Department of Education July 6, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) requests comments on its preliminary plan for the retrospective analysis of its existing regulations as part of its implementation of Executive Order 13563 ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review.'' The purpose of this preliminary plan is to make the Department's regulatory program more effective and less burdensome in achieving the Department's regulatory objectives. The plan, once final, will establish the Department's policy for conducting thorough and meaningful retrospective reviews and analyses of its regulations on an ongoing basis. The Department requests public comment on this preliminary plan to help the Department review its significant existing regulations in order to determine whether any of these regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed. In addition, pursuant to the ``President's Memorandum on Administrative Flexibility, Lower Costs, and Better Results for State, Local, and Tribal Governments,'' we request comments (including, when applicable, from students, their parents, and consumer and taxpayer representatives) on possible administrative flexibility that the Department may be able to provide to State, local, and tribal governments.

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) announces priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria under the legislative authority of the Fund for the Improvement of Education Program (FIE), title V, part D, subpart 1, sections 5411 through 5413 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA). The Secretary may use one or more of these priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria for Promise Neighborhoods competitions for fiscal year (FY) 2011 and later years. We take this action to focus Federal assistance on projects that are designed to create a comprehensive continuum of solutions, including education programs and family and community supports, with great schools at the center. The continuum of solutions must be designed to significantly improve the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth, from birth through college and to a career. We intend that these projects support organizations that focus on serving high-need neighborhoods, have a strategy