 CHAPTER 70--STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
                                 SCHOOLS
 
             SUBCHAPTER X--PROGRAMS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE
 
              Part J--Urban and Rural Education Assistance
 
             subpart 1--urban education demonstration grants
 
Sec. 8281. Findings

    The Congress finds that--
        (1) the ability of the Nation's major urban public school 
    systems to meet the Nation's educational goals will determine the 
    country's economic competitiveness and academic standing in the 
    world community;
        (2) the quality of public education in the Nation's major urban 
    areas has a direct effect on the economic development of the 
    Nation's inner-cities;
        (3) the success of urban public schools in boosting the 
    achievement of its minority youth attending such schools will 
    determine the ability of the Nation to close the gap between the 
    ``haves and the have-nots'' in society;
        (4) the cost to America's businesses to provide remedial 
    education to high school graduates is approximately $21,000,000,000 
    per year;
        (5) approximately one-third of the Nation's workforce will be 
    members of minority groups by the year 2000;
        (6) urban schools enroll a disproportionately large share of the 
    Nation's poor and ``at-risk'' youth;
        (7) urban schools enroll approximately one-third of the Nation's 
    poor, 40 percent of the Nation's African American children, and 30 
    percent of the Nation's Hispanic youth;
        (8) nearly 20 percent of the Nation's limited-English-proficient 
    children and 15 percent of the Nation's disabled youth are enrolled 
    in urban public schools;
        (9) the academic performance of students in the average inner-
    city public school system is below that of students in most other 
    kinds of school systems;
        (10) urban public school systems have higher dropout rates, more 
    problems with health care, and less parental participation than 
    other kinds of school systems;
        (11) urban preschoolers have one-half the access to early 
    childhood development programs as do other children;
        (12) shortages of teachers in urban public school systems are 
    2.5 times greater than such shortages in other kinds of school 
    systems;
        (13) declining numbers of urban minority high school graduates 
    are pursuing postsecondary educational opportunities;
        (14) urban public school systems have greater problems with 
    teenage pregnancy, discipline, drug abuse, and gangs than do other 
    kinds of school systems;
        (15) 75 percent of urban public school buildings are over 25 
    years old, 33 percent of such buildings are over 50 years old, and 
    such buildings are often in serious disrepair and create poor and 
    demoralizing working and learning conditions;
        (16) solving the challenges facing our Nation's urban schools 
    will require the concerted and collaborative efforts of all levels 
    of government and all sectors of the community;
        (17) Federal and State funding of urban public schools has not 
    adequately reflected need; and
        (18) Federal funding that is well-targeted, flexible, and 
    accountable would contribute significantly to addressing the 
    comprehensive needs of inner-city public schools.

(Pub. L. 89-10, title X, Sec. 10961, as added Pub. L. 103-382, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3848.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 8283 of this title.
