[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 102 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 102

       To provide assistance to address school dropout problems.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 2001

Mr. Bingaman (for himself and Mr. Reid) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To provide assistance to address school dropout problems.

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

SECTION 1. ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS SCHOOL DROPOUT PROBLEMS.

    Part D of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6421 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

       ``Subpart 4--Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems

``SEC. 1441. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This subpart may be cited as the `Dropout Prevention Act'.

``SEC. 1442. PURPOSE.

    ``The purpose of this subpart is to provide for school dropout 
prevention and reentry and to raise academic achievement levels by 
providing grants, to schools through State educational agencies, that--
            ``(1) challenge all children to attain their highest 
        academic potential; and
            ``(2) ensure that all students have substantial and ongoing 
        opportunities to do so through schoolwide programs proven 
        effective in school dropout prevention.

               ``Chapter 1--Coordinated National Strategy

``SEC. 1451. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized--
            ``(1) to collect systematic data on the participation in 
        the programs described in paragraph (2)(C) of individuals 
        disaggregated within each State, local educational agency, and 
        school by gender, by each major racial and ethnic group, by 
        English proficiency status, by migrant status, by students with 
        disabilities as compared to nondisabled students, and by 
        economically disadvantaged students as compared to students who 
        are not economically disadvantaged;
            ``(2) to establish and to consult with an interagency 
        working group which shall--
                    ``(A) address inter- and intra-agency program 
                coordination issues at the Federal level with respect 
                to school dropout prevention and middle school and 
                secondary school reentry, assess the targeting of 
                existing Federal services to students who are most at 
                risk of dropping out of school, and the cost-
                effectiveness of various programs and approaches used 
                to address school dropout prevention;
                    ``(B) describe the ways in which State and local 
                agencies can implement effective school dropout 
                prevention programs using funds from a variety of 
                Federal programs, including the programs under title I 
                and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994; and
                    ``(C) address all Federal programs with school 
                dropout prevention or school reentry elements or 
                objectives, programs under title I of this Act, the 
                School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, subtitle C of 
                title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, and 
                other programs; and
            ``(3) carry out a national recognition program in 
        accordance with subsection (b) that recognizes schools that 
        have made extraordinary progress in lowering school dropout 
        rates under which a public middle school or secondary school 
        from each State will be recognized.
    ``(b) Recognition Program.--
            ``(1) National guidelines.--The Secretary shall develop 
        uniform national guidelines for the recognition program which 
        shall be used to recognize schools from nominations submitted 
        by State educational agencies.
            ``(2) Eligible schools.--The Secretary may recognize under 
        the recognition program any public middle school or secondary 
        school (including a charter school) that has implemented 
        comprehensive reforms regarding the lowering of school dropout 
        rates for all students at that school.
            ``(3) Support.--The Secretary may make monetary awards to 
        schools recognized under the recognition program in amounts 
        determined by the Secretary. Amounts received under this 
        section shall be used for dissemination activities within the 
        school district or nationally.
    ``(c) Capacity Building.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, through a contract with a 
        non-Federal entity, may conduct a capacity building and design 
        initiative in order to increase the types of proven strategies 
        for dropout prevention and reentry that address the needs of an 
        entire school population rather than a subset of students.
            ``(2) Number and duration.--
                    ``(A) Number.--The Secretary may award not more 
                than 5 contracts under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Duration.--The Secretary may award a contract 
                under this subsection for a period of not more than 5 
                years.
    ``(d) Support for Existing Reform Networks.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may provide appropriate 
        support to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to 
        provide training, materials, development, and staff assistance 
        to schools assisted under this chapter.
            ``(2) Definition of eligible entity.--In this subsection, 
        the term `eligible entity' means an entity that, prior to the 
        date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act--
                    ``(A) provided training, technical assistance, and 
                materials to 100 or more elementary schools or 
                secondary schools; and
                    ``(B) developed and published a specific 
                educational program or design for use by the schools.

