[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 176 (Monday, September 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56183-56188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23123]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
RIN 1894-AA01
[Docket ID ED-2011-OS-0008]
Race to the Top Fund Phase 3
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed requirements.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) proposes requirements
for Phase 3 of the Race to the Top program. In this phase the
Department would make awards to States that were finalists but did not
receive funding under the Race to the Top Fund Phase 2 competition held
in fiscal year (FY) 2010. We take this action to specify the
information and assurances that applicants must provide in order to
receive funding under the Race to the Top Fund Phase 3 award process.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before October 12, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not
accept comments by fax or by e-mail. Please submit your comments only
one time in order to ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies. In
addition, please include the Docket ID and the term ``Race to the Top
Fund Phase 3 Awards'' at the top of your comments.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information
on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency
documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on
the site under ``How To Use This Site.''
Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery. If you
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed requirements,
address them to the Implementation and Support Unit (Attention: Race to
the Top Fund Phase 3 Comments), U.S. Department of Education, 400
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6200.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments
received from members of the public (including those comments submitted
by mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery) is to make these
submissions available for public viewing in their entirety on the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only
information that they wish to make publicly available on the Internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meredith Farace, Implementation and
Support Unit, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6200.
Telephone: (202) 401-8368 or by e-mail: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this notice. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the notice of final requirements, we urge you to identify
clearly the specific proposed requirement that each comment addresses.
We invite you also to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563 and
their overall direction to Federal agencies to reduce regulatory burden
where possible. Please let us know of any further ways we could reduce
potential costs or increase potential benefits while preserving the
effective and efficient administration of this program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice by accessing Regulations.gov. You may also
inspect the public comments in person in room 7E208, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00
p.m., Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except
Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request we will provide an appropriate
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the
public rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: The Race to the Top program, the largest
competitive education grant program in U.S. history, is designed to
provide incentives to States to implement system-changing reforms that
result in improved student achievement, narrowed achievement
[[Page 56184]]
gaps, and increased high school graduation and college enrollment
rates.
Program Authority: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
(ARRA), Division A, Section 14006, Public Law 111-5, as amended by
section 310 of Division D, Title III of Public Law 111-117, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, and section 1832(a)(2) of Public
Law 112-10, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2011. (Note: In the ARRA, the Race to the Top
program is referred to as State Incentive Grants.)
Proposed Requirements:
Background
On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the ARRA,
historic legislation designed to stimulate the economy, support job
creation, and invest in critical sectors, including education. The ARRA
laid the foundation for education reform by supporting investments in
innovative strategies that are most likely to lead to improved results
for students, long-term gains in school and school system capacity, and
increased productivity and effectiveness. In particular, the ARRA
authorized and provided $4.35 billion for the Race to the Top Fund, a
competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States
creating the conditions for education innovation and reform by
implementing ambitious plans in four core areas: Enhancing standards
and assessments, improving the collection and use of data, increasing
teacher effectiveness and achieving equity in teacher distribution, and
turning around struggling schools.
In 2010, the Department awarded approximately $4 billion in Race to
the Top State grant funds in two phases. On March 29, 2010, the
Department announced the award of approximately $600 million to
Delaware and Tennessee under the Race to the Top Phase 1 competition.
On August 24, 2010, the Department announced the award of approximately
$3.4 billion in Race to the Top funding to the winners of the Phase 2
competition: the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Rhode
Island. In addition to these awards to States to implement
comprehensive reform plans, the Department awarded approximately $330
million on September 2, 2010, under a separate Race to the Top
Assessment competition, to two groups of States to develop a new
generation of assessments aligned with a common set of college- and
career-ready standards.
In announcing the winners of the Phase 2 competition, the Secretary
noted that ``[we] had many more competitive applications than money to
fund them in this round'' and expressed the hope that any Race to the
Top funding included in the Department's FY 2011 appropriations would
be available for Phase 3 Race to the Top awards. In particular, there
were nine finalists in the Phase 2 competition held in the summer of
2010 that did not receive funding despite submitting bold and ambitious
plans for comprehensive reforms and innovations in their systems of
elementary and secondary education. These nine finalists were Arizona,
California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
On April 15, 2011, President Obama signed into law Public Law 112-
10, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2011 (FY 2011 Appropriations Act), which made $698.6 million
available for the Race to the Top Fund, authorized the Secretary to
make awards on ``the basis of previously submitted applications,'' and
amended the ARRA to permit the Secretary to make grants for improving
early childhood care and learning under the program. On May 25, 2011,
the Department announced that approximately $500 million of these funds
would support the new Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge program
and that approximately $200 million would be made available to some or
all of the nine unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase
2 competition. While $200 million is not sufficient to support full
implementation of the plans submitted during the Phase 2 competition,
the Department believes that making these funds available to the
remaining nine finalists is the best way to create incentives for these
States to carry out the bold reforms proposed in their applications.
