[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3876 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3876

                         To reduce class size.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 1998

Mr. Clay (for himself, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Strickland, Mr. Gephardt, Mr. 
 Bonior, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Wise, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Ford, Mr. 
    Kildee, Mr. Payne, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mrs. Lowey, Mrs. Kennelly of 
 Connecticut, Mr. Pastor, Ms. Carson, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. 
  Engel, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Gejdenson, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr. Wynn, Ms. 
 Velazquez, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Kind, Mr. Stark, Mr. Allen, Mr. Davis of 
Florida, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Scott, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Neal 
of Massachusetts, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Obey, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Owens, Ms. 
Woolsey, Ms. Norton, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Torres, 
 Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Pomeroy, and Mr. Hoyer) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                         To reduce class size.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Class-Size 
Reduction and Teacher Quality Act of 1998''.
    (b) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Rigorous research has shown that students attending 
        small classes in the early grades make more rapid educational 
        progress than students in larger classes, and that these 
        achievement gains persist through at least the elementary 
        grades.
            (2) The benefits of smaller classes are greatest for lower-
        achieving, minority, poor, and inner-city children. One study 
        found that urban fourth-graders in smaller-than-average classes 
        were three-quarters of a school year ahead of their 
        counterparts in larger-than-average classes.
            (3) Teachers in small classes can provide students with 
        more individualized attention, spend more time on instruction 
        and less on other tasks, and cover more material effectively, 
        and are better able to work with parents to further their 
        children's education.
            (4) Smaller classes allow teachers to identify and work 
        more effectively with students who have learning disabilities 
        and, potentially, can reduce those students' need for special 
        education services in the later grades.
            (5) Students in smaller classes are able to become more 
        actively engaged in learning than their peers in large classes.
            (6) Efforts to improve educational achievement by reducing 
        class sizes in the early grades are likely to be more 
        successful if well-prepared teachers are hired and 
        appropriately assigned to fill additional classroom positions 
        and if teachers receive intensive, continuing training in 
        working effectively in smaller classroom settings.
            (7) Several States have begun a serious effort to reduce 
        class sizes in the early elementary grades, but these actions 
        may be impeded by financial limitations or difficulties in 
        hiring well-prepared teachers.
            (8) The Federal Government can assist in this effort by 
        providing funding for class-size reductions in grades one 
        through three, and by helping to ensure that the new teachers 
        brought into the classroom are well prepared.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to help States and local educational 
agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional teachers over a 
seven-year period in order to--
            (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades 1 through 3, 
        to an average of 18 students per classroom; and
            (2) improve teaching in the early grades so that all 
        students can learn to read independently and well by the end of 
        the third grade.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM FUNDING.

    For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are appropriated 
out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated 
$1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $1,300,000,000 for fiscal year 
2000, $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, $1,700,000,000 for fiscal 
year 2002, $1,735,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, $2,300,000,000 for 
fiscal year 2004, and $2,800,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2005 
through 2008.

SEC. 4. ALLOCATIONS TO STATES.

    (a) Reservation for Evaluation.--From the amount appropriated by 
section 3 for each fiscal year, the Secretary may reserve up to $2 
million to carry out the evaluation described in section 13.
    (b) Reservation for the Outlying Areas and the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs.--Of the amount appropriated by section 3 for each fiscal year 
and remaining after any reservation under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall reserve a total of not more than 1 percent to make payments, on 
the basis of their respective needs, to--
            (1) American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for activities, 
        approved by the Secretary, consistent with this Act; and
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior for activities, approved 
        by the Secretary, consistent with this Act in schools operated 
        or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
    (c) Allocations to States.--(1) After reserving funds under 
subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall allocate to each State an 
amount that bears the same relationship to the remaining amount as the 
amount of funding the State received under section 1122 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the previous fiscal 
year bore to the total amount available for allocation under that 
section.
    (2) If any State chooses not to participate in the program under 
this Act, or fails to submit an approvable application, the Secretary 
shall reallocate its allocation to the remaining States, in accordance 
with paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Application Required.--The State educational agency of each 
State desiring to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an 
application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application shall include--
            (1) the State's goals for using funds under this Act to 
        reduce average class sizes in regular classrooms in grades 1 
        through 3, including--
                    (A) a description of current regular classroom 
                class sizes in the local educational agencies of the 
                State;
                    (B) a description of the State's plan for using 
                funds under this Act to reduce the average class size 
                in regular classrooms in those grades; and
                    (C) the regular classroom class-size goals the 
                State intends to reach and a justification for those 
                goals;
            (2) a description of the State educational agency's plan 
        for allocating program funds within the State, including--
                    (A) an estimate of the impact of those allocations 
                on class sizes in the individual local educational 
                agencies of the State;
                    (B) an assurance that the State educational agency 
                will make this plan public within the State; and
                    (C) a description of the current and projected 
                capacity of the State's school facilities to 
                accommodate reduced class sizes;
            (3) a description of the State educational agency's 
        strategy for improving teacher quality in grades 1 through 3 
        within the State (which may be part of a broader strategy to 
        improve teacher quality generally), including--
                    (A) the actions it will take to ensure the 
                availability, within the State, of a pool of well-
                prepared, certified teachers to fill the positions 
                created with funds under this Act; and
                    (B) a description of how the State educational 
                agency and the local educational agencies in the State 
                will ensure that--
                            (i) individuals hired for positions created 
                        with program funds (which may include 
                        individuals who have pursued ``alternative 
                        routes'' to certification) will meet all of the 
                        State's current requirements for full 
                        certification, or will be making satisfactory 
                        progress toward achieving full certification 
                        within three years;
                            (ii) teachers in first through third grade 
                        will be prepared to teach reading effectively 
                        to all children, including those with special 
                        needs, and will take part in continuing 
                        professional development in effective reading 
                        instruction and in teaching effectively in 
                        small classes; and
                            (iii) individuals hired as beginning 
                        teachers in first through third grade will be 
                        required to pass a teacher competency test 
                        selected by the State;
            (4) a description of how the State will use other funds, 
        including other Federal funds, to improve teacher quality and 
        reading achievement within the State;
            (5) a description of how the State will hold local 
        educational agencies that use a significant portion of their 
        allocations under section 8(a)(2)(B) accountable for that use 
        of funds;
            (6) an assurance that the local educational agency and its 
        schools will comply with the requirements of subsections (a) 
        and (b) of section 11; and
            (7) an assurance that the State educational agency will 
        submit such reports and information as the Secretary 
may reasonably require.
    (c) Approval of Applications.--The Secretary shall approve a 
State's application if it meets the requirements of this section and 
holds reasonable promise of achieving the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 6. WITHIN-STATE ALLOCATIONS.

    (a) State-Level Expenses.--Each State may use not more than a total 
of one-half of one percent of the amount it receives under this part 
for any fiscal year or $50,000, whichever is greater, for the 
administration costs of the State educational agency and for State-
level activities described in section 7.
    (b) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies.--(1) Each State shall 
use the remainder of its allocation to make subgrants to local 
educational agencies, for the purpose of reducing class size and 
improving instruction in grades 1 through 3, on the basis of--
            (A) current or projected regular classroom class sizes in 
        grades 1 through 3 in those agencies; and
            (B) the relative ability and effort of those agencies to 
        finance class-size reductions with their own funds.
    (2) Each State shall make the allocations described in paragraph 
(1) in such manner as to enable local educational agencies to reduce 
their average class sizes in regular classrooms, in grades 1 through 3, 
to the average class size proposed in the State application.
    (3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), each State shall ensure, in 
allocating funds under this subsection, that each local educational 
agency in which at least 30 percent of the children are from low-income 
families, or in which there are at least 10,000 children from such 
families, receives at least the same share of those funds as it 
received of the State's allocation under section 1122 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for the preceding fiscal year.
    (c) Maintenance of Effort.--(1) A local educational agency may 
receive an allocation under this section for any fiscal year only if it 
submits to, or has on file with, the State educational agency an 
assurance that it will spend at least as much from non-Federal sources 
as it spent in the previous year for the combination of--
            (A) teachers in regular classrooms in grades 1 through 3 in 
        schools receiving benefits under this Act; and
            (B) the quality-improvement activities described in section 
        8(b).
    (2) The Secretary may waive or modify the requirement of paragraph 
(1) for a local educational agency if the Secretary determines that 
doing so would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrollable 
circumstances affecting that agency.

SEC. 7. STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.

    East State educational agency may use the funds it reserves for 
State-level activities under section 6(a) to carry out activities 
described in its application, which may include such activities as--
            (1) strengthening State teacher licensure and certification 
        standards;
            (2) developing or strengthening, and administering, teacher 
        competency tests for beginning teachers; and
            (3) program monitoring and other administrative costs 
        associated with operating the program.

SEC. 8. USES OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--(1) Each local educational agency shall use all 
funds it receives from the State under this Act, except for funds it 
reserves under subsection (b), to pay the salaries of, and benefits 
for, the additional teachers needed to reduce class sizes in grades 1 
through 3 to the level set by the State as its goal in the State 
application.
    (2) A local educational agency that has already reached this level 
may use those funds to--
            (A) make further class-size reductions in grades 1 through 
        3;
            (B) reduce class sizes in kindergarten or other grades; or
            (C) undertake quality-improvement activities under 
        subsection (b).
    (b) Quality Improvement.--(1) Each local educational agency shall 
use at least 10 percent of the funds it receives under this Act for 
each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003 for activities to ensure 
that teachers who will teach smaller classes are prepared to teach 
reading and other subjects effectively in a smaller class setting.
    (2) The activities described in paragraph (1) may include--
            (A) training teachers in effective reading instructional 
        practices (including practices for teaching students who 
        experience initial difficulty in learning to read) and in 
        effective instructional practices in small classes;
            (B) paying the costs for uncertified teachers hired in 
        grades 1 through 3 to obtain full certification within three 
        years;
            (C) providing mentors or other support for teachers in 
        grades 1 through 3;
            (D) improving recruitment of teachers for schools that have 
        a particularly difficult time hiring certified instructors; and
            (E) providing scholarships or other aid for education and 
        education-related expenses to paraprofessionals or 
        undergraduate students in order to expand the pool of well-
        prepared and certified teachers.

