state plans

state plans Sec. 613. (a) Any State which desires to receive grants under this part shall submit to the Commissioner through its State educational agency a State plan (not part, of any other plan) in such detail as the Commissioner deems necessary. Such State plan shall— (1) set forth such policies and procedures as will provide satisfactory assurance that funds paid to the State under this part will be expended (A) either directly or through individual, or combinations of, local educational agencies, solely to initiate, expand, or improve programs and projects, including preschool programs and projects, (i) which are designed to meet the special educational and related needs of handicapped children throughout the State, and (ii) which are of sufficient size, scope, and quality (taking into consideration the special educational needs of such children) as to give reasonable promise of substantial progress toward meeting those needs, and (B) for the proper and efficient administration of the State plan (including State leadership activities and consultative services), and for planning on the State and local level: Provided, That the amount expended for such administration and planning shall not exceed 5 per centum of the amount allotted to the State for any fiscal year or $100,000 ($35,000 in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands), whichever is greater; (2) provide satisfactory assurance that, to the extent consistent with the number and location of handicapped children in the State who are enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools, provision will be made for participation of such children in programs assisted or carried out under this part; (3) provide satisfactory assurance that the control of funds provided under this part, and title to property derived therefrom, shall be in a public agency for the uses and purposes provided in this part, and that a public agency will administer such funds and property; (4) set forth policies and procedures which provide satisfactory assurance that Federal funds made available under this part will be so used as to supplement and, to the extent practical, increase the level of State, local, and private funds expended for the education of handicapped children, and in no case supplant such State, local and private funds; 84 Stat. 180 (5) provide that effective procedures, including provision for appropriate objective measurements of educational achievement, will be adopted for evaluating at least annually the effectiveness of the programs in meeting the special educational needs of, and providing related services for, handicapped children; (6) provide that the State educational agency will be the sole agency for administering or supervising the administration of the plan; (7) provide for (A) making such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Commissioner may require to carry out Iris functions under this part, including reports of the objective measurements required by clause (5) of this subsection, and (B) keeping such records and for affording such access thereto as the Commissioner may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports and proper disbursement of Federal funds under this part; (8) provide satisfactory assurance that such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures will be adopted as may be necessary to assure proper disbursement of, and accounting for, Federal funds paid under this part to the State, including any such funds paid by the State to local educational agencies; (9) provide satisfactory assurance that funds paid to the State under this part shall not be made available for handicapped children eligible for assistance under section 103(a)(5) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1985; (10) provide satisfactory assurance that effective procedures will be adopted for acquiring and disseminating to teachers of, and administrators of programs for, handicapped children significant information derived from educational research, demonstration, and similar projects, and for adopting, where appropriate, promising educational practices developed through such projects; and (11) contain a statement of policies and procedures which will be designed to insure that all education programs for the handicapped in the State will be properly coordinated by the persons in charge of special education programs for handicapped children in the State educational agency. (b) The Commissioner shall approve any State plan which he determines meets the requirements and purposes of this part. (c) (1) The Commissioner shall not approve any State plan pursuant to this section for any fiscal year unless the plan has, prior to its submission, been made public as a separate document by the State educational agency and a reasonable opportunity has been given by that agency for comment thereon by interested persons (as defined by regulation). The State educational agency shall make public the plan as finally approved. The Commissioner shall not finally disapprove any plan submitted under this section or any modification thereof, without first affording the State educational agency submitting the plan reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing. (2) Whenever the Commissioner, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to such State agency, finds— (A) that the State plan has Keen so changed that it no longer complies with the provisions of this part, or (B) that in the administration of the plan there is a failure to comply substantially with any such provision or with any requirements set. forth in the application of a local educational agency approved pursuant to such plan, the Commissioner shall notify the agency that further payments will not be made to the State under this part (or in his discretion, that fur-84 Stat. 181ther payments to the State will be limited to programs or projects under the State plan, or portions thereof, not affected by the failure, or that the State educational agency shall not make further payments under this part to specified local agencies affected to the failure) until he is satisfied that there is no longer any such failure, to comply. Until be is so satisfied, the Commissioner shall make no further payments to the State under this part (or shall limit payments to programs or projects under, or parts of, the State plan not affected by the failure, or payments by the State educational agency under this part shall be limited to local educational agencies not affected by the failure, as the ease may be). (d) (1) If any State is dissatisfied with the Commissioner’s final action with respect to the approval of its State plan submitted under subsection (a) or with his final action under subsection (c), such State may, within sixty days after notice of such action, file with the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which such State is located a petition for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall be forth-with transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Commissioner. The Commissioner thereupon shall file in the court the record of the proceedings on which he based his action, as provided in section 2112 of title 28, United States Code. (2) The findings of fact by the Commissioner, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive: but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Commissioner to take further evidence, and the Commissioner may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and may modify his previous action, and shall certify to the court the record of the further procedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence. (3) The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Commissioner or to set it aside, ill whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28, United States Code.