US
Us Congress House Bill HB838

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB838 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
OldNewDifferences
11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 838
55 To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent to the Secretary of
66 Education to combine certain funds to improve the academic achievement
77 of students.
88 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
99 JANUARY31, 2025
1010 Mr. M
1111 OOLENAAR(for himself, Mr. EDWARDS, Mr. GUTHRIE, and Mr. GREEN
1212 of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
1313 Committee on Education and Workforce
1414 A BILL
1515 To allow a State to submit a declaration of intent to the
1616 Secretary of Education to combine certain funds to im-
1717 prove the academic achievement of students.
1818 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1919 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2020 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2121 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Academic Partnerships 4
2222 Lead Us to Success Act’’ or the ‘‘A PLUS Act’’. 5
2323 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6
2424 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 7
2525 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
2626 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
2727 •HR 838 IH
2828 (1) To give States and local communities added 1
2929 flexibility to determine how to improve academic 2
3030 achievement and implement education reforms. 3
3131 (2) To reduce the administrative costs and com-4
3232 pliance burden of Federal education programs in 5
3333 order to focus Federal resources on improving aca-6
3434 demic achievement. 7
3535 (3) To ensure that States and communities are 8
3636 accountable to the public for advancing the academic 9
3737 achievement of all students, especially disadvantaged 10
3838 children. 11
3939 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 12
4040 In this Act: 13
4141 (1) I
4242 N GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-14
4343 vided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings 15
4444 given the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 16
4545 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 17
4646 7801 et seq.). 18
4747 (2) A
4848 CCOUNTABILITY.—The term ‘‘account-19
4949 ability’’ means that public schools are answerable to 20
5050 parents and other taxpayers for the use of public 21
5151 funds and shall report student progress to parents 22
5252 and taxpayers regularly. 23
5353 (3) D
5454 ECLARATION OF INTENT .—The term ‘‘dec-24
5555 laration of intent’’ means a decision by a State, as 25
5656 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
5757 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
5858 •HR 838 IH
5959 determined by State Authorizing Officials or by ref-1
6060 erendum, to assume full management responsibility 2
6161 for the expenditure of Federal funds for certain eli-3
6262 gible programs for the purpose of advancing, on a 4
6363 more comprehensive and effective basis, the edu-5
6464 cational policy of such State. 6
6565 (4) S
6666 TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-7
6767 ing given such term in section 1122(e) of the Ele-8
6868 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 9
6969 U.S.C. 6332(e)). 10
7070 (5) S
7171 TATE AUTHORIZING OFFICIALS .—The term 11
7272 ‘‘State Authorizing Officials’’ means the State offi-12
7373 cials who shall authorize the submission of a dec-13
7474 laration of intent, and any amendments thereto, on 14
7575 behalf of the State. Such officials shall include not 15
7676 less than two of the following: 16
7777 (A) The Governor of the State. 17
7878 (B) The highest elected education official 18
7979 of the State, if any. 19
8080 (C) The legislature of the State. 20
8181 (6) S
8282 TATE DESIGNATED OFFICER .—The term 21
8383 ‘‘State Designated Officer’’ means the person des-22
8484 ignated by the State Authorizing Officials to submit 23
8585 to the Secretary, on behalf of the State, a declara-24
8686 tion of intent, and any amendments thereto, and to 25
8787 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
8888 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
8989 •HR 838 IH
9090 function as the point-of-contact for the State for the 1
9191 Secretary and others relating to any responsibilities 2
9292 arising under this Act. 3
9393 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF INTENT. 4
9494 (a) I
9595 NGENERAL.—Each State is authorized to sub-5
9696 mit to the Secretary a declaration of intent permitting the 6
9797 State to receive Federal funds on a consolidated basis to 7
9898 manage the expenditure of such funds to advance the edu-8
9999 cational policy of the State. 9
100100 (b) P
101101 ROGRAMSELIGIBLE FORCONSOLIDATION AND 10
102102 P
103103 ERMISSIBLEUSE OFFUNDS.— 11
104104 (1) S
105105 COPE.—A State may choose to include 12
106106 within the scope of the State’s declaration of intent 13
107107 any program for which Congress makes funds avail-14
108108 able to the State if the program is for a purpose de-15
109109 scribed in the Elementary and Secondary Act of 16
110110 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301). A State may not include 17
111111 any program funded pursuant to the Individuals 18
112112 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 19
113113 seq.). 20
114114 (2) U
115115 SES OF FUNDS.—Funds made available to 21
116116 a State pursuant to a declaration of intent under 22
117117 this Act shall be used for any educational purpose 23
118118 permitted by State law of the State submitting a 24
119119 declaration of intent. 25
120120 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
121121 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
122122 •HR 838 IH
123123 (3) REMOVAL OF FISCAL AND ACCOUNTING 1
124124 BARRIERS.—Each State educational agency that op-2
125125 erates under a declaration of intent under this Act 3
126126 shall modify or eliminate State fiscal and accounting 4
127127 barriers that prevent local educational agencies and 5
128128 schools from easily consolidating funds from other 6
129129 Federal, State, and local sources in order to improve 7
130130 educational opportunities and reduce unnecessary 8
131131 fiscal and accounting requirements. 9
132132 (c) C
133133 ONTENTS OFDECLARATION.—Each declaration 10
134134 of intent shall contain— 11
135135 (1) a list of eligible programs that are subject 12
136136 to the declaration of intent; 13
137137 (2) an assurance that the submission of the 14
138138 declaration of intent has been authorized by the 15
139139 State Authorizing Officials, specifying the identity of 16
140140 the State Designated Officer; 17
141141 (3) the duration of the declaration of intent; 18
142142 (4) an assurance that the State will use fiscal 19
143143 control and fund accounting procedures; 20
144144 (5) an assurance that the State will meet the 21
145145 requirements of applicable Federal civil rights laws 22
146146 in carrying out the declaration of intent and in con-23
147147 solidating and using the funds under the declaration 24
148148 of intent; 25
149149 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
150150 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
151151 •HR 838 IH
152152 (6) an assurance that in implementing the dec-1
153153 laration of intent the State will seek to advance edu-2
154154 cational opportunities for the disadvantaged; 3
155155 (7) a description of the plan for maintaining di-4
156156 rect accountability to parents and other citizens of 5
157157 the State; and 6
158158 (8) an assurance that in implementing the dec-7
159159 laration of intent, the State will seek to use Federal 8
160160 funds to supplement, rather than supplant, State 9
161161 education funding. 10
162162 (d) D
163163 URATION.—The duration of the declaration of 11
164164 intent shall not exceed 5 years. 12
165165 (e) R
166166 EVIEW AND RECOGNITION BY THE SEC-13
167167 RETARY.— 14
168168 (1) I
169169 N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review 15
170170 the declaration of intent received from the State 16
171171 Designated Officer not more than 60 days after the 17
172172 date of receipt of such declaration, and shall recog-18
173173 nize such declaration of intent unless the declaration 19
174174 of intent fails to meet the requirements under sub-20
175175 section (c). 21
176176 (2) R
177177 ECOGNITION BY OPERATION OF LAW .—If 22
178178 the Secretary fails to take action within the time 23
179179 specified in paragraph (1), the declaration of intent, 24
180180 as submitted, shall be deemed to be approved. 25
181181 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
182182 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
183183 •HR 838 IH
184184 (f) AMENDMENT TO DECLARATION OFINTENT.— 1
185185 (1) I
186186 N GENERAL.—The State Authorizing Offi-2
187187 cials may direct the State Designated Officer to sub-3
188188 mit amendments to a declaration of intent that is in 4
189189 effect. Such amendments shall be submitted to the 5
190190 Secretary and considered by the Secretary in accord-6
191191 ance with subsection (e). 7
192192 (2) A
193193 MENDMENTS AUTHORIZED .—A declaration 8
194194 of intent that is in effect may be amended to— 9
195195 (A) expand the scope of such declaration of 10
196196 intent to encompass additional eligible pro-11
197197 grams; 12
198198 (B) reduce the scope of such declaration of 13
199199 intent by excluding coverage of a Federal pro-14
200200 gram included in the original declaration of in-15
201201 tent; 16
202202 (C) modify the duration of such declara-17
203203 tion of intent; or 18
204204 (D) achieve such other modifications as the 19
205205 State Authorizing Officials deem appropriate. 20
206206 (3) E
207207 FFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment shall 21
208208 specify an effective date. Such effective date shall 22
209209 provide adequate time to assure full compliance with 23
210210 Federal program requirements relating to an eligible 24
211211 program that has been removed from the coverage of 25
212212 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
213213 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
214214 •HR 838 IH
215215 the declaration of intent by the proposed amend-1
216216 ment. 2
217217 (4) T
218218 REATMENT OF PROGRAM FUNDS WITH -3
219219 DRAWN FROM DECLARATION OF INTENT .—Begin-4
220220 ning on the effective date of an amendment executed 5
221221 under paragraph (2)(B), each program requirement 6
222222 of each program removed from the declaration of in-7
223223 tent shall apply to the State’s use of funds made 8
224224 available under the program. 9
225225 SEC. 5. TRANSPARENCY FOR RESULTS OF PUBLIC EDU-10
226226 CATION. 11
227227 (a) I
228228 NGENERAL.—Each State operating under a 12
229229 declaration of intent under this Act shall inform parents 13
230230 and the general public regarding the student achievement 14
231231 assessment system, demonstrating student progress rel-15
232232 ative to the State’s determination of student proficiency 16
233233 for the purpose of public accountability to parents and 17
234234 taxpayers. 18
235235 (b) A
236236 CCOUNTABILITYSYSTEM.—The State shall de-19
237237 termine and establish an accountability system to ensure 20
238238 accountability under this Act. 21
239239 (c) R
240240 EPORT ONSTUDENTPROGRESS.—Not later 22
241241 than 1 year after the effective date of the declaration of 23
242242 intent, and annually thereafter, a State shall disseminate 24
243243 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
244244 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
245245 •HR 838 IH
246246 widely to parents and the general public a report that de-1
247247 scribes student progress. The report shall include— 2
248248 (1) student performance data disaggregated in 3
249249 the same manner as data are disaggregated under 4
250250 section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) of the Elementary and 5
251251 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6
252252 6311(b)(2)(B)(xi)); and 7
253253 (2) a description of how the State has used 8
254254 Federal funds to improve academic achievement, re-9
255255 duce achievement disparities between various stu-10
256256 dent groups, and improve educational opportunities 11
257257 for the disadvantaged. 12
258258 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 13
259259 (a) I
260260 NGENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 14
261261 (b), the amount that a State with a declaration of intent 15
262262 may expend for administrative expenses shall be limited 16
263263 to 1 percent of the aggregate amount of Federal funds 17
264264 made available to the State through the eligible programs 18
265265 included within the scope of such declaration of intent. 19
266266 (b) S
267267 TATESNOTCONSOLIDATINGFUNDSUNDER 20
268268 P
269269 ARTA OFTITLEI.—If the declaration of intent does 21
270270 not include within its scope part A of title I of the Elemen-22
271271 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 23
272272 6311 et seq.), the amount spent by the State on adminis-24
273273 trative expenses shall be limited to 3 percent of the aggre-25
274274 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
275275 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
276276 •HR 838 IH
277277 gate amount of Federal funds made available to the State 1
278278 pursuant to such declaration of intent. 2
279279 SEC. 7. EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 3
280280 Each State consolidating and using funds pursuant 4
281281 to a declaration of intent under this Act shall provide for 5
282282 the participation of private school children and teachers 6
283283 in the activities assisted under the declaration of intent 7
284284 in the same manner as participation is provided to private 8
285285 school children and teachers under section 8501 of the El-9
286286 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 10
287287 U.S.C. 7881). 11
288288 Æ
289289 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:50 Feb 27, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H838.IH H838
290290 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS