[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1532 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1532
To provide incentives for States and local educational agencies to
implement comprehensive reforms and innovative strategies that are
designed to lead to significant improvement in outcomes for all
students and significant reductions in achievement gaps among subgroups
of students, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 14, 2011
Mr. Polis (for himself, Mr. Rothman of New Jersey, and Mrs. Davis of
California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide incentives for States and local educational agencies to
implement comprehensive reforms and innovative strategies that are
designed to lead to significant improvement in outcomes for all
students and significant reductions in achievement gaps among subgroups
of students, and for other purposes.
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 ``Race to the Top Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. RACE TO THE TOP.
(a) In General.--Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating part C as part D;
(2) by redesignating sections 6301 and 6302 as sections
6401 and 6402, respectively; and
(3) by inserting after part B, the following:
``PART C--RACE TO THE TOP
``SEC. 6301. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this part are to--
``(1) provide incentives for States and local educational
agencies to implement comprehensive reforms and innovative
strategies that are designed to lead to--
``(A) significant improvements in outcomes for all
students, including improvements in student
achievement, high school graduation rates, college
enrollment rates and rates of college persistence; and
``(B) significant reductions in achievement gaps
among subgroups of students; and
``(2) encourage the broad identification, adoption, use,
dissemination, replication, and expansion of effective State
and local policies and practices that lead to significant
improvement in outcomes for all students, and the elimination
of those policies and practices that are not effective in
improving student outcomes.
``SEC. 6302. RESERVATION OF FUNDS.
``From the amounts made available under section 6308 for a fiscal
year, the Secretary may reserve not more than 10 percent to carry out
activities related to technical assistance, monitoring, outreach,
dissemination, and prize awards (which shall be awarded in accordance
with section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of
1980 (15 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.)).
``SEC. 6303. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
``(a) Program Authorization.--From the amounts made available under
section 6308 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to States, local educational agencies, or both for
the purposes described in section 6301.
``(b) Grant and Subgrant Eligibility Limitations.--
``(1) ARRA.--A State that has received a grant under
section 14006 of division A of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 283) may
not receive a grant under this part during the period of its
grant under section 14006 (Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 283).
``(2) Number of grants.--A State or local educational
agency may not receive more than 1 grant under this part per
grant period.
``(3) Number of subgrants.--A local educational agency may
receive a grant and a subgrant for the same fiscal year.
``(c) Duration of Grants.--
``(1) In general.--A grant under this part shall be awarded
for a period of not more than 4 years.
``(2) Continuation of grants.--In order to receive a grant
for a full grant period, a State or local educational agency
under this part shall demonstrate to the Secretary, at such
time and in such manner as determined by the Secretary, that it
is--
``(A) making progress in implementing its plan
under section 6304(a)(3) at a rate that the Secretary
determines will result in the State or agency fully
implementing its plan during the remainder of the grant
period; or
``(B) making progress against the performance
measures set forth in section 6305 at a rate that the
Secretary determines will result in the State or agency
reaching its targets and achieving the objectives of
the grant during the remainder of the grant period.
``SEC. 6304. APPLICATIONS.
``(a) Applications.--Each State or local educational agency that
desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an application
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may reasonably require. At a minimum, each
such application shall include--
``(1) documentation of the applicant's record, as
applicable, in--
``(A) increasing student achievement, including for
all subgroups described in section
1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II);
``(B) decreasing achievement gaps, including for
all subgroups described in section
1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II);
``(C) increasing high school graduation rates,
including for all subgroups described in section
1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II);
``(D) increasing college enrollment and persistence
rates, including for all subgroups described in section
1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); and
``(E) any other measure described in section 6305
that is not listed in subparagraph (A) through (D);
``(2) evidence of conditions of innovation and reform that
the applicant has established and its proposed plan for
implementing additional conditions for innovation and reform,
including--
``(A) a description of how the applicant has
identified and eliminated ineffective practices in the
past and its plan for doing so in the future;
``(B) a description of how the applicant has
identified and promoted effective practices in the past
and its plan for doing so in the future; and
``(C) steps the applicant has taken and will take
to eliminate statutory, regulatory, procedural, or
other barriers and to facilitate the full
implementation of its proposed plan;
``(3) a comprehensive and coherent plan for using funds
under this part, and other Federal, State, and local funds, to
improve the applicant's performance on the measures described
in section 6305, consistent with criteria set forth by the
Secretary, including how the applicant will, if applicable--
``(A) improve the effectiveness of teachers and
school leaders, and promote equity in the distribution
of effective teachers and school leaders to ensure that
low-income and minority children are not--
``(i) taught by ineffective teachers at
higher rates than other children; and
``(ii) enrolled in schools led by
ineffective leaders at higher rates than other
children;
``(B) strengthen the use of high-quality and timely
data to improve instructional practices, policies, and
student outcomes, including teacher evaluations;
``(C) implement internationally benchmarked,
college- and career-ready elementary and secondary
academic standards, including in the areas of
assessment, instructional materials, professional
development, and strategies that translate the
standards into classroom practice;
``(D) turn around the persistently lowest-achieving
schools;
``(E) support or coordinate with early learning
programs for high-need children from birth through
third grade to improve school readiness and ensure that
students complete third grade on track for school
success;
``(F) assess students enrolled in kindergarten in
elementary schools in the State or local educational
agency, as applicable, in order to determine the
students' level of readiness for school success across
a broad range of domains of learning and development,
including physical well-being and motor development,
social and emotional development, approaches toward
learning, language development, and cognition and
general knowledge;
``(G) report the to the Secretary the aggregate
results from the assessments described in subparagraph
(F) with respect to--
``(i) all kindergarten students in each
elementary school assessed; and
``(ii) all such students in each subgroup
described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); and
``(H) create or maintain successful conditions for
high-performing charter schools and other innovative,
autonomous public schools;
``(4) if the applicant is a State--
``(A) evidence of collaboration between the State,
its local educational agencies, schools (as
appropriate), parents, teachers, and other stakeholders
in developing and implementing the plan described in
paragraph (3), including evidence of the commitment and
capacity to implement that plan; and
``(B) the names of those local educational agencies
the State has selected to participate in carrying out
the plan; or
``(C) a description of how it will select local
educational agencies to participate in carrying out the
plan;
``(5) if the applicant is a local educational agency,
evidence of collaboration between the local educational agency,
schools, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders, in
developing the plan described in paragraph (3), including
evidence of the commitment and capacity to implement the plan;
``(6) the applicant's annual performance measures and
targets, consistent with the requirements of section 6305; and
``(7) a description of the applicant's plan to conduct a
rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of activities carried
out with funds under this part.
