equipment, machinery, and utilities, necessary or appropriate for the purposes of a school or schools, but shall not include (1) interests in land, (2) off-site improvements, (3) athletic stadia, or (4) structures or facilities intended primarily for the purpose of athletic exhibitions, contests, or games or other events for which admission is to be charged to the general public;

(j) the term "State" means any State of the United States and the District of Columbia; and

(1) the term "State agency" means the highest single State-wide public educational agency charged under State law with supervisory or other control functions over its system of schools or, if there is no such agency, any State-wide educational agency within the State designated by or under State law, or in the absence thereof by the Governor, to be the single State educational agency responsible for developing and submitting a State plan for approval under section 3 and for administering or supervising the administration of the approved plan: Provided, That "State agency" for the District of Columbia shall mean the Board of Education and for American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands shall mean the Governor. In other territories or dependencies, "State agency" shall mean the public education agency of widest jurisdiction.

WITHHOLDING OF CERTIFICATION

SEC. 302. (a) Whenever the Commissioner, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agency and to any school agency affected, finds (A) that the State agency is not complying substantially with the provisions of section 3 (a) to be contained in the approved State plan, or (B) that any funds paid to the State agency under this Act have been diverted from the purposes for which they had been allotted or paid, the Commissioner may forthwith notify the Secretary of the Treasury and the State agency that no further certification under section 201 will be made, or notify the Secretary of the Treasury and the State agency that no further approvals under section 4 (d) will be made or that no further payments for any activity or project designated by the Commissioner as being affected by such failure or diversion shall be made, as the Commissioner may determine to be appropriate under the circumstances, until there is no longer any failure to comply or the diversion has been corrected or, if compliance or correction is impossible, until the State repays or arranges for the repayment of Federal moneys which have been diverted or improperly expended.

(b) The final refusal of the Commissioner to approve any plan or modification under section 3 and the Commissioner's final action under subsection (a) of this section shall, at the instance of the State agency or any school agency affected, be subject to judicial review on the record, in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the State is located, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

ADMINISTRATION: RULES AND REGULATIONS

SEC. 313. (a) The Commissioner is authorized to adopt, in addition to the regulations specifically provided for in this Act, such administrative rules and regulations and perform such other functions as he finds necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

(b) The Commissioner is authorized to delegate to any officer or employee of the United States Office of Education any of his powers and duties under this Act except the making of regulations.

(c) The Commissioner is authorized, with the consent of any State agency, to furnish to such State agency technical assistance, including consultative services of experts, model standards and provisions for State plans and construction projects and contracts, standards for equalization of aid for school construction within the State, and other materials to aid the State agency in determining the need for schools and the type and size of school needed, developing standards and procedures for the planning and approval of projects by the State agency, formulating its construction program and the State plan, and carrying out such plan and program.

CONTROL OF STATE OPERATIONS

SEC. 304. Except as otherwise specifically provided, nothing in this Act shall be construed as conferring on any agency, officer, or employee of the United States the right to exercise any supervision or control over the administration,

personnel, maintenance, or operation of any school or educational agency with respect to which any funds have been or may be expended under this Act.

SEC. 305. (a) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the United States Office of Education for each fiscal year, to remain available until expended, such sums as may be necessary to make the payments to States and State agencies provided for in titles I and II of this Act.

(b) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the United States Office of Education for expenses of administration, such sums as may be necessary to carry out its functions under this Act.

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 306. This Act may be cited as the "School Construction Act".

[S. 1263, 81st Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize Federal aid for the construction of additional school facilities to school districts overburdened with school enrollments brought about by Government construction and defense programs

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the Federal Works Administrator determines there exists or impends in any school district an acute shortage of school facilities (1) by reason of the district's being overburdened with school enrollments caused by war activities and the transition from war to peacetime conditions or (2) by reason of the district's being overburdened with school enrollments caused by the construction projects of the Army engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation or (3) by reason of defense-incurred school enrollmentsas the result of the reactivation or expansion of any defense establishment or the operation of any new defense establishment, the Federal Works Administrator is authorized, upon the request of such school district, to make a grant or grants to such school district for the construction of school facilities to relieve such shortage. The grant for any project shall be equal to 50 per centum of the estimated cost of the project, as determined by the Administrator, but shall not exceed in any event 50 per centum of the actual cost of the project, as determined by the Administrator.

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act each of the following terms shall be defined as specified in this section and unless the context otherwise indicates shall include the plural as well as the singular number:

(a) "School facilities": Buildings, improvements, additions, equipment, utilities, structures, approaches, site improvements, and appurtenances necessary or convenient for either elementary or secondary public school purposes with the exception, however, of interests in lands;

(b) "Construction" or "construct": Érecting, building, acquiring, equipping, remodeling, extending, and improving, including the preparation of drawings and specifications, inspection, supervision of construction, other professional and technical services, and other functions in connection therewith;

(c) "Project": The construction of school facilities as proposed either in an application of a school district or in an agreement between the United States and a school district;

(d) "School district": The public agency in any of the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Territory of Alaska, the Territory of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, which under State or local law is authorized to construct the school facilities; and

(e) "Administrator": The Federal Works Administrator.

