Problems and Recommendations / 11 Problems and Recommendations This section of the annual report is in response to Sec. 309 (c) of the Act, which requires the Council to "... make an annual report of its findings and recommendations (including recommendations for changes in the provisions of this title) to the President and the Congress. ." In presenting recommendations, the Council outlines the problem which it sees as limiting the effectiveness of the Title III effort and states a recommendation for the correction of the problem. (Underlined portions of reproduced copy denote suggested changes or deletions.) PROBLEM Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is handicapped by an awkward and nondescriptive title. The name originally assigned to this section of the law, "Supplementary Educational Centers and Services," does not reflect the major thrust of the program, which is the use of federal funds to stimulate innovative approaches to educational problems. The name was lengthened, by the Amendments of 1969, to include "Guidance, Counseling, and Testing." The combined title, "Supplementary Educational Centers and Services; Guidance, Counseling, and Testing," is too lengthy and too confusing to be used effectively either among educators or in public dissemination of information about this federal program. RECOMMENDATION The National Advisory Council recommends that the title of Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act be changed to read: "Title III-Innovation in Education." LEGISLATION "TITLE III-SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL CENTERS PROBLEM Provision of "supplementary centers and services" or "vitally needed educational services not available in sufficient quantity or quality" is not the thrust of Title III as it has developed during its seven years of operation. Title III's unique capacity is, rather, in its mandate to "... establish exemplary programs to serve as models...." It is vital that this aspect of the legislation be protected and strengthened and that the focus of Title III be in the area of its most important contribution, which is the stimulation of creative and constructive educational change. When Title V-A of the National Defense Education Act was combined with Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by the Education Amendments of 1969, the two programs had been operating with dissimilar objectives. If Title III is to maintain its identity as a source of creative and innovative educational practices, it is necessary that the funds provided by the law for guidance and counseling be used for new approaches in that field. Although testing can be an important component of a state or local project or program, statewide testing should be funded from sources other than Title III. 12/ ESEA Title III Annual Report RECOMMENDATION The National Advisory Council recommends that the words "supplementary centers and services" be deleted wherever they occur in the legislation, and that the words "stimulate and assist in the provision of vitally needed educational services not available in sufficient quantity or quality" be deleted from Sec. 301. (a). The National Advisory Council recommends that the words "to assist the States in establishing and maintaining programs of testing and guidance and counseling" be deleted from Sec. 301. (a). LEGISLATION "APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED "SEC. 301. (a) The Commissioner shall carry out a program for making grants for supplementary educational centers and services, to stimulate and assist in the provision of vitally needed educational services not available in suficient quantity or quality, and to stimulate and assist in the development and establishment of exemplary elementary and secondary school educational programs to serve as models for regular school programs, and to assist the States in establishing and maintaining programs of testing and guidance and counseling. PROBLEM Funding authorization for ESEA Title III extends through June 30, 1973. If by that time Congress has neither renewed nor formally rejected renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, one-year extension of the authorization will come into effect under the General Education Provisions of Title IV of ESEA. Title III has over the past seven years demonstrated that federal support is highly effective in encouraging the development of new approaches in education, and it has also shown that there is great need for a continuing process of creative change in American education. Funding of Title III has never been adequate to the need for development capital in education. Appropriations which were at 75 per cent of authorization in 1966 were down to 25 per cent of authorization in 1972. In the present time of steadily increasing educational costs, the necessity of increased support for Title III is greater than ever before. RECOMMENDATION The National Advisory Council recommends that Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act be extended for five years as a specific federal program to provide funds to the states to be used by them to stimulate the creation of innovative educational programs to meet identified educational needs. The National Advisory Council recommends that funding authorizations and appropriations for Title III more nearly reflect the national need for model educational programs, i.e., $650,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974, $675,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, $700,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, $725,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977, and $750,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1978. "(b) For the purpose of making