EXPANSION OF TITLE I PROGRAM COVERAGE

By modifying the coverage under title I, the committee sought to achieve the following objectives:

1. To maintain, and where in the judgment of the local educational agency it is desirable and appropriate, to increase the level of financing the present title I schools;

2. To make it possible for more schools and more children to participate in programs and services, while retaining the concept that worst needs should be met first;

3. To make provision for the financing of programs in schools having concentrations of children who are educationally deprived by reason of physical handicaps;

4. To permit a greater flexibility in the origination and operation of projects involving services to children in more than one school.

The committee against wishes to emphasize that such educational programs are not exclusively for children whose educational handicaps derive from the economic level of their households. The programs should be available to all children in the participating schools who can benefit from the services rendered and the opportunities offered.

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PART F—EDUCATION OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

The committee amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by adding a new title VI "Education of Handicapped Children."

The new title authorizes the Commissioner to make grants for the purpose of assisting States in the initiation, expansion, and improvement of programs and projects, including the acquisition of equipment and, where necessary construction, of school facilities, for the education of handicapped children at the preschool, elementary, and secondary school levels.

For this purpose the bill authorizes an appropriation of $150 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967; $250 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968; and for the 2 succeeding fiscal years such sums as many be hereafter authorized by law.

Sums appropriated for this program would be allotted among the States on the basis of the number of children aged 3 to 21, inclusive, in each State as related to the total number of such children in all States.

Each State must submit a State plan under which such programs will be operated. In general the State plans will parallel those for educationally deprived children under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

This title also provides for the appointment by the Commissioner of a National Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children, consisting of not more than 12 members in addition to the Commissioner, who is designated as Chairman. Not less than half of the members of the Advisory Committee are required to be persons affiliated with educational, training, or research programs for the handicapped. It should be emphasized that the requirement is that not less than half shall be so identified and that the Commissioner in his discretion may appoint more members from this category of specialists.

It shall be the duty of the Advisory Committee to review all educational, training, research and related programs for handicapped children which are administered by the Commissioner and to make recommendations for the improvement of the administration and operation of such programs. In addition, the Advisory Committee is authorized to make such recommendations as it may deem appropriate and to make an annual report to the Commissioner for transmission to the Secretary and to the Congress.

The committee believes that the intended effect of much of the legislation which as been enacted in recent years for the benefit of handicapped children has been lost because of the lack of centralization of programs for the handicapped. Considerable testimony from respected professional groups was received by the committee suggesting that there should be a single focal point within the U.S. Office of Education which would provide leadership, guidance, and support for the programs for handicapped children. In an effort to provide for intensive coordination of services and programs for handicapped children, title VI requires the Commissioner of Education to establish a Bureau for the Education and Training of Handicapped Children. The committee expects the Commissioner to place in this new Bureau all programs or parts of programs dealing with education, training, and research which affect handicapped children. Such a Bureau will have an opportunity to interrelate research and development activities, professional preparation programs, and the improvement of educational services. It will provide a coordinated intense effort which the committee believes is necessary for the successful implementation of the provisions of this title and previously enacted laws for the benefit of handicapped children. It is hoped that the Commissioner of Education will sense the need for urgent action in the implementation and development of this bureau and will quickly consolidate programs and personnel to strengthen programs relating to the education of handicapped children.

In this connection the committee wholeheartedly supports the President in his efforts to focus the resources of our great Nation on the problems of handicapped children. The appointment by him of a Task Force on Handicapped Children in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is a forward step in moving toward fulfilling the special educational goals of this Great Society. The committee is looking forward to the report of this task force.

TABLE IX.-ESTIMATED DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS UNDER PROPOSED TITLE FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN, PUBLIC LAW 89-10, FISCAL YEARS 1967 AND 1968:

1 Excluding those in State-supported and/or State-operated schools.

2 Estimated distribution of $150,000,000 on the basis of 3-17 population Apr. 1, 1960, with 3 percent of $150,000,000 reserved for the outlying areas.

Estimated distribution of $250,000,000 on the basis of 3-17 population Apr. 1, 1960, with 3 percent of $250,000,000 reserved for the outlying areas.

