[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 701 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 701

To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
   of 1965 to assure comparability of opportunity for educationally 
                        disadvantaged students.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 31, 2011

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
   of 1965 to assure comparability of opportunity for educationally 
                        disadvantaged students.

    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 ``Fiscal Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To remedy the inequitable distribution of State and 
        local funds within the areas served by local educational 
        agencies.
            (2) To reinforce the supplementary intent of funds made 
        available under title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), ensuring that 
        these funds serve their original purpose of subsidizing the 
        increased costs associated with educating students in 
        concentrated poverty.
            (3) To address the statutory, regulatory, and enforcement 
        weaknesses that have undermined the role of the comparability 
        requirement in ensuring comparability within school districts.
            (4) To require the inclusion of real teacher salaries in 
        calculations of per-pupil expenditures.
            (5) To provide sufficient transparency, accountability, and 
        disclosure to allow parents, communities, educators, and local 
        agency officials to ensure students have access to the 
        resources they need to achieve at high levels.

SEC. 3. COMPARABILITY OF EXPENDITURES.

    Section 1120A(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6321(c)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Comparability of Expenditures.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Comparable funding in general.--Except as 
                provided in paragraphs (4) and (5), a local educational 
                agency may receive funds under this part for a fiscal 
                year only if, for the preceding fiscal year, the 
                average expenditure per pupil of State and local funds 
                in each school served under this part was at least 97 
                percent of the average expenditure per pupil of State 
                and local funds across all schools served by the local 
                educational agency that are not receiving funds under 
                this part.
                    ``(B) Comparable funding among title i schools.--In 
                any case where all of the schools served by a local 
                educational agency receive support under this part, 
                such agency may receive funds under this part for a 
                fiscal year only if, for the preceding fiscal year, the 
                average expenditure per pupil of State and local funds 
                in each higher poverty school is at least 97 percent of 
                the average expenditure per pupil of State and local 
                funds across all lower poverty schools.
            ``(2) Equivalence.--A local educational agency shall be 
        considered to have met the requirements of paragraph (1), and 
        to be eligible to continue to receive funds under this part, 
        if--
                    ``(A) such agency has filed with the State 
                educational agency a current school-by-school listing 
                of per-pupil expenditures of State and local funds for 
                each school served by the agency for the preceding 
                fiscal year; and
                    ``(B) the listing described in subparagraph (A) 
                demonstrates comparability across schools, as required 
                by subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Basis.--A local educational agency may meet the 
        requirements of paragraph (1) across all schools or among 
        schools serving a particular grade span, if the local 
        educational agency compares schools within not more than three 
        grade spans.
            ``(4) Monitoring.--
                    ``(A) Regulations by secretary.--Not later than 120 
                days after the date of enactment of the Fiscal Fairness 
                Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations concerning 
                State educational agencies' and local educational 
                agencies' responsibilities for meeting the requirements 
                of this subsection.
                    ``(B) Regulations by states.--Not later than 6 
                months after the date on which the regulations required 
                under subparagraph (A) are issued, each State 
                educational agency receiving funds under this part 
                shall create and distribute to local educational 
                agencies, and make available to the public, regulations 
                on the responsibilities of local educational agencies 
                for meeting the requirements of this subsection.
                    ``(C) Plan by local educational agencies.--Not 
                later than 14 months after the date on which 
                regulations required under subparagraph (B) are 
                distributed, each local educational agency receiving 
                funds under this part shall develop and submit to the 
                State educational agency a plan, including a timeline 
                and annual benchmarks, that will ensure comparability 
                as described in paragraph (1) not later than 3 years 
                after the date on which such regulations are 
                distributed. The plan shall be made available to the 
                public.
                    ``(D) Audit.--In each of the fourth and fifth years 
                after the date of enactment of the Fiscal Fairness Act, 
                the Inspector General of the Department shall audit 5 
                States and 10 local educational agencies to determine 
                progress in meeting the requirements of this 
                subsection.
            ``(5) Inapplicability.--This subsection shall not apply to 
        a local educational agency that does not have more than one 
        building for each grade span.
            ``(6) Compliance.--For the purpose of determining 
        compliance with paragraph (1), a local educational agency--
                    ``(A) shall exclude State and local funds expended 
                for the excess costs of providing English language 
                instruction for limited English proficient students as 
                determined by the local educational agency;