grants under this title, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $550,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, $575,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972, and $605,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973. In addition, there are hereby authorized to be appropriated for Problems and Recommendations / 13 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, and each of the succeeding fiscal "ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES "SEC. 302. (a) (1) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year for the purposes of this paragraph an amount equal to not more than 3 per centum of the amount appropriated for such year for grants under this title. The Commissioner shall allot the amount appropriated pursuant to this paragraph among Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands according to their respective needs for assistance under this title. In addition for each fiscal year ending prior to July 1, 1972, he shall allot from such amount to (A) the Secretary of the Interior the amount necessary to provide programs and projects for the purpose of this title for individuals on reservations serviced by elementary and secondary schools operated for Indian children by the Department of the Interior, and (B) the Secretary of Defense the amount necessary for such assistance for children and teachers in the overseas dependents schools of the Department of Defense. The terms upon which payments for such purpose shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Defense shall be determined pursuant to such criteria as the Commissioner determines will best carry out the purposes of this title. "(2) From the sums appropriated for making grants under this title for any fiscal year pursuant to section 301 (b), the Commissioner shall allot $200,000 to each State and shall allot the remainder of such sums among the States as follows: "(A) He shall allot to each State an amount which bears the "(B) He shall allot to each State an amount which bears the (b) The number of children aged five to seventeen, inclusive, and "(c) The amount allotted to any State under subsection (a) for any fiscal year, which the Commissioner determines will not be required for the period for which that amount is available, shall be available for grants pursuant to section 306 in such State, and if not so needed may be reallotted or used for grants pursuant to section 306 in other States. Funds available for reallotment may be reallotted from time to time, on such dates during that period as the Commissioner may fix, among other States in proportion to the amounts originally allotted among those States under subsection (a) for that year, but with the proportionate amount for any of the other States being reduced to the extent it exceeds the sum the Commissioner estimates that State needs and will be able to use for that period; and the total of these reductions may be similarly reallotted among the States whose proportionate amounts were not so reduced. Any amount reallotted to a State under this subsection from funds appropriated pursuant to section 301 for any fiscal year shall be deemed to be a part of the amount allotted to it under subsection (a) for that year. "(d) The amounts made available under the first sentence of subsection (c) for any fiscal year shall remain available for grants during the next succeeding fiscal year. PROBLEM Under Public Law 91-230 of April, 1969, Congress combined Title V-A of the National Defense Education Act, which provided federal funds for guidance, counseling, and testing programs in the schools, with Title III of ESEA. Inclusion in Public Law 91-230 of the words "except as expressly modified by this title, Federal funds may be used for the same purposes and the funding of the same types of programs previously authorized by those titles" makes it possible that funds for guidance and 97-457 73 pt. 5 20 14/ ESEA Title III Annual Report counseling may be used to extend existing services in that field rather than to create new approaches. Guidance and counseling can greatly benefit, as do other areas of the curriculum, from intensive efforts to develop new techniques and programs. Administration of the Title III program at the state and national levels would be greatly facilitated if the guidance and counseling portion of the program were subject to the same guidelines as to innovativeness and exemplariness as are other projects. It is essential, also, that Title III have a clear identity as a program to stimulate creative innovation in all education, including guidance and counseling. If general federal support for guidance and counseling maintenance and extension is considered desirable, this objective could be written into a separate title of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The "testing" portion of the former NDEA Title V-A is inappropriate to the Title III concept and should, if federally funded, be administered under other legisla tion. RECOMMENDATION The National Advisory Council supports the intent of Congress to strengthen guidance and counseling programs and believes that this can best be done by encouraging innovative and creative programs as models. The Council recommends that the words "funds may be used for the same purposes and the funding of the same types of programs previously authorized" be deleted from Sec. 303. (a) and the words "programs for testing students in the public and private elementary and secondary schools and in junior colleges and technical institutes in the state" be deleted from Sec. 303. (b)(4). LEGISLATION "USES OF FEDERAL FUNDS "SEC. 303. (a) It is the purpose of this title to combine within a single authorization, subject