§ 6303 — School Improvement

(a) To carry out subsection (b) and the State educational agency’s statewide system of technical assistance and support for local educational agencies, each State shall reserve the greater of— (1) 7 percent of the amount the State receives under subpart 2 of part A; or (2) the sum of the amount the State— (A) reserved for fiscal year 2016 under this subsection, as in effect on the day before December 10, 2015; and (B) received for fiscal year 2016 under subsection (g), as in effect on the day before December 10, 2015. (b) Of the amount reserved under subsection (a) for any fiscal year, the State educational agency— (A) shall allocate not less than 95 percent of that amount to make grants to local educational agencies on a formula or competitive basis, to serve schools implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement activities under section 6311(d) of this title; or (B) may, with the approval of the local educational agency, directly provide for these activities or arrange for their provision through other entities such as school support teams, educational service agencies, or nonprofit or for-profit external providers with expertise in using evidence-based strategies to improve student achievement, instruction, and schools; and (2) shall use the funds not allocated to local educational agencies under paragraph (1) to carry out this section, which shall include— (A) establishing the method, consistent with paragraph (1)(A), the State will use to allocate funds to local educational agencies under such paragraph, including ensuring— (i) the local educational agencies receiving an allotment under such paragraph represent the geographic diversity of the State; and (ii) that allotments are of sufficient size to enable a local educational agency to effectively implement selected strategies; (B) monitoring and evaluating the use of funds by local educational agencies receiving an allotment under such paragraph; and (C) as appropriate, reducing barriers and providing operational flexibility for schools in the implementation of comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement activities under section 6311(d) of this title. (c) The State educational agency shall award each subgrant under subsection (b) for a period of not more than 4 years, which may include a planning year. (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a State from allocating subgrants under this section to a statewide school district, consortium of local educational agencies, or an educational service agency that serves schools implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement activities, if such entities are legally constituted or recognized as local educational agencies in the State. (e) To receive an allotment under subsection (b)(1), a local educational agency shall submit an application to the State educational agency at such time, in such form, and including such information as the State educational agency may require. Each application shall include, at a minimum— (1) a description of how the local educational agency will carry out its responsibilities under section 6311(d) of this title for schools receiving funds under this section, including how the local educational agency will— (A) develop comprehensive support and improvement plans under section 6311(d)(1) of this title for schools receiving funds under this section; (B) support schools developing or implementing targeted support and improvement plans under section 6311(d)(2) of this title, if funds received under this section are used for such purpose; (C) monitor schools receiving funds under this section, including how the local educational agency will carry out its responsibilities under clauses (iv) and (v) of section 6311(d)(2)(B) of this title if funds received under this section are used to support schools implementing targeted support and improvement plans; (D) use a rigorous review process to recruit, screen, select, and evaluate any external partners with whom the local educational agency will partner; (E) align other Federal, State, and local resources to carry out the activities supported with funds received under subsection (b)(1); and (F) as appropriate, modify practices and policies to provide operational flexibility that enables full and effective implementation of the plans described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 6311(d) of this title; and (2) an assurance that each school the local educational agency proposes to serve will receive all of the State and local funds it would have received in the absence of funds received under this section. (f) The State educational agency, in allocating funds to local educational agencies under this section, shall give priority to local educational agencies that— (1) serve high numbers, or a high percentage of, elementary schools and secondary schools implementing plans under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 6311(d) of this title; (2) demonstrate the greatest need for such funds, as determined by the State; and (3) demonstrate the strongest commitment to using funds under this section to enable the lowest-performing schools to improve student achievement and student outcomes. (g) If, after consultation with local educational agencies in the State, the State educational agency determines that the amount of funds reserved to carry out subsection (b) is greater than the amount needed to provide the assistance described in that subsection, the State educational agency shall allocate the excess amount to local educational agencies in accordance with— (1) the relative allocations the State educational agency made to those agencies for that fiscal year under subpart 2 of part A; or (2) section 6338(c) of this title. (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the amount of funds reserved by the State educational agency under subsection (a) for fiscal year 2018 and each subsequent fiscal year shall not decrease the amount of funds each local educational agency receives under subpart 2 of part A below the amount received by such local educational agency under such subpart for the preceding fiscal year. (i) The State shall include in the report described in section 6311(h)(1) of this title a list of all the local educational agencies and schools that received funds under this section, including the amount of funds each school received and the types of strategies implemented in each school with such funds.