Survey authority citations

APPENDIX B

Legal Citations for the Annual Survey of School System Finances OMB number 0607-0700
Census: Title 13 USC 8(b), 161, 182
8 – Authenticated transcripts or copies of certain returns; other data; restriction on use; disposition of
fees received
(b) Subject to the limitations contained in sections 6(c) and 9 of this title, the Secretary may furnish
copies of tabulations and other statistical materials which do not disclose the information reported by,
or on behalf of, any particular respondent, and may make special statistical compilations and surveys,
for departments, agencies, and establishments of the Federal Government, the government of the
District of Columbia, the government of any possession or area (including political subdivisions thereof)
referred to in section 191(a) of this title, State or local agencies, or other public and private persons and
agencies, upon payment of the actual or estimated cost of such work. In the case of nonprofit agencies
or organizations, the Secretary may engage in joint statistical projects, the purpose of which are
otherwise authorized by law, but only if the cost of such projects are shared equitably, as determined by
the Secretary.
161 – Quinquennial censuses; inclusion of certain data
The Secretary shall take, compile, and publish for the year 1957 and for every fifth year thereafter a
census of governments. Each such census shall include, but shall not be limited to, data on taxes and tax
valuations, governmental receipts, expenditures, indebtedness, and employees of States, counties,
cities, and other governmental units.
(Aug. 31, 1954, ch. 1158, 68 Stat. 1021; Pub. L. 85–207, § 12, Aug. 28, 1957, 71 Stat. 483.)
182 - Surveys
The Secretary may make surveys deemed necessary to furnish annual and other interim current data on
the subjects covered by the censuses provided for in this title.
NCES: Title 20 USC 9543-44
9543 - Duties
(a) General duties - The Statistics Center shall collect, report, analyze, and disseminate statistical data
related to education in the United States and in other nations, including—
(1) collecting, acquiring, compiling (where appropriate, on a State-by-State basis), and disseminating full
and complete statistics (disaggregated by the population characteristics described in paragraph (3)) on
the condition and progress of education, at the preschool, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and
adult levels in the United States, including data on—
(A)
State and local education reform activities;

(B)
State and local early childhood school readiness activities;
(C)
student achievement in, at a minimum, the core academic areas of reading, mathematics, and science at
all levels of education;
(D)
secondary school completions, dropouts, and adult literacy and reading skills;
(E)
access to, and opportunity for, postsecondary education, including data on financial aid to
postsecondary students;
(F) teaching, including—
(i)
data on in-service professional development, including a comparison of courses taken in the core
academic areas of reading, mathematics, and science with courses in noncore academic areas, including
technology courses; and
(ii)
the percentage of teachers who meet the applicable State certification and licensure requirements,
including any requirements for certification obtained through alternative routes to certification, or, with
regard to special education teachers, the qualifications described in section 1412(a)(14)(C) of this
title.[1] in each State and, where feasible, in each local educational agency and school;
(G)
instruction, the conditions of the education workplace, and the supply of, and demand for, teachers;
(H) the incidence, frequency, seriousness, and nature of violence affecting students, school personnel,
and other individuals participating in school activities, as well as other indices of school safety, including
information regarding—
(i)
the relationship between victims and perpetrators;
(ii)
demographic characteristics of the victims and perpetrators; and
(iii)
the type of weapons used in incidents, as classified in the Uniform Crime Reports of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation;

(I)
the financing and management of education, including data on revenues and expenditures;
(J)
the social and economic status of children, including their academic achievement;
(K)
the existence and use of educational technology and access to the Internet by students and teachers in
elementary schools and secondary schools;
(L)
access to, and opportunity for, early childhood education;
(M)
the availability of, and access to, before-school and after-school programs (including such programs
during school recesses);
(N)
student participation in and completion of secondary and postsecondary vocational and technical
education programs by specific program area; and
(O)
the existence and use of school libraries;
(2)
conducting and publishing reports on the meaning and significance of the statistics described in
paragraph (1);
(3)
collecting, analyzing, cross-tabulating, and reporting, to the extent feasible, information by gender, race,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status, limited English proficiency, mobility, disability, urban, rural, suburban
districts, and other population characteristics, when such disaggregated information will facilitate
educational and policy decisionmaking;
(4)
assisting public and private educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in improving and
automating statistical and data collection activities, which may include assisting State educational
agencies and local educational agencies with the disaggregation of data and with the development of
longitudinal student data systems;
(5)
determining voluntary standards and guidelines to assist State educational agencies in developing
statewide longitudinal data systems that link individual student data consistent with the requirements

of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), promote linkages
across States, and protect student privacy consistent with section 9573 of this title, to improve student
academic achievement and close achievement gaps;
(6)
acquiring and disseminating data on educational activities and student achievement (such as the Third
International Math and Science Study) in the United States compared with foreign nations;
(7)
conducting longitudinal and special data collections necessary to report on the condition and progress of
education;
(8)
assisting the Director in the preparation of a biennial report, as described in section 9519 of this title;
and
(9)
determining, in consultation with the National Research Council of the National Academies,
methodology by which States may accurately measure graduation rates (defined as the percentage of
students who graduate from secondary school with a regular diploma in the standard number of years),
school completion rates, and dropout rates.
(b) Training program
The Statistics Commissioner may establish a program to train employees of public and private
educational agencies, organizations, and institutions in the use of standard statistical procedures and
concepts, and may establish a fellowship program to appoint such employees as temporary fellows at
the Statistics Center, in order to assist the Statistics Center in carrying out its duties.
(Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 153, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1958; Pub. L. 114–95, title IX, § 9214(b), Dec. 10,
2015, 129 Stat. 2161.)
9544 – Performance of Duties
(a) Grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements
In carrying out the duties under this part, the Statistics Commissioner,[1] may award grants, enter into
contracts and cooperative agreements, and provide technical assistance.
(b) Gathering information
(1) Sampling
The Statistics Commissioner may use the statistical method known as sampling (including random
sampling) to carry out this part.
(2) Source of informationThe Statistics Commissioner may, as appropriate, use information collected—
(A)

from States, local educational agencies, public and private schools, preschools, institutions of higher
education, vocational and adult education programs, libraries, administrators, teachers, students, the
general public, and other individuals, organizations, agencies, and institutions (including information
collected by States and local educational agencies for their own use); and
(B)
by other offices within the Institute and by other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities.
(3) CollectionThe Statistics Commissioner may—
(A)
enter into interagency agreements for the collection of statistics;
(B)
arrange with any agency, organization, or institution for the collection of statistics; and
(C)
assign employees of the Statistics Center to any such agency, organization, or institution to assist in such
collection.
(4) Technical assistance and coordinationIn order to maximize the effectiveness of Department efforts
to serve the educational needs of children and youth, the Statistics Commissioner shall—
(A)
provide technical assistance to the Department offices that gather data for statistical purposes; and
(B)
coordinate with other Department offices in the collection of data.
(c) Duration
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under
this section may be awarded, on a competitive basis, for a period of not more than 5 years, and may be
renewed at the discretion of the Statistics Commissioner for an additional period of not more than 5
years.
(Pub. L. 107–279, title I, § 154, Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1960.)