(c) SPECIAL RULE.-To the extent feasible, the Secretary shall ensure that grants awarded under this part for each fiscal year address

(1) all levels of education, including preschool, elementary and secondary education, higher education, vocational education, and adult education;

(2) all regions of the United States; and

(3) urban, rural, and suburban educational institutions. (d) COORDINATION.-Research activities supported under this part

(1) shall be carried out in consultation with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement to ensure that such activities are coordinated with and enhance the research and development activities supported by the Office; and

(2) may include collaborative research activities which are jointly funded and carried out with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

(e) LIMITATION.-Nothing in this part shall be construed as prohibiting men and boys from participating in any programs or activities assisted with funds under this part.

SEC. 5206. [20 U.S.C. 7236] REPORT.

The Secretary, not later than January 1, 1999, shall submit to the President and the Congress a report on the status of educational equity for girls and women in the Nation.

SEC. 5207. [20 U.S.C. 7237] ADMINISTRATION.

(a) EVALUATION AND DISSEMINATION.-The Secretary shall evaluate in accordance with section 14701, and disseminate, materials and programs developed under this part and shall report to the Congress regarding such evaluation materials and programs not later than January 1, 1998.

(b) PROGRAM OPERATIONS.-The Secretary shall ensure that the activities assisted under this part are administered within the Department by a person who has recognized professional qualifications and experience in the field of gender equity education. SEC. 5208. [20 U.S.C. 7238] AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years, of which not less than two-thirds of the amount appropriated under this section for each fiscal year shall be available to carry out the activities described in section 5203(b)(1).

PART C-ASSISTANCE TO ADDRESS SCHOOL DROPOUT PROBLEMS

SEC. 5301. [20 U.S.C. 7261] SHORT TITLE.

This part may be cited as the "School Dropout Assistance Act". SEC. 5302. [20 U.S.C. 7262] PURPOSE.

The purpose of this part is to reduce the number of children who do not complete their elementary and secondary education by providing grants to local educational agencies to establish

(1) effective programs to identify potential student dropouts, including pregnant and parenting teenagers, and prevent such students from dropping out of school;

(2) effective programs to identify and encourage children who have already dropped out to reenter school and complete their elementary and secondary education;

(3) effective early intervention programs designed to identify at-risk students in elementary and secondary schools; and

(4) model systems for collecting and reporting information to local school officials on the number, ages, sex, race or ethnicity, and grade levels of the children not completing their elementary and secondary education and the reasons why such children have dropped out of school.

SEC. 5303. [20 U.S.C. 7263] GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

(a) ALLOTMENT TO CATEGORIES OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. From the amount appropriated under section 5308 for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall first reserve not more than $2,000,000 for the purposes of evaluating programs carried out with assistance under this part in accordance with section 14701. From the remaining amount, the Secretary shall allot the following percentages to each of the following categories of local educational agencies:

(1) Local educational agencies administering schools with a total enrollment of 100,000 or more elementary and secondary school students shall be allotted 25 percent of such remaining amount.

(2) Local educational agencies administering schools with a total enrollment of at least 20,000 but less than 100,000 elementary and secondary school students shall be allotted 40 percent of such remaining amount.

(3) Local educational agencies administering schools with a total enrollment of less than 20,000 elementary and secondary school students shall be allotted 30 percent of such remaining amount. Grants may be made under this paragraph to educational service agencies and consortia of not more than 5 local educational agencies in any case in which the total enrollment of the largest such local educational agency is less than 20,000 elementary and secondary students. Such agencies and consortia may also apply for assistance under this part in conjunction with the State educational agency. Not less than 20 percent of funds available under this paragraph shall be awarded to local educational agencies administering schools with a total enrollment of less than 2,000 elementary and secondary school students.

(4) Community-based organizations shall be allotted 5 percent of such remaining amount. Grants under this paragraph shall be made after consultation between the community-based organization and the local educational agency that is to benefit from such a grant.

(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary shall give special consideration to awarding funds available for each category described

in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) to local educational agencies participating in an educational partnership. (2) EDUCATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.-For the purpose of this part the term "educational partnerships' means a partnership between

(A) a local educational agency; and

(B) a business concern or business organization, community-based organization, nonprofit private organization, institution of higher education, State educational agency, State or local public agency, private industry council (established under the Job Training Partnership Act), museum, library, or educational television or broadcasting

station.

(c) AWARD OF GRANT.

(1) IN GENERAL.-From the amount allotted for any fiscal year to a category of local educational agencies under subsection (a), the Secretary shall award as many grants as practicable within each such category to local educational agencies and educational partnerships whose applications have been approved by the Secretary for such fiscal year under section 5304 and whose applications propose a program of sufficient size, scope, and quality to be effective.

(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.-Any local educational agency or educational partnership that has received a grant under this part shall be eligible for additional funds as provided under subsection (d).

