2014 US Code
Title 20 - Education (Sections 1 - 10013)
Chapter 68 - National Education Reform (Sections 5801 - 6084)
Sec. 5801 - Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a framework for meeting the National Education Goals established by subchapter I of this chapter by—

(1) promoting coherent, nationwide, systemic education reform;

(2) improving the quality of learning and teaching in the classroom and in the workplace;

(3) defining appropriate and coherent Federal, State, and local roles and responsibilities for education reform and lifelong learning;

(4) establishing valid and reliable mechanisms for—

(A) building a broad national consensus on American education reform;

(B) assisting in the development and certification of high-quality, internationally competitive content and student performance standards; and

(C) assisting in the development and certification of high-quality assessment measures that reflect the internationally competitive content and student performance standards;

(5) supporting new initiatives at the Federal, State, local, and school levels to provide equal educational opportunity for all students to meet high academic and occupational skill standards and to succeed in the world of employment and civic participation;

(6) providing a framework for the reauthorization of all Federal education programs by—

(A) creating a vision of excellence and equity that will guide all Federal education and related programs;

(B) providing for the establishment of high-quality, internationally competitive content and student performance standards and strategies that all students will be expected to achieve;

(C) encouraging and enabling all State educational agencies and local educational agencies to develop comprehensive improvement plans that will provide a coherent framework for the implementation of reauthorized Federal education and related programs in an integrated fashion that effectively educates all children to prepare them to participate fully as workers, parents, and citizens;

(D) providing resources to help individual schools, including those serving students with high needs, develop and implement comprehensive improvement plans; and

(E) promoting the use of technology to enable all students to achieve the National Education Goals;

(7) stimulating the development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill standards and certification to serve as a cornerstone of the national strategy to enhance workforce skills; and

(8) assisting every elementary and secondary school that receives funds under this chapter to actively involve parents and families in supporting the academic work of their children at home and in providing parents with skills to advocate for their children at school.

(Pub. L. 103–227, §2, Mar. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 128; Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101(d) [title VII, §703(a)(2)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–211, 1321–252; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, §1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.)

This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original "this Act", meaning Pub. L. 103–227, Mar. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 125, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note below and Tables.

1996—Par. (4)(B) to (D). Pub. L. 104–134, §101(d) [title VII, §703(a)(2)(A)], inserted "and" at end of subpar. (B), redesignated subpar. (D) as (C), and struck out former subpar. (C) which read as follows: "assisting in the development and certification of opportunity-to-learn standards; and".

Par. (6)(C) to (F). Pub. L. 104–134, §101(d) [title VII, §703(a)(2)(B)], redesignated subpars. (D) to (F) as (C) to (E), respectively, and struck out former subpar. (C) which read as follows: "providing for the establishment of high-quality, internationally competitive opportunity-to-learn standards that all States, local educational agencies, and schools should achieve;".

Pub. L. 106–25, §1, Apr. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 41, provided that: "This Act [enacting sections 5891a and 5891b of this title, amending section 1415 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 1415 and 5891a of this title] may be cited as the 'Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999'."

Pub. L. 103–227, §1(a), Mar. 31, 1994, 108 Stat. 125, provided that: "This Act (other than titles V and IX) [enacting this chapter (other than subchapters V and IX) and sections 3351 and 3425 of this title, amending sections 1107, 1221e–1, 1232h, 2421, 3381 to 3384, 3386, and 5093 of this title, section 5315 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, sections 1632, 1633, and 1635 of Title 29, Labor, and section 11903a of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 5093 and 6301 of this title and section 11901 of Title 42] may be cited as the 'Goals 2000: Educate America Act'."