ua14no94 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE)...

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (ED)
1994 Regulatory Plan
The Department of Education is a new (1980) and relatively small agency 
with a vast and critical mission:

to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence 
throughout the Nation.

For fiscal year 1995, the Department's regulatory plan focuses on the 
following priorities:

<bullet> Initiating a major restructuring of the complex Federal 
            student loan program to achieve Presidential goals of 
            increasing access to higher education while saving Federal 
            education dollars;
<bullet> Fulfilling the President's commitment to reinvent the Federal 
            role in education and to provide support and leadership to 
            the national effort to overhaul the Nation's elementary and 
            secondary education system;
<bullet> Implementing the President's initiative to establish a 
            national framework within which States can create Statewide 
            School-to-Work opportunities systems that provide American 
            youth with the knowledge and skills to make an effective 
            transition from school to further education and a first job 
            in a high-skill, high-wage career;
<bullet> Promoting systemic reform in the Nation's elementary and 
            secondary schools through implementation of the 
            reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
            Act; and
<bullet> Expanding the consumer information available to students and 
            student athletes to support informed educational choices.
In carrying out these priorities the Department will strive to meet the 
Secretary's goals for providing more timely and efficient service to 
the Department's customers and for achieving more effective management 
of the Department and its programs. The Department is particularly 
committed to exploring alternatives to regulation, and to regulating 
only when necessary to achieve essential objectives. Existing 
regulations will be reviewed with a fresh perspective to determine 
whether they are necessary and clear and to eliminate burdensome 
requirements.
The Department will continue to consult with the public, using 
regulatory negotiation and other innovative techniques to maximize 
public participation. Most recently, regulatory negotiation has been 
used successfully by the Department in developing regulations for the 
Federal Direct Student Loan Program and in achieving consensus on the 
guarantee agency reserves provisions of the Federal Family Education 
Loan Program regulations. The Office of Special Education and 
Rehabilitative Services has shared draft regulations through an 
electronic bulletin board. Also, before drafting regulations to 
implement reauthorizing legislation, the Department's Office of 
Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs and Office of 
Educational Research and Improvement began outreach activities in the 
educational community to identify regulatory issues. The Department 
also coordinates with other appropriate agencies throughout the 
regulations development process. Examples in the coming year include 
coordinating programs under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act with 
the Department of Labor and coordinating regulatory actions supporting 
empowerment zones and enterprise communities with the Departments of 
Agriculture and Housing and Urban Development. The Secretary expects 
similar successful techniques to be used more extensively in the 
future.
 In accordance with Executive Order 12866, the Department is improving 
assessment of the costs and benefits of its regulations, recognizing 
that many Department regulations involve nonquantifiable costs and 
benefits. For example, in developing regulatory amendments for the 
State Vocational and Applied Technology Education Program (not included 
in this Regulatory Plan), the Department contacted State and local 
officials to ascertain the costs and benefits that would result if the 
proposed changes were adopted. The Department also arranged meetings 
with representatives from State and local governments and groups 
representing special populations to seek additional information on 
costs and benefits.
Throughout the regulatory process, the Department proposes to be a 
laboratory for innovation and expects to be judged on how well it 
fulfills these objectives.
Statement of Regulatory Priorities
The U.S. Department of Education will have five major regulatory 
priorities in 1994:
Federal Direct Student Loan Program
The Federal Direct Student Loan Program is a high regulatory priority 
for the Department of Education because it is an important new 
Administration program, represents a significant investment of Federal 
funds affecting many American families, and involves complex regulatory 
processes including regulatory negotiation.
The Student Loan Reform Act of 1993 established the Federal Direct 
Student Loan Program under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended. Under the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, loan capital is 
provided directly to student and parent borrowers by the Federal 
Government rather than through private lenders. Direct loans will 
account for 5 percent of the total new Federal student loan volume for 
academic year 1994-95, estimated to be more than $1 billion. Direct 
loans will increase to at least 60 percent of new student loans by 
academic year 1998-99. Direct lending will save taxpayers an estimated 
$4.3 billion through fiscal year 1998 (and $1 billion each year 
thereafter) by eliminating private-sector excess profits in the current 
student financial aid system and capitalizing on the Federal 
Government's ability to borrow at a lower interest rate. A streamlined 
system offering ``one-stop shopping'' will make borrowing and repayment 
easier for students. Students also will have an income-contingent 
repayment option that tailors their monthly payments to their income.
As permitted by the statute, the Department has already published some 
interim standards and procedures to administer the program during the 
first year (1994-1995). School selection criteria and loan origination 
criteria for the second year (1995- 1996) have also been published. 
Other standards, criteria, procedures, and regulations to implement the 
program in the second and subsequent years are being developed through 
regulatory negotiation.
Goals 2000: Educate America Act
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act (Goals 2000), Pub. L. 103-227, 
enacted March 31, 1994, is the leading edge of this Administration's 
strategy to reinvent the Federal role in education and to provide 
support and leadership to the national effort to overhaul the 
elementary and secondary education system. Goals 2000 (1) codifies and 
expands the National Education Goals; (2) establishes the National 
Education Goals Panel and the National Education Standards and 
Improvement Council; (3) challenges States to develop content and 
student performance standards, opportunity-to-learn standards, and 
State assessments, and provides for development of national standards; 
(4) provides funding to support, accelerate, and sustain State and 
local improvement efforts in the system of education; (5) provides 
Federal leadership on the use of technology for educational programs; 
(6) provides authority to waive statutory and regulatory requirements 
that impede the ability of a State, local educational agency, or school 
to carry out State or local improvement plans; and (7) establishes the 
National Skill Standards Board to be a catalyst in stimulating the 
development and adoption of a voluntary national system of skill 
standards, assessment, and certification.
The Department of Labor will administer the provisions relating to the 
National Skill Standards Board; the Department of Education will 
administer the remaining provisions. It is likely that regulations will 
be necessary to implement certain aspects of Goals 2000. However, Goals 
2000 provides an ideal laboratory for employing alternatives to 
regulation whenever possible, in keeping with (1) the intent of the 
legislation to foster flexibility and innovation at the State and local 
level, (2) the spirit of Executive Order 12866 instructing agencies to 
promulgate regulations only where necessary, and (3) this Department's 
approach to regulation.
School-to-Work Opportunities Act
The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1993, Pub. L. 103-239, enacted 
May 4, 1994, establishes a School-to-Work Opportunities Initiative, to 
be jointly administered by the Departments of Education and Labor. This 
initiative establishes a national framework within which States can 
create Statewide School-to-Work Opportunities systems that provide 
American youth with the knowledge and skills to make an effective 
transition from school to further education and a first job in a high-
skill, high-wage career. Under the initiative, the Federal Government 
provides ``venture capital'' to States and communities to stimulate the 
creation of Statewide School-to-Work Opportunities systems. These 
systems will build bridges from school to work that provide students 
with an integrated array of learning and employment experiences. Under 
the Act, School-to-Work Opportunities systems must include three core 
components: (1) work-based learning; (2) school-based learning; and (3) 
connecting activities. The work-based learning component provides 
students with a planned program of job training and experiences in a 
broad range of tasks in an occupational area as well as paid work 
experience and workplace mentoring. The school-based learning component 
includes a coherent multiyear sequence of instruction--typically 
beginning in the eleventh grade and ending after at least one year of 
postsecondary education--tied to the high academic and skill standards 
to be developed under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Finally, the 
connecting activities component ensures coordination of the work- and 
school-based learning components by providing technical assistance in 
designing work-based learning components, matching students with 
employers' work-based learning opportunities, and collecting 
information on what happens to students after they complete their 
program of studies.
Since this initiative will be administered jointly with the Department 
of Labor, we are working closely with the Department of Labor to 
determine what regulations will be necessary for implementation. It is 
urgent that we move forward quickly on this initiative. As States and 
localities begin constructing School-to-Work Opportunities systems, our 
international competitors already have those systems and are moving to 
strengthen them. In order to ensure rapid and efficient implementation 
of the Act, we are also exploring possible alternatives to regulation.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization (Part A of Title 
I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1965)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization would 
(1) reauthorize and restructure the elementary and secondary education 
programs of the Department of Education to make them better vehicles 
for helping all children achieve high standards; (2) direct greater 
Federal resources to the poorest schools and communities; (3) support 
education reforms underway in the States; (4) support sustained, 
intensive professional development in the core academic subjects for 
educators; (5) assist efforts to make schools safe and drug-free; and 
(6) provide increased State and local administrative flexibility, in 
return for greater accountability for successful education results. The 
ESEA is one of the Federal Government's largest investments in 
education.
Assuming passage of this critical legislation, regulations may be 
necessary to implement many of the changes to the ESEA. In particular, 
regulations are likely to be necessary to implement changes to the 
Chapter 1 Program in Local Educational Agencies.
Student Right-to-Know Act
The regulations implementing the Student Right-to-Know Act would 
require institutions of higher education participating in any program 
authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, 
to collect and disclose graduation and transfer rates to both current 
and prospective students. Institutions would also be required to report 
these rates to the Secretary. These proposed regulations will (1) 
assist students and their families to make more informed decisions 
about which institution a student should attend; (2) allow institutions 
to better evaluate the effectiveness of their programs; and (3) 
establish a uniform methodology for the collection of graduation and 
transfer rates.
_______________________________________________________________________
ED--Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE)
            ___________________________________________________________
PROPOSED RULE STAGE
            ___________________________________________________________
24. <bullet> GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT
Legal Authority:


 PL 103-227


CFR Citation:


 Not yet determined


Legal Deadline:


None


Abstract:


The Goals 2000: Educate America Act codifies and provides a framework 
for monitoring the attainment of the National Education Goals (through 
the National Education Goals Panel and the National Education Standards 
and Improvement Council); supports State systemic education reform; 
establishes the National Skill Standards Board; helps ensure safe 
schools; and reauthorizes the Department of Education's Office of 
Educational Research and Improvement.


Statement of Need:


No final determination has been made as to specific regulations that 
will be necessary to implement the new legislation, and which of these 
regulations will be the most significant. However, a preliminary 
analysis indicates that the regulations needed to implement Title II 
(National Education Reform Leadership, Standards, and Assessments) and 
Title III (State and Local Education Systemic Improvement) may warrant 
inclusion in the Department's 1994 Regulatory Plan.


Title II of Goals 2000 authorizes grant programs to develop voluntary 
national opportunity-to-learn standards and to defray the cost of 
developing, testing, and evaluating State assessments for measuring 
student achievement against their content and student performance 
standards. Title II also authorizes a grant program to assist States in 
planning effectively for the use of technology in schools.


Title III creates a program of grants to States to support, sustain, 
and accelerate State and local efforts to reform education so that all 
students can meet challenging State standards. The President has 
requested nearly $700 million for the Title III program for fiscal year 
1995. This important new program will create a partnership between the 
Federal Government and State and local governments dedicated to 
promoting and sustaining the reforms that are needed in our Nations's 
schools.


Alternatives:


The Secretary believes that Goals 2000 offers an excellent opportunity 
for employing alternatives to regulation whenever possible, reflecting 
the intent of the legislation to foster flexibility and innovation at 
the State and local level. With respect to Title III, Goals 2000 
authorizes the Secretary to waive certain Federal requirements that 
could hinder States and school districts from carrying out their school 
improvement plans.


Anticipated Costs and Benefits:


The regulations are expected to impose minimal requirements necessary 
to ensure the proper expenditure of Federal funds. A more exact 
estimate of the anticipated costs and benefits will be made as soon as 
the scope of the regulations has been determined.


Risks:


These regulations would not address a risk to public health, safety, or 
the environment.

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