[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 7 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S372-S373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. Reid):
  S. 102. A bill to provide assistance to address school dropout 
problems; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


                     dropout prevention legislation

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of 
the bill be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 102

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

     SECTION 1. ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS SCHOOL DROPOUT PROBLEMS.

       Part D of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
     Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6421 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:

       ``Subpart 4--Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems

     ``SEC. 1441. SHORT TITLE.

       ``This subpart may be cited as the `Dropout Prevention 
     Act'.

     ``SEC. 1442. PURPOSE.

       ``The purpose of this subpart is to provide for school 
     dropout prevention and reentry and to raise academic 
     achievement levels by providing grants, to schools through 
     State educational agencies, that--
       ``(1) challenge all children to attain their highest 
     academic potential; and
       ``(2) ensure that all students have substantial and ongoing 
     opportunities to do so through schoolwide programs proven 
     effective in school dropout prevention.

               ``Chapter 1--Coordinated National Strategy

     ``SEC. 1451. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized--
       ``(1) to collect systematic data on the participation in 
     the programs described in paragraph (2)(C) of individuals 
     disaggregated within each State, local educational agency, 
     and school by gender, by each major racial and ethnic group, 
     by English proficiency status, by migrant status, by students 
     with disabilities as compared to nondisabled students, and by 
     economically disadvantaged students as compared to students 
     who are not economically disadvantaged;
       ``(2) to establish and to consult with an interagency 
     working group which shall--
       ``(A) address inter- and intra-agency program coordination 
     issues at the Federal level with respect to school dropout 
     prevention and middle school and secondary school reentry, 
     assess the targeting of existing Federal services to students 
     who are most at risk of dropping out of school, and the cost-
     effectiveness of various programs and approaches used to 
     address school dropout prevention;
       ``(B) describe the ways in which State and local agencies 
     can implement effective school dropout prevention programs 
     using funds from a variety of Federal programs, including the 
     programs under title I and the School-to-Work Opportunities 
     Act of 1994; and
       ``(C) address all Federal programs with school dropout 
     prevention or school reentry elements or objectives, programs 
     under title I of this Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities 
     Act of 1994, subtitle C of title I of the Workforce 
     Investment Act of 1998, and other programs; and
       ``(3) carry out a national recognition program in 
     accordance with subsection (b) that recognizes schools that 
     have made extraordinary progress in lowering school dropout 
     rates under which a public middle school or secondary school 
     from each State will be recognized.
       ``(b) Recognition Program.--
       ``(1) National guidelines.--The Secretary shall develop 
     uniform national guidelines for the recognition program which 
     shall be used to recognize schools from nominations submitted 
     by State educational agencies.
       ``(2) Eligible schools.--The Secretary may recognize under 
     the recognition program any public middle school or secondary 
     school (including a charter school) that has implemented 
     comprehensive reforms regarding the lowering of school 
     dropout rates for all students at that school.
       ``(3) Support.--The Secretary may make monetary awards to 
     schools recognized under the recognition program in amounts 
     determined by the Secretary. Amounts received under this 
     section shall be used for dissemination activities within the 
     school district or nationally.
       ``(c) Capacity Building.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, through a contract with a 
     non-Federal entity, may conduct a capacity building and 
     design initiative in order to increase the types of proven 
     strategies for dropout prevention and reentry that address 
     the needs of an entire school population rather than a subset 
     of students.
       ``(2) Number and duration.--
       ``(A) Number.--The Secretary may award not more than 5 
     contracts under this subsection.
       ``(B) Duration.--The Secretary may award a contract under 
     this subsection for a period of not more than 5 years.
       ``(d) Support for Existing Reform Networks.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may provide appropriate 
     support to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities 
     to provide training, materials, development, and staff 
     assistance to schools assisted under this chapter.
       ``(2) Definition of eligible entity.--In this subsection, 
     the term `eligible entity' means an entity that, prior to the 
     date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act--
       ``(A) provided training, technical assistance, and 
     materials to 100 or more elementary schools or secondary 
     schools; and
       ``(B) developed and published a specific educational 
     program or design for use by the schools.

