[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3349 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3349

 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure 
                               fairness.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 27, 2001

 Mr. Acevedo-Vila introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
              the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure 
                               fairness.

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

SECTION 1. BASIC GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    Section 1124 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6333) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 1124. BASIC GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

    ``(a) Amount of Grants.--
            ``(1) Grants for local educational agencies and puerto 
        rico.--Except as provided in paragraph (4) and in section 1126, 
        the grant that a local educational agency is eligible to 
        receive under this section for a fiscal year is the amount 
        determined by multiplying--
                    ``(A) the number of children counted under 
                subsection (c); and
                    ``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil 
                expenditure in the State, except that the amount 
                determined under this subparagraph shall not be less 
                than 32 percent or more than 48 percent, of the average 
                per-pupil expenditure in the United States.
            ``(2) Calculation of grants.--
                    ``(A) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
                The Secretary shall calculate grants under this section 
                on the basis of the number of children counted under 
                subsection (c) for local educational agencies, unless 
                the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine 
                that some or all of those data are unreliable or that 
                their use would be otherwise inappropriate, in which 
                case--
                            ``(i) the two Secretaries shall publicly 
                        disclose the reasons for their determination in 
                        detail; and
                            ``(ii) paragraph (3) shall apply.
                    ``(B) Allocations to large and small local 
                educational agencies.--(i) For any fiscal year in which 
                this paragraph applies, the Secretary shall calculate 
                grants under this section for each local educational 
                agency.
                    ``(ii) The amount of a grant under this section for 
                each large local educational agency shall be the amount 
                determined under clause (i).
                    ``(iii) For small local educational agencies, the 
                State educational agency may either--
                            ``(I) distribute grants under this section 
                        in amounts determined by the Secretary under 
                        clause (i); or
                            ``(II) use an alternative method approved 
                        by the Secretary to distribute the portion of 
                        the State's total grants under this section 
                        that is based on those small agencies.
                    ``(iv) An alternative method under clause (iii)(II) 
                shall be based on population data that the State 
                educational agency determines best reflect the current 
                distribution of children in poor families among the 
                State's small local educational agencies that meet the 
                eligibility criteria of subsection (b).
                    ``(v) If a small local educational agency is 
                dissatisfied with the determination of its grant by the 
                State educational agency under clause (iii)(II), it may 
                appeal that determination to the Secretary, who shall 
                respond not later than 45 days after receipt of such 
                appeal.
                    ``(vi) As used in this subparagraph--
                            ``(I) the term `large local educational 
                        agency' means a local educational agency 
                        serving an area with a total population of 
                        20,000 or more; and
                            ``(II) the term `small local educational 
                        agency' means a local educational agency 
                        serving an area with a total population of less 
                        than 20,000.
            ``(3) Allocations to counties.--
                    ``(A) Calculation.--For any fiscal year to which 
                this paragraph applies, the Secretary shall calculate 
                grants under this section on the basis of the number of 
                children counted under section 1124(c) for counties, 
                and State educational agencies shall suballocate county 
                amounts to local educational agencies, in accordance 
                with regulations issued by the Secretary.
                    ``(B) Direct allocations.--In any State in which a 
                large number of local educational agencies overlap 
                county boundaries, or for which the State believes it 
                has data that would better target funds than allocating 
