110 HR 7203 IH: The Citizens’ Commission on
U.S. House of Representatives
2008-09-28
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
The Citizens’ Commission on
Educational Equity Act of 2008
.
2.Findings; sense of
the Congress
(a)The Congress finds the following:
(1)There are vast
disparities in the educations provided by schools throughout the United
States.
(2)The educational disparities are reinforced
by funding disparities, such as the following:
(A)The school district in the United States
with the greatest spending per student spends 9.12 times more per student
annually than the district with the least spending per student.
(B)The school district in California with the
greatest spending per student spends 4.24 times more per student annually than
the district with the least spending per student.
(3)The schools of the
United States do not meet the educational needs of all students, despite the
wealth of the Nation.
(b)It is the sense of
the Congress that the people of the United States should engage in an informed,
national, and public dialogue on how to ensure that each student in the United
States receives an equitable education that enables the student to achieve his
or her maximum educational potential.
3.Establishment of
CommissionThere shall be
established a commission to be known as the Citizens’ Commission on
Educational Equity
(in this Act referred to as the
Commission
).
4.The Commission
shall study ways to enable each student attending a school in the United States
to achieve his or her maximum academic potential, with particular emphasis on
the following:
(1)Ensuring that a school receives adequate
resources to meet the educational needs of each student in the school.
(2)The methods available, or that need to be
developed, to determine the educational needs of a student.
(3)Identifying and
devising innovative strategies for State and local educational agencies
to—
(A)enable each
student to achieve his or her maximum academic potential; and
(B)participate in
reforming the methods by which schools are funded, to achieve educational
equity.
5.
(a)The Commission
shall be composed of 15 members, as follows:
(1)The Secretary of
Education.
(2)14 individuals
appointed by the Comptroller General, in collaboration with the President of
the National Academy of Sciences, in accordance with subsection (b).
(b)
(1)Within 90 days after funds are first
appropriated to carry out this Act, the Comptroller General shall make the
appointments provided for in subsection (a)(2) from among individuals—
(A)who submit an
application as the Comptroller General shall require; and
(B)who are any of the
following:
(i)A
student.
(ii)A
parent or guardian of a student.
(iii)An
individual familiar with special education.
(iv)An
officer of a State educational agency.
(v)A
teacher.
(vi)A
principal or school administrator.
(vii)A
school board member
(viii)A
businessperson.
(ix)A
college or university professor of education.
(2)In
making the appointments, the Comptroller General shall ensure that the
Commission represents the geographical, economic, and cultural diversity of the
United States.
(3)The Comptroller General may not appoint to the
Commission an individual who is any of the following:
(A)A Member of
Congress.
(B)An officer or
employee of the Federal Government.
(C)An individual who
is—
(i)registered as a
lobbyist under section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995; or
(ii)registered as a
lobbyist under the law of any State.
(c)Terms of
appointed Commission membersA Commission member appointed under
subsection (a)(2) shall be appointed for the life of the Commission.
(d)
(1)A vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in the manner
in which the original appointment was made.
(2)A Commission member
appointed to fill a vacancy in the Commission occurring before the end of the
term for which the predecessor of the member was appointed, shall be appointed
only for the remainder of the term.
(e)
(1)For each day, including
travel time, a Commission member is engaged in the performance of Commission
duties, the member shall be entitled to the daily equivalent of the annual rate
of basic pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule, subject to section
11(b)(1).
(2)Prohibition of
compensation of Federal employeesThe Secretary of Education may
not receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of service on the
Commission.
(f)A Commission member may receive travel expenses,
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable
provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States
Code.
(g)Within
15 days after all initial appointments to the Commission have been made, the
Comptroller General shall designate 1 Commission member as the chairperson (in
this Act referred to as the chairperson
) of the
Commission.
(h)The Commission may
take action at a meeting only by a majority vote of the Commission members
present at the meeting.
(i)Within 15 days
after the designation of the chairperson, the Commission shall adopt rules of
procedure.
6.
(a)Executive
Director; staff
(1)Appointment of
Executive DirectorThe chairperson shall appoint an Executive
Director of the Commission.