The Department may use any unused funds from Race to the Top Phase 3 to
make awards in the Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge program.
Conversely, the Department may use any unused funds from the Race to
the Top--Early Learning Challenge program to make awards for Race to
the Top Phase 3.
In this notice, we propose specific requirements that would apply
to Race to the Top Phase 3 awards. To receive a share of the
approximately $200 million in Race to the Top Phase 3 funds, eligible
applicants would need to meet these requirements.
As with Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2, it is the Department's
intent to encourage and reward States that are creating and maintaining
conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant
improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in
student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school
graduation rates, ensuring student preparation for success in college
and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in the following four
core education reform areas:
(a) Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments
that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
(b) Building data systems that measure student success and inform
teachers and principals about how they can improve their practices;
(c) Increasing teacher and principal effectiveness and achieving
equity in the distribution of effective teachers and principals; and
(d) Turning around our lowest achieving schools.
Under the Race to the Top Phase 3 award process proposed in this
notice, eligible applicants would be limited to Race to the Top Phase 2
finalists that did not receive a Phase 2 award, and those eligible
applicants could apply for a proportional share of these funds. Race to
the Top Phase 3 funding is not at the level of funding that was
available for the Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2 competitions.
Accordingly, we are proposing that eligible applicants (1) select from
among the activities they proposed to implement in their Phase 2
applications those activities that will have the greatest impact on
advancing their overall statewide reform plans, (2) use Race to the Top
Phase 3 funding to support those specific activities, and (3) ensure
that such activities are consistent with the ARRA requirement to
allocate 50 percent of Race to the Top funds to local educational
agencies (LEAs).
We are further proposing to require that an eligible applicant
provide a set of assurances reaffirming its commitment to maintain, at
a minimum, the conditions for reform that it established in its Phase 2
application in each of the four core education reform areas. These
assurances reflect the importance of the State's dedication to
successfully implementing the comprehensive statewide reforms
envisioned under the Race to the Top program.
These proposed requirements also include a requirement that an
applicant provide an assurance that the State is in compliance with the
Education Jobs Fund maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirement in section
101(10)(A) of Public Law 111-226. The MOE requirement under the
Education Jobs Fund program is more stringent in some
[[Page 56185]]
respects than the MOE requirement under the State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund (SFSF) program. Unlike the SFSF MOE requirement, which in some
cases may allow a State to maintain overall levels of support for
education while actually reducing funding for either elementary and
secondary education or for public institutions of higher education
(IHEs), a State can meet the Education Jobs Fund MOE requirement only
by maintaining support for both elementary and secondary education and
public IHEs. For this reason, we believe that the Education Jobs Fund
MOE requirement is a better measure of whether a State is demonstrating
the commitment to funding education needed to create the conditions for
education innovation and reform consistent with the Race to the Top
program.
Proposed Requirements
The Secretary proposes the following requirements for Race to the
Top awards. Except where otherwise indicated in this notice of proposed
requirements, the applicable final requirements and definitions of key
terms from the notice of final priorities, requirements, definitions,
and selection criteria, published in the Federal Register on November
18, 2009 (74 FR 59688) apply to the Race to the Top Phase 3 application
process.
I. Proposed Award Process
The Department proposes to make awards through a two-part process.
Under the first part of this process, States that meet the eligibility
requirements would submit an application that (1) meets the application
requirements and (2) provides the application assurances.
Under the second part of the Race to the Top Phase 3 application
process, the Department would notify all eligible applicants that met
the application requirements and provided the assurances required by
the first part of the process, and would provide an estimate of the
Race to the Top Phase 3 funds available to them based on the number of
qualified applicants. Qualified applicants would then be required to
submit, for review and approval by the Secretary, a detailed plan and
budget describing the activities selected from the State's Phase 2
application that would be implemented with Race to the Top Phase 3
funding in accordance with the Budget Requirements in this notice.
II. Proposed Eligibility Requirements
States that were finalists, but did not receive grant awards, in
the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition are eligible to receive
Race to the Top Phase 3 awards. Therefore, only the States of Arizona,
California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are eligible to apply for Race to the
Top Phase 3 awards.