                them by county, the State educational agency may apply 
                to the Secretary for authority to make the allocations 
                under this part for a particular fiscal year directly 
                to local educational agencies without regard to 
                counties.
                    ``(C) Assurances.--If the Secretary approves the 
                State educational agency's application under 
                subparagraph (B), the State educational agency shall 
                provide the Secretary an assurance that such 
                allocations shall be made--
                            ``(i) using precisely the same factors for 
                        determining a grant as are used under this 
                        part; or
                            ``(ii) using data that the State 
                        educational agency submits to the Secretary for 
                        approval that more accurately target poverty.
                    ``(D) Appeal.--The State educational agency shall 
                provide the Secretary an assurance that it shall 
                establish a procedure through which a local educational 
                agency that is dissatisfied with its determinations 
                under subparagraph (B) may appeal directly to the 
                Secretary for a final determination.
            ``(4) Puerto rico.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For each fiscal year, the grant 
                which the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be eligible 
                to receive under this section shall be the amount 
                determined by multiplying the number of children 
                counted under subsection (c) for the Commonwealth of 
                Puerto Rico by the product of--
                            ``(i) the percentage which the average per-
                        pupil expenditure in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
                        Rico is of the lowest average per-pupil 
                        expenditure of any of the 50 States; and
                            ``(ii) 32 percent of the average per-pupil 
                        expenditure in the United States.
                    ``(B) Minimum percentage.--The percentage in 
                subparagraph (A)(i) shall not be less than--
                            ``(i) for fiscal year 2002, 77.5 percent;
                            ``(ii) for fiscal year 2003, 80.0 percent;
                            ``(iii) for fiscal year 2004, 82.5 percent;
                            ``(iv) for fiscal year 2005, 85.0 percent;
                            ``(v) for fiscal year 2006, 92.5 percent; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) for fiscal year 2007 and succeeding 
                        fiscal years, 100 percent.
                    ``(C) Limitation.--If the application of 
                subparagraph (B) would result in any of the 50 States 
                or the District of Columbia receiving less under this 
                part than it received under this part for the preceding 
                fiscal year, the percentage in subparagraph (A) shall 
                be the greater of the percentage in subparagraph (A)(i) 
                or the percentage used for the preceding fiscal year.
            ``(5) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `State' does not include Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin 
        Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
    ``(b) Minimum Number of Children To Qualify.--A local educational 
agency is eligible for a basic grant under this section for any fiscal 
year only if the number of children counted under subsection (c) for 
that agency is both--
            ``(1) 10 or more; and
            ``(2) more than 2 percent of the total school-age 
        population in the agency's jurisdiction.
    ``(c) Children To Be Counted.--
            ``(1) Categories of children.--The number of children to be 
        counted for purposes of this section is the aggregate of--
                    ``(A) the number of children aged 5 to 17, 
                inclusive, in the school district of the local 
                educational agency from families below the poverty 
                level as determined under paragraph (2);
                    ``(B) the number of children (determined under 
                paragraph (4) for either the preceding year as 
                described in that paragraph, or for the second 
                preceding year, as the Secretary finds appropriate) 
                aged 5 to 17, inclusive, in the school district of such 
                agency in institutions for neglected and delinquent 
                children (other than such institutions operated by the 
                United States), but not counted pursuant to subpart 1 
                of part D for the purposes of a grant to a State 
                agency, or being supported in foster homes with public 
                funds; and
                    ``(C) the number of children aged 5 to 17, 
                inclusive, in the school district of such agency from 
                families above the poverty level as determined under 
                paragraph (4).
            ``(2) Determination of number of children.--For the 
        purposes of this section, the Secretary shall determine the 
        number of children aged 5 to 17, inclusive, from families below 
        the poverty level on the basis of the most recent satisfactory 
        data, described in paragraph (3), available from the Department 