(2)The Commission may hire
additional personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
(b)Compensation of
Executive Director and staffSubject to section 11(b)(1), the Commission
shall pay—
(1)the Executive
Director at the rate of basic pay for level III of the Executive Schedule;
and
(2)an
individual hired under subsection (a)(2) at a rate that may not exceed the
daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay for grade GS–14 of the General
Schedule.
(c)Subject to rules prescribed by the Commission, the
Executive Director may procure temporary and intermittent services in the same
manner as an agency under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States
Code.
(d)Staff of Federal
agenciesOn request of the
Commission, to assist the Commission in carrying out the duties of the
Commission—
(1)the Secretary of Education may detail to
the Commission not more than 10 personnel of the Department of
Education;
(2)the head of any
other Federal department or agency may detail personnel, services, or
facilities of the department or agency to the Commission, subject to paragraph
(3); and
(3)a
total of not more than 10 personnel may be detailed to the Commission under
paragraph (2).
7.
(a)To carry out the
duties of the Commission—
(1)the Commission shall conduct public
hearings in which testimony is received from experts in—
(A)educational
equity;
(B)civil rights
law;
(C)constitutional
law;
(D)educational
policy;
(E)school
finance;
(F)economics;
(G)taxation;
(H)land use or zoning
law; and
(I)any other field
the Commission considers relevant; and
(2)the Commission may, as the Commission
considers appropriate, sit and act, take testimony, and receive
evidence.
(b)Powers of
Commission members and agentsThe Commission may authorize any
Commission member or agent of the Commission to take any action which the
Commission is authorized to take by this Act.
(c)The Commission may secure, directly from any
department or agency of the United States, information necessary to enable the
Commission to carry out this Act. On request of the chairperson, the head of
the department or agency shall furnish the information to the Commission,
subject to any applicable limitations of Federal law.
(d)Administrative
support servicesOn request
of the chairperson, the Administrator of General Services shall provide to the
Commission, on a reimbursable basis, human resources management, budget,
leasing, accounting, payroll services, and other services necessary for the
Commission to carry out the duties of the Commission.
(e)
(1)Subject to paragraph
(2) of this subsection and section 11(b)(2), the Commission may enter into
contracts with and compensate a government or private agency or person for the
conduct of activities necessary for the Commission to carry out the duties of
the Commission.
(2)The
Commission may not enter into a contract if the terms of the contract extend
beyond the date the Commission terminates.
(f)Authority To
accept voluntary services
(1)Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States
Code, the Commission may accept the service of a volunteer.
(2)Reimbursement of
volunteerIn accordance with applicable provisions under
subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, the Commission may
reimburse a volunteer for expenses for office supplies and local travel, and
for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, incurred in
performing services for the Commission.
(3)Volunteer deemed
a Federal employeeWhile performing services for the Commission,
a volunteer is deemed an employee of the Federal Government for the purposes of
the following:
(A)Chapter 81 of
title 5, United States Code, relating to compensation for work-related
injuries.
(B)Chapter 11 of
title 18, United States Code, relating to conflicts of interest.
(C)Chapter 171 of
title 28, United States Code, relating to tort claims.
(g)The Commission may use the United States
mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and
agencies of the United States.
8.Community
outreach programs
(a)Within 180 days after
the appointment of the chairperson, the Commission shall commence outreach
programs with communities throughout the United States, to engage the
communities in a public dialogue on how to ensure that the schools in the
communities enable each student in the United States to achieve his or her
maximum academic potential.
(b)The
outreach programs shall, to the maximum extent possible, include the
following:
(1)Meetings.
(2)Surveys.
(3)Telephone
polls.
(4)Conference
calls.
(5)Internet messaging
and forums.
(6)E-mail.
(c)
(1)In selecting communities in which to conduct an
outreach program, the Commission shall ensure that the outreach programs
represent, to the maximum extent possible, the geographic diversity of the
United States and the economic and cultural diversity of the populations of the
communities.
(2)Any event the Commission conducts as part of an outreach
program shall be open to the public.
(3)Conduct of
outreach programsIn
conducting an outreach program:
(A)The chairperson shall designate 1
Commission member to serve as the chair of an event that is part of the
program.
(B)The
chair shall endeavour to have the attendees address the following
issues:
(i)The
benefits to the United States of investing in enabling each student to achieve
his or her maximum academic potential.
(ii)How
to ensure that each student achieves his or her maximum academic
potential.
(iii)How to establish
educational equity for all students.
