Innovation and Improvement

Innovation and Improvement For carrying out activities authorized by part G of title I, subpart 5 of part A and parts C and D of title II, parts B, C, and D of title V of the ESEA, and sections 14006 and 14007 of division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as amended, $1,181,317,000: Provided, That $250,000,000 shall be available through December 31, 2014 for awards to States, in accordance with the applicable requirements of section 14006 of division A of Public Law 111–5, as amended: Provided further, That the Secretary, jointly with the Secretary of HHS, shall use all funds made available under the immediately preceding proviso to make competitive awards in accordance with such section 14006 to States for improving early childhood care and education, except that, notwithstanding sections 14006(a) and 14005(d)(6) of such division, such awards may be limited to activities that build the capacity within the State to develop, enhance, or expand high-quality preschool programs, including comprehensive services and family engagement, for preschool-aged children from families at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty line: Provided further, That each State may subgrant a portion of such grant funds to local educational agencies and other early learning providers (including but not limited to Head Start programs and licensed child care providers), or consortia thereof, for the implementation of high-quality preschool programs for children from families at or below 200 percent of the Federal poverty line: Provided further, That subgrantees that are local educational agencies shall form strong partnerships with early learning providers and that subgrantees that are early learning providers shall form strong partnerships with local educational agencies, in order to carry out the requirements of the subgrant: Provided further, That, notwithstanding the second proviso, up to 3 percent of such funds for improving early childhood care and education shall be available for technical assistance, evaluation, and other national activities related to such grants: Provided further, That not later than 30 days prior to the announcement of a competition under such section 128 STAT. 392 14006 pursuant to the requirements of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report outlining the proposed competition and priorities to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate: Provided further, That the Secretary shall administer State grants for improving early childhood care and education under such section jointly with the Secretary of HHS on such terms as such Secretaries set forth in an interagency agreement: Provided further, That up to $141,602,000 shall be available through December 31, 2014 for section 14007 of division A of Public Law 111–5, and up to 5 percent of such funds may be used for technical assistance and the evaluation of activities carried out under such section: Provided further, That the Secretary may renew a grant made under section 14007 for additional 1-year periods, for fiscal year 2014 and thereafter, if the grantee is meeting its performance targets, up to a total award period of 6 years: Provided further, That the education facilities clearinghouse established through a competitive award process in fiscal year 2013 is authorized to collect and disseminate information on effective educational practices and the latest research regarding the planning, design, financing, construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of safe, healthy, high-performance public facilities for early learning programs, kindergarten through grade 12, and higher education: Provided further, That $288,771,000 of the funds for subpart 1 of part D of title V of the ESEA shall be for competitive grants to local educational agencies, including charter schools that are local educational agencies, or States, or partnerships of: (1) a local educational agency, a State, or both; and (2) at least one nonprofit organization to develop and implement performance-based compensation systems for teachers, principals, and other personnel in high-need schools: Provided further, That such performance-based compensation systems must consider gains in student academic achievement as well as classroom evaluations conducted multiple times during each school year among other factors and provide educators with incentives to take on additional responsibilities and leadership roles: Provided further, That recipients of such grants shall demonstrate that such performance-based compensation systems are developed with the input of teachers and school leaders in the schools and local educational agencies to be served by the grant: Provided further, That recipients of such grants may use such funds to develop or improve systems and tools (which may be developed and used for the entire local educational agency or only for schools served under the grant) that would enhance the quality and success of the compensation system, such as high-quality teacher evaluations and tools to measure growth in student achievement: Provided further, That applications for such grants shall include a plan to sustain financially the activities conducted and systems developed under the grant once the grant period has expired: Provided further, That up to 5 percent of such funds for competitive grants shall be available for technical assistance, training, peer review of applications, program outreach, and evaluation activities: Provided further, That of the funds available for part B of title V of the ESEA, the Secretary shall use not less than $11,000,000 to carry out activities under section 5205(b) and shall use not less than $12,000,000 for subpart 2: Provided further, That of the funds available for subpart 1 of part B of title V of the ESEA, and notwithstanding section 5205(a), the Secretary shall reserve not 128 STAT. 393 less than $45,000,000 to make multiple awards to non-profit charter management organizations and other entities that are not for-profit entities for the replication and expansion of successful charter school models and shall reserve up to $11,000,000 to carry out the activities described in section 5205(a), including improving quality and oversight of charter schools and providing technical assistance and grants to authorized public chartering agencies in order to increase the number of high-performing charter schools: Provided further, That funds available for part B of title V of the ESEA may be used for grants that support preschool education in charter schools: Provided further, That each application submitted pursuant to section 5203(a) shall describe a plan to monitor and hold accountable authorized public chartering agencies through such activities as providing technical assistance or establishing a professional development program, which may include evaluation, planning, training, and systems development for staff of authorized public chartering agencies to improve the capacity of such agencies in the State to authorize, monitor, and hold accountable charter schools: Provided further, That each application submitted pursuant to section 5203(a) shall contain assurances that State law, regulations, or other policies require that: (1) each authorized charter school in the State operate under a legally binding charter or performance contract between itself and the school’s authorized public chartering agency that describes the rights and responsibilities of the school and the public chartering agency; conduct annual, timely, and independent audits of the school’s financial statements that are filed with the school’s authorized public chartering agency; and demonstrate improved student academic achievement; and (2) authorized public chartering agencies use increases in student academic achievement for all groups of students described in section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v) of the ESEA as the most important factor when determining to renew or revoke a school’s charter.