to the modifications imposed by the provisions and requirements of this title, the programs formerly authorized by this title and title V-A of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, and except as expressly modified by this title, Federal funds may be used for the same purposes and the funding of the same types of programs previously authorized by those titles. (b) Funds appropriated pursuant to section 301 shall be available only for grants in accordance with applications approved pur suant to this title for "(1) planning for and taking other steps leading to the development of programs or projects designed to provide supplementary educational activities and services described in paragraphs (2) and (3), including pilot projects designed to test the effectiveness of plans so developed; "(2) the establishment or expansion of exemplary and innovative educational programs (including dual-enrollment programs and the lease or construction of necessary facilities) for the purpose of stimulating the adoption of new educational programs (including those described in section 503 (4) and special programs for handicapped children) in the schools of the State; and "(3) the establishment, maintenance, operation, and expansion of programs or projects, including the lease or construction of necessary facilities and the acquisition of necessary equipment, designed to enrich the programs of local elementary and secondary schools and to offer a diverse range of educational experience to persons of varying talents and needs by providing, especially through new and improved approaches, supplementary educational services and activities, such as "(A) remedial instruction, and school health, physical education, recreation, psychological, social work, and other services designed to enable and encourage persons to enter, remain in, or reenter educational programs, including the provision of special educational programs and study areas during periods when schools are not regularly in session; www Problems and Recommendations / 15 "(B) comprehensive academic services and, where appropriate, vocational guidance and counseling, for continuing adult education; "(C) specialized instruction and equipment for students interested in studying advanced scientific subjects, foreign languages, and other academic subjects which are not taught in the local schools or which can be provided more effectively on a centralized basis, or for persons who are handicapped or of preschool age; "(D) making available modern educational equipment and specially qualified personnel, including artists and musicians, on a temporary basis for the benefit of children in public and other nonprofit schools, organizations, and institutions; "(E) developing, producing, and transmitting radio and television programs for classroom and other educational use; "(F) in the case 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), because some or all of its schools are seriously overcrowded, obsolete, or unsafe, initiating and carrying out programs or projects designed to meet those needs, particularly those which will result in more effective use of existing facilities; (G) providing special educational and related services for persons who are in or from rural areas or who are or have been otherwise isolated from normal educational opportunities, including, where appropriate, the provision of mobile educational services and equipment, special home study courses, radio, television, and related forms of instruction, bilingual education methods and visiting teachers' programs; “(H) encouraging community involvement in educational programs; "(I) providing programs for gifted and talented children; and "(J) other specially designed educational programs or projects which meet the purposes of this title; and "(4) programs for testing students in the public and private elementary and secondary schools and in junior colleges and technical institutes in the State, and programs designed to improve guidance and counseling services at the appropriate levels in such schools. "(e) In addition to the uses specified in subsection (b), funds appropriated for carrying out this title may be used for "(1) proper and efficient administration of State plans; "(2) obtaining technical, professional, and clerical assistance and the services of experts and consultants to assist the advisory councils authorized by this title in carrying out their responsibilities; and "(3) evaluation of plans, programs, and projects, and dissemination of the results thereof. PROBLEM Title III was designed to relate to the needs of all children, in both public and private schools, and to provide educators with opportunity to cooperate in seeking solutions to difficult problems. The legislation is flexible and supportive; however, restrictions have been placed on nonpublic school involvement by Office of Education regulations and by limitations imposed by individual states. In connection with those sections of Title III which have to do with private school participation, the regulations under which the Office of Education administers the Title III program specify that "whenever practicable," educational services shall be provided to private school children on publicly controlled premises, and any project to be carried out in public facilities which involves joint participation by children enrolled in private schools and children enrolled in public schools shall include such provisions as are necessary to avoid the separation of participating children by school enrollment or religious affiliation. These are formidable obstacles: they have the effect of requiring private school children to come to the public school for their participation in a project. |