(g) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR CERTAIN FEDERAL PROPERTY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.-For the purpose of carrying out section 8002(j) there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary beginning in fiscal year 1998 and for each succeeding fiscal year.

TITLE IX-INDIAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND ALASKA NATIVE EDUCATION

PART A-INDIAN EDUCATION

SEC. 9101. [20 U.S.C. 7801] FINDINGS.

The Congress finds that—

(1) the Federal Government has a special responsibility to ensure that educational programs for all American Indian and Alaska Native children and adults

(A) are based on high-quality, internationally competitive content standards and student performance standards and build on Indian culture and the Indian community;

(B) assist local educational agencies, Indian tribes, and other entities and individuals in providing Indian students the opportunity to achieve such standards; and

(C) meet the special educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students;

(2) since the date of enactment of the initial Indian Education Act in 1972, the level of involvement of Indian parents in the planning, development, and implementation of educational programs that affect such parents and their children has increased significantly, and schools should continue to foster such involvement;

(3) although the number of Indian teachers, administrators, and university professors has increased since 1972, teacher training programs are not recruiting, training, or retraining a sufficient number of Indian individuals as educators to meet the needs of a growing Indian student population in elementary, secondary, vocational, adult, and higher education;

(4) the dropout rate for Indian students is unacceptably high, for example, 9 percent of Indian students who were eighth graders in 1988 had already dropped out of school by 1990;

(5) during the period from 1980 to 1990, the percentage of Indian individuals living at or below the poverty level increased from 24 percent to 31 percent, and the readiness of Indian children to learn is hampered by the high incidence of poverty, unemployment, and health problems among Indian children and their families; and

(6) research related specifically to the education of Indian children and adults is very limited, and much of the research is of poor quality or is focused on limited local or regional issues.

SEC. 9102. [20 U.S.C. 7802] PURPOSE.

(a) PURPOSE.-It is the purpose of this part to support the efforts of local educational agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, postsecondary institutions, and other entities to meet the special educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives, so that such students can achieve to the same challenging State performance standards expected of all students.

(b) PROGRAMS.-This part carries out the purpose described in subsection (a) by authorizing programs of direct assistance for

(1) meeting the special educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives;

(2) the education of Indian children and adults;

(3) the training of Indian persons as educators and counselors, and in other professions serving Indian people; and

(4) research, evaluation, data collection, and technical assistance.

Subpart 1-Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies

SEC. 9111. [20 U.S.C. 7811] PURPOSE.

It is the purpose of this subpart to support local educational agencies in their efforts to reform elementary and secondary school programs that serve Indian students in order to ensure that such programs

(1) are based on challenging State content standards and State student performance standards that are used for all students; and

(2) are designed to assist Indian students meet those standards and assist the Nation in reaching the National Education Goals.

SEC. 9112. [20 U.S.C. 7812] GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

(a) IN GENERAL.

(1) ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS.-A local educational agency shall be eligible for a grant under this subpart for any fiscal year if the number of Indian children eligible under section 9116 and who were enrolled in the schools of the agency, and to whom the agency provided free public education, during the preceding fiscal year

(A) was at least 10; or

(B) constituted not less than 25 percent of the total number of individuals enrolled in the schools of such agency.

(2) EXCLUSION.-The requirement of paragraph (1) shall not apply in Alaska, California, or Oklahoma, or with respect to any local educational agency located on, or in proximity to, a reservation.

(b) INDIAN TRIBES.

(1) IN GENERAL.-If a local educational agency that is eligible for a grant under this subpart does not establish a parent committee under section 9114(c)(4) for such grant, an Indian

tribe that represents no less than one-half of the eligible Indian children who are served by such local educational agency may apply for such grant.

(2) SPECIAL RULE.-The Secretary shall treat each Indian tribe applying for a grant pursuant to paragraph (1) as if such Indian tribe were a local educational agency for purposes of this subpart.

SEC. 9113. [20 U.S.C. 7813] AMOUNT OF GRANTS.

(a) AMOUNT OF GRANT AWARDS.

(1) IN GENERAL.-Except as provided in subsection (b) and paragraph (2), the Secretary shall allocate to each local educational agency which has an approved application under this subpart an amount equal to the product of—

(A) the number of Indian children who are eligible under section 9116 and served by such agency; and (B) the greater of—

(i) the average per-pupil expenditure of the State in which such agency is located; or

(ii) 80 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in the United States.

(2) REDUCTION.-The Secretary shall reduce the amount of each allocation determined under paragraph (1) in accordance with subsection (e).

