81 STAT 792 Annual report. Records. facilities which are adaptable for artistic and cultural activities, "(B) upon completion of the construction, title to the facilities will be in a State or local educational agency, "(C) in developing plans for such facilities, (i) due consideration will be given to excellence of architecture and design and to the inclusion of works of art (not representing more than 1 per centum of the cost of the project), and (ii) there will be compliance with such standards as the Secretary may prescribe or approve in order to insure that, to the extent appropriate in view of the uses to be made of the facilities, such facilities are accessible to and usable by handicapped persons, and "(D) the requirements of section 310 will be complied with; "(5) provide for such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to assure proper disbursement of and accounting for Federal funds paid to the applicant under this title; and "(6) provide for making an annual report and such other reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Commissioner may reasonably require to carry out his functions under this title and to determine the extent to which funds provided under this title have been effective in improving the educational opportunities of persons in the area served, and for keeping such records and for affording such access thereto as the Commissioner may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports. "(b) An application by a local educational agency for a grant under this title may be approved only if it is consistent with the applicable provisions of this title and "(1) meets the requirements set forth in subsection (a); "(2) provides that the program or project for which application is made "(A) will utilize the best available talents and resources and will substantially increase the educational opportunities in the area to be served by the applicant, and "(B) to the extent consistent with the number of children enrolled in nonprofit private schools in the area to be served whose educational needs are of the type provided by the program or project, makes provision for the participation of such children; and "(3) has been reviewed by a panel of experts. "(c) Amendments of applications shall, except as the Commissioner may otherwise provide by or pursuant to regulations, be subject to approval in the same manner as original applications. "STATE ADVISORY COUNCILS AND STATE PLANS SEC. 305. (a) (1) Any State desiring to receive payments for any fiscal year to carry out a State plan under this title shall (A) establish within its State educational agency a State advisory council (hereinafter referred to as the 'State advisory council') which meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (2), (B) set dates before which local educational agencies must have submitted applications for grants to the State educational agency, and (C) submit to the Commissioner, through its State educational agency, a State plan at such time and in such detail as the Commissioner may deem necessary. The Commissioner may, by regulation, set uniform dates for the submission of State plans and applications. 81 STAT. 793 "(2) The State advisory council, established pursuant to paragraph (1), shall "(A) be appointed by the State educational agency, and be broadly representative of the cultural and educational resources of the State (as defined in section 304 (a)) and of the public, including persons representative of— 66 (i) elementary and secondary schools, "(ii) institutions of higher education, and "(iii) areas of professional competence in dealing with children needing special education because of physical or mental handicaps; "(B) advise the State educational agency on the preparation of, and policy matters arising in the administration of, the State plan, including the development of criteria for approval of applications under such State plan; "(C) review, and make recommendations to the State educational agency on the action to be taken with respect to, each application for a grant under the State plan; "(D) evaluate programs and projects assisted under this title; "(E) prepare and submit through the State educational agency a report of its activities, recommendations, and evaluations, together with such additional comments as the State educational agency deems appropriate, to the Commissioner and to the National Advisory Council, established pursuant to this title, at such times, in such form, and in such detail, as the Secretary may prescribe; and 66 "(F) obtain such professional, technical, and clerical assistance as may be necessary to carry out its functions under this title. "(b) The Commissioner shall approve a State plan, or modification thereof, if he determines that the plan submitted for that fiscal year— "(1) sets forth a program (including educational needs, and their basis, and the manner in which the funds paid to the State under this title shall be used in meeting such educational needs) under which funds paid to the State under section 307 (a) will be expended solely for the improvement of education in the State through grants to local educational agencies for programs or projects in accordance with sections 303 and 304: Provided, That, in the case of a State educational agency that also is a local educational agency, its approval of a program or project to be carried out by it in the latter capacity shall, for the purposes of this title, be deemed an award of a grant by it upon application of a local educational agency if the State plan contains, in addition to the provisions otherwise required by this section, provisions and assurances (applicable to such program or project) that are fully equivalent to those otherwise required of a local educational agency; "(2) sets forth the administrative organization and procedures, including the qualifications for personnel having responsibilities in the administration of the plan in such detail as the Commissioner may prescribe by regulation; "(3) sets forth criteria for achieving an equitable distribution of assistance under this title, which criteria shall be based on consideration of (A) the size and population of the State, (B) the geographic distribution and density of the population within the State, and (C) the relative need of persons in different geographic areas and in different population groups within the State for the kinds of services and activities described in section 303, and the * financial ability of the local educational agencies serving such persons to provide such services and activities; 54-998 O - 71-47 81 STAT. 794 "(4) provides for giving special consideration to the application of any local educational agency which is making a reasonable tax effort but which is nevertheless unable to meet critical educational needs, including preschool education for four- and five-year-olds and including where appropriate bilingual education, because some or all of its schools are seriously overcrowded (as a result of growth or shifts in enrollment or otherwise), obsolete, or unsafe; "(5) provides that, in approving applications for grants for programs or projects, applications proposing to carry out programs or projects planned under this title will receive special consideration; "(6) provides for adoption of effective procedures (A) for the evaluation, at least annually, of the effectiveness of the programs and projects, by the State advisory council, supported under the State plan in meeting the purposes of this title, (B) for appropriate dissemination of the results of such evaluations and other information pertaining to such programs or projects, and (C) for adopting, where appropriate, promising educational practices developed through such programs or projects; "(7) provides that not less than 50 per centum of the amount which such State receives to carry out the plan in such