SEC. 9. COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of activities 
carried out under this Act may be up to 100 percent in local 
educational agencies with child-poverty levels greater than 40 percent, 
but shall be no more than--
            (1) 95 percent in local educational agencies with child-
        poverty rates of more than 30 percent but not more than 40 
        percent;
            (2) 85 percent in local educational agencies with child-
        poverty rates of more than 20 percent but not more than 30 
        percent;
            (3) 75 percent in local educational agencies with child-
        poverty rates of more than 10 percent but not more than 20 
        percent; and
            (4) 65 percent in local educational agencies with child-
        poverty rates of not more than 10 percent.
    (b) Local Share.--A local educational agency shall provide the non-
Federal share of a project under this Act through cash expenditures 
from non-Federal sources, except that if an agency has allocated funds 
under section 1113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 to one or more schoolwide programs under section 1114 of that Act, 
it may use those funds for the non-Federal share of activities under 
this program that benefit those schoolwide programs, to the extent 
consistent with section 1120A(c) of that Act and notwithstanding 
section 1114(a)(3)(B) of that Act.

SEC. 10. CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any funds received 
under this Act by a State or by a local educational agency shall remain 
available for obligation and expenditure by the State or local agency 
for one fiscal year beyond the fiscal year described in section 421(b) 
of the General Educational Provisions Act.

SEC. 11. ACCOUNTABILITY.

    (a) School Report.--Each school benefitting from the program under 
this Act, or the local educational agency for that school, shall 
produce an annual report to parents and the general public on its 
student achievement in reading (using available evidence of reading 
achievement of its students in grades 1 through 5 and the assessments 
the State uses under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965, disaggregated as required under that part), 
average class size in its regular classrooms, and teacher certification 
and related academic qualifications in grades 1 through 3.
    (b) Local Educational Agency Reports.--(1) Interm Reports.--Each 
local educational agency shall provide each year, to its State 
educational agency, a report summarizing the information reported by, 
or for, its schools under subsection (a).
    (2) Subsequent Reports.--Within three years of receiving funding 
under this Act, and each year thereafter, each local educational agency 
shall provide evidence, to its State educational agency, of the reading 
achievement of its students, in grade 3, 4, or 5 in schools served 
under this Act, which shall be--
            (A) in a form determined by the State educational agency;
            (B) based on the assessments that the local educational 
        agency is using under title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965, or on comparably rigorous State or local 
        assessments; and
            (C) disaggregated to show the achievement of students in 
        individual schools and of students separately by race and by 
        gender, as well as for students with disabilities, students 
        with limited English proficiency, migrant students, and 
        students who are economically disadvantaged.
    (c) Program-Improvement Plan.--A local educational agency with 
schools that fail to show improvement in reading achievement within 
three years of receiving funds under this Act shall, with the approval 
of the State educational agency, develop and implement a program-
improvement plan to improve student performance.
    (d) Reduced Local Allocations.--If a school participating in the 
program under this Act fails to show improvement in reading achievement 
of its students within two years after the local educational agency 
develops a plan subsection (b), the State educational agency shall 
reduce the allocation to that local agency by an amount equal to the 
share of the local agency's allocation attributable to that school.

SEC. 12. PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL TEACHERS.

    Each local educational agency receiving funds under this Act shall, 
after timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate private 
school officials, provide for the inclusion (in a manner proportionate 
to the number of children residing in the area served by the agency's 
project under this Act who attend private schools) of private school 
teachers in the professional-development activities the agency and its 
schools carry out with those funds.

SEC. 13. EVALUATION.

    With funds reserved under section 4(a), the Secretary shall carry 
out an evaluation of the program authorized by this Act, including a 
measurement of its effectiveness in accordance with the Government 
Performance and Results Act of 1993.

SEC. 14. WAIVERS.

    The Secretary may, at the request of a State educational agency, 
waiver or modify a requirement of this Act if the Secretary determines 
that such requirement impedes the ability of the State to carry out the 
purpose of this Act and that providing a waiver would better promote 
the purpose of this Act.

SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following terms have the following 
meanings:
            (1) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given that term in section 14101(18) 
        (A) and (B) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
        1965.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
                                 <all>