[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 951 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 951

 To provide a waiver from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary 
 Education Act of 1965 for certain States, local educational agencies, 
                              and schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide a waiver from sanctions under the Elementary and Secondary 
 Education Act of 1965 for certain States, local educational agencies, 
                              and schools.

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

SECTION 1. WAIVER.

    A State, local educational agency, or school shall be held harmless 
and not subject to the penalties provision under section 1111(g) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(g)), the 
requirements of school or local educational agency improvement, 
corrective action, restructuring, or other sanctions or penalties under 
section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6313), or any other sanctions or penalties relating to academic 
assessments under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) for the 2006-2007 school year if the following 
criteria are met:
            (1) The State (in the case of a local educational agency or 
        school, the State within which such local educational agency or 
        school exists) had 1 or more approved academic assessment plans 
        for the 2005-2006 school year.
            (2) The State (in the case of a local educational agency or 
        school, the State within which such local educational agency or 
        school exists) had 1 or more of such plans subsequently held 
        invalid by the Department of Education for the 2006-2007 school 
        year.
            (3) The Governor of the State (in the case of a local 
        educational agency or school, the State within which such local 
        educational agency or school exists) certifies, in writing, to 
        the Secretary of Education that--
                    (A) the State cannot effectively train its 
                educators on a new or alternative assessment or 
                assessments in place of the assessment or assessments 
                for which the plan or plans were held invalid by the 
                Department of Education, prior to the date the 
                assessment or assessments are to be administered; and
                    (B) the administration of any new or alternative 
                assessment or assessments, in place of the assessment 
                or assessments for which the plan or plans were held 
                invalid by the Department of Education, in the 2006-
                2007 school year is not in the best interest of the 
                public school system and the children such system 
                serves.
            (4) The Governor of the State (in the case of a local 
        educational agency or school, the State within which such local 
        educational agency or school exists) certifies, in writing, to 
        the Secretary of Education that the local educational agency or 
        school failed to make adequate yearly progress (as described in 
        section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2))) based on academic 
        assessments administered in the 2006-2007 school year or the 
        State would be subject to the penalties provision under section 
        1111(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 6311(g)) or any other sanctions or penalties 
        relating to academic assessments under the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) for 
        the 2006-2007 school year solely because the State, local 
        educational agency, or school meets each of the criteria 
        described in paragraphs (1) through (3).
                                 <all>