PART G DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

The committee expects the Office of Education to interpret this amendment liberally and to engage in a broad range of imaginative dissemination activites. The committee is especially concerned that this progrm reach those low-income rural areas which, because of lack of funds, have for years gotten by on subsistence-level educational budgets. Now, for the first time, they have the opportunity to improve notably the quality of their educational programs. But because of the years of neglect, many of them need assistance in

planning new programs. This amendment will allow the Office of Education to provide advice, counsel, technical assistance, and demonstrations to a State or local educational agency which requests it. The program is entirely voluntary; an agency can receive this type of assistance only if it asks for it. In order that educators may know where to go for assistance, the Office of Education is urged to make a special effort to inform school administrators in low-income rural and urban areas that such help is available.

Section 110. Amendments to section 205 with respect to areas having projects, construction for handicapped, size of projects, and coordination with other Federal programs

Subsection (a) amends clause (1) of section 205(a) to delete the requirement that, in order to be eligible for a program or project, a school attendance area must have a "high concentration of children from low-income families" and substitute a requirement that the area must have a "concentration" of educationally deprived children. This amendment would make any local educational agency eligible for a program or project if the project serves an attendance area having a concentration of educationally deprived children (including handicapped children) sufficient to merit their participation in a program or project under this title.

The present law requires that programs and projects be of adequate size, scope, and quality. Subsection (b) adds a requirement that each program or project must involve an expenditure of not less than $2,500. The State educational agency is authorized to reduce this requirement where it would be impossible, for reasons such as distance or difficulty of travel, for the applicant to join effectively with other local educational agencies for the purpose of meeting the requirement.

Subsection (c) amends section 205(a) by substituting a new clause (7) for the present clause (7) which requires that applicants develop programs and projects in cooperation with community action programs approved under title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The new clause (7) requires that, in projects involving construction, applicants, in developing plans for such facilities, give due consideration to compliance with such standards as may be prescribed or approved by the Secretary in order to insure that facilities constructed with Federal funds under this title be, to the extent appropriate in view of the uses to be made of such facilities, accessible to and usable by handicapped persons.

Subsection (d) requires that the Commissioner consult with other Federal departments and agencies which administer programs which may be effectively coordinated with programs under Public Law 89-10 (or any act amended by that act) and, to the extent practicable, that the commissioner coordinate such programs on the Federal level with the programs being administered by such other departments and agencies and require the adoption by State and local authorities of procedures to coordinate such programs under Public Law 89–10 (or acts amended thereby with other public and private programs having the same or similar purposes.

Section 116. Short title for title II of Public Law 874, 81st Congress

This section provides that this title may be cited as the "Educationally Deprived Children's Act."

Section 117. Definitions

The amendments made by this section broaden the definition of "local educational agency" so as to make it conform (except for the addition, to the definition, of a provision relating the the present provision for State-supported schools for handicapped children) to the definition used for other titles of Public Law 89-10. The section would also clarify the definition of "current expenditures."

PART C SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL CENTERS AND SERVICES

Section 131. Appropriations authorized

This section authorizes the appropriation of $200 million for fiscal year 1967, and $250 million for fiscal year 1968, for carrying out title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Section 132. Revision in authorization for title III, and provision for

Indian children in schools operated by the Department of the Interior This section amends section 302(a) of Public Law 89-10 to authorize the appropriation of an amount equal to not more than 3 percent of the amount appropriated for payments to States and the District of Columbia (rather than reserving 2 percent of the total appropriation, as existing law provides) for apportionment among the outlying areas and the Department of the Interior. This section provides that the Department of the Interior will be eligible to receive grants under this title for the benefit of Indian children in schools operated by that Department.

Section 133. Providing that facilities constructed under title III will be usable by handicapped persons

This section requires that applicants for projects involving construction of facilities provide satisfactory assurance that, in developing plans for such facilities, there will be compliance with such standards as may be prescribed or approved by the Secretary in order to insure that facilities constructed with the use of Federal funds under this title will be, to the extent appropriate in view of the uses to be made of such facilities, accessible to and usable by handicapped persons. Section 134. Requirement of approval by State educational agency in cer tain cases

The present law provides that no application for a grant may be approved unless it has been submitted to the appropriate State educational agency for review and recommendations. This section provides that, in the case of applications providing for the expenditure of 25 percent of a State's apportionment, State agency approval, as well as review and recommendations, will be required.

Section 135. Special consideration for local educational agencies which are financially overburdened

This section required the Commissioner to give special consideration to applications of local educational agencies which are making a reasonable tax effort but are nevertheless unable to meet critical educational needs, including preschool education, because its schools are overcrowded, obsolete, racially imbalanced, or unsafe, or because of any other condition which has imposed substantial and continuing financial burden on the agency.