        of Commerce. The District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico shall be treated as individual local educational 
        agencies. If a local educational agency contains two or more 
        counties in their entirety, then each county will be treated as 
        if such county were a separate local educational agency for 
        purposes of calculating grants under this part. The total of 
        grants for such counties shall be allocated to such a local 
        educational agency, which local educational agency shall 
        distribute to schools in each county within such agency a share 
        of the local educational agency's total grant that is no less 
        than the county's share of the population counts used to 
        calculate the local educational agency's grant.
            ``(3) Population updates.--In fiscal year 2001 and every 2 
        years thereafter, the Secretary shall use updated data on the 
        number of children, aged 5 to 17, inclusive, from families 
        below the poverty level for local educational agencies or 
        counties, published by the Department of Commerce, unless the 
        Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce determine that use of 
        the updated population data would be inappropriate or 
        unreliable. If the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce 
        determine that some or all of the data referred to in this 
        paragraph are inappropriate or unreliable, they shall publicly 
        disclose their reasons. In determining the families which are 
        below the poverty level, the Secretary shall utilize the 
        criteria of poverty used by the Bureau of the Census in 
        compiling the most recent decennial census, in such form as 
        those criteria have been updated by increases in the Consumer 
        Price Index for all urban consumers, published by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics.
            ``(4) Other children to be counted.--For the purposes of 
        this section, the Secretary shall determine the number of 
        children aged 5 to 17, inclusive, from families above the 
        poverty level on the basis of the number of such children from 
        families receiving an annual income, in excess of the current 
        criteria of poverty, from payments under a State program funded 
        under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act; and in 
        making such determinations the Secretary shall utilize the 
        criteria of poverty used by the Bureau of the Census in 
        compiling the most recent decennial census for a family of 4 in 
        such form as those criteria have been updated by increases in 
        the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, published by 
        the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Secretary shall determine 
        the number of such children and the number of children aged 5 
        through 17 living in institutions for neglected or delinquent 
        children, or being supported in foster homes with public funds, 
        on the basis of the caseload data for the month of October of 
        the preceding fiscal year (using, in the case of children 
        described in the preceding sentence, the criteria of poverty 
        and the form of such criteria required by such sentence which 
        were determined for the calendar year preceding such month of 
        October) or, to the extent that such data are not available to 
        the Secretary before January of the calendar year in which the 
        Secretary's determination is made, then on the basis of the 
        most recent reliable data available to the Secretary at the 
        time of such determination. The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services shall collect and transmit the information required by 
        this subparagraph to the Secretary not later than January 1 of 
        each year. For the purpose of this section, the Secretary shall 
        consider all children who are in correctional institutions to 
        be living in institutions for delinquent children.
            ``(5) Estimate.--When requested by the Secretary, the 
        Secretary of Commerce shall make a special updated estimate of 
        the number of children of such ages who are from families below 
        the poverty level (as determined under subparagraph (A) of this 
        paragraph) in each school district, and the Secretary is 
        authorized to pay (either in advance or by way of 
        reimbursement) the Secretary of Commerce the cost of making 
        this special estimate. The Secretary of Commerce shall give 
        consideration to any request of the chief executive of a State 
        for the collection of additional census information.
    ``(d) State Minimum.--Notwithstanding section 1122, the aggregate 
amount allotted for all local educational agencies within a State may 
not be less than the lesser of--
            ``(1) 0.25 percent of total grants under this section; or
            ``(2) the average of--
                    ``(A) one-quarter of 1 percent of the total amount 
                available for such fiscal year under this section; and
                    ``(B) the number of children in such State counted 
                under subsection (c) in the fiscal year multiplied by 
                150 percent of the national average per-pupil payment 
                made with funds available under this section for that 
                year.''.