       ``Chapter 2--National School Dropout Prevention Initiative

``SEC. 1461. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) Grants.--
            ``(1) Discretionary grants.--If the sum appropriated under 
        section 1472 for a fiscal year is less than $250,000,000, then 
        the Secretary shall use such sum to award grants, on a 
        competitive basis, to State educational agencies to enable the 
        State educational agencies to award grants under subsection 
        (b).
            ``(2) Formula.--If the sum appropriated under section 1472 
        for a fiscal year equals or exceeds $250,000,000, then the 
        Secretary shall use such sum to make an allotment to each State 
        in an amount that bears the same relation to the sum as the 
        amount the State received under part A of title I for the 
        preceding fiscal year bears to the amount received by all 
        States under such part for the preceding fiscal year.
            ``(3) Definition of state.--In this chapter, the term 
        `State' means each of the several States of the United States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of 
        the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and 
        the Republic of Palau.
    ``(b) Grants.--From amounts made available to a State under 
subsection (a), the State educational agency may award grants to public 
middle schools or secondary schools that serve students in grades 6 
through 12, that have school dropout rates which are the highest of all 
school dropout rates in the State, to enable the schools to pay only 
the startup and implementation costs of effective, sustainable, 
coordinated, and whole school dropout prevention programs that involve 
activities such as--
            ``(1) professional development;
            ``(2) obtaining curricular materials;
            ``(3) release time for professional staff;
            ``(4) planning and research;
            ``(5) remedial education;
            ``(6) reduction in pupil-to-teacher ratios;
            ``(7) efforts to meet State student achievement standards;
            ``(8) counseling and mentoring for at-risk students; and
            ``(9) comprehensive school reform models.
    ``(c) Amount.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to subsection (d) and except as 
        provided in paragraph (2), a grant under this chapter shall be 
        awarded--
                    ``(A) in the first year that a school receives a 
                grant payment under this chapter, based on factors such 
                as--
                            ``(i) school size;
                            ``(ii) costs of the model or set of 
                        prevention and reentry strategies being 
                        implemented; and
                            ``(iii) local cost factors such as poverty 
                        rates;
                    ``(B) in the second such year, in an amount that is 
                not less than 75 percent of the amount the school 
                received under this chapter in the first such year;
                    ``(C) in the third year, in an amount that is not 
                less than 50 percent of the amount the school received 
                under this chapter in the first such year; and
                    ``(D) in each succeeding year in an amount that is 
                not less than 30 percent of the amount the school 
                received under this chapter in the first such year.
            ``(2) Increases.--The Secretary shall increase the amount 
        awarded to a school under this chapter by 10 percent if the 
        school creates smaller learning communities within the school 
        and the creation is certified by the State educational agency.
    ``(d) Duration.--A grant under this chapter shall be awarded for a 
period of 3 years, and may be continued for a period of 2 additional 
years if the State educational agency determines, based on the annual 
reports described in section 1467(a), that significant progress has 
been made in lowering the school dropout rate for students 
participating in the program assisted under this chapter compared to 
students at similar schools who are not participating in the program.

``SEC. 1462. STRATEGIES AND CAPACITY BUILDING.

    ``Each school receiving a grant under this chapter shall implement 
research-based, sustainable, and widely replicated, strategies for 
school dropout prevention and reentry that address the needs of an 
entire school population rather than a subset of students. The 
strategies may include--
            ``(1) specific strategies for targeted purposes, such as 
        effective early intervention programs designed to identify at-
        risk students, effective programs encompassing traditionally 
        underserved students, including racial and ethnic minorities 
        and pregnant and parenting teenagers, designed to prevent such 
        students from dropping out of school, and effective programs to 
        identify and encourage youth who have already dropped out of 
        school to reenter school and complete their secondary 
        education; and
            ``(2) approaches such as breaking larger schools down into 
        smaller learning communities and other comprehensive reform 
        approaches, creating alternative school programs, developing 
        clear linkages to career skills and employment, and addressing 
        specific gatekeeper hurdles that often limit student retention 
        and academic success.

``SEC. 1463. SELECTION OF SCHOOLS.

    ``(a) School Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each school desiring a grant under this 
        chapter shall submit an application to the State educational 
agency at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
information as the State educational agency may require.
            ``(2) Contents.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall--
                    ``(A) contain a certification from the local 
                educational agency serving the school that--
                            ``(i) the school has the highest number or 
                        rates of school dropouts in the age group 
                        served by the local educational agency;
                            ``(ii) the local educational agency is 
                        committed to providing ongoing operational 
                        support, for the school's comprehensive reform 
                        plan to address the problem of school dropouts, 
                        for a period of 5 years; and
                            ``(iii) the local educational agency will 
                        support the plan, including--
                                    ``(I) release time for teacher 
                                training;
                                    ``(II) efforts to coordinate 
                                activities for feeder schools; and
                                    ``(III) encouraging other schools 
                                served by the local educational agency 
                                to participate in the plan;
                    ``(B) demonstrate that the faculty and 
                administration of the school have agreed to apply for 
                assistance under this chapter, and provide evidence of 
                the school's willingness and ability to use the funds 
                under this chapter, including providing an assurance of 
                the support of 80 percent or more of the professional 
                staff at the school;
                    ``(C) describe the instructional strategies to be 
                implemented, how the strategies will serve all 
                students, and the effectiveness of the strategies;
                    ``(D) describe a budget and timeline for 
                implementing the strategies;
                    ``(E) contain evidence of coordination with 
                existing resources;
                    ``(F) provide an assurance that funds provided 
                under this chapter will supplement and not supplant 
                other Federal, State, and local funds;
                    ``(G) describe how the activities to be assisted 
                conform with research-based knowledge about school 
                dropout prevention and reentry; and
                    ``(H) demonstrate that the school and local 
                educational agency have agreed to conduct a schoolwide 
                program under section 1114.
    ``(b) State Agency Review and Award.--The State educational agency 
shall review applications and award grants to schools under subsection 
(a) according to a review by a panel of experts on school dropout 
prevention.
    ``(c) Eligibility.--A school is eligible to receive a grant under 
this chapter if the school is--
            ``(1) a public school (including a public alternative 
        school)--
                    ``(A) that is eligible to receive assistance under 
                part A of title I, including a comprehensive secondary 
                school, a vocational or technical secondary school, or 
                a charter school; and
                    ``(B)(i) that serves students 50 percent or more of 
                whom are low-income individuals; or
                    ``(ii) with respect to which the feeder schools 
                that provide the majority of the incoming students to 
                the school serve students 50 percent or more of whom 
                are low-income individuals; or
            ``(2) participating in a schoolwide program under section 
        1114 during the grant period.
    ``(d) Community-Based Organizations.--A school that receives a 
grant under this chapter may use the grant funds to secure necessary 
services from a community-based organization, including private sector 
entities, if--
            ``(1) the school approves the use;
            ``(2) the funds are used to provide school dropout 
        prevention and reentry activities related to schoolwide 
        efforts; and
            ``(3) the community-based organization has demonstrated the 
        organization's ability to provide effective services as 
        described in section 122 of the Workforce Investment Act of 
        1998.
    ``(e) Coordination.--Each school that receives a grant under this 
chapter shall coordinate the activities assisted under this chapter 
with other Federal programs, such as programs assisted under chapter 1 
of subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994.

