Bills Sec. 1011 — Equity grants

Subpart 2 of part A of title I ( 20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after section 1122 the following: From funds appropriated under section 1002(a) for a fiscal year and available for allocation pursuant to section 1122(a)(2), the Secretary is authorized to make grants to States, from allotments under subsection (b), to carry out the programs and activities of this part. Except as provided in subparagraphs

(B)and (C), funds appropriated pursuant to subsection

(a)for a fiscal year shall be allotted to each State based upon the number of children counted under section 1124(c) in such State multiplied by the product of— 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in the United States (other than the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico); multiplied by 1.30 minus such State's equity factor described in paragraph (2). For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico an amount of the funds appropriated under subsection

(a)that bears the same relation to the total amount of funds appropriated under such subsection as the amount that the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico received under this subpart for fiscal year 2015 bears to the total amount received by all States for such fiscal year. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, except for subparagraph (B), from the total amount available for any fiscal year to carry out this section, each State shall be allotted at least the lesser of— 0.35 percent of the total amount available to carry out this section for such fiscal year; or the average of— 0.35 percent of such total amount for such fiscal year; and 150 percent of the national average grant under this section per child described in section 1124(c), without application of a weighting factor, multiplied by the State's total number of children described in section 1124(c), without application of a weighting factor. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall determine the equity factor under this section for each State in accordance with clause (ii). For each State, the Secretary shall compute a weighted coefficient of variation for the per-pupil expenditures of local educational agencies in accordance with subclauses (II), (III), and (IV). In computing coefficients of variation, the Secretary shall weigh the variation between per-pupil expenditures in each local educational agency and the average per-pupil expenditures in the State according to the number of pupils served by the local educational agency. In determining the number of pupils under this paragraph served by each local educational agency and in each State, the Secretary shall multiply the number of children counted under section 1124(c) by a factor of 1.4. In computing coefficients of variation, the Secretary shall include only those local educational agencies with an enrollment of more than 200 students. The equity factor for a State that meets the disparity standard described in section 222.162 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section was in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) or a State with only one local educational agency shall be not greater than 0.10. All funds awarded to each State under this section shall be allocated to local educational agencies under the following provisions: Within local educational agencies, funds allocated under this section shall be distributed to schools on a basis consistent with section 1113, and may only be used to carry out activities under this part. A local educational agency in a State is eligible to receive a grant under this section for any fiscal year if— the number of children in the local educational agency counted under section 1124(c), before application of the weighted child count described in subsection (d), is at least 10; and if the number of children counted for grants under section 1124(c), before application of the weighted child count described in subsection (d), is at least 5 percent of the total number of children aged 5 to 17 years, inclusive, in the school district of the local educational agency. Funds received by States under this section for a fiscal year shall be allocated within States to eligible local educational agencies on the basis of weighted child counts calculated in accordance with paragraph (2), (3), or (4), as appropriate for each State. In States with an equity factor less than .10, the weighted child counts referred to in paragraph

(1)for a fiscal year shall be the larger of the 2 amounts determined under subparagraphs

(B)and (C). The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) for that local educational agency who constitute not more than 17.27 percent, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 17.27 percent, but not more than 23.48 percent, of such population, multiplied by 1.75; the number of such children who constitute more than 23.48 percent, but not more than 29.11 percent, of such population, multiplied by 2.5; the number of such children who constitute more than 29.11 percent, but not more than 36.10 percent, of such population, multiplied by 3.25; and the number of such children who constitute more than 36.10 percent of such population, multiplied by 4.0. The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) who constitute not more than 834, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children between 835 and 2,629, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 1.5; the number of such children between 2,630 and 7,668, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 2.0; and in the case of an agency that is not a high poverty percentage local educational agency, the number of such children in excess of 7,668 in such population, multiplied by 2.0; or in the case of a high poverty percentage local educational agency— the number of such children between 7,669 and 26,412, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 2.5; and the number of such children in excess of 26,412 in such population, multiplied by 3.0. In States with an equity factor greater than or equal to .10 and less than .20, the weighted child counts referred to in paragraph

(1)for a fiscal year shall be the larger of the 2 amounts determined under subparagraphs