SEC. 3. The terms and conditions of any grant made by the United States pursuant to section 1 hereof shall be expressed in a written agreement between the United States and the school district, which shall include provisions reasonably assuring that the purposes and provisions of this Act are carried out, including appropriate provisions under which the school district shall construct the school facilities for which the Federal aid is provided in accordance with its State and local laws and obtain such approvals by State officers of its drawings, specifications, and other aspects of the project as may be required by State and local laws.

SEC. 4. In order to assist school districts, eligible to receive grants under section 1 hereof which are unable to defray their share of the cost of the needed school facilities under this Act, the Administrator is authorized to construct the needed school facilities and to make them available to such school districts: Provided,

That (a) the school district requests the Administrator to provide the needed school facilities and certifies that it lacks the financial resources to construct the facilities, and (b) the Administrator determines, upon a study of the school district's needs, its outstanding indebtedness, its constitutional or statutory debt limit and tax-levying authority, and other pertinent factors, that the school district is unable to defray the cost of the needed school facilities (1) with a grant as provided in section 1 hereof, (2) with such additional borrowing and increased taxes as may be authorized by the laws of the State wherein it is located, and (3) with such reductions in the scope of the school facilities as may be practicable and desirable.

The Administrator shall not commence the construction of any school facilities for a school district under this section until a valid agreement is executed between the school district and the United States containing provisions substantially as follows, which in the determination of the Administrator can be reasonably carried out: (a) The United States shall agree to provide for the school district the needed school facilities upon a site and in conformity with drawings and specifications approved by the school district and meeting the same requirements, if any, as are imposed by State law upon the selection of the site and the construction of similar facilities by the school district; (b) the school district shall agree to lease the school facilities from the United States for such period of time and upon such terms as may be mutually agreed between the Administrator and the school district, and as may be within the legal powers of the school district, provided that the annual rental payable by the district to the United States thereunder shall not in any event be less than 2 per centum of the actual cost of the school facilities, as determined by the Administrator; (c) the United States shall agree that when the school district has paid to the United States a total amount equal to 50 per centum of the actual cost to the United States of the school facilities, as determined by the Administrator, the United States shall convey title to said school facilities by a quitclaim deed to the said school district; and (d) the school district shall agree that so long as it shall lease the school facilities it shall operate and properly maintain them for school purposes.

In providing or constructing school facilities under this section, the Administrator shall be authorized to acquire improved or unimproved lands or interests in land by purchase, donation, lease, or condemnation and to enter into necessary professional service, construction, or other contacts.

SEC. 5. The Administrator is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations for the administration of this Act.

SEC. 6. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, bureau, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over, or impose any condiion or prescribe through any agreement or otherwise any requirement respecting the personnel, curriculum, administration, instruction, methods of instruction, materials for instruction, or educational policies of any State or school district. Every agreement for financial aid under this Act shall expressly include a provision substantially in accord with this section.

SEC. 7. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator, to remain available until expended, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, including administrative expenses, the sum of $150,000,000.

[S. 1670, 81st Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize Federal assistance for the construction of elementary and secondary public schools Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the purpose of this Act is to assist the several States to construct elementary and secondary public schools.

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 2. In order to assist the States in carrying out the purposes of this Act there is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1950, and for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, the sum of $500,000,000 for the construction of elementary and secondary public schools. Any amount of the sum authorized to be appropriated for a fiscal year which is not appropriated for such year or which is not allotted such year by the reason of the failure of any State or States to have plans approved under this part, and any amount allotted to a State but remaining unobligated at the end of the period for which it is available

to such State, is authorized to be appropriated for the next fiscal year in addition to the sum otherwise authorized under this section. The sums appropriated pursuant to this section shall be used for making payments to States which have submitted, and had approved by the United States Commissioner of Education, State plans for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

ADMINISTRATION BY UNITED STATES COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

SEC. 3. (a) In carrying out the provisions of this Act, the United States Commissioner of Education (hereinafter referred to as "Commissioner") shall act under the supervision and direction of the Federal Security Administrator.

(b) The Commissioner shall issue such regulations as may be necessary to administer this Act.

(c) The Commissioner shall call upon the Federal Works Agency to fix the minimum standards of construction for schools of different classes and in different types of locations; and the Federal Works Agency shall, on behalf of the Commissioner, supervise the actual construction of schools under this Act.

