II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 2122 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES October 1, 2007 Mrs. Murray (for herself, Mr. Biden, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reduce class size through the use of highly qualified teachers, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Facilitating Outstanding Classrooms Using Size reduction Act (FOCUS Act).

2.

Class size reduction

Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: E

Class Size Reduction

5701.

Grant program

(a)

Purpose

The purposes of this section are— (1)to reduce class size through the use of highly qualified teachers; (2)to assist States and local educational agencies in recruiting, hiring, and training 100,000 teachers in order to reduce class sizes nationally, in kindergarten through third grade, to an average of 18 students per regular classroom; and (3)to improve teaching in those grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the 3rd grade. (b)

Allotment to States

(1)

Reservation

From the amount made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not more than 1 percent for the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for activities carried out in accordance with this section. (2)

State allotments

(A)

Formula

Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), from the funds made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year and not reserved under paragraph (1) or subsection (j), the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount that bears the same relation to such funds as the sum of the amounts the State received under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 2111(b)(2) for the preceding fiscal year bears to the sums all States received under such subparagraphs for the preceding fiscal year. (B)

Hold harmless

(i)

In general

Subject to subparagraph (C) and clause (ii), from the amount made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year and not reserved under paragraph (1) or subsection (j), the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount equal to the amount that such State received for the preceding fiscal year under this section. (ii)

Ratable reduction

If the amount made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year and not reserved under paragraph (1) or subsection (j) is insufficient to pay the full amounts that all States are eligible to receive under clause (i) for such fiscal year, the Secretary shall ratably reduce such amounts for such fiscal year. (C)

Allotment of additional funds

(i)

In general

Subject to clause (ii), for any fiscal year for which the amount made available to carry out this part and not reserved under paragraph (1) or subsection (j) exceeds the amount made available to the States for the preceding fiscal year under section 2111(b), the Secretary shall allot to each State the percentage of the excess amount that is the greater of— (I)the percentage the State received for the preceding fiscal year of the total amount made available to the States under section 1122; or (II)the percentage so received of the total amount made available to the States under section 2111(b). (ii)

Ratable reductions

If the excess amount for a fiscal year is insufficient to pay the full amounts that all States are eligible to receive under clause (i) for such fiscal year, the Secretary shall ratably reduce such amounts for such fiscal year. (D)

Reallotment

If any State does not apply for an allotment under this subsection or does not have an application approved under this part for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot the amount of the allotment to the remaining States in accordance with this subsection. (c)

Allocation to Local Educational Agencies

(1)

Allocation

Each State that receives funds under this section shall allocate 100 percent of those funds to local educational agencies within the State, of which— (A)80 percent shall be allocated to those local educational agencies in proportion to the number of children, age 5 through 17, from families with incomes below the poverty line, who reside in the school district served by that local educational agency for the most recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are available, compared to the number of those children who reside in the school districts served by all the local educational agencies in the State for that fiscal year; and (B)20 percent shall be allocated to those local educational agencies within the State in accordance with the relative enrollments of children, age 5 through 17, in public and private nonprofit elementary schools and secondary schools within the areas served by those local educational agencies. (2)

Exception

Notwithstanding paragraph (1) and subsection (d)(2)(B), if the award to a local educational agency under this section is less than the starting salary for a new highly qualified teacher for a school served by that local educational agency, that local educational agency may use funds made available under this section to— (A)help pay the salary of a full- or part-time highly qualified teacher hired to reduce class size, which may be done in combination with the expenditure of other Federal, State, or local funds; or (B)pay for activities described in subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii) that may be related to teaching in smaller classes. (3)

Reallocation

If a local educational agency does not apply for an allocation under this subsection or if the local educational agency's application is not approved, the State shall reallocate the local educational agency's allocation to the remaining local educational agencies in the State in accordance with paragraph (1). (d)

Use of Funds

(1)

