Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/338

 108 STAT. 3828 PUBLIC LAW 103-382—CXJT. 20, 1994 "(2) the degree of flexibility afforded by the State educational agency to charter schools under the State's charter schools law; "(3) the ambitiousness of the objectives for the State charter school grant program; "(4) the quality of the strategy for assessing achievement of those objectives; and "(5) the likelihood that the charter school grant program will meet those objectives and improve educational results for students. "(b) SELECTION CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—The Secretary shall award grants to eligible applicants under this part on the basis of the quality of the applications submitted under section 10303(c), after taking into consideration such factors as— "(1) the quality of the proposed curriculum and instructional practices; "(2) the degree of flexibility afforded by the State educational agency and, if applicable, the local educational agency to the charter school; "(3) the extent of community support for the application; "(4) the ambitiousness of the objectives for the charter school; "(5) the quality of the strategy for assessing achievement of those objectives; and "(6) the likelihood that the charter school will meet those objectives and improve educational results for students. "(c) PEER REVIEW.— The Secretary, and each State educational agency receiving a grant under this part, shall use a peer review process to review applications for assistance under this part. "(d) DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS. —-The Secretary and each State educational agency receiving a grant under this part, shall award subgrants under this part in a manner that, to the extent possible, ensures that such grants and subgrants— "(1) are distributed throughout different areas of the Nation and each State, including urban and rural areas; and "(2) will assist charter schools representing a variety of educational approaches, such as approaches designed to reduce school size. "(e) WAIVERS.— The Secretary may waive any statutory or regulatory requirement over which the Secretary exercises administrative authority except any such requirement relating to the elements of a charter school described in section 10306(1), if— "(1) the waiver is requested in an approved application under this part; and "(2) the Secretary determines that granting sucii a waiver will promote the purpose of this part. " (f) USE OF FUNDS. — "(1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. —Each State educational agency receiving a grant under this part shall use such grant funds to award subgrants to one or more eligible applicants in the State to enable such applicant to plan and implement a charter school in accordance with this part. "(2) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.— Each eligible applicant receiving funds from the Secretary or a State educational agency shall use such funds to plan and implement a charter school in accordance with this part.

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