Hurricane Katrina Elementary and Secondary Education Recovery Act To be introduced by Senators Alexander, Kennedy, Enzi and Dodd

· NCLB Waivers: Encourages the Secretary to use waiver authority with respect to reporting requirements, 3-8 assessments, and school improvement/corrective action under ESEA for States, local educational agencies, and schools affected by Hurricane Katrina, and requires the Secretary to report on state and district waiver requests due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina. · Supplemental Services and Afterschool: The Secretary shall provide grants to States to assist local educational agencies in providing supplemental educational services and afterschool services to impacted districts or districts that enroll students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Authorizes $100 million for this purpose. · Districts Damaged by the Hurricane: The Secretary may award special school reopening grants to States for local educational agencies significantly impacted by Hurricane Katrina. The grants would supplement, not supplant, FEMA funds. Funds shall be used for recovering data, initial replacement of instructional materials and equipment, establishing temporary facilities, and other related activities necessary to reopen schools. Grantees will be prohibited from using funds for construction or renovation of schools. Authorizes $900 million for these purposes. School districts impacted by Hurricane Katrina will be held-harmless relative to Title I funds for FY06 allocations. · Funds for Displaced Students: The Secretary shall award one-time emergency impact aid to states for the 2005-2006 school year for local educational agencies that have displaced students enrolled in public or private schools in their area, and for Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded schools that have enrolled displaced students. In applying for aid, an LEA shall report the total number of displaced students enrolled in public and private schools located in the district. Each eligible district will receive quarterly installment payments for each student enrolled in a given quarter, for a maximum total payment of $6,000 per student and $7,500 per student with disabilities. From these amounts, the LEA will be responsible for providing impact aid payments on behalf of each student enrolled in an eligible private school located in the district. Total per-pupil assistance for private school students shall be equal to that provided to displaced students in public schools, except that it may not exceed the cost of tuition. Impact aid funding for students enrolled in private schools cannot be used for religious purposes, and existing civil rights laws apply to recipients of these funds. Funds can only be used for expenses incurred during the 2005-2006 school year. In Louisiana and Mississippi, the State Educational Agencies shall carry out the activities of LEAs that are unable to carry out this program. Authorized at $2.4 billion. · Reciprocity for Highly-Qualified Teachers: Grants temporary reciprocity for NCLB purposesin recognizing highly-qualified teachers and paraprofessionals displaced by Katrina. Also authorizes an extension of one year for Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi areas impacted by Katrina relative to the deadline in Sec. 1119 of NCLB for highly qualified teachers and paraprofessionals. · Homeless Education: Authorizes an additional appropriation of $50 million for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program under NCLB. Funds shall be distributed to State education agencies to assist local educational agencies in supporting students who are newly homeless due to Katrina.· Alternative Education Program: Establishes competitive grants to SEAs, LEAs or consortia of LEAs who may chose to partner with community based organizations to provide alternative programs for adolescents who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina. These programs would offer instruction, tutoring, counseling, activities designed to familiarize students with career options, mentoring, test preparation for PSAT, SAT, or ACT, financial aid information, and job readiness skills. Funds may be used for staffing, curricular materials, and other programmatic costs to carry out the alternative education program. Authorized at such sums as may be necessary. ###