(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.-Grants under this part shall be made under such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall prescribe.

(d) USE OF FUNDS WHEN NOT FULLY ALLOTTED TO CATEGORIES UNDER SUBSECTION (a).

(1) IN GENERAL.-Whenever the Secretary determines that the full amount of the sums allotted under any category set forth under subsection (a) will not be required for applications of the local educational agencies in the case of categories described in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), the Secretary shall make the amount not so required available to another category under subsection (a). In carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the Secretary shall assure that the transfer of amounts from one category to another is made to a category in which there is the greatest need for funds.

(2) PEER REVIEW.-In order to transfer funds under this subsection, the Secretary shall use a peer review process to determine that such excess funds are not needed to fund projects in particular categories and shall prepare a list of the categories in which funds were not fully expended and the reasons therefor, and make such list available to local educational agencies and educational partnerships upon request. The Secretary may use the peer review process to determine grant recipients of funds transferred in accordance with this subsection.

(e) FEDERAL SHARE.

(1) FEDERAL SHARE.-The Federal share of a grant under this part may not exceed

(A) 90 percent of the total cost of a project for the first year for which the project receives assistance under this part; and

(B) 75 percent of such cost in each such succeeding fiscal year.

(2) REMAINING COSTS.-The remaining cost of a project that receives assistance under this part may be paid from any source other than funds made available under this part, except that not more than 10 percent of the remaining cost in any fiscal year may be provided from Federal sources other than this part.

(3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.-The share of payments from sources other than funds made available under this part may be in cash or in kind fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment or services.

SEC. 5404. [20 U.S.C. 7264] APPLICATION.

(a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.

(1) IN GENERAL.-A grant under this part may be made only to a local educational agency or an educational partnership which submits an application to the Secretary containing such information as may be required by the Secretary by regulation.

(2) DURATION.-Each such application shall be for a threeyear period.

(b) CONTENTS.-Each such application shall—

(1) provide documentation of

(A) the number of children who were enrolled in the schools to be served by the applicant for the five academic years prior to the date application is made who have not completed their elementary or secondary education and who are classified as school dropouts; and

(B) the percentage that such number of children is of the total school-age population in the applicant's schools; (2) include a plan for the development and implementation of a school dropout information collection and reporting system for documenting the extent and nature of the dropout problem, which system shall collect and cross tabulate data, where feasible, by sex according to race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status;

(3) include a plan for coordinated activities involving not less than one secondary school and its feeder junior high or middle schools and elementary schools for local educational agencies that have feeder systems;

(4) when applicable, describe how programs assisted under this part will be coordinated with, and not duplicate, programs assisted under title I;

(5) include a description of how the program assisted under this part is consistent with the second National Education Goal, relating to school completion, and other Federal programs as appropriate; and

(6) contain such other information as the Secretary considers necessary to determine the nature of the local needs, the

quality of the proposed project, and the capability of the applicant to carry out the project.

(c) PRIORITY.-The Secretary shall, in approving applications under this section, give priority to applications which

(1) demonstrate the replication of successful programs conducted in other local educational agencies or the expansion of successful programs within a local educational agency; and

(2) reflect very high numbers or very high percentages of school dropouts in the schools of the applicant in each category described in section 5303(a).

(d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.-The Secretary shall give additional special consideration to applications that include

(1) provisions which emphasize early intervention services designed to identify at-risk students in elementary or early secondary schools; and

(2) provisions for significant parental involvement.

(e) GRANTS FOR NEW GRANTEES.-In awarding grants under this part the Secretary shall use only the priorities and special considerations described in subsections (c) and (d).

(f) CONTINUATION OF ASSISTANCE.-For the two fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, the Secretary shall approve an application under this section for a local educational agency which received funding in fiscal year 1994 under the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Act of 1988 (20 U.S.C. 3241 et seq.) and which(1) satisfies the requirements of this section;

(2) qualifies for special consideration or priority under(A) section 5303(b); and

(B) subsections (c) and (d) of this section; and

(3) provides evidence that the program for which such agency is seeking assistance is effective in

(A) providing early intervention services to at-risk students in elementary and secondary schools;

(B) identifying potential student dropouts; and

(C) preventing students from dropping out of school.

SEC. 5305. [20 U.S.C. 7265] AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

Grants under this part shall be used to carry out activities and services described in applications approved under section 5304. In addition, grants may be used for educational, occupational, and basic skills testing services and activities, including—

(1) the establishment of systemwide or school-level policies, procedures, and plans for dropout prevention and school reentry;

(2) the development and implementation of activities, including extended day or summer programs, designed to address poor achievement, basic skills deficiencies, language deficiencies, or course failures, in order to assist students at risk of dropping out of school and students reentering school, including youth returning to school from a correctional or other facility operated for delinquent youth;

(3) the establishment or expansion of work-study, apprentice, or internship programs;