[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2044 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2044

    To assist urban and rural local education agencies to raise the 
             academic achievement of all of their students.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 7, 1998

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Levin, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Dodd, 
Mr. Kerry, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Glenn, Ms. Moseley-Braun, and 
Mr. Wellstone) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To assist urban and rural local education agencies to raise the 
             academic achievement of all of their students.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be 
cited as the ``Education Opportunity Zones Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Students in schools that have high concentrations of 
        poor children begin school academically behind their peers in 
        other schools and are often unable to close the gap as they 
        progress through school. In later years, these students are 
        less likely than other students to attend a college or 
        university and more likely to experience unemployment.
            (2) Many children who attend these high-poverty schools 
        lack access to the challenging curricula, well-prepared 
        teachers, and high expectations that make better achievement 
        possible. More specifically, they are often educated in over-
        crowded classrooms and by teachers who are assigned to teach in 
        subject areas outside their areas of certification.
            (3) Data from the National Assessment of Educational 
        Progress consistently show large gaps between the achievement 
        of students in high-poverty schools and those in other schools. 
        High-poverty schools will face special challenges in preparing 
        their students to reach high standards of performance on 
        national and State assessments, such as voluntary national 
        tests and the assessments States are developing under the Goals 
        2000 and ESEA, Title I programs.
            (4) Recent reports have found that students in urban 
        districts are more likely to attend high-poverty schools; more 
        frequently taught by teachers possessing only an emergency or 
        temporary license; and less likely to score above the basic 
        level on achievement tests than are nonurban students.
            (5) High-poverty rural schools, because of their isolation, 
        small size, and low levels of resources, also face particular 
        challenges. For example, teachers in rural districts are nearly 
        twice as likely as other teachers to provide instruction in 
        three or more subjects.
            (6) Notwithstanding these general trends, some high-poverty 
        school districts have shown that they can increase student 
        achievement, if they adopt challenging standards for all 
        children, focus on improving curriculum and instruction, expand 
        educational choice among public schools for parents and 
        students, adopt other components of systemic educational 
        reform, and hold schools, staff, and students accountable for 
        results.
            (7) Districts that have already established the policies 
        needed to attain widespread student achievement gains, and have 
attained those gains in some of their schools, can serve as models for 
other districts desiring to improve the academic achievements of their 
students. The Federal Government can spur more districts in this 
direction by providing targeted resources for urban and rural districts 
willing to carry out solid plans for improving the educational 
achievements of all their children.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to assist urban and rural educational 
agencies that--
            (1) have high concentrations of children from low-income 
        families;
            (2) have a record of achieving high educational outcomes, 
        in at least some of their schools;
            (3) are implementing standards-based systemic reform 
        strategies; and
            (4) are keeping their schools safe and drug-free, to pursue 
        further reforms and raise the academic achievement of all their 
        students.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following terms have the following 
meanings:
            (1) The term ``central city'' has the meaning given that 
        term by the Office of Management and Budget.
            (2) The term ``high-poverty local educational agency'' 
        means a local educational agency in which the percentage of 
        children, ages 5 through 17, from families with incomes below 
        the poverty level is 20 percent or greater or the number of 
        such children exceeds 10,000.
            (3) The term ``local educational agency''--
                    (A) has the meaning given that term in section 
                14101(18) (A) and (B) of the Elementary and Secondary 
                Education Act of 1965; and
                    (B) includes elementary and secondary schools 
                operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
            (4) The term ``metropolitan statistical area'' has the 
        meaning given that term by the Office of Management and Budget.
            (5) The term ``rural locality'' means a locality that is 
        not within a metropolitan statistical area and has a population 
        of less than 25,000.
            (6) The term ``urban locality'' means a locality that is--
                    (A) a central city of a metropolitan statistical 
                area; or
                    (B) any other locality within a metropolitan 
                statistical area, if that area has a population of at 
                least 400,000 or a population density of at least 6,000 
                persons per square mile.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY.

    (a) Eligible LEAs.--(1) A local educational agency is eligible to 
receive a grant under this Act if it is--
            (A) a high-poverty local educational agency; and
            (B) located in, or serves, either an urban locality or a 
        rural locality.
    (2) Two or more local educational agencies described in paragraph 
(1) may apply for, and receive a grant under this Act as a consortium.
    (b) Determination of Eligibility.--The Secretary shall determine 
which local educational agencies meet the eligibility requirements of 
subsection (a) on the basis of the most recent data that are 
satisfactory to the Secretary.

SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Applications Required.--In order to receive a grant under this 
Act, an eligible local educational agency 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 evidence that the 
local educational agency meets each of the following conditions:
            (1) It has begun to raise student achievement, as measured 
        by State assessments under title III of the Goals 2000: Educate 
        America Act, title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965, or comparably rigorous State or local assessments; 
        or it has shown significant progress on other measures of 
        educational performance, including school attendance, high 
        school completion, and school safety. Student achievement 
        evidence shall include data disaggregated to show the 
        achievement of students separately by race and by gender, as 
        well as for students with disabilities, students with limited 
        English proficiency, and students who are economically 
        disadvantaged (compared to students who are not economically 
        disadvantaged), throughout the district or, at a minimum, in 
        schools that have implemented a comprehensive school 
        improvement strategy.
            (2) It expects all students to achieve to challenging State 
        or local content standards, it has adopted or is developing or 
        adopting assessments aligned with those standards, and it has 
        implemented or is implementing comprehensive reform policies 
        designed to assist all children to achieve to the standards.
            (3) It has entered into a partnership that includes the 
        active involvement of representatives of local organizations 
        and agencies and other members of the community, including 
        parents, and is designed to guide the implementation of the 
        local educational agency's comprehensive reform strategy.
            (4) It has put (or is putting) into place effective 
        educational reform policies, including policies that--
                    (A) hold schools accountable for helping all 
                students, including students with limited English 
                proficiency and students with disabilities, reach high 
                academic standards. The application shall describe how 
                the agency will reward schools that succeed and 
                intervene in schools that fail to make progress;
                    (B) require all students, including students with 
                disabilities and students with limited English 
                proficiency, to meet academic standards before being 
                promoted to the next grade level at key transition 
                points in their careers or graduating from high school. 
                The application shall describe the local educational 
                agency's strategy for providing students with a rich 
                curriculum tied to high standards, and with well-
                prepared teachers and class sizes conducive to high 
                student achievement;
                    (C) identify, during the early stages of their 
                academic careers, students who have difficulty in 
                achieving to high standards, and provide them with more 
                effective educational interventions or additional 
                learning opportunities such as after-school programs, 
                so that the students are able to meet the standards at 
                key transition points in their academic careers;
                    (D) hold teachers, principals, and superintendents 
                accountable for quality, including a description of the 
                local educational agency's strategies for ensuring 
                quality through, among other things--
                            (i) development of clearly articulated 
                        standards for teachers and school 
                        administrators, and development, in cooperation 
                        with teacher organizations, of procedures for 
                        identifying, working with, and, if necessary, 
                        quickly but fairly removing teachers and 
                        administrators who fail to perform at adequate 
                        levels, consistent with State law and locally 
                        negotiated agreements;
                            (ii) implementation of a comprehensive 
                        professional development plan for teachers and 
                        instructional leaders, such as a plan developed 
                        under title II of the Elementary and Secondary 
                        Education Act of 1965; and
                            (iii) encouraging excellent teaching, such 
                        as by providing incentives for teachers to 
                        obtain certification by the National Board for 
                        Professional Teaching Standards; and
                    (E) provide students and parents with expanded 
                choice within public education.
            (5) It is working effectively to keep its schools safe, 
        disciplined, and drug-free.
    (c) Description of Proposed Program.--The application shall also 
include a description of how the local educational agency will use the 
grant made available under this Act, including descriptions of--
            (1) how the district will use all available resources 
        (Federal, State, local, and private) to carry out its reform 
        strategy;
            (2) the specific measures that the applicant proposes to 
        use to provide evidence of future progress in improving student 
        achievement, including the subject areas and grade levels in 
        which it will measure that progress, and an assurance that the 
        applicant will collect such student data in a manner that 
        demonstrates the achievement of students separately by race and 
        by gender, as well as for students with disabilities, students 
        with limited English proficiency, and students who are 
        economically disadvantaged (compared to students who are not 
        economically disadvantaged); and
            (3) how the applicant will continue the activities carried 
        out under the grant after the grant has expired.