Mandatory uses

Each local educational agency that receives funds under this section shall use those funds— (A)to carry out effective approaches to reducing class size through use of highly qualified teachers to improve educational achievement for both regular and special needs children, with particular consideration given to reducing class size in the early elementary grades for which some research has shown class size reduction is most effective; and (B)to create a continuum of small classes at each grade level for all students served by the local educational agency as the students progress from kindergarten through third grade. (2)

Permissible uses

(A)

In general

Each local educational agency that receives funds under this section may use those funds for— (i)recruiting (including through the use of signing bonuses, and other financial incentives), hiring, and training highly qualified regular and special education teachers (which may include hiring special education teachers to team-teach with regular teachers in classrooms that contain children with disabilities and non-disabled children) and teachers of special needs children; (ii)testing new teachers for academic content knowledge, and to meet State certification or licensing requirements that are consistent with title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and (iii)providing professional development (which may include such activities as promoting retention and mentoring) for teachers, including special education teachers and teachers of special needs children, in order to meet the goal of ensuring that all teachers have the general knowledge, teaching skills, and subject matter knowledge necessary to teach effectively in the content areas in which the teachers teach, consistent with title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965. (B)

Limitation on testing and professional development

(i)

In general

Except as provided in clause (ii), a local educational agency may use not more than a total of 25 percent of the funds received by the local educational agency under this section for activities described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of subparagraph (A). (ii)

Special rule

A local educational agency may use more than 25 percent of the funds the local educational agency receives under this section for activities described in subparagraph (A)(iii) for the purpose of helping teachers who are not yet highly qualified become highly qualified, if— (I)10 percent or more of the elementary school classes in a school served by the local educational agency are taught by individuals who are not highly qualified teachers; or (II)the State educational agency has waived State certification or licensing requirements for 10 percent or more of such teachers. (C)

Use of funds by agencies that have reduced class size

Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), a local educational agency that has already reduced class size in the early elementary grades to 18 or fewer children (or has already reduced class size to a State or local class size reduction goal that was in effect on November 28, 1999, if that goal is 20 or fewer children) may use funds received under this section— (i)to make further class size reductions in kindergarten through third grade; (ii)to reduce class size in other grades; or (iii)to carry out activities to improve teacher quality (particularly instructional practices in small classes), including professional development. (3)

Supplement, not supplant

Each local educational agency that receives funds made available under this section shall use those funds only to supplement, and not to supplant, State and local funds that, in the absence of funds made available under this section, would otherwise be expended for activities described in this section. (4)

Limitation on use for salaries and benefits

(A)

In general

Except as provided in subparagraph (B), no funds made available under this section may be used to increase the salaries of, or provide benefits (other than participation in professional development and enrichment programs) to, teachers who are not hired under this section. (B)

Exception

Funds made available under this section may be used to pay the salaries of teachers hired under section 306 of the Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2001. (e)

Applications

(1)

States

Each State desiring an allotment under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary that includes such information as the Secretary may require. (2)

Local educational agencies

Each local educational agency desiring an allocation under this section shall submit an application to the State that includes such information as the State may require. Each such application shall include a description of the local educational agency's program to reduce class size by hiring additional highly qualified teachers. (f)

Reports

(1)

State activities

Each State receiving funds under this section shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a biennial report on activities carried out in the State under this section that provides the information described in section 5122(a)(2) with respect to the activities. (2)

Progress concerning class size and qualified teachers

Each State and local educational agency receiving funds under this section shall annually report to parents and the public, in numeric form as compared to the previous year, on— (A)the State's and local educational agency’s progress in reducing class size, and increasing the percentage of classes in core academic subjects taught by highly qualified teachers; and (B)the impact that hiring additional highly qualified teachers and reducing class size, has had, if any, on increasing student academic achievement. (3)

Notice

Each local educational agency that receives funds under this section shall provide to each individual parent of a child who attends a school served by such local educational agency timely, written notice if the child has been assigned or has been taught for 2 or more consecutive weeks by a substitute teacher, as defined by such local educational agency, or a teacher who is not highly qualified. (g)

Private Schools

If a local educational agency uses funds made available under this section for professional development activities, the local educational agency shall ensure the equitable participation of private nonprofit elementary schools and secondary schools in such activities in accordance with section 5142. Section 5142 shall not apply to other activities carried out under this section. (h)