(b) MINIMUM GRANT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.-Notwithstanding subsection (e) of this section, a local educational agency or an Indian tribe (as authorized under section 9112(b)) that is eligible for a grant under section 9112, and a school that is operated or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that is eligible for a grant under subsection (d), that submits an application that is approved by the Secretary, shall, subject to appropriations, receive a grant under this subpart in an amount that is not less than $3,000.

(2) CONSORTIA.-Local educational agencies may form a consortium for the purpose of obtaining grants under this Act.

(3) INCREASE.-The Secretary may increase the minimum grant under paragraph (1) to not more than $4,000 for all grantees if the Secretary determines such increase is necessary to ensure quality programs.

(c) DEFINITION.-For the purpose of this section, the term "average per-pupil expenditure of a State" means an amount equal

to

(1) the sum of the aggregate current expenditures of all the local educational agencies in the State, plus any direct current expenditures by the State for the operation of such agencies, without regard to the sources of funds from which such local or State expenditures were made, during the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the computation is made; divided by

(2) the aggregate number of children who were included in average daily attendance for whom such agencies provided free public education during such preceding fiscal year.

(d) SCHOOLS OPERATED OR SUPPORTED BY THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.-In addition to the grants awarded under subsection (a), and subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary shall allocate to the Secretary of the Interior an amount equal to the product of—

(1) the total number of Indian children enrolled in schools that are operated by

(A) the Bureau of Indian Affairs; or

(B) an Indian tribe, or an organization controlled or sanctioned by an Indian tribal government, for the children of such tribe under a contract with, or grant from, the Department of the Interior under the Indian Self-Determination Act or the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (part B of title V of the Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988); and

(2) the greater of—

(A) the average per-pupil expenditure of the State in which the school is located; or

(B) 80 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in the United States.

(e) RATABLE REDUCTIONS.-If the sums appropriated for any fiscal year under section 9162(a) are insufficient to pay in full the amounts determined for local educational agencies under subsection (a)(1) and for the Secretary of the Interior under subsection (d), each of those amounts shall be ratably reduced.

SEC. 9114. [20 U.S.C. 7814] APPLICATIONS.

(a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.-Each local educational agency that desires to receive a grant under this subpart shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.

(b) COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM REQUIRED.-Each application submitted under subsection (a) shall include a comprehensive program for meeting the needs of Indian children served by the local educational agency, including the language and cultural needs of the children, that

(1) provides programs and activities to meet the culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students;

(2)(A) is consistent with, and promotes the goals in, the State and local improvement plans, either approved or being developed, under title III of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act or, if such plans are not approved or being developed, with the State and local plans under sections 1111 and 1112 of this Act; and

(B) includes academic content and student performance goals for such children, and benchmarks for attaining such goals, that are based on the challenging State standards adopted under title I for all children;

(3) explains how Federal, State, and local programs, especially under title I, will meet the needs of such students;

(4) demonstrates how funds made available under this subpart will be used for activities described in section 9115;

(5) describes the professional development opportunities that will be provided, as needed, to ensure that—

(A) teachers and other school professionals who are new to the Indian community are prepared to work with Indian children; and

(B) all teachers who will be involved in programs assisted under this subpart have been properly trained to carry out such programs; and

(6) describes how the local educational agency

(A) will periodically assess the progress of all Indian children enrolled in the schools of the local educational agency, including Indian children who do not participate in programs assisted under this subpart, in meeting the goals described in paragraph (2);

(B) will provide the results of each assessment referred to in subparagraph (A) to—

(i) the committee of parents described in subsection (c)(4); and

(ii) the community served by the local educational agency; and

(C) is responding to findings of any previous assessments that are similar to the assessments described in subparagraph (A).

(c) ASSURANCES.-Each application submitted under subsection (a) shall include assurances that—

(1) the local educational agency will use funds received under this subpart only to supplement the level of funds that, in the absence of the Federal funds made available under this subpart, such agency would make available for the education of Indian children, and not to supplant such funds;

(2) the local educational agency will submit such reports to the Secretary, in such form and containing such information, as the Secretary may require to

(A) carry out the functions of the Secretary under this subpart; and

(B) determine the extent to which funds provided to the local educational agency under this subpart are effective in improving the educational achievement of Indian students served by such agency;

(3) the program for which assistance is sought

(A) is based on a local assessment and prioritization of the special educational and culturally related academic needs of the American Indian and Alaska Native students for whom the local educational agency is providing an education;

(B) will use the best available talents and resources, including individuals from the Indian community; and

(C) was developed by such agency in open consultation with parents of Indian children and teachers, and, if appropriate, Indian students from secondary schools, including public hearings held by such agency to provide the individuals described in this subparagraph a full opportunity to understand the program and to offer recommendations regarding the program; and