Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 4.djvu/424

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110 STAT. 3009 -261 PUBLIC LAW 104-208—SEPT. 30, 1996 OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL For expenses necessary for the Office of the Inspector General, as authorized by section 212 of the Department of Education Organization Act, $30,000,000. 20 USC 1087h note. GENERAL PROVISIONS SEC. 301. No funds appropriated in this Act may be used for the transportation of students or teachers (or for the purchase of equipment for such transportation) in order to overcome racial imbalance in any school or school system, or for the transportation of students or teachers (or for the purchase of equipment for such transportation) in order to carry out a plan of racial desegregation of any school or school system. SEC. 302. None of the funds contained in this Act shall be used to require, directly or indirectly, the transportation of any student to a school other than the school which is nearest the student's home, except for a student requiring special education, to the school offering such special education, in order to comply with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For the purpose of this section an indirect requirement of transportation of students includes the transportation of students to carry out a plan involving the reorganization of the grade structure of schools, the pairing of schools, or the clustering of schools, or any combination of grade restructuring, pairing or clustering. The prohibition described in this section does not include the establishment of magnet schools. SEC. 303. No funds appropriated under this Act may be used to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in the public schools. SEC. 304. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds available under section 458 of the Higher Education Act shall not exceed $491,000,000 for fiscal year 1997. The Department of Education shall use $80,000,000 of the amounts provided for pay- ment of administrative cost allowances to guaranty agencies for fiscal year 1996. For fiscal year 1997, the Department of Education shall pay administrative costs to guaranty agencies, calculated on the basis of 0.85 percent of the total principal amount of loans upon which insurance was issued on or after October 1, 1996: Provided, That such administrative costs shall be paid only on the first $8,200,000,000 of the principal amount of loans upon which insurance was issued on or after October 1, 1996 by such guaranty agencies, and shall not exceed a total of $70,000,000. Such pa5mrients are to be paid quarterly, and receipt of such funds and uses of such funds shall be in accordance with section 428(f) of the Higher Education Act. Notwithstanding section 458 of the Higher Education Act, the Secretary may not use funds available under that section or any other section for subsequent fiscal years for administrative expenses of the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program. The Secretary may not require the return of guaranty agency reserve funds during fiscal year 1997, except after consultation with both the Chairmen and ranking members of the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Committee and the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Any reserve funds recovered by the Secretary shall be returned to the Treasury of the United States for purposes of reducing the Federal deficit.