SEC. 2. STATE ALLOCATIONS.

    Section 1303 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6393) is amended--
            (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
    ``(a) State Allocations.--
            ``(1) Fiscal year 2002.--For fiscal year 2002, each State 
        (other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) is entitled to 
        receive under this part an amount equal to--
                    ``(A) the sum of the estimated number of migratory 
                children aged 3 through 21 who reside in the State full 
                time and the full-time equivalent of the estimated 
                number of migratory children aged 3 through 21 who 
                reside in the State part time, as determined in 
                accordance with subsection (d); multiplied by
                    ``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil 
                expenditure in the State, except that the amount 
                determined under this paragraph shall not be less than 
                32 percent, nor more than 48 percent, of the average 
                expenditure per pupil in the United States.
            ``(2) Subsequent years.--
                    ``(A) Base amount.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        subsection (b) and clause (ii), each State 
                        (other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) is 
                        entitled to receive under this part, for fiscal 
                        year 2003 and succeeding fiscal years, an 
                        amount equal to--
                                    ``(I) the amount that such State 
                                received under this part for fiscal 
                                year 2002; plus
                                    ``(II) the amount allocated to the 
                                State under subparagraph (B).
                            ``(ii) Nonparticipating states.--In the 
                        case of a State (other than the Commonwealth of 
                        Puerto Rico) that did not receive any funds for 
                        fiscal year 2002 under this part, the State 
                        shall receive, for fiscal year 2003 and 
                        succeeding fiscal years, an amount equal to--
                                    ``(I) the amount that such State 
                                would have received under this part for 
                                fiscal year 2002 if its application 
                                under section 1304 for the year had 
                                been approved; plus
                                    ``(II) the amount allocated to the 
                                State under subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Allocation of additional amount.--For fiscal 
                year 2003 and succeeding fiscal years, the amount (if 
                any) by which the funds appropriated to carry out this 
                part for the year exceed such funds for fiscal year 
                2002 shall be allocated to a State (other than 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) so that the State receives an amount 
equal to--
                            ``(i) the sum of--
                                    ``(I) the number of identified 
                                eligible migratory children, aged 3 
                                through 21, residing in the State 
                                during the previous year; and
                                    ``(II) the number of identified 
                                eligible migratory children, aged 3 
                                through 21, who received services under 
                                this part in summer or intersession 
                                programs provided by the State during 
                                such year; multiplied by
                            ``(ii) 40 percent of the average per-pupil 
                        expenditure in the State, except that the 
                        amount determined under this clause may not be 
                        less than 32 percent, or more than 48 percent, 
                        of the average per-pupil expenditure in the 
                        United States.'';
            (2) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Allocation to Puerto Rico.--
            ``(1) In general.--For each fiscal year, the grant which 
        the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be eligible to receive 
        under this part shall be the amount determined by multiplying 
        the number of children counted under subsection (a)(1)(A) for 
        the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico by the product of--
                    ``(A) the percentage which the average per pupil 
                expenditure in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is of 
                the lowest average per pupil expenditure of any of the 
                50 States; and
                    ``(B) 32 percent of the average per pupil 
                expenditure in the United States.
            ``(2) Minimum percentage.--The percentage in paragraph 
        (1)(A) shall not be less than--
                    ``(A) for fiscal year 2002, 77.5 percent;
                    ``(B) for fiscal year 2003, 80.0 percent;
                    ``(C) for fiscal year 2004, 82.5 percent;
                    ``(D) for fiscal year 2005, 85.0 percent;
                    ``(E) for fiscal year 2006, 92.5 percent; and
                    ``(F) for fiscal year 2007 and succeeding fiscal 
                years, 100 percent.
            ``(3) Limitation.--If the application of paragraph (2) 
        would result in any of the 50 States or the District of 
        Columbia receiving less under this part than it received under 
        this part for the preceding fiscal year, the percentage in 
        paragraph (1) shall be the greater of the percentage in 
        paragraph (1)(A) or the percentage used for the preceding 
        fiscal year.''; and
            (3) by striking subsection (d) and redesignating subsection 
        (e) as subsection (d).

SEC. 3. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

    Section 1412(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6432(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Subgrants to State Agencies in Puerto Rico.--
            ``(1) In general.--For each fiscal year, the amount of the 
        subgrant which a State agency in the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico shall be eligible to receive under this part shall be the 
        amount determined by multiplying the number of children counted 
        under subparagraph (a)(1)(A) for the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico by the product of--
                    ``(A) the percentage which the average per-pupil 
                expenditure in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is of 
                the lowest average per-pupil expenditure of any of the 
                50 States; and
                    ``(B) 32 percent of the average per-pupil 
                expenditure in the United States.
            ``(2) Minimum percentage.--The percentage in paragraph 
        (1)(A) shall not be less than--
                    ``(A) for fiscal year 2002, 77.5 percent;
                    ``(B) for fiscal year 2003, 80.0 percent;
                    ``(C) for fiscal year 2004, 82.5 percent;
                    ``(D) for fiscal year 2005, 85.0 percent;
                    ``(E) for fiscal year 2006, 92.5 percent; and
                    ``(F) for fiscal year 2007 and succeeding fiscal 
                years, 100 percent.
            ``(3) Limitation.--If the application of paragraph (2) 
        would result in any of the 50 States or the District of 
        Columbia receiving less under this part than it received under 
        this part for the preceding fiscal year, the percentage in 
        paragraph (1) shall be the greater of the percentage in 
        paragraph (1)(A) or the percentage used for the preceding 
        fiscal year.''.
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