(iv)How
to determine the educational needs of a student.
(v)How
to evaluate the effectiveness of a school in meeting the educational needs of a
student at the school.
(vi)The
methods by which schools should be funded.
(C)The
Commission shall encourage broad participation in the program by any reasonable
means the Commission considers appropriate.
9.Reports and other
publications of Commission
(a)
(1)Every 90 days after the designation of the chairperson,
the Commission shall prepare a report detailing the expenditures and activities
of the Commission.
(2)The Commission shall submit each report prepared under
paragraph (1) to Congress and make the report widely available.
(b)
(1)The final report of the Commission shall
include the following:
(A)Discharge duties
of CommissionThe findings
and conclusions of the Commission on the matters described in section 4.
(B)The basis of the
findings and conclusions, including the results of hearings conducted under
section 7(a) and the outreach programs conducted under section 8.
(C)Other topics to
be addressedA summary of the following:
(i)The role of the Federal, State, and local
governments in establishing sufficient funding to ensure that each student
receives an equitable education that enables the student to achieve his or her
maximum academic potential.
(ii)The
unmet educational needs of students, and the benefits of providing the
necessary support to enable schools meet their needs.
(iii)Recommendations
on how to assess the educational needs of a student, the types of assessments
available, and how to develop additional assessments to enable educators to
better understand the educational needs of a student.
(iv)Information concerning the cost of
education in different settings, with consideration of variations in geography,
needs of student populations, and concentrations of student populations.
(v)The
methods by which schools are and should be funded.
(2)Publication of
draft reportWithin 480 days
after the designation of the chairperson, the Commission shall publish a draft
of the final report.
(3)During the 45-day period beginning with the date the draft
report is published, the Commission shall solicit and receive comments from the
public on the draft report.
(4)
(A)Within 165 days after publishing the draft report, and
after taking into account any comments received under paragraph (4), the
Commission shall submit the final report to—
(i)the Committees on Finance, on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions, and on Appropriations of the Senate;
(ii)the Committees on Ways and Means, on
Education and Labor, and on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;
and
(iii)the President.
(B)Approvals
required; inclusion of minority view
(i)The Commission may not issue the final report without
the approval of at least 10 Commission members.
(ii)Inclusion of
minority viewThe Commission may include a minority view in the
final report.
(5)It is the sense of the Congress that the Committees
specified in paragraph (4)(A) should hold hearings on the information in the
final report.
(c)Format of
publications; timing; accessibility
(1)The Commission
shall publish all reports prepared under this section, minutes of all
Commission meetings, and transcripts of all Commission hearings, in a format
that is understandable to the public.
(2)The
Commission shall publish the information described in paragraph (1)—
(A)on the Internet website of the Department
of Education, within 15 days after preparation of the information; and
(B)in print, within 60 days after preparation
of the information.
(3)The Secretary of Education shall maintain,
on the Internet website of the Department of Education, the information
published under paragraph (1), which shall be accessible to the public.
10.Termination of
CommissionThe Commission
shall terminate 45 days after issuing the final report under section
9(b)(4).
11.Limitations on
authorization of appropriations
(a)Limitations on
authorization of appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act, other than section 9(b), not more than $10,000,000, to
remain available until expended.
(b)Limitations on
use of fundsTo the extent or
in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Commission may do
the following:
(1)Pay compensation under sections 5(e)(1) and
6(b).
(2)Enter into contracts with and compensate a
government or private agency or person for the conduct of activities, under
section 7(e).
12.Federal Advisory
Committee Act not to applyThe
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the
Commission.
13.In this Act:
(1)The
term education means learning occurring in public schools in the
United States from pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade, including
homeschooling.
(2)The term
educational equity means the educational policies, and practices
necessary to—
(A)meet the educational requirements of each
student, regardless of his or her socioeconomic status, national origin,
gender, or the location of his or her school;
(B)foster the maximum
development of the potential of each student; and
(C)ensure that each
student has the knowledge and skills needed to participate effectively in
community life as a worker, citizen, parent, or leader, and as a role model for
future generations.
(3)The term educational needs means the academic
and developmental requirements for a student to achieve his or her maximum
academic potential, determined after taking into account the unique abilities
and circumstances of the student.
(4)The term
Comptroller General means the Comptroller General of the United
States.