[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 23 (Thursday, February 4, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5969-5971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02224]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Chapter II

[Docket ID ED-2015-OESE-0130]


Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Negotiator Nominations and 
Schedule of Committee Meetings

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

ACTION: Intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee.

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SUMMARY: We announce our intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking 
committee prior to publishing proposed regulations to implement part A 
of title I, Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational 
Agencies, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), 
as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The negotiating 
committee will include representatives of constituencies that are 
significantly affected by the topics proposed for negotiations, 
including Federal, State, and local education administrators, tribal 
leadership, parents and students, including historically 
underrepresented students, teachers, principals, other school leaders 
(including charter school leaders), paraprofessionals, members of State 
and local boards of education, the civil rights community, including 
representatives of students with disabilities, English learners, and 
other historically underserved students, and the business community. We 
request nominations for individual negotiators who represent key 
stakeholder constituencies for the issues to be negotiated to serve on 
the committee, and we set a schedule for committee meetings.

DATES: We must receive your nominations for negotiators to serve on the 
committee on or before February 25, 2016. The dates, times, and 
locations of the committee meetings are set out in the Schedule for 
Negotiations section in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
notice.

ADDRESSES: Submit your nominations for negotiators to James Butler, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3W246, 
Washington, DC 20202. Telephone (202) 260-9737 or by email: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Butler, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Room 3W246, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone (202) 260-9737 or by email: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf or a text 
telephone, call the Federal Relay Service, toll free, at 1-800-877-
8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On December 10, 2015, the President signed into law the ESSA, 
amending the ESEA. Among other things, the ESSA reauthorizes, for a 
four-year period, programs under title I of the ESEA, which are 
designed to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a 
fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational 
achievement gaps.
    On December 22, 2015, we published a request for information and 
notice of meetings (RFI) in the Federal Register (80 FR 79528), seeking 
advice and recommendations on regulatory issues under title I of the 
ESEA, and providing notice of regional meetings at which stakeholders 
were able to provide such advice and recommendations. Those meetings 
were held on January 11, 2016, in Washington, DC, and on January 19, 
2016, in Los Angeles, California. The Department will post transcripts 
from the hearings on its Web site at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html as soon as they are available.
    In response to the RFI, the Department received written comments 
from more than 370 individuals and organizations. Those written 
comments may be viewed through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Instructions for finding comments are available on 
the site under ``How to Use

[[Page 5970]]

Regulations.gov'' in the Help section. Individuals can enter docket ID 
ED-2015-OESE-0130 in the search box to locate the appropriate docket.
    Regulatory Issues: After considering the advice and recommendations 
provided at the regional meetings and through written comments, we have 
decided to establish a negotiating committee to:
    (1) Prepare proposed regulations that would update existing 
assessment regulations to reflect changes to section 1111(b)(2) of the 
ESEA, including:
    (i) Locally selected nationally recognized high school assessments, 
under section 1111(b)(2)(H);
    (ii) The exception for advanced mathematics assessments in 8th 
grade, under section 1111(b)(2)(C);
    (iii) Inclusion of students with disabilities in academic 
assessments, including alternate assessments based on alternate 
academic achievement standards for students with the most significant 
cognitive disabilities, subject to a cap of 1.0% of students assessed 
for a subject;
    (iv) Inclusion of English learners in academic assessments and 
English language proficiency assessments; and
    (v) Computer-adaptive assessments.
    (2) Prepare proposed regulations related to the requirement under 
section 1118(b) of the ESEA that title I, part A funds be used to 
supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal funds, specifically:
    (i) Regarding the methodology a local educational agency uses to 
allocate State and local funds to each title I school to ensure 
compliance with the supplement not supplant requirement; and
    (ii) The timeline for compliance.
    These topics are tentative. Topics may be added or removed as the 
process continues.
    Selection of Negotiators: We intend to select negotiators for the 
committee who represent the interests that may be significantly 
affected by the topics proposed for negotiation. In so doing, we will 
comply with the requirement in section 1601(b)(3)(B) of the ESEA, that 
negotiators be selected from among individuals or groups that provided 
advice and recommendations in response to the RFI (e.g., if a member of 
an organization provided a response to the RFI, then another member of 
that organization can be nominated and selected for the committee), 
including representation from all geographic regions of the United 
States, in such numbers as will provide an equitable balance between 
representatives of parents and students and representatives of 
educators and education officials. In addition, we will select 
negotiators who will contribute to the diversity and expertise of the 
negotiating committee. Our goal is to establish a committee that will 
allow significantly affected parties to be represented while keeping 
the committee small enough to ensure meaningful participation by all 
members.
    We intend to select at least one negotiator for each constituency 
represented on the committee. For any constituency that is represented 
by only one negotiator, we will also select an alternate. In cases of 
constituencies for which an alternate is selected, the primary 
negotiator will participate for the purpose of determining consensus; 
the alternate negotiator will participate for the purpose of 
determining consensus only in the absence of the primary negotiator. 
All members, including any alternates, may speak during the 
negotiations.
    Individuals who are not selected as members of the committee will 
be able to attend the committee meetings (which will be open to the 
public--see below).
    Constituencies: The Department plans to seat as negotiators one or 
more individuals representing these constituencies:
     State administrators and State boards of education;
     Local administrators and local boards of education;
     Tribal leadership;
     Parents and students, including historically underserved 
students;
     Teachers;
     Principals;
     Other school leaders, including charter school leaders;
     Paraprofessionals;
     The civil rights community, including representatives of 
students with disabilities, English learners, and other historically 
underserved students;
     The business community; and
     Federal administrators.
    The goal of the committee is to develop proposed regulations that 
reflect a final consensus of the committee. An individual selected as a 
negotiator will be expected to represent the interests of his or her 
constituency and participate in the negotiations in a manner consistent 
with the goal of developing proposed regulations on which the committee 
will reach consensus. If consensus is reached, the negotiator and, if 
applicable, his or her employer organization, is bound by the consensus 
and may not submit a negative comment through the public comment 
process on the resulting proposed regulations. The Department will not 
consider any such negative comments.
    Nominations: Nominations should include:
     The name of the nominee and the constituency the nominee 
represents.
     Evidence of the nominee's expertise or experience in the 
topics proposed for negotiations.
     Evidence of support from individuals or groups within the 
constituency that the nominee will represent.
     The nominee's commitment that he or she is available to 
attend all negotiation sessions and will actively participate in good 
faith in the development of the proposed regulations.
     The nominee's contact information, including address, 
phone number, and email address.
    Nominees will be notified of whether they have been selected as 
negotiators as soon as the Department's review process is completed.
    Schedule for Negotiations: The committee will meet for two sessions 
on the following dates:

 Session 1: March 21-March 23, 2016
 Session 2: April 6-April 8, 2016

    In addition, an optional third session may be scheduled for April 
18-April 19, 2016, if the committee determines that a third session 
would enable the committee to complete its work of developing proposed 
regulations that reflect a final consensus of the committee. Sessions 
will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    The committee meetings will be held at the U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20202.
    The meetings are open to the public.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    The site of the meetings for the negotiated rulemaking process is 
accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you need an auxiliary 
aid or service to participate in the meeting (e.g., interpreting 
service, assistive listening device, or materials in alternative 
format), notify the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT in advance of the scheduled meeting date. We will 
make every effort to meet any request we receive.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal

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Register. Free Internet access to the official edition of the Federal 
Register and the Code of Federal Regulations is available via the 
Federal Digital System at: 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 
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available free at the site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: February 1, 2016.
John B. King, Jr.,
Acting Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2016-02224 Filed 2-3-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P