17

1 paragraph (1), the Commissioner shall take into account the

2 number of children in such schools who were counted for

3 purposes of section 102 or section 203.

4

(3) If the Commissioner determines that a local edu5 cational agency or a State has substantially failed to pro6 vide for the participation on an equitable basis of children 7 enrolled in private nonprofit elementary and secondary 8 schools as required by this Act, he shall arrange for the pro9 vision of services to children enrolled in the nonprofit private 10 elementary or secondary school or schools located within the 11 school district of such local educational agency or State, 12 which services shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be com13 parable with the services which would have been provided 14 such children had the local educational agency or State ful15 filled the requirements of this Act. The Commissioner shall 16 pay the cost of such services from the grant to such local 17 educational agency or State and shall have the authority for purpose of recovering from such agency any funds paid to it under such grant.

18

19

20

this

JUDICIAL REVIEW

SEC. 303. (a) If any State is dissatisfied with the Com

22 missioner's final action with respect to the approval of its

23 application submitted under section 104 or its State plan sub

24

mitted under section 204 or with his final action under section

25 302, such State may, within sixty days after notice of such

18.

1 action, file with the United States court of appeals for the 2 circuit in which such State is located a petition for review of 3 that action. A copy of the petition shall be forthwith trans4 mitted by the clerk of the court to the Commissioner. The 5 Commissioner thereupon shall file in the court the record 6 of the proceedings on which he based his action, as provided 7 in section 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

8 (b) The findings of fact by the Commissioner, if sup9 ported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive; but the 10 court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the 11 Commissioner to take further evidence, and the Commis12 sioner may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact 13 and may modify his previous action, and shall file in the 14 court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or 15 modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if sup16 ported by substantial evidence.

17

(c) Upon the filing of such petition, the court shall 18 have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Commissioner

19

or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the 20 court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of 21 the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided 22 in section 1254 of title 28, United States Code.

25

(1) The term "Commissioner" means the Commis

26 sioner of Education.

19

(2) The term "elementary school" means a day or

2 residential school which provides elementary education, as 3 determined under State law; and the term "secondary 4 school" means a day or residential school which provides 5 secondary education, as determined under State law, except 6 that it does not include any education provided beyond 7 grade 12.

14

8 (3) The term "equipment" includes machinery, utilities, 9 and built-in equipment and any necessary enclosures or struc10 tures to house them, and includes all other items necessary 11 for the provision of education services, such as instructional 12 equipment and necessary furniture, printed, published, and 13 audiovisual instructional materials and other related material. (4) The term "local educational agency" means a pub15 lic board of education or other public authority legally con16 stituted within a State for either administrative control or 17 direction of, or to perform a service function for, public 18 elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, 19 school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or 20 such combination of school districts or counties as are recog21 nized in a State as an administrative agency for its public 22 elementary or secondary schools. Such term also includes 23 any other public institution or agency having administrative 24 control and direction of public elementary or secondary 25 schools.

20

(5) The term "nonprofit" as applied to a school means 2 a school owned and operated by one or more nonprofit cor3 porations or associations no part of the net earnings of which 4 inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private 5 shareholder or individual.

6 (6) The term "State" means the fifty States, the Dis7 trict of Columbia, and, except for purposes of sections 102 8 (b) and 203 (b), Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 9 Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific 10 Islands.

11

(7) The term "State educational agency" means the 12 State board of education or other agency or officer primarily 13 responsible for the State supervision of public elementary 14 and secondary schools.

"School Finance Act of 1977"

H.R. 1138 has two purposes: to provide general aid to local school districts to insure programs of high quality, and to assist States in equalizing educational opportunity.

Toward the first purpose, the bill authorizes basic grants to be made to local educational agencies in an amount equal to $100 for every child in average daily membership in that district, reduced by the percentage that the district's non-Federal per pupil expenditure exceeds 115% of the State average per pupil expenditure. Local educational agencies applying for basic grants must submit to the State educational agency an application which assesses the educational needs of the children in its schools, sets forth a plan for meeting these needs, provides for evaluation of programs funded under the bill, makes provision for services to non-public schoolchildren, and assures that the funds will be used to supplement funds from non-Federal sources.

The bill also authorizes equalization grants to be made to States which have submitted and had approved by the Commissioner of Education a State plan to achieve equalization of resources for elementary and secondary education within the State. The State plan must guarantee that: 1) the State wealth, rather than the wealth of the local district, will be the basis for the quality of education provided each child in the State; 2) after five years' participation in the program, the per pupil expenditure of any local district will not vary by more than 10% from that of any other district in the State; 3) greater amounts will be expended on children with greater educational needs and on dis-: tricts with greater educational costs, and 4) provision will be made for participation of non-public schoolchildren. A State's equalization grant will be in the amount of $200 for every pupil in average daily membership for the first fiscal year the State participates, $300 per pupil for the second year, $400 for the third, $500 for the fourth, and $600 for the fifth and succeeding fiscal years.

No funds are authorized to carry out the provisions of the bill until the appropriation for Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act equals or exceeds $3 billion. For both the basic grant and equalization grant programs, up to 2% of funds appropriated are reserved for the outlying areas, and up to 1% of a State's total grant is reserved for State administration.