SEC. 7. SELECTION OF APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Criteria.--The Secretary shall, using a peer-review process, 
select applicants to receive funding based on--
            (1) evidence that--
                    (A) the applicant has made progress in improving 
                student achievement or the other measures of 
                educational performance described in section 6(b)(1), 
                in at least some of its schools that enroll 
                concentrations of children from low-income families;
                    (B) the applicant has put (or is putting) into 
                place effective reform policies as described in section 
                6(b)(4); and
                    (C) the applicant is working effectively to keep 
                its schools safe, disciplined, and drug-free; and
            (2) the quality of the applicant's plan for carrying out 
        activities under the grant, as set forth in the application.
    (b) Equitable Distribution.--In approving applications, the 
Secretary shall seek to ensure that there is an equitable distribution 
of grants among geographic regions of the country, to varying sizes of 
urban local educational agencies, and to rural local educational 
agencies, including rural local educational agencies serving 
concentrations of Indian children.

SEC. 8. PRESIDENTIAL DESIGNATION; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Designation as Education Opportunity Zone.--The President shall 
designate each local educational agency selected by the Secretary to 
receive a grant under this Act as an ``Educational Opportunity Zone''.
    (b) Technical Assistance.--The President may instruct Federal 
agencies to provide grant recipients with such technical and other 
assistance as those agencies can make available to enable the grantees 
to carry out their activities under the program.

SEC. 9. AMOUNT AND DURATION OF GRANTS; CONTINUATION AWARDS.

    (a) Grant Amounts.--In determining the amount of a grant, the 
Secretary shall consider such factors as--
            (1) the scope of the activities proposed in the 
        application;
            (2) the number of students in the local educational agency 
        who are from low-income families;
            (3) the number of low-performing schools in the local 
        educational agency; and
            (4) the number of children in the local educational agency 
        who are not reaching State or local standards.
    (b) Duration of Grants.--(1) Each grant shall be for three years, 
but may be continued for up to two additional years if the Secretary 
determines that the grantee is achieving agreed-upon measures of 
progress by the third year of the grant.
    (2) The Secretary may increase the amount of a grant in the second 
year, in order to permit full implementation of grant activities, 
except that--
            (A) the amount of a second-year award shall be no more than 
        140 percent of the award for the first year;
            (B) the amount of a third-year award shall be no more than 
        80 percent of the second-year award;
            (C) the amount of a fourth-year award shall be no more than 
        70 percent of the second-year award; and
            (D) the amount of a fifth-year award shall be no more than 
        50 percent of the second-year award.
    (c) Expected Achievement Levels and Continuation Awards.--(1) 
Before receiving its award, each grantee shall develop and adopt, with 
the approval of the Secretary, specific, ambitious levels of 
achievement that exceed typical achievement levels for comparable local 
educational agencies and that the local educational agency commits to 
attaining during the period of the grant.
    (2) the agreed-upon levels shall--
            (A) reflect progress in the areas of--
                    (i) student academic achievement;
                    (ii) dropout rates;
                    (iii) attendance; and
                    (iv) such other areas as may be proposed by the 
                local educational agency or the Secretary; and
            (B) provide for the disaggregation of data separately by 
        race and by gender, as well as for students with disabilities, 
        students with limited English proficiency, and students who are 
        economically disadvantaged students (compared to students who 
        are not economically disadvantaged).

