HR 1234 IH

To require States to equalize funding for education throughout the State.

March 27, 2001

Mr. FATTAH (for himself, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BORSKI, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. STARK, Ms. VELAZQUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Ms. LEE, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CONYERS, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To require States to equalize funding for education throughout the State.

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 `Equal Protection School Finance Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) There are systems of public school finance within States which subject American children to educations of radically varying and grossly unequal quality solely on the basis of where they live.

(2) In its unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 493 (1954), the Supreme Court stated: `In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.'

(3) Education is a fundamental right under the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.

(4) The provision of education to all children within a State on an equal basis, including equality of financial resources, is fundamental to the equal protection of laws.

SEC. 3. EQUALIZATION SYSTEM.

(a) IN GENERAL- Subject to subsection (c), beginning 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, a State shall be ineligible to receive Federal funds as specified in section 4(c) if such State does not maintain a coefficient of variation of at least 10 percent for per-pupil expenditures in local educational agencies statewide, for elementary and secondary education in such State.

(b) COEFFICIENT OF VARIATION DEFINED- In this section, the term `coefficient of variation' means the standard deviation of local educational agency expenditures divided by the mean per-student expenditure, calculated--

(1) based on intrastate expenditures for current operations, as determined by the State, without regard to Federal contributions; and

(2) excluding--

(A) local educational agencies with fewer than 250 students;

(B) capital expenditures; and

(C) funds targeted to address a specific need (such as educationally disadvantaged, handicapped, gifted, or language-deficient students), without regard to the source of such funds, but nothing in this Act shall preclude a State or the Federal Government from providing additional resources to local educational agencies to address any such specific need.

(c) WAIVER- The Secretary may provide a single waiver of subsection (a) and provide continued funding for elementary and secondary education to a State which has not complied with the requirements of such subsection, if such State submits to the Secretary a plan for compliance which the Secretary determines will bring the State into compliance within 5 years. A waiver under this subsection may not be granted for a duration of more than five years after the date the Secretary approves such a plan for compliance.

SEC. 4. REPORT, CERTIFICATION, AND CHALLENGE.

(a) ANNUAL REPORT- Not later than January 1 of each year, a State shall submit to the Secretary a report describing--

(1) the manner in which the State has complied with section 3(a) or whether such State has received a waiver under section 3(c); and

(2) such additional information as the Secretary may require.

(b) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION- The report required by subsection (a) shall include a certification that the State has complied with the provisions of section 3(a) or has been granted a waiver under section 3(c). Such certification shall be prima facie evidence that the State has complied with section 3 unless such certification is challenged under subsection (c).

(c) CERTIFICATION CHALLENGE- Not later than 90 days after the date on which a State certification is due under subsection (b), a local educational agency in a State may file a complaint with the Secretary challenging such certification.

SEC. 5. CONSEQUENCES OF NONCOMPLIANCE.

(a) INELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDS- If the Secretary determines, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that a State fails to comply with section 3(a) and has not obtained a waiver under section 3(c), such State shall be ineligible to receive Federal funds administered by the Secretary to support elementary and secondary education, beginning on the first day of the first fiscal year after such finding.

(b) RESTORATION OF ELIGIBILITY- Eligibility for funds identified under subsections (a) shall be restored at the beginning of the next fiscal year after the Secretary determines that the State has complied with section 3(a) or grants a waiver under section 3(c), whichever occurs first.

(c) REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS- Funds for elementary and secondary education made ineligible for a State under subsection (a) shall be reallocated by the Secretary among States that--

(1) are in compliance with the requirements of section 3(a); or

(2) are implementing compliance plans pursuant to section 3(c).

SEC. 6. RULEMAKING.

The Secretary may make rules to carry out this Act.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) The term `local educational agency' has the meaning given such term in section 14101(18) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801(18)).

(2) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Education.

END