``SEC. 1464. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES.

    ``Each school that receives a grant under this chapter shall 
provide information and technical assistance to other schools within 
the school district, including presentations, document-sharing, and 
joint staff development.

``SEC. 1465. PROGRESS INCENTIVES.

    ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each local 
educational agency that receives funds under title I shall use such 
funding to provide assistance to schools served by the agency that have 
not made progress toward lowering school dropout rates after receiving 
assistance under this chapter for 2 fiscal years.

``SEC. 1466. SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE CALCULATION.

    ``For purposes of calculating a school dropout rate under this 
chapter, a school shall use--
            ``(1) the annual event school dropout rate for students 
        leaving a school in a single year determined in accordance with 
        the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of 
        Data, if available; or
            ``(2) in other cases, a standard method for calculating the 
        school dropout rate as determined by the State educational 
        agency.

``SEC. 1467. REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

    ``(a) Reporting.--In order to receive funding under this chapter 
for a fiscal year after the first fiscal year a school receives funding 
under this chapter, the school shall provide, on an annual basis, to 
the Secretary and the State educational agency a report regarding the 
status of the implementation of activities funded under this chapter, 
the outcome data for students at schools assisted under this chapter 
disaggregated in the same manner as information under section 1451(a) 
(such as dropout rates), and certification of progress from the 
eligible entity whose strategies the school is implementing.
    ``(b) Accountability.--On the basis of the reports submitted under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall evaluate the effect of the 
activities assisted under this chapter on school dropout prevention 
compared to a control group.

``SEC. 1468. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.

    ``(a) Uniform Data Collection.--Within 1 year after the date of 
enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a State educational agency 
that receives funds under this chapter shall report to the Secretary 
and statewide, all school district and school data regarding school 
dropout rates in the State disaggregated in the same manner as 
information under section 1451(a), according to procedures that conform 
with the National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data.
    ``(b) Attendance-Neutral Funding Policies.--Within 2 years after 
the date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a State 
educational agency that receives funds under this chapter shall develop 
and implement education funding formula policies for public schools 
that provide appropriate incentives to retain students in school 
throughout the school year, such as--
            ``(1) a student count methodology that does not determine 
        annual budgets based on attendance on a single day early in the 
        academic year; and
            ``(2) specific incentives for retaining enrolled students 
        throughout each year.
    ``(c) Suspension and Expulsion Policies.--Within 2 years after the 
date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a State educational 
agency that receives funds under this chapter shall develop uniform, 
long-term suspension and expulsion policies (that in the case of a 
child with a disability are consistent with the suspension and 
expulsion policies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act) for serious infractions resulting in more than 10 days of 
exclusion from school per academic year so that similar violations 
result in similar penalties.
    ``(d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate regulations 
implementing subsections (a) through (c).

       ``Chapter 3--Definitions; Authorization of Appropriations

``SEC. 1471. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subpart:
            ``(1) Low-income.--The term `low-income', used with respect 
        to an individual, means an individual determined to be low-
        income in accordance with measures described in section 
        1113(a)(5).
            ``(2) School dropout.--The term `school dropout' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4(17) of the School-to-Work 
        Opportunities Act of 1994.

``SEC. 1472. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
subpart, $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be 
necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which--
            ``(1) 10 percent shall be available to carry out chapter 1; 
        and
            ``(2) 90 percent shall be available to carry out chapter 
        2.''.
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