[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3499 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3499

   To restore State sovereignty over public elementary and secondary 
                               education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 28, 2005

  Mr. Culberson (for himself, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Bishop of 
  Utah, Mr. Feeney, Mr. Paul, Mr. Pence, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Poe, and Mr. 
 Rohrabacher) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To restore State sovereignty over public elementary and secondary 
                               education.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Local Control of Education Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDING.

    The Congress finds that the creation, funding, support, 
maintenance, operation, and all other aspects of elementary and 
secondary education are residual core sovereign functions reserved to 
the control of the States under the United States Constitution, as 
expressed in the Tenth Amendment.

SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    This Act shall be liberally construed and shall be vigorously and 
promptly enforced so as to ensure the preservation of the States' core 
sovereign authority over all aspects of elementary and secondary 
education under the United States Constitution, as expressed in the 
Tenth Amendment.

SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN 
              FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDS.

    (a) Funding to States.--
            (1) In general.--With respect to any program under which 
        Federal funds may be provided to a State under the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), 
        unless the legislature of the State has by law expressly and 
        specifically authorized operation of the program and, in doing 
        so, has waived the State's rights and authorities to act 
        inconsistently with any requirement that might be imposed by 
        the Federal Government as a condition of receiving Federal 
        funds under the program--
                    (A) the Secretary of Education may not provide any 
                funds to the State pursuant to the program;
                    (B) no officer, employee, or other authority of the 
                Federal Government shall enforce against an authority 
                of the State, nor shall any authority of the State have 
                any obligation to obey, any requirement of the program; 
                and
                    (C) the program shall not operate within the State.
            (2) Term of authorization.--If a State enacts (and does not 
        repeal or otherwise terminate) a law authorizing operation of 
        an education program described in paragraph (1), such 
        authorization shall have effect for purposes of paragraph (1) 
        until the later of--
                    (A) the end of the 5-year period beginning on the 
                date of the enactment of the law; or
                    (B) the end of any regular legislative session of 
                the State that begins during the last year of such 5-
                year period and is ongoing at the end of such period.
    (b) Funding to Local Governmental Entities.--With respect to any 
program under which Federal funds may be provided to a local 
governmental entity (including any local educational agency, public 
kindergarten, public elementary school, or public secondary school) 
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6301 et seq.), the Secretary of Education may not provide any funds to 
the local governmental entity under such program unless the chief law 
enforcement officer of the State involved certifies that participation 
by the entity in the program is consistent with any applicable 
requirements under the law of the State.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``authority of a State'' includes any officer 
        or employee of the State and any local government authority of 
        the State.
            (2) The terms ``elementary school'', ``local educational 
        agency'', and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given to 
        those terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
    (d) Effective Date.--This section applies in each State beginning 
at the end of the first regular session of the legislature of that 
State that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act and shall 
continue to apply in subsequent years until otherwise provided by law.
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