                    ``(B) shall exclude State and local funds expended 
                for the excess costs of providing services to children 
                with disabilities as determined by the local 
                educational agency; and
                    ``(C) may exclude supplemental State or local funds 
                expended in any school attendance area or school for 
                programs that meet the intent and purpose of this part.
            ``(7) No forced transfers.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to require the forced or involuntary 
        transfer of any school personnel in order to comply with 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1).
            ``(8) Comparability as minimum standard.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
                be construed to limit or discourage the allocation of 
                State or local funds to schools served under this part 
                in excess of 100 percent of the average per-pupil 
                expenditure for schools not served under this part.
                    ``(B) Exception.--In the case of a local 
                educational agency subject to the requirements of 
                paragraph (1)(B), nothing shall be construed to 
                discourage the allocation of State and local funds to 
                any higher poverty schools served by the local 
                educational agency in excess of 100 percent of the 
                average per-pupil expenditure in lower poverty schools 
                served by the agency.
            ``(9) Public reporting.--
                    ``(A) School report cards.--Beginning with the 
                first academic year that begins after the date of 
                enactment of the Fiscal Fairness Act, and for each 
                academic year thereafter, each local educational agency 
                shall include on the school report cards required under 
                section 1111(h)(2) the following:
                            ``(i) The average per-pupil expenditures of 
                        State and local funds for the school.
                            ``(ii) The average per-pupil expenditures 
                        of State and local funds for schools in the 
                        local educational agency not served under this 
                        part or, in the case where all schools in a 
                        local educational agency are served under this 
                        part, for lower poverty schools.
                            ``(iii) The mean of average per-pupil 
                        expenditures of State and local funds for all 
                        schools in the State.
                    ``(B) Current school-by-school listing.--Beginning 
                with the first academic year that begins after the date 
                of enactment of the Fiscal Fairness Act and for each 
                academic year thereafter, the State educational agency 
                shall make publicly available the most current school-
                by-school listings of per-pupil expenditures of State 
                and local funds submitted by each local educational 
                agency, as required under paragraph (2)(A)(i).
            ``(10) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection:
                    ``(A) Expenditures.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `expenditures' 
                        means--
                                    ``(I) salary expenditures for 
                                classroom teachers, including not only 
                                base salaries but also incentive pay, 
                                bonuses, and supplemental stipends for 
                                mentoring or other additional roles;
                                    ``(II) salary expenditures for 
                                instructional and instructional support 
                                staff who are not classroom teachers 
                                (such as principals, librarians, 
                                paraprofessionals, academic coaches, 
                                and curriculum specialists), including 
                                not only base salaries but also 
                                incentive pay, bonuses, and 
                                supplemental stipends for mentoring or 
                                other additional roles;
                                    ``(III) salary expenditures for 
                                noninstructional staff, including 
                                student support staff; and
                                    ``(IV) nonpersonnel expenditures 
                                such as--
                                            ``(aa) professional 
                                        development for teachers and 
                                        other staff;
                                            ``(bb) instructional 
                                        materials and supplies;
                                            ``(cc) computers, software, 
                                        and other technology;
                                            ``(dd) contracted services 
                                        such as distance learning, art, 
                                        athletics, and technology 
                                        services;
                                            ``(ee) library books and 
                                        media center materials; and
                                            ``(ff) such other 
                                        expenditures as the Secretary 
                                        may require.
                            ``(ii) Determinations.--For purposes of 
                        subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i), in the 
                        determination of salary expenditures, salary 
                        differentials for years of employment shall be 
                        included.
                    ``(B) Higher poverty school.--The term `higher 
                poverty school' means a school that is in the highest 3 
                quartiles of schools served by a local educational 
                agency, based on the percentage of enrolled students 
                from low-income families.
                    ``(C) Lower poverty school.--The term `lower 
                poverty school' means a school that is in the lowest 
                quartile of schools served by a local educational 
                agency, based on the percentage of enrolled students 
                from low-income families.''.
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