``(b) Criteria for Evaluating Applications.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants under
this part on a competitive basis, based on the quality of the
applications submitted under subsection (a), including--
``(A) each applicant's record in the areas
described in subsection (a)(1);
``(B) each applicant's record of, and commitment
to, establishing conditions for innovation and reform,
as described in subsection (a)(2);
``(C) the quality and likelihood of success of each
applicant's plan described in subsection (a)(3) in
showing improvement in the areas described in
subsection (a)(1), including each applicant's capacity
to implement the plan and evidence of collaboration as
described in subsection (a)(4) or (a)(5), as
applicable; and
``(D) each applicant's evaluation plan as described
in subsection (a)(7).
``(2) Publication of explanation.--The Secretary shall
publish an explanation of how the application review process
will ensure an equitable and objective evaluation based on the
criteria described in paragraph (1).
``(c) Priority.--In awarding grants to local educational agencies
under this part, the Secretary shall give priority to--
``(1) local educational agencies with the highest numbers
or percentages of children from families with incomes below the
poverty line; and
``(2) local educational agencies that serve schools
designated with a school locale code of 41, 42, or 43, as
determined by the Secretary.
``SEC. 6305. PERFORMANCE MEASURES.
``Each State and each local educational agency receiving a grant
under this part shall establish performance measures and targets,
approved by the Secretary, for the programs and activities carried out
under this part. These measures shall, at a minimum, track the State's
or agency's progress in--
``(1) implementing its plan described in section
6304(a)(3); and
``(2) improving outcomes for all subgroups described in
section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) including, as applicable, by--
``(A) increasing student achievement;
``(B) decreasing achievement gaps;
``(C) increasing high school graduation;
``(D) increasing college enrollment and persistence
rates;
``(E) improving the effectiveness of teachers and
school leaders, increasing the retention of effective
teachers and school leaders, and promoting equity in
the distribution of effective teachers and school
leaders to ensure that low-income and minority children
are not--
``(i) taught by ineffective teachers at
higher rates than other children; and
``(ii) enrolled in schools led by
ineffective leaders at higher rates than other
children; and
``(F) increasing kindergarten readiness; and
``(G) making progress on any other measures
identified by the Secretary.
``SEC. 6306. USES OF FUNDS.
``(a) Grants to States.--
``(1) Subgrants.--Each State that receives a grant under
this part shall use at least 50 percent of its grant to make
subgrants to those local educational agencies in the State that
participate in the State's plan under section 6304(a)(3), based
on those local educational agencies' relative shares of funds
under part A of title I for the most recent year for which
those data are available.
``(2) Activities under plan.--Each State or local
educational agency that receives a grant or subgrant,
respectively, under this part shall use those funds for any
purpose included in the State's plan under section 6304(a)(3).
``(b) Grants to Local Educational Agencies.--Each local educational
agency that receives a grant under this part shall use those funds for
any purpose included in the local educational agency's plan under
section 6304(a)(3).
``SEC. 6307. REPORTING.
``(a) Annual Report.--A State or local educational agency that
receives a grant under this part shall submit to the Secretary, at such
time and in such manner as the Secretary may require, an annual report
including--
``(1) data on the State's or agency's progress in achieving
the performance targets established under section 6305;
``(2) a description of the challenges the State or agency
has faced in implementing its program and how it has addressed
or plans to address those challenges; and
``(3) findings from the evaluation plan as described in
section 6304(a)(7).
``(b) Local Report.--Each local educational agency that receives a
subgrant from a State under this part shall submit to the State such
information as the State may require to complete the annual report
required under subsection (a).
``SEC. 6308. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part
$1,350,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such sums as may be necessary
for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) General provisions.--The table of contents of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301
et seq.) is amended by striking the items relating to part C of
title VI and inserting the following:
``Part D--General Provisions
``Sec. 6401. Prohibition against Federal mandates, direction, or
control.
``Sec. 6402. Rule of construction on equalized spending.''.
(2) Race to the top.--The table of contents of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the items relating to
part B of title VI, the following:
``Part C--Race to the Top
``Sec. 6301. Purposes.
``Sec. 6302. Reservation of funds.
``Sec. 6303. Program authorized.
``Sec. 6304. Applications.
``Sec. 6305. Performance measures.
``Sec. 6306. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 6307. Reporting.
``Sec. 6308. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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