[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 17, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58595-58596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-23737]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Local Flexibility Demonstration Program

AGENCY: Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of 
Education.

ACTION: Notice extending application deadline.

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SUMMARY: Under the Local Flexibility Demonstration Program (``Local-
Flex'' program), the Secretary will competitively select up to 80 local 
educational agencies (LEAs) with which to enter into Local-Flex 
agreements. The agreements will provide participating LEAs the 
flexibility to consolidate certain Federal formula grant funds in order 
to assist them in meeting the State's definition of adequate yearly 
progress and the LEA's specific measurable goals for improving student 
achievement and narrowing achievement gaps. In this notice, we are 
extending the deadline for eligible LEAs to apply to participate in the 
Local-Flex program.

Application Deadline: December 6, 2002.

Eligible Applicants

    LEAs in the following States are eligible to apply for Local-Flex: 
Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, 
Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New 
Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, 
Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, 
Vermont, Virginia, Washington,

[[Page 58596]]

West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
    By statute, the Secretary may enter into Local-Flex agreements with 
no more than three LEAs in a State. Therefore, any consortium that 
seeks a Local-Flex agreement may include no more than three LEAs. 
Furthermore, only LEAs that receive formula grant funds from their 
State educational agency (SEA) under the Federal programs subject to 
consolidation may seek Local-Flex authority.
    LEAs in the following States may not apply at this time because 
their SEA indicated, by May 8, 2002, an intent to apply for State-Flex 
authority: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, 
Massachusetts, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. In 
addition, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the 
outlying areas are not eligible to apply for Local-Flex because, for 
purposes of this program, the legislation considers a state-wide LEA to 
be an SEA.
    Under the legislation, a State generally cannot receive State-Flex 
authority if one of its LEAs has entered into a Local-Flex agreement 
with the Secretary. If an LEA enters into a Local-Flex agreement with 
the Secretary, its SEA may subsequently seek State-Flex authority only 
if that LEA agrees to be part of the SEA's State-Flex proposal.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On July 19, 2002, we published in the 
Federal Register (67 FR 47528-47529) a notice establishing a September 
17, 2002 deadline for the initial Local-Flex competition. In that 
notice, the Secretary indicated that he would select up to forty LEAs 
for participation in Local-Flex in the initial competition, and that he 
would select the remaining LEAs in a subsequent competition.
    The Department now believes that many LEAs need additional time to 
prepare a Local-Flex application, especially given that new 
requirements in the programs affected by Local-Flex just recently 
became effective. With additional time, many more interested LEAs 
should be able to prepare a Local-Flex proposal that fully addresses 
the statutory requirements and that will assist them in meeting their 
State definition of adequate yearly progress and in attaining specific, 
measurable goals for improving student achievement and narrowing 
achievement gaps.
    An LEA that submitted an application by the previously established 
deadline does not have to re-apply for Local-Flex, but may submit a 
revised application by the deadline established in this notice if it 
wishes to do so. The Department intends to hold one or more subsequent 
Local-Flex competitions until the statutory maximum of 80 LEAs are 
participating in the program.

Notification of Intent To Apply for Local-Flex

    We will be able to develop a more efficient process for reviewing 
Local-Flex applications if we have a better understanding of the number 
of LEAs that intend to seek participation in the program. Therefore, we 
strongly encourage each potential applicant to send, by November 8, 
2002, a notification of its intent to apply for participation in the 
Local-Flex program to the following address: [email protected].
    The notification of intent to apply for participation in Local-Flex 
is optional and should not include information regarding the potential 
applicant's Local-Flex proposal. LEAs that fail to provide the 
notification may still submit an application by the application 
deadline.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Milagros Lanauze. Telephone: (202) 
401-0039 or via Internet: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339. 
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this notice in an alternative 
format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the contact person listed above.

APPLICATIONS: You may obtain a copy of the application on the 
Department's web site at: http://www.ed.gov/flexibility/prog.
    You may also obtain a copy of the application from the contact 
person identified under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.

Electronic Access to This Document

    You may view this document, as well as other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the following site: 
www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll-free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official version of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO access at: www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.



    Program Authority: Sections 6151 through 6156 of the ESEA, as 
amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Pub.L. 107-110).

    Dated: September 13, 2002.
Susan B. Neuman,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-23737 Filed 9-15-02; 2:56 pm]
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