national center for education statistics

national center for education statistics Sec. 501. (a) Part A of the General Education Provisions Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: “national center for education statistics “Sec. 406. (a) There is established, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary, a National Center for Education Statistics (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Center’). The Center shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the Assistant Secretary in accordance with the provisions of title 5, United States Code, relating to appointments in the competitive service. “(1) collect, collate, and, from time to time, report full and complete statistics on the conditions of education in the United States; “(2) conduct and publish reports on specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; “(3) assist State and local educational agencies in improving and automating their statistical and data collection activities; and “(4) review and report on educational activities in foreign countries. “(b) The purpose of the Center shall be to collect and disseminate statistics and other data related to education in the United States and in other nations. The Center shall— “(c) (1) There shall be an Advisory Council on Education Statistics which shall be composed of 7 members appointed by the Secretary and such ex officio members as are listed in subparagraph (2). Not more than 4 of the appointed members of the Council may be members of the same political party. “(2) The ex officio members of the Council shall be— “(A) the Commissioner of Education, “(B) the Director of the National Institute of Education, “(C) the Director of the Census, and “(D) the Commissioner of Labor Statistics. “(3) Appointed members of the Council shall serve for terms of 3 years, as determined by the Secretary, except that in the case of initially appointed members of the Council, they shall serve for shorter terms to the extent necessary that the terms of office of not more than 3 members expire in the same calendar year. 88 Stat. 557 “(4) The Assistant Secretary shall serve as the non-voting presiding officer of the Council. “(5) (A) The Council shall meet at the call of the presiding officer, except that it shall meet— “(i) at least four times during each calendar year; and “(ii) in addition, whenever three voting members request in writing that the presiding officer call a meeting. “(B) Six members of the Council shall constitute a quorum of the Council. “(6) The provisions of section 448(b) of part D of this title shall not apply to the Council established under this subsection. “(7) The Council shall review general policies for the operation of the Center and shall be responsible for establishing standards to insure that statistics and analyses disseminated by the Center are of high quality and are not subject to political influence. “(d) (1) The Assistant Secretary shall, not later than March 1 of each year, submit to the Congress an annual report which— “(A) contains a description of the activities of the Center during the then current fiscal year and a projection of its activities during the succeeding fiscal year; “(B) sets forth estimates of the cost of the projected activities for such succeeding fiscal year; and “(C) includes a statistical report on the condition of education in the United States during the two preceding fiscal years and a projection, for the three succeeding fiscal years, of estimated statistics related to education in the United States. “(2) The Center shall develop and enforce standards designed to protect the confidentiality of persons in the collection, reporting, and publication of data under this section. This subparagraph shall not be construed to protect the confidentiality of information about institutions, organizations, and agencies receiving grants from or having contracts with the Federal Government. “(e) In order to carry out the objectives of the Center, the Assistant Secretary is authorized, either directly or by grant or contract, to carry out the purposes set forth in subsection (b), and for that purpose the Assistant Secretary is authorized to make grants to, and contracts with public and private institutions, agencies, organizations and individuals. “(f) (1) (A) The Center is authorized to furnish transcripts or copies of tables and other statistical records of the Office of Education, the Assistant Secretary, and the National Institute of Education to, and to make special statistical compilations and surveys for, State or local officials, public and private organizations, or individuals. The Center shall furnish such special statistical compilations and surveys as the Committees on Labor and Public Welfare and on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on Education and Labor and on Appropriations of the House of Representatives may request. Such statistical compilations and surveys, other than those carried out pursuant to the preceding sentence, shall be made subject to the payment of the actual or estimated cost of such work. In the case of nonprofit organizations or agencies, the Assistant Secretary may engage in joint statistical projects, the cost of which shall be shared equitably as determined by the Assistant Secretary; Provided, That the purposes of such projects are otherwise authorized by law. “(B) All funds received in payment for work or services enumerated under subparagraph (A) shall be deposited in a separate account which may be used to pay directly the costs of such work or services, to repay 88 Stat. 558appropriations which initially bore all or part of such costs, or to refund excess sums when necessary. “(2) (A) The Center shall participate with other Federal agencies having a need for educational data in forming a consortium for the purpose of providing direct joint access with such agencies to all educational data received by the Center through automated data processing. The Library of Congress, General Accounting Office, and the Committees on Labor and Public Welfare and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on Education and Labor and Appropriations of the House of Representatives shall, for the purposes of this subparagraph, be considered Federal agencies. “(B) The Center shall, in accordance with regulations published for the purpose of this paragraph, provide all interested parties, including public and private agencies and individuals, direct access to data collected by the Center for purposes of research and acquiring statistical information. “(3) The Commissioner and the National Institute of Education are directed to cooperate with the Center and make such records and data available to the Center as may be necessary to enable the Center to carry out its functions under this subsection. “(g) (1) The amount available for salaries and expenses of the Center snail not exceed $5,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, $10,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, and $14,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977. “(2) The amount available for grants and contracts by the Assistant Secretary under subsection (e) shall not exceed $20,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, and $30,000,300 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977. “(3) Sums appropriated for activities and expenses of the Center which are not limited by paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be appropriated apart from appropriations which are so limited, as separate line items.”. (b) (1) The amendments made by subsection (a) shall be effective on the tenth day after the date of enactment of this Act. (2) Section 427 of such Act is amended to read as follows: “authorization to furnish information “Sec. 427. The Commissioner is authorized to transfer transcripts or copies of other records of the Office of Education to State and local officials, public and private organizations, and individuals.”. (3) (A) All functions and authority vested in the Commissioner of Education which, immediately prior to the date upon which the amendments made by subsection (a) become effective, are related to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of statistics about, and reports on the condition of, education in the Nation as determined by the Assistant Secretary are transferred, on such date to the National Center for Education Statistics established under section 406 of the General Education Provisions Act. (B) The functions and authority of the Commissioner of Education under section 427 relating to statistics prior to the date upon which the amendments made by subsection (a) become effective, together with all funds deposited in any account under such section, are transferred, on such date to the National Center for Education Statistics. (4) The National Center for Education Statistics shall conduct the survey required by section 731(c)(1)(A) of title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.