       ``Chapter 2--National School Dropout Prevention Initiative

     ``SEC. 1461. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

       ``(a) Grants.--
       ``(1) Discretionary grants.--If the sum appropriated under 
     section 1472 for a fiscal year is less than $250,000,000, 
     then the Secretary shall use such sum to award grants, on a 
     competitive basis, to State educational agencies to enable 
     the State educational agencies to award grants under 
     subsection (b).
       ``(2) Formula.--If the sum appropriated under section 1472 
     for a fiscal year equals or exceeds $250,000,000, then the 
     Secretary shall use such sum to make an allotment to each 
     State in an amount that bears the same relation to the sum as 
     the amount the State received under part A of title I for the 
     preceding fiscal year bears to the amount received by all 
     States under such part for the preceding fiscal year.
       ``(3) Definition of state.--In this chapter, the term 
     `State' means each of the several States of the United 
     States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
     Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, 
     the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
     Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of 
     Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
       ``(b) Grants.--From amounts made available to a State under 
     subsection (a), the State educational agency may award grants 
     to public middle schools or secondary schools that serve 
     students in grades 6 through 12, that have school dropout 
     rates which are the highest of all school dropout rates in 
     the State, to enable the schools to pay only the startup and 
     implementation costs of effective, sustainable, coordinated, 
     and whole school dropout prevention programs that involve 
     activities such as--
       ``(1) professional development;
       ``(2) obtaining curricular materials;
       ``(3) release time for professional staff;
       ``(4) planning and research;
       ``(5) remedial education;
       ``(6) reduction in pupil-to-teacher ratios;
       ``(7) efforts to meet State student achievement standards;
       ``(8) counseling and mentoring for at-risk students; and
       ``(9) comprehensive school reform models.
       ``(c) Amount.--
       ``(1) In general.--Subject to subsection (d) and except as 
     provided in paragraph (2), a grant under this chapter shall 
     be awarded--
       ``(A) in the first year that a school receives a grant 
     payment under this chapter, based on factors such as--
       ``(i) school size;
       ``(ii) costs of the model or set of prevention and reentry 
     strategies being implemented; and
       ``(iii) local cost factors such as poverty rates;
       ``(B) in the second such year, in an amount that is not 
     less than 75 percent of the amount the school received under 
     this chapter in the first such year;
       ``(C) in the third year, in an amount that is not less than 
     50 percent of the amount the school received under this 
     chapter in the first such year; and
       ``(D) in each succeeding year in an amount that is not less 
     than 30 percent of the amount the school received under this 
     chapter in the first such year.
       ``(2) Increases.--The Secretary shall increase the amount 
     awarded to a school under this chapter by 10 percent if the 
     school creates smaller learning communities within the school 
     and the creation is certified by the State educational 
     agency.
       ``(d) Duration.--A grant under this chapter shall be 
     awarded for a period of 3 years, and

[[Page S373]]

     may be continued for a period of 2 additional years if the 
     State educational agency determines, based on the annual 
     reports described in section 1467(a), that significant 
     progress has been made in lowering the school dropout rate 
     for students participating in the program assisted under this 
     chapter compared to students at similar schools who are not 
     participating in the program.

     ``SEC. 1462. STRATEGIES AND CAPACITY BUILDING.

