
        the respective authorizing committees.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FEDERALLY SPONSORED TESTING.

    Part C of the General Education Provisions Act is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
``Sec. 447. Prohibition on federally sponsored testing
    ``(a) General Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
Federal law and, except as provided in sections 305 through 311 of 
Public Law 105-78, the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education 
Appropriations Act, 1998, funds provided to the Department of Education 
or to an applicable program under this Act or any other Act, may not be 
used to develop, plan, implement (including pilot testing or field 
testing), or administer any federally sponsored national test in 
reading, mathematics, or any other subject that is not specifically and 
explicitly provided for in authorizing legislation enacted into law.
    ``(b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to the Third 
International Math and Science Study or other international comparative 
assessments developed under authority of section 406(a)(6) of the 
National Education Statistics Act of 1994, and administered to only a 
representative sample of pupils in the United States and in foreign 
nations.''.
                                     





                                                 Union Calendar No. 236

105th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 2846

                          [Report No. 105-409]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To prohibit spending Federal education funds on national testing 
               without explicit and specific legislation.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            January 30, 1998

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed