amendment with respect to the office of education; regional offices

amendment with respect to the office of education; regional offices Sec. 503. (a) Section 403 of such Act is amended to read as follows: “the office of education “Sec. 403. (a) There shall be an Office of Education (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Office’) which shall be the primary agency of the Federal Government responsible for the administration of programs of financial assistance to educational agencies, institutions, and organizations. The Office shall have such responsibilities and authorities as may be vested in the Commissioner by law or delegated to the Commissioner in accordance with law. “(b) The Office shall be headed by the Commissioner of Education who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Secretary. “(c) (1) The Office shall, consistent with such organization thereof which is provided by law, be divided into bureaus, and such bureaus shall be divided into divisions as the Commissioner determines appropriate. “(2) (A) There shall be regional offices of the Office established in such places as the Commissioner, after consultation with the Assistant Secretary, shall determine. Such regional offices shall carry out such functions as are specified in subparagraph (B). “(B) The regional offices shall serve as centers for the dissemination of information about the activities of the agencies in the Education Division and provide technical assistance to State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other educational agencies, institutions, and organizations and to individuals and other groups having an interest in Federal education activities. “(C) The Commissioner shall not delegate to any employee in any regional office any function which was not carried out, in accordance with regulations effective prior to June 1, 1973, by employees in such offices unless the delegation of such function to employees in regional offices is expressly authorized by law enacted after the enactment of the Education Amendments of 1974. “(3) The Commissioner shall submit to the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives not later than November 1 of each year a report on the personnel needs and assignments of the Office. 88 Stat. 561Such report shall include a description (A) of the manner in which the Office is organized and the personnel of the Office are assigned to the various functions of that agency and (B) of personnel needs of that agency in order to enable it to carry out its functions, as authorized by law.”. (b) The provisions of the amendments made by subsection (a) shall be effective on the tenth day after the date of enactment of this Act, except that the provisions of limitation set forth in section 403(c)(2)(C) of the General Education Provisions Act shall have effect on the date of such enactment, and shall be retroactive to June 1, 1973.