fiscal year shall be used for purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 303(a); "(8) provides that not less than 15 per centum of the amount which such State receives to carry out the plan in such fiscal year shall be used for special programs or projects for the education of handicapped children;" "(9) sets forth policies and procedures which give satisfactory assurance that Federal funds made available under this title for any fiscal year (A) will not be commingled with State funds, and (B) will be so used as to supplement and, to the extent practical, increase the fiscal effort (determined in accordance with criteria prescribed by the Commissioner, by regulation) that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be made by the applicant for educational purposes; "(10) provides for such fiscal control and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to assure proper disbursement of and accounting for Federal funds paid to the State under this title; "(11) provides for making an annual report and such other reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Commissioner may reasonably require to carry out his functions under this title and to determine the extent to which funds provided under this title have been effective in improving the educational opportunities of persons in the areas served by programs or projects supported under the State plan and in the State as a whole, including reports of evaluations made in accordance with objective measurements under the State plan pursuant to paragraph (6), and for keeping such records and for affording such access thereto as the Commissioner may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports; "(12) provides that final action with respect to any application (or amendment thereof) regarding the proposed final disposition thereof shall not be taken without first affording the local educational agency or agencies submitting such application reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing; and "(13) contains satisfactory assurance that, in determining the eligibility of any local educational agency for State aid or the amount of such aid, grants to that agency under this title shall not be taken into consideration. 81 STAT. 795 "(c) The Commissioner may, if he finds that a State plan for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, is in substantial compliance with the requirements set forth in subsection (b), approve that part of the plan which is in compliance with such requirements and make available (pursuant to section 307) to that State that part of the State's allotment which he determines to be necessary to carry out that part of the plan so approved. The remainder of the amount which such State is eligible to receive under this section may be made available to such State only if the unapproved portion of that State plan has been so modified as to bring the plan into compliance with such requirements: Provided, That the amount made available to a State pursuant to this subsection shall not be less than 50 per centum of the maximum amount which the State is eligible to receive under this section. "(d) A State which has had a State plan approved for any fiscal year may receive for the purpose of carrying out such plan an amount not in excess of 75 per centum of its allotment pursuant to section 302 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, plus for such fiscal year ending June 30, 1970, such part of the remainder of such allotment as is not used pursuant to section 306. "(e) (1) The Commissioner shall not finally disapprove any plan submitted under subsection (a), 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 hearings to any State educational agency, finds that there has been a failure to comply substantially with any requirement set forth in the plan of that State approved under section 305 or with any requirement set forth in the application of a local educational agency approved pursuant to section 304, the Commissioner shall notify the agency that further payments will not be made to the State under this title (or, in his discretion, that the State educational agency shall not make further payments under this title to specified local educational agencies affected by the failure) until he is satisfied that there is no longer any such failure to comply. Until he is so satisfied, no further payments shall be made to the State under this title, or payments by the State educational agency under this title shall be limited to local educational agencies not affected by the failure, as the case may be. “(3) (A) If any State is dissatisfied with the Commissioner's final Judicial review. action with respect to the approval of a plan submitted under subsection (a) or with his final action under paragraph (2), such State may, within 60 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 forthwith 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. "(B) 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 proceedings. "(C) The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Commissioner or to set it aside, in 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. 72 Stat. 941. 62 Stat. 928. Ante, p. 799. Ante, p. 799. 79 Stat. 48; 20 USC 862. 20 USC 865. 80 Stat. 1204. 20 USC 871. 80 Stat. 1207. 20 USC 878-880. COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING GRANTS SEC. 145. (a) Section 503 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by striking out "and" at the end of the next to the last paragraph, by striking out the period at the end thereof and inserting a semicolon, and by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraphs: "(13) programs for providing grants to local educational agencies in metropolitan areas to enable them to engage in comprehensive planning to meet their particular needs, either alone or in cooperation with other such agencies; and "(14) a program, which shall be included in each such overall program for each fiscal year pursuant to this section, for distributing in the State in an equitable manner on the basis of need among local educational agencies, within the State at least 10 per centum of such amount to be used by such agencies for any of the purposes of this title as applied to a local educational agency in lieu of a State educational agency." (b) (1) Section 502 (a) of such Act is amended by striking out "85" each time it appears and inserting "95" in lieu thereof. (2) Section 502(a)(2) of such Act is amended by striking out "Fifteen" and inserting in lieu thereof "Five". (3) Section 505 of such Act is amended by striking out "Fifteen" and inserting in lieu thereof "Five". (c) The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall be effective for fiscal years beginning after June 30, 1968. GRANTS TO INTERSTATE COMMISSIONS SEC. 146. Section 505 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by striking out the period at the end of such section and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ", and for grants to public regional interstate commissions or agencies for educational planning and research." PART E-AMENDMENTS TO TITLE VI OF THE ELEMENTARY AND REGIONAL RESOURCE CENTERS, SERVICES FOR DEAF-BLIND CHILDREN, SEC. 151. Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by (1) inserting immediately below the heading of such title. "PART A-ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR EDUCATION OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN"; (2) inserting immediately above the heading of section 608 "PART E-GENERAL PROVISIONS"; (3) redesignating sections 608, 609, and 610 and references. thereto as sections 611, 612, and 613, respectively; (4) striking out the words "this title" wherever they occur in sections 601, and 603 through 607, and inserting in lieu thereof "this part"; and (5) inserting immediately after section 607 the following: |