Administrative Expenses

A local educational agency that receives funds under this section may use not more than 3 percent of such funds for local administrative costs. (i)

Certification, Licensing, and Competency

No funds made available under this section may be used to pay the salary of any teacher unless such teacher is highly qualified. (j)

National evaluation

(1)

In general

From amounts appropriated to carry out this part for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012, the Secretary shall reserve not more than $5,000,000 to award a grant or contract to an independent organization outside of the Department for an independent evaluation of the impact of the demonstration program under this section. (2)

Competitive basis

The grant or contract described in paragraph (1) shall be awarded on a competitive basis. (3)

Process

The evaluation under this subsection shall be conducted by an organization that is capable of designing and carrying out an independent evaluation that identifies the effects of specific activities carried out by State educational agencies and local educational agencies under this part on reducing class size and improving the pedagogy in small classrooms. Such evaluation shall take into account factors influencing student performance that are not controlled by teachers or education administrators. (4)

Matters evaluated

The evaluation described in this subsection shall— (A)determine the number of students who benefitted by reduced class size pursuant to this part, including an analysis by student subgroup; (B)identify barriers to the effectiveness of the class size reduction program under this part; (C)compare the impact of students benefitting from class size reduction under this part to participants in comparison groups (of similar demographics) in schools that did not receive class size reduction funds under this part; (D)identify the impact of the program assisted under this part on teachers; (E)measure the extent to which professional development programs implemented by State educational agencies and local educational agencies using funds received under this subpart improve instruction; (F)an analysis of whether receipt of class size reduction funds under this part results in an improvement in student academic achievement; and (G)include any other analysis or measurement pertinent to this part that is determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. (5)

Dissemination

The findings of the evaluation under this subsection shall be widely disseminated to the public by— (A)the organization conducting the evaluation; and (B)the Secretary.

5702.

National class size database

(a)

In general

Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this part, the Secretary shall reserve not more than $3,500,000 to develop and maintain, through the National Center for Education Statistics, a database that accurately calculates class size for every school, school district, and State in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through the collection of student and teacher data. (b)

Contract

The Secretary, acting through the National Center for Education Statistics, may award contract, on a competitive basis, for the development and maintenance of the database described in subsection (a), to an organization, institution, or entity with expertise in data collection and class size reduction. (c)

Reporting

Each State educational agency that receives funds under this Act shall report to the Secretary the following information: (1)Annual student enrollment data for each school and school district in the State, disaggregated by grade level, subgroup of student, core academic subject, and free or reduced price lunch recipient status. (2)Classroom teacher data, including the number of teachers at each grade level, at each subject, and by highly qualified teacher status. (d)

Digest of Education Statistics

The National Center for Education Statistics shall report class size data in addition to pupil-teacher ratios in the National Center's Digest of Education Statistics.

5703.

Definition of class size

(a)

In general

In this part the term class size means the number of students, averaged over an academic year or the length of a course, who regularly appear in a teacher's classroom and for whom the teacher is primarily responsible and accountable, which averaged number shall reflect students who have joined a class or left a class throughout the duration of a course. (b)

Calculations

In calculating class size under subsection (a)— (1)multiple classes of the same subject shall be counted individually, including classes of the same subject taught at different times by the same teacher; and (2)paraprofessionals and teacher's aides shall not be counted as teachers.

5704.

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 2012.

.

3.

National Clearinghouse on class size

Section 133(a) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9533(a)) is amended— (1)in paragraph (10)(D), by striking and after the semicolon; (2)in paragraph (11), by striking the period and inserting ; and; and (3)by adding at the end the following: (12)reserve not more than $500,000 from the amount made available to carry out this part for each fiscal year in order to develop and maintain, directly or through a contract awarded on a competitive basis to an entity, institution, or organization with expertise in class size reduction research and resources, a web-based National Clearinghouse on Class Size to make publicly available— (A)research on class size; (B)resources on school modernization planning; (C)resources for maximizing existing classroom space; and (D)best practices in small classroom instruction. .