       ``Each school receiving a grant under this chapter shall 
     implement research-based, sustainable, and widely replicated, 
     strategies for school dropout prevention and reentry that 
     address the needs of an entire school population rather than 
     a subset of students. The strategies may include--
       ``(1) specific strategies for targeted purposes, such as 
     effective early intervention programs designed to identify 
     at-risk students, effective programs encompassing 
     traditionally underserved students, including racial and 
     ethnic minorities and pregnant and parenting teenagers, 
     designed to prevent such students from dropping out of 
     school, and effective programs to identify and encourage 
     youth who have already dropped out of school to reenter 
     school and complete their secondary education; and
       ``(2) approaches such as breaking larger schools down into 
     smaller learning communities and other comprehensive reform 
     approaches, creating alternative school programs, developing 
     clear linkages to career skills and employment, and 
     addressing specific gatekeeper hurdles that often limit 
     student retention and academic success.

     ``SEC. 1463. SELECTION OF SCHOOLS.

       ``(a) School Application.--
       ``(1) In general.--Each school desiring a grant under this 
     chapter shall submit an application to the State educational 
     agency at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such 
     information as the State educational agency may require.
       ``(2) Contents.--Each application submitted under paragraph 
     (1) shall--
       ``(A) contain a certification from the local educational 
     agency serving the school that--
       ``(i) the school has the highest number or rates of school 
     dropouts in the age group served by the local educational 
     agency;
       ``(ii) the local educational agency is committed to 
     providing ongoing operational support, for the school's 
     comprehensive reform plan to address the problem of school 
     dropouts, for a period of 5 years; and
       ``(iii) the local educational agency will support the plan, 
     including--

       ``(I) release time for teacher training;
       ``(II) efforts to coordinate activities for feeder schools; 
     and
       ``(III) encouraging other schools served by the local 
     educational agency to participate in the plan;

       ``(B) demonstrate that the faculty and administration of 
     the school have agreed to apply for assistance under this 
     chapter, and provide evidence of the school's willingness and 
     ability to use the funds under this chapter, including 
     providing an assurance of the support of 80 percent or more 
     of the professional staff at the school;
       ``(C) describe the instructional strategies to be 
     implemented, how the strategies will serve all students, and 
     the effectiveness of the strategies;
       ``(D) describe a budget and timeline for implementing the 
     strategies;
       ``(E) contain evidence of coordination with existing 
     resources;
       ``(F) provide an assurance that funds provided under this 
     chapter will supplement and not supplant other Federal, 
     State, and local funds;
       ``(G) describe how the activities to be assisted conform 
     with research-based knowledge about school dropout prevention 
     and reentry; and
       ``(H) demonstrate that the school and local educational 
     agency have agreed to conduct a schoolwide program under 
     section 1114.
       ``(b) State Agency Review and Award.--The State educational 
     agency shall review applications and award grants to schools 
     under subsection (a) according to a review by a panel of 
     experts on school dropout prevention.
       ``(c) Eligibility.--A school is eligible to receive a grant 
     under this chapter if the school is--
       ``(1) a public school (including a public alternative 
     school)--
       ``(A) that is eligible to receive assistance under part A 
     of title I, including a comprehensive secondary school, a 
     vocational or technical secondary school, or a charter 
     school; and
       ``(B)(i) that serves students 50 percent or more of whom 
     are low-income individuals; or
       ``(ii) with respect to which the feeder schools that 
     provide the majority of the incoming students to the school 
     serve students 50 percent or more of whom are low-income 
     individuals; or
       ``(2) participating in a schoolwide program under section 
     1114 during the grant period.
       ``(d) Community-Based Organizations.--A school that 
     receives a grant under this chapter may use the grant funds 
     to secure necessary services from a community-based 
     organization, including private sector entities, if--
       ``(1) the school approves the use;
       ``(2) the funds are used to provide school dropout 
     prevention and reentry activities related to schoolwide 
     efforts; and
       ``(3) the community-based organization has demonstrated the 
     organization's ability to provide effective services as 
     described in section 122 of the Workforce Investment Act of 
     1998.
       ``(e) Coordination.--Each school that receives a grant 
     under this chapter shall coordinate the activities assisted 
     under this chapter with other Federal programs, such as 
     programs assisted under chapter 1 of subpart 2 of part A of 
     title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the School-
     to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994.

