Requires States and LEAs receiving such waivers to use ESEA annual assessment funds for educational activities which they determine will improve the academic achievement of students attending public elementary schools and secondary schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress. Prohibits such States and LEAs from using such funds to pay a student's private school costs.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2954 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2954
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to permit
States and local educational agencies to decide the frequency of using
high quality assessments to measure and increase student academic
achievement, to permit States and local educational agencies to obtain
a waiver of certain testing requirements, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 18, 2002
Mr. Feingold (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Wellstone, Mr. Leahy, and
Mr. Dayton) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to permit
States and local educational agencies to decide the frequency of using
high quality assessments to measure and increase student academic
achievement, to permit States and local educational agencies to obtain
a waiver of certain testing requirements, 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 ``Student Testing Flexibility Act of
2002''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) State and local governments bear the majority of the
cost and responsibility of educating public elementary school
and secondary school students;
(2) State and local governments often struggle to find
adequate funding to provide basic educational services;
(3) the Federal Government has not provided its share of
funding for numerous federally mandated elementary and
secondary education programs;
(4) underfunded Federal education mandates increase
existing financial pressures on States and local educational
agencies;
(5) the cost to States and local educational agencies to
implement the annual student academic assessments required
under section 1111(b)(3)(C)(vii) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)(C)(vii))
remains uncertain;
(6) public elementary school and secondary school students
take numerous tests each year, from classroom quizzes and exams
to standardized and other tests required by the Federal
Government, State educational agencies, or local educational
agencies;
(7) multiple measures of student academic achievement
provide a more accurate picture of a student's strengths and
weaknesses than does a single score on a high-stakes test; and
(8) the frequency of the use of high quality assessments as
a tool to measure and increase student achievement should be
decided by State educational agencies and local educational
agencies.
SEC. 3. WAIVER AUTHORITY.
Section 1111(b)(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(E) Waiver authority.--
``(i) States.--Upon application by a State
educational agency, the Secretary shall waive
the requirements of subparagraph (C)(vii) for a
State if the State educational agency
demonstrates that the State--
``(I) significantly closed the
achievement gap between the groups of
students described in paragraph (2); or
``(II) exceeded the State's
adequate yearly progress, consistent
with paragraph (2), for 2 or more
consecutive years.
``(ii) Local educational agencies.--Upon
application of a local educational agency
located in a State that does not receive a
waiver under clause (i), the Secretary shall
waive the application of the requirements of
subparagraph (C)(vii) for the local educational
agency if the local educational agency
demonstrates that the local educational
agency--
``(I) significantly closed the
achievement gap between the groups of
students described in paragraph (2); or
``(II) exceeded the local
educational agency's adequate yearly
progress, consistent with paragraph
(2), for 2 or more consecutive years.
``(iii) Period of waiver.--A waiver under
clause (i) or (ii) shall be for a period of 3
years and may be renewed for subsequent 3-year
periods.
``(iv) Utilization of certain federal
funds.--
``(I) Permissive uses.--Subject to
subclause (II), a State or local
educational agency granted a waiver
under clause (i) or (ii) shall use
funds, that are awarded to the State or
local educational agency, respectively,
under this Act for the development and
implementation of annual assessments
under subparagraph (C)(vii), to carry
out educational activities that the
State educational agency or local
educational agency, respectively,
determines will improve the academic
achievement of students attending
public elementary schools and secondary
schools in the State or local
educational agency, respectively, that
fail to make adequate yearly progress
(as defined in paragraph (2)(C)).
``(II) Nonpermissive use of
funds.--A State or local educational
agency granted a waiver under clause
(i) or (ii) shall not use funds, that
are awarded to the State or local
educational agency, respectively, under
this Act for the development and
implementation of annual assessments
under subparagraph (C)(vii), to pay a
student's cost of tuition, room, board,
or fees at a private school.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8756-8757)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8757)
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