SEC. 10. USES OF FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--Each grantee shall use its award only for 
activities that support the comprehensive reform efforts described in 
its application or that are otherwise consistent with the purpose of 
this Act.
    (b) Authorized Activities.--Activities that may be carried out with 
funds under this Act include--
            (1) implementing school-performance-information systems to 
        measure the performance of schools in educating their students 
        to high standards, maintaining a safe school environment, and 
        achieving the anticipated school-attendance and graduation 
        rates;
            (2) implementing district accountability systems that 
        reward schools that raise student achievement and provide 
        assistance to, and ultimately result in intervention in, 
        schools that fail to do so, including such intervention 
        strategies as technical assistance on school management and 
        leadership, intensive professional development for school 
        staff, institution of new instructional programs that are based 
        on reliable research, and the reconstitution of the school;
            (3) providing students with expanded choice and increased 
        curriculum options within public education, through such means 
        as open-enrollment policies, schools within schools, magnet 
        schools, charter schools, distance-learning programs, and 
        opportunities for secondary school students to take 
        postsecondary courses;
            (4) implementing financial incentives for schools to make 
        progress against the goals and benchmarks the district has 
        established for the program;
            (5) providing additional learning opportunities, such as 
        after-school, weekend, and summer programs, to students who are 
        failing, or are at risk of failing, to achieve to high 
        standards;
            (6) providing ongoing professional development 
        opportunities to teachers, principals, and other school staff 
        that are tailored to the needs of individual schools, and 
        aligned with the State or local academic standards and with the 
        objectives of the program carried out under the grant;
            (7) implementing programs, designed in cooperation with 
        teacher organizations, to provide recognition and rewards to 
        teachers who demonstrate outstanding capability at educating 
        students to high standards, including monetary rewards for 
        teachers who earn certification from the National Board for 
        Professional Teaching Standards;
            (8) implementing procedures, developed in cooperation with 
        teacher organizations, for identifying ineffective teachers and 
        administrators, providing them with assistance to improve their 
        skills and, if there is inadequate improvement, quickly but 
        fairly removing them from the classroom or school, consistent 
        with State law and locally negotiated agreements;
            (9) establishing programs to improve the recruitment and 
        retention of well-prepared teachers, including the use of 
        incentives to encourage well-prepared individuals to teach in 
        areas of the district with high needs;
            (10) designing and implementing procedures for selecting 
        and retaining principals who have the ability to provide the 
        school leadership needed to raise student achievement;
            (11) strengthening the management of the local educational 
        agency so that all components of management are focused on 
        improving student achievement;
            (12) carrying out activities to build stronger partnerships 
        between schools and parents, businesses, and communities; and
            (13) assessing activities carried out under the grant, 
        including the extent to which the grant is achieving its 
        objectives.

SEC. 11. FLEXIBILITY.

    (a) Eligibility for Schoolwide Programs Under ESEA, Title I.--Each 
school operated by a local educational agency receiving funding under 
this authority that is selected by the agency to receive funds under 
section 1113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
shall be considered as meeting the criteria for eligibility to 
implement a schoolwide program as described in section 1114 of the Act.
    (b) Carrying Out Schoolwide Programs.--All schools in the local 
educational agency that qualify for eligibility for a schoolwide 
program based solely on the agency's receiving funding under this Act 
and that wish to carry out a schoolwide program shall--
            (1) develop a plan that satisfies the requirements of 
        section 1114(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965; and
            (2) develop a program that includes the components of a 
        schoolwide program described in section 1114(b)(1) of that Act.

SEC. 12. PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.

    (a) Requirements.--(1)(A) If a local educational agency uses funds 
under this Act to provide for training of teachers or administrators, 
it shall provide for the participation of teachers or administrators 
from private nonprofit elementary or secondary schools, in proportion 
to the number of children enrolled in those schools who reside in 
attendance areas served by the local educational agency's program under 
this Act.
    (B) A local educational agency may choose to comply with 
subparagraph (A) by providing services to teachers or administrators 
from private schools at the same time and location it provides those 
services to teachers and administrators from public schools.
    (C) The local educational agency shall carry out subparagraph (A) 
after timely and meaningful consultation with appropriate private 
school officials.
    (2) If the local educational agency uses funds under this Act to 
develop curricular materials, it shall make information about those 
materials available to private schools.
    (b) Waiver.--If, by reason of any provision of law, a local 
educational agency is prohibited from providing the training for 
private school teachers or administrators required by subsection 
(a)(1)(A), or if the Secretary determines that the agency is unable to 
do so, the Secretary shall waive the requirement of that subsection and 
shall use a portion of the agency's grant to arrange for the provision 
of the training.

SEC. 13. EVALUATION.

    The Secretary shall carry out an evaluation of the program 
supported under this Act, which shall address such issues as the extent 
to which--
            (1) student achievement in local educational agencies 
        receiving support increases;
            (2) local educational agencies receiving support expand the 
        choices for students and parents within public education; and
            (3) local educational agencies receiving support develop 
        and implement systems to hold schools, teachers, and principals 
        accountable for student achievement.

SEC. 14. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    The Secretary may reserve up to five percent of the amount 
appropriated under section 15 for any fiscal year for--
            (1) peer review activities;
            (2) evaluation of the program under section 13 and 
        measurement of its effectiveness in accordance with the 
        Government Performance and Results Act of 1993;
            (3) dissemination of research findings, evaluation data, 
        and the experiences of districts implementing comprehensive 
        school reform; and
            (4) technical assistance to grantees.

SEC. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are authorized to 
be appropriated $200 million for fiscal year 1999, and such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years.
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