     ``SEC. 1464. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES.

       ``Each school that receives a grant under this chapter 
     shall provide information and technical assistance to other 
     schools within the school district, including presentations, 
     document-sharing, and joint staff development.

     ``SEC. 1465. PROGRESS INCENTIVES.

       ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each local 
     educational agency that receives funds under title I shall 
     use such funding to provide assistance to schools served by 
     the agency that have not made progress toward lowering school 
     dropout rates after receiving assistance under this chapter 
     for 2 fiscal years.

     ``SEC. 1466. SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE CALCULATION.

       ``For purposes of calculating a school dropout rate under 
     this chapter, a school shall use--
       ``(1) the annual event school dropout rate for students 
     leaving a school in a single year determined in accordance 
     with the National Center for Education Statistics' Common 
     Core of Data, if available; or
       ``(2) in other cases, a standard method for calculating the 
     school dropout rate as determined by the State educational 
     agency.

     ``SEC. 1467. REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY.

       ``(a) Reporting.--In order to receive funding under this 
     chapter for a fiscal year after the first fiscal year a 
     school receives funding under this chapter, the school shall 
     provide, on an annual basis, to the Secretary and the State 
     educational agency a report regarding the status of the 
     implementation of activities funded under this chapter, the 
     outcome data for students at schools assisted under this 
     chapter disaggregated in the same manner as information under 
     section 1451(a) (such as dropout rates), and certification of 
     progress from the eligible entity whose strategies the school 
     is implementing.
       ``(b) Accountability.--On the basis of the reports 
     submitted under subsection (a), the Secretary shall evaluate 
     the effect of the activities assisted under this chapter on 
     school dropout prevention compared to a control group.

     ``SEC. 1468. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.

       ``(a) Uniform Data Collection.--Within 1 year after the 
     date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a State 
     educational agency that receives funds under this chapter 
     shall report to the Secretary and statewide, all school 
     district and school data regarding school dropout rates in 
     the State disaggregated in the same manner as information 
     under section 1451(a), according to procedures that conform 
     with the National Center for Education Statistics' Common 
     Core of Data.
       ``(b) Attendance-Neutral Funding Policies.--Within 2 years 
     after the date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a 
     State educational agency that receives funds under this 
     chapter shall develop and implement education funding formula 
     policies for public schools that provide appropriate 
     incentives to retain students in school throughout the school 
     year, such as--
       ``(1) a student count methodology that does not determine 
     annual budgets based on attendance on a single day early in 
     the academic year; and
       ``(2) specific incentives for retaining enrolled students 
     throughout each year.
       ``(c) Suspension and Expulsion Policies.--Within 2 years 
     after the date of enactment of the Dropout Prevention Act, a 
     State educational agency that receives funds under this 
     chapter shall develop uniform, long-term suspension and 
     expulsion policies (that in the case of a child with a 
     disability are consistent with the suspension and expulsion 
     policies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
     Act) for serious infractions resulting in more than 10 days 
     of exclusion from school per academic year so that similar 
     violations result in similar penalties.
       ``(d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate 
     regulations implementing subsections (a) through (c).

       ``Chapter 3--Definitions; Authorization of Appropriations

     ``SEC. 1471. DEFINITIONS.

       ``In this subpart:
       ``(1) Low-income.--The term `low-income', used with respect 
     to an individual, means an individual determined to be low-
     income in accordance with measures described in section 
     1113(a)(5).
       ``(2) School dropout.--The term `school dropout' has the 
     meaning given the term in section 4(17) of the School-to-Work 
     Opportunities Act of 1994.

     ``SEC. 1472. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
     subpart, $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as 
     may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, 
     of which--
       ``(1) 10 percent shall be available to carry out chapter 1; 
     and
       ``(2) 90 percent shall be available to carry out chapter 
     2.''.
                                 ______