STATE PLANS

SEC. 4. (a) A State plan for carrying out the purposes of this Act must

(1) designate a single State agency as the sole agency for the administration of the plan, or designate such agency as the sole agency for supervising the administration of the plan;

(2) contain satisfactory evidence that the State agency so designated will have authority to carry out such plan in conformity with this part;

(3) set forth the general manner in which the State will determine the priority of school construction projects based on the relative need of different areas lacking adequate elementary and secondary public-school facilities, giving special consideration to rural communities and areas with relatively small financial resources; and which meets the other requirements of this Act;

(4) set forth an elementary and secondary public-school__construction priority program which is based on a State-wide survey of need;

(5) provide adequate standards of construction for schools of different classes and in different types of location;

(6) provide for the distribution of Federal funds in accordance with an equalization formula which takes into account the need for school construction and the relative financial ability of the local school district to finance the construction program;

(7) provide that in a State where separate educational plant facilities are required by law for separate races, an equitable apportionment of the funds shall be made available under authority of this title for the benefit of such races: Provided, That the term "equitable apportionment" shall mean a plan of apportionment which results in the expenditure of funds for elementary and secondary public schools at least equal to a sum which is in the ratio in which the five- to seventeen-year-old population of such races in the State bears to the total five- to seventeen-year-old population of such State;

(8) Provide for affording to every applicant for a construction project an opportunity for hearing before the State agency;

(9) provide that the State agency will make such reports in such form and containing such information as the Commissioner may from time to time reasonably require, and give the Commissioner, upon demand, access to the records upon which such information is based.

(b) The Commissioner shall approve any State plan and any modifications thereof which comply with the provisions of subsection (a) above.

ALLOTMENTS TO STATES

SEC. 5. (a) Each State for which a State plan has been approved prior to or during a fiscal year shall be entitled for such year to an allotment of a sum bearing the same ratio to the sums authorized to be appropriated pursuant to section 2 for such year, as the population of persons of ages five to seventeen, inclusive, of such State bears to the total population of that age in continental United States, as determined on the basis of the latest population estimates certified by the Department of Commerce. The percentages with respect to any State are defined in section 9 (a) and (b).

(b) The Commissioner shall calculate the allotments to be made available underthis title and notify the Secretary of the Treasury of the amounts thereof. Sums allotted to a State for a fiscal year and remaining unobligated at the end of such year shall remain available to such State for such purpose for the next fiscal year (and for such year only), in addition to the sums allotted for such State for such next fiscal year.

PAYMENTS FOR CONSTRUCTION

SEC. 6. (a) Pursuant to a State plan approved under this title, there shall be submitted to the Commissioner by the State agency an application for construction funds for a school-construction project. Such application shall set forth(1) that the application is in conformity with the State plan;

(2) that it has been approved and recommended by the State agency and is in accord with the provisions of section 4 (a) (4) or section 7 in establishing the priority of projects.

(3) that the rates of pay for laborers and mechanics engaged in the construction will be not less than the prevailing local wage rates for similar work as determined in accordance with Public Law 403 of the Seventy-fourth Congress, approved August 30, 1935, as amended.

(b) The Commissioner shall approve any application which complies with this subsection. No application shall be disapproved until the Commissioner has afforded the State agency an opportunity for a hearing.

(c) Upon approving an application, the Commissioner shall certify to the Secretary of the Treasury an amount equal to the Federal percentage of the estimated cost of construction and designate the appropriation from which it is to be paid. Whenever the Commissioner shall have approved an application in accordance with section 6 (a), subject to the amount of the allotments available to the States for such purposes, the Federal share of the cost of such plan, as provided by the Act, shall constitute a contractual obligation of the Federal Government.

(d) The Commissioner shall from time to time certify installments to be paid on account of such obligation. Certifications of installments hereunder shall be made after the State agency has submitted proof, endorsed by the Federal Works Agency, setting forth that necessary inspections have been made to assure satisfactory completion of the project, including review of the title, working drawings, specifications, supervision of the awarding of contracts, and inspection of the performance of the work; and giving reasonable assurance that adequate financial support will be available for construction and for maintenance and operation when completed. Upon such certification the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay amounts so certified to the respective States.

(e) Amendment of any approved application shall be subject to approval in the same manner as an original application. Certification under subsection (c) may be amended, either upon approval of an amendment of the State plan or upon the revision of the estimated cost. An amended certification may direct that any additional payment may be made from the applicable allotment for the fiscal year in which such amended certification is made.

(f) The funds paid under this section for the State plan shall be used solely for carrying out the plan as so approved.

(g) Whenever the Commissioner, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to the State agency, finds that with respect to money paid to the State out of appropriations under this title, there is a failure to comply substantially with either the provisions of this title, or the regulations issued thereunder, or the terms of an approved State plan, the Commissioner shall notify the State agency either that further payments will not be made to the State from appropriations under section 2 (a), or in his discretion that further payments will not be made to the State from such appropriations for activities in which there is such failure. Until he is so satisfied the Commissioner shall make no further certification for payment to such State under section 6 (a), or shall limit payment to activities in which there is no failure.

EMERGENCY CONSTRUCTION

SEC. 7. (a) If the Commissioner finds with respect to any elementary or secondary school, construction project for which application is made pursuant to section 6 (a) prior to June 30, 1950, that—

(1) such project is urgently needed to relieve an acute shortage of school facilities in the locality, and

(2) the school district or other governmental unit responsible for public elementary and secondary school construction in the locality cannot, through