III. Proposed Application Requirements
A State must submit an application that includes the signatures of
the Governor, the State's chief school officer, and the president of
the State board of education, or their authorized representatives (if
applicable).
IV. Proposed Application Assurances
The Governor or authorized representative of the Governor of a
State must provide the following assurances in the State's Race to the
Top Phase 3 application:
(a) The State is in compliance with the Education Jobs Fund
maintenance-of-effort (MOE) requirements in section 101(10)(A) of
Public Law 111-226.
(b) The State is in compliance with the State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund Phase 2 requirements with respect to Indicator (b)(1) regarding
the State's statewide longitudinal data system. (See notice of final
requirements, definitions, and approval criteria for the State Fiscal
Stabilization Fund Program published in the Federal Register on
November 12, 2009 (74 FR 58436).)
(c) At the time the State submits its application, there are no
legal, statutory, or regulatory barriers at the State level to linking
data on student achievement or student growth to teachers and
principals for the purpose of teacher and principal evaluation.
(d) The State will maintain its commitment to improving the quality
of its assessments, evidenced by the State's participation in a
consortium of States that--
(i) Is working toward jointly developing and implementing common,
high-quality assessments aligned with the consortium's common set of K-
12 standards; and
(ii) Includes a significant number of States.
(e) The State will maintain, at a minimum, the conditions for
reform described in its Race to the Top Phase 2 application,
including--
(i) The State's adoption and implementation of a common set of
college- and career-ready standards, as specified in section (B)(1)(ii)
of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application;
(ii) The State's statutory and regulatory framework related to
improving teacher and school leader effectiveness and ensuring an
equitable distribution of effective teachers and leaders, as described
in section D of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application;
(iii) The State's statutory and regulatory framework for
implementing effective school and LEA turnaround measures, as described
in section E of the State's Race to the Top Phase 2 application; and
(iv) The State's statutory and regulatory framework for supporting
the creation and expansion of high-performing charter schools and other
innovative schools, as described in section (F)(2) of its Race to the
Top Phase 2 application.
(f) The State will maintain its commitment to comprehensive reforms
and innovation designed to increase student achievement and to
continued progress in the four reform areas specified in the ARRA,
including the adoption and implementation of internationally
benchmarked standards and assessments, improving the collection and use
of data, increasing teacher effectiveness and equity in the
distribution of effective teachers, and turning around the State's
lowest achieving schools.
(g) The State will select activities for funding that are
consistent with the commitment to comprehensive reform and innovation
that the State demonstrated in its Race to the Top Phase 2 application.
(h) The State will comply with all of the accountability,
transparency, and reporting requirements that apply to the Race to the
Top program (See the notice of final priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria for the Race to the Top Fund
published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009 (74 FR 59688)),
with the exception of reporting requirements applicable solely to funds
provided under the ARRA. (Note: The ARRA section 1512 reporting
requirements do not apply to the funds we will award under the Race to
the Top Phase 3 award process).
(i) A grantee must comply with the requirements of any evaluation
of the program, or of specific activities pursued as part of the
program, conducted and supported by the Department.
V. Proposed Budget Requirements
An eligible applicant must apply for a proportional share of the
approximately $200 million available for Race to the Top Phase 3 awards
based primarily on its share of the population of children ages 5
through 17 across the nine States. The proposed estimated amounts for
which each
[[Page 56186]]
eligible State could apply are shown in the following table. The
amounts proposed in this table are based on the assumption that all
eligible States would apply for a share of available funding; the
amounts would increase if one or more eligible States do not apply or
do not meet the application requirements.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Amount
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado............................................... $12,250,000
Louisiana.............................................. 12,250,000
South Carolina......................................... 12,250,000
Kentucky............................................... 12,250,000
Arizona................................................ 17,500,000
Illinois............................................... 28,000,000
Pennsylvania........................................... 28,000,000
New Jersey............................................. 28,000,000
California............................................. 49,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once the Department notifies a qualified applicant of the final
amount of funds it is eligible to receive for a Race to the Top Phase 3
award, the applicant must submit a detailed plan and budget describing
the activities it has selected from its Race to the Top Phase 2
application that it proposes to implement with Race to the Top Phase 3
funding. This detailed plan must include an explanation of why the
applicant has selected these activities and why the applicant believes
such activities will have the greatest impact on advancing its overall
statewide reform plan. The plan also must include a description of the
State's process for allocating at least 50 percent of Race to the Top
Phase 3 funds to participating LEAs, as required by section 14006(c) of
the ARRA. Subgrants to LEAs must be based on their relative shares of
funding under Title I, Part A of the ESEA, and LEAs must use these
funds in a manner that is consistent with the State's updated plan and
the MOU or other binding agreement between the LEA and the State. A
State may establish more specific requirements for LEA use of funds
provided they are consistent with the ARRA and Race to the Top
requirements. (See the notice of final priorities, requirements,
definitions, and selection criteria for the Race to the Top Fund
published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2009 (74 FR 59688))
Final Requirements
We will announce the final requirements for the Race to the Top
Phase 3 award process in a notice in the Federal Register. We will
determine the final requirements after considering any comments
submitted in response to this notice and other information available to
the Department. This notice does not preclude the Department from
proposing additional priorities, requirements, definitions, or
selection criteria, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking
requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use one or more of these requirements we invite
applications through a notice in the Federal Register.
Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether a
regulatory action is ``significant'' and therefore subject to the
requirements of the Executive order and subject to review by the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866
defines a ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely to
result in a rule that may (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of
$100 million or more, or adversely affect a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or
safety, or State, local or Tribal governments or communities in a
material way (also referred to as an ``economically significant''
rule); (2) create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency; (3) materially alter the
budgetary impacts of entitlement grants, user fees, or local programs
or the rights and obligations of recipients thereof; or (4) raise novel
legal or policy issues arising out of legal mandates, the President's
priorities, or the principles set forth in the Executive order.
It has been determined that this regulatory action will have an
annual effect on the economy of more than $100 million because the
amount of government transfers through the Race to the Top Phase 3
award process exceeds that amount. Therefore, this action is
economically significant and subject to OMB review under section
3(f)(1) of Executive Order 12866. Notwithstanding this determination,
we have assessed the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative
and qualitative--of this proposed regulatory action and have determined
that the benefits justify the costs.
The Department has also reviewed these proposed requirements
pursuant to Executive Order 13563, published on January 21, 2011 (76 FR
3821). Executive Order 13563 is supplemental to and explicitly
reaffirms the principles, structures, and definitions governing
regulatory review established in Executive Order 12866. To the extent
permitted by law, agencies are required by Executive Order 13563 to:
(1) Propose or adopt regulations only upon a reasoned determination
that their benefits justify their costs (recognizing that some benefits
and costs are difficult to quantify); (2) tailor their regulations to
impose the least burden on society, consistent with obtaining
regulatory objectives, taking into account, among other things, and to
the extent practicable, the costs of cumulative regulations; (3)
select, in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, those
approaches that maximize net benefits (including potential economic,
environmental, public health and safety, and other advantages;
distributive impacts; and equity); (4) the extent feasible, specify
performance objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner
of compliance that regulated entities must adopt; and (5) identify and
assess available alternatives to direct regulation, including providing
economic incentives to encourage the desired behavior, such as user
fees or marketable permits, or providing information upon which choices
can be made by the public.
We emphasize as well that Executive Order 13563 requires agencies
``to use the best available techniques to quantify anticipated present
and future benefits and costs as accurately as possible.'' In its
February 2, 2011, memorandum (M-11-10) on Executive Order 13563,
improving regulation and regulatory review, the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs has emphasized that such techniques may include
``identifying changing future compliance costs that might result from
technological innovation or anticipated behavioral changes.''
We are issuing these proposed requirements only upon a reasoned
determination that their benefits justify their costs and we selected,
in choosing among alternative regulatory approaches, those approaches
that maximize net benefits. Based on the analysis below, the Department
believes that these final regulations are consistent with the
principles in Executive Order 13563.
In this section we discuss the need for regulatory action, the
costs and benefits, as well as regulatory alternatives we considered.
Need for Federal Regulatory Action
These proposed requirements are needed to implement the Race to the
Top Phase 3 award process in the manner that the Secretary believes
will best enable the program to achieve its objectives of creating the
conditions for effective reform and meaningful innovation in education
while helping States that were finalists, but did not receive funding
under the Race to the
[[Page 56187]]
Top Phase 2 competition, to implement selected elements of their
comprehensive reform proposals submitted as part of their Race to the
Top Phase 2 applications.
Potential Costs and Benefits
Under Executive Order 12866, we have assessed the potential costs
and benefits of this regulatory action and have determined that these
proposed requirements would not impose significant additional costs to
State applicants or the Federal Government. Most of the proposed
requirements involve re-affirming the commitments and plans already
completed as part of the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition or
other Federal education programs. As an example of a requirement that
would result in minimal additional burden and cost, we have proposed
that States applying for Race to the Top Phase 3 funding provide an
assurance that they are meeting the MOE requirements of the Education
Jobs Fund program. Similarly, other proposed requirements, in
particular those related to maintaining conditions for reform required
under the Race to the Top Phase 2 competition, would require
continuation of existing commitments and investments rather than the
imposition of additional burdens and costs. For example, States would
be required to continue implementation of common K-12 academic content
standards. The Department believes States would incur minimal costs in
developing plans and budgets for implementing selected activities from
their Race to the Top Phase 2 proposals, because in most cases such
planning will entail revisions to existing plans and budgets already
developed as part of the Race to the Top Phase 2 application process,
and not the development and implementation of entirely new plans and
budgets. In all such cases, the Department believes that the benefits
resulting from the proposed requirements would exceed their costs.
Regulatory Alternatives Considered
An alternative to promulgation of the types of requirements
proposed in this notice would be for the Secretary to use FY 2011 Race
to the Top funds to make awards to the one or two highest scoring
unfunded applications from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2
competition. However, the Department believes that the scores of the
unfunded finalists from the Race to the Top Phase 2 competition are too
closely grouped to support awarding all FY 2011 Race to the Top funds
to the one or two States with the highest scores. Furthermore, the
Department believes that the approximately $200 million available from
the FY 2011 Appropriations Act for the Race to the Top program would
not support full implementation of the comprehensive reform plans
submitted by unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2
competition. The Department also believes that making available
meaningful amounts of FY 2011 Race to the Top funding to all of the
unfunded finalists from the 2010 Race to the Top Phase 2 competition
offers the greatest promise for sustaining the nationwide reform
momentum created by the Race to the Top Phase 1 and Phase 2
competitions.
Finally, the Department believes that simply funding the one or two
highest scoring applicants that did not win an award in the 2010 Race
to the Top Phase 2 competition would result in a missed opportunity to
reward the efforts of all nine unfunded finalists from that competition
and to enable them to make meaningful progress on key elements of their
comprehensive statewide reform plans.
To assist the Department in complying with the requirements of
Executive Order 12866, the Secretary invites comments on whether there
may be further opportunities to reduce any potential costs or increase
potential benefits resulting from these proposed requirements without
impeding the effective and efficient administration of the Race to the
Top program.
Accounting Statement
As required by OMB Circular A-4 (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/circulars/a004/a-4.pdf), in the following table, we have prepared an accounting
statement showing the classification of the expenditures associated
with the provisions of this proposed regulatory action. This table
provides our best estimate of the Federal payments to be made to States
under this program as a result of this proposed regulatory action.
Expenditures are classified as transfers to States.
Accounting Statement Classification of Estimated Expenditures
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Transfers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annualized Monetized Transfers......... $200,000,000
From Whom to Whom?..................... Federal Government to States.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Race to the Top Phase 3 award process would provide
approximately $200 million in competitive grants to eligible States.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
These proposed regulations contain information collection
requirements. However, because the eligible applicants for Race to the
Top Phase 3 awards are fewer than 10, these collections are not subject
to approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3502(3)(A)(i)).
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this proposed regulatory action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The small entities that this proposed regulatory action will
affect are small LEAs receiving funds under this program.
This proposed regulatory action will not have a significant
economic impact on small LEAs because they will be able to meet the
costs of compliance with this regulatory action using the funds
provided under this program.
The Secretary invites comments from small LEAs as to whether they
believe this proposed regulatory action would have a significant
economic impact on them and, if so, requests evidence to support that
belief.
Effect on Other Levels of Government
We have also determined that this regulatory action would not
unduly interfere with State, local, and Tribal governments in the
exercise of their governmental functions.
Assessment of Educational Impact
In accordance with section 411 of the General Education Provisions
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1221e-4, the Department invites comment on whether these
requirements do not require transmission of information that any other
agency or authority of the United States gathers or makes available.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
This document provides early notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
Accessible Format
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an
accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on
[[Page 56188]]
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document
The official version of this document is the document published in
the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of
the Federal Register is available via the Federal Digital System at
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this
site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at http://www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Dated: September 6, 2011.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2011-23123 Filed 9-9-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P