Monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement

The Secretary shall— monitor implementation of this subchapter through— require States to— The primary focus of Federal and State monitoring activities described in paragraph (1) shall be on— The Secretary shall monitor the States, and shall require each State to monitor the local educational agencies located in the State (except the State exercise of general supervisory responsibility), using quantifiable indicators in each of the following priority areas, and using such qualitative indicators as are needed to adequately measure performance in the following priority areas: The Secretary shall consider other relevant information and data, including data provided by States under section 1418 of this title. Not later than 1 year after December 3, 2004, each State shall have in place a performance plan that evaluates that State’s efforts to implement the requirements and purposes of this subchapter and describes how the State will improve such implementation. Each State shall submit the State’s performance plan to the Secretary for approval in accordance with the approval process described in subsection (c). Each State shall review its State performance plan at least once every 6 years and submit any amendments to the Secretary. As a part of the State performance plan described under paragraph (1), each State shall establish measurable and rigorous targets for the indicators established under the priority areas described in subsection (a)(3). Each State shall collect valid and reliable information as needed to report annually to the Secretary on the priority areas described in subsection (a)(3). Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the development of a nationwide database of personally identifiable information on individuals involved in studies or other collections of data under this subchapter. The State shall use the targets established in the plan and priority areas described in subsection (a)(3) to analyze the performance of each local educational agency in the State in implementing this subchapter. The State shall report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the State on the targets in the State’s performance plan. The State shall make the State’s performance plan available through public means, including by posting on the website of the State educational agency, distribution to the media, and distribution through public agencies. The State shall report annually to the Secretary on the performance of the State under the State’s performance plan. The State shall not report to the public or the Secretary any information on performance that would result in the disclosure of personally identifiable information about individual children or where the available data is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information. The Secretary shall review (including the specific provisions described in subsection (b)) each performance plan submitted by a State pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(B) and the plan shall be deemed to be approved by the Secretary unless the Secretary makes a written determination, prior to the expiration of the 120-day period beginning on the date on which the Secretary received the plan, that the plan does not meet the requirements of this section, including the specific provisions described in subsection (b). The Secretary shall not finally disapprove a performance plan, except after giving the State notice and an opportunity for a hearing. If the Secretary finds that the plan does not meet the requirements, in whole or in part, of this section, the Secretary shall— notify the State of the finding, and in such notification shall— If the State responds to the Secretary’s notification described in paragraph (3)(B) during the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the State received the notification, and resubmits the plan with the requested information described in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), the Secretary shall approve or disapprove such plan prior to the later of— If the State does not respond to the Secretary’s notification described in paragraph (3)(B) during the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the State received the notification, such plan shall be deemed to be disapproved. The Secretary shall annually review the State performance report submitted pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(C)(ii)(II) in accordance with this section. Based on the information provided by the State in the State performance report, information obtained through monitoring visits, and any other public information made available, the Secretary shall determine if the State— For determinations made under clause (iii) or (iv) of subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing on such determination. If the Secretary determines, for 2 consecutive years, that a State needs assistance under subsection (d)(2)(A)(ii) in implementing the requirements of this subchapter, the Secretary shall take 1 or more of the following actions: Advise the State of available sources of technical assistance that may help the State address the areas in which the State needs assistance, which may include assistance from the Office of Special Education Programs, other offices of the Department of Education, other Federal agencies, technical assistance providers approved by the Secretary, and other federally funded nonprofit agencies, and require the State to work with appropriate entities. Such technical assistance may include— If the Secretary determines, for 3 or more consecutive years, that a State needs intervention under subsection (d)(2)(A)(iii) in implementing the requirements of this subchapter, the following shall apply: The Secretary shall take 1 or more of the following actions: Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or (2), at any time that the Secretary determines that a State needs substantial intervention in implementing the requirements of this subchapter or that there is a substantial failure to comply with any condition of a State educational agency’s or local educational agency’s eligibility under this subchapter, the Secretary shall take 1 or more of the following actions: Prior to withholding any funds under this section, the Secretary shall provide reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing to the State educational agency involved. Pending the outcome of any hearing to withhold payments under subsection (b), the Secretary may suspend payments to a recipient, suspend the authority of the recipient to obligate funds under this subchapter, or both, after such recipient has been given reasonable notice and an opportunity to show cause why future payments or authority to obligate funds under this subchapter should not be suspended. The Secretary shall report to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate within 30 days of taking enforcement action pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3), on the specific action taken and the reasons why enforcement action was taken. If the Secretary withholds further payments pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3), the Secretary may determine— Until the Secretary is satisfied that the condition that caused the initial withholding has been substantially rectified— Any State that has received notice under subsection (d)(2) shall, by means of a public notice, take such measures as may be necessary to bring the pendency of an action pursuant to this subsection to the attention of the public within the State. If any State is dissatisfied with the Secretary’s action with respect to the eligibility of the State under section 1412 of this title, such State may, not later than 60 days after notice of such action, file with the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which such State is located a petition for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall be transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Secretary. The Secretary thereupon shall file in the court the record of the proceedings upon which the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. Upon the filing of such petition, the court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28. The findings of fact by the Secretary, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Secretary to take further evidence, and the Secretary may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and may modify the Secretary’s previous action, and shall file in the court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence. If a State educational agency determines that a local educational agency is not meeting the requirements of this subchapter, including the targets in the State’s performance plan, the State educational agency shall prohibit the local educational agency from reducing the local educational agency’s maintenance of effort under section 1413(a)(2)(C) of this title for any fiscal year. Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the Secretary from utilizing any authority under the General Education Provisions Act [20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.] to monitor and enforce the requirements of this chapter. For purposes of this section, where responsibility for ensuring that the requirements of this subchapter are met with respect to children with disabilities who are convicted as adults under State law and incarcerated in adult prisons is assigned to a public agency other than the State educational agency pursuant to section 1412(a)(11)(C) of this title, the Secretary, in instances where the Secretary finds that the failure to comply substantially with the provisions of this subchapter are related to a failure by the public agency, shall take appropriate corrective action to ensure compliance with this subchapter, except that— The Secretary shall—