[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 755 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 755

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit 
    Federal mandates, direction, or control, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 5, 2015

  Mrs. Roby introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit 
    Federal mandates, direction, or control, 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 ``Defending State Authority Over 
Education Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY PARTNERSHIPS.

    Section 1111(k) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(k)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
``Except that the Secretary shall not attempt to influence, 
incentivize, or coerce State participation in any such partnerships.''.

SEC. 3. SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS.

    Section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7861) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g), as 
        subsections (f), (g), and (h), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(e) Specific Limitations.--The Secretary shall not require a 
State educational agency, local educational agency, or Indian tribe, as 
a condition of approval of a waiver request, to--
            ``(1) include in, or delete from, such request, specific 
        academic standards;
            ``(2) use specific academic assessment instruments or 
        items; or
            ``(3) include in, or delete from, such waiver request any 
        criterion that specifies, defines, or prescribes the standards 
        or measures that a State or local educational agency or Indian 
        tribe uses to establish, implement, or improve--
                    ``(A) State academic standards;
                    ``(B) academic assessments;
                    ``(C) State accountability systems; or
                    ``(D) teacher and school leader evaluation 
                systems.''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL MANDATES, DIRECTION, OR CONTROL.

    (a) In General.--Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 9526 the following new section:

``SEC. 9526A. PROHIBITION AGAINST FEDERAL MANDATES, DIRECTION, OR 
              CONTROL.

    ``(a) In General.--No officer or employee of the Federal Government 
shall, directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or other 
cooperative agreements, mandate, direct, or control a State, local 
educational agency, or school's specific instructional content, 
academic standards and assessments, curricula, or program of 
instruction, nor shall anything in this Act be construed to authorize 
such officer or employee to do so.
    ``(b) Financial Support.--No officer or employee of the Federal 
Government shall, directly or indirectly, through grants, contracts, or 
other cooperative agreements, make financial support available in a 
manner that is conditioned upon a State, local educational agency, or 
school's adoption of specific instructional content, academic standards 
and assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction even if such 
requirements are specified in an Act other than this Act, nor shall 
anything in this Act be construed to authorize such officer or employee 
to do so.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 9526 the following:

``Sec. 9526A. Prohibition against Federal mandates, direction, or 
                            control.''.
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