H.R. 83 — Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act

This section revises Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), which previously provided formula grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the education of disadvantaged children, to instead establish state educational agency (SEA) grants allocated based on the number of eligible children (aged 5-17, inclusive, from families below the poverty level). Funds calculated on a per-pupil basis must be used for qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (e.g., public/charter school tuition and fees, private school tuition and fees, or supplemental services) as directed by state law, including distribution to parents who may be required to use an educational savings account; it also prohibits federal officials from mandating, directing, or controlling state or local instructional content, standards, assessments, curricula, or programs (including Common Core or similar). The section (1) repeals Part B of Title I (state assessment grants, 20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and (2) amends the ESEA authorization of appropriations (20 U.S.C. 6302) by retitling subsection (a) as "State educational agency grants for eligible children" while retaining prior-year authorization levels ($15,012,317,605 for FY2017; $15,457,459,042 for FY2018; $15,897,371,442 for FY2019; and $16,182,344,591 for FY2020) and striking subsection (b), which authorized $378 million annually for FY2017 through 2020 for state assessments. (Thus, prior LEA grant authorizations now apply to the new SEA grants, and state assessment funding authorization is eliminated.)