(B)and (C). The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) for that local educational agency who constitute not more than 17.27 percent, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 17.27 percent, but not more than 23.48 percent, of such population, multiplied by 1.5; the number of such children who constitute more than 23.48 percent, but not more than 29.11 percent, of such population, multiplied by 3.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 29.11 percent, but not more than 36.10 percent, of such population, multiplied by 4.5; and the number of such children who constitute more than 36.10 percent of such population, multiplied by 6.0. The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) who constitute not more than 834, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children between 835 and 2,629, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 1.5; the number of such children between 2,630 and 7,668, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 2.25; and in the case of an agency that is not a high poverty percentage local educational agency, the number of such children in excess of 7,668 in such population, multiplied by 2.25; or in the case of a high poverty percentage local educational agency— the number of such children between 7,669 and 26,412, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 3.375; and the number of such children in excess of 26,412 in such population, multiplied by 4.5. In States with an equity factor greater than or equal to .20, the weighted child counts referred to in paragraph

(1)for a fiscal year shall be the larger of the 2 amounts determined under subparagraphs

(B)and (C). The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) for that local educational agency who constitute not more than 17.27 percent, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 17.27 percent, but not more than 23.48 percent, of such population, multiplied by 2.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 23.48 percent, but not more than 29.11 percent, of such population, multiplied by 4.0; the number of such children who constitute more than 29.11 percent, but not more than 36.10 percent, of such population, multiplied by 6.0; and the number of such children who constitute more than 36.10 percent of such population, multiplied by 8.0. The amount referred to in subparagraph

(A)is determined by adding— the number of children determined under section 1124(c) who constitute not more than 834, inclusive, of the agency's total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, multiplied by 1.0; the number of such children between 835 and 2,629, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 2.0; the number of such children between 2,630 and 7,668, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 3.0; and in the case of an agency that is not a high poverty percentage local educational agency, the number of such children in excess of 7,668 in such population, multiplied by 3.0; or in the case of a high poverty percentage local educational agency— the number of such children between 7,669 and 26,412, inclusive, in such population, multiplied by 4.5; and the number of such children in excess of 26,412 in such population, multiplied by 6.0. A State is entitled to receive its full allotment of funds under this section for any fiscal year if the Secretary finds that the State's fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the State with respect to the provision of free public education by the State for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year, subject to the requirements of paragraph (2). The Secretary shall reduce the amount of the allotment of funds under this section in any fiscal year in the exact proportion by which a State fails to meet the requirement of paragraph

(1)by falling below 90 percent of both the fiscal effort per student and aggregate expenditures (using the measure most favorable to the State), if such State has also failed to meet such requirement (as determined using the measure most favorable to the State) for 1 or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years. No such lesser amount shall be used for computing the effort required under paragraph

(1)for subsequent years. The Secretary may waive the requirements of this subsection if the Secretary determines that a waiver would be equitable due to— exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, such as a natural disaster or a change in the organizational structure of the State; or a precipitous decline in the financial resources of the State. If the sums available under this section for any fiscal year are insufficient to pay the full amounts that all local educational agencies in States are eligible to receive under this section for such year, the Secretary shall ratably reduce the allocations to such local educational agencies, subject to paragraphs

(2)and (3). If additional funds become available for making payments under this section for such fiscal year, allocations that were reduced under paragraph

(1)shall be increased on the same basis as they were reduced. Beginning with the second fiscal year for which amounts are appropriated to carry out this section, and if sufficient funds are available, the amount made available to each local educational agency under this section for a fiscal year shall be— not less than 95 percent of the amount made available for the preceding fiscal year if the number of children counted under section 1124(c) is equal to or more than 30 percent of the total number of children aged 5 to 17 years, inclusive, in the local educational agency; not less than 90 percent of the amount made available for the preceding fiscal year if the percentage described in subparagraph

(A)is less than 30 percent and equal to or more than 15 percent; and not less than 85 percent of the amount made available for the preceding fiscal year if the percentage described in subparagraph

(A)is less than 15 percent. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not take into consideration the hold-harmless provisions of this subsection for any fiscal year for purposes of calculating State or local allocations for the fiscal year under any program administered by the Secretary other than a program authorized under this part. In this section: The term high poverty percentage local educational agency means a local educational agency for which the number of children determined under subsection

(b)for a fiscal year is 20 percent or more of the total population aged 5 to 17, inclusive, of the local educational agency for such fiscal year. The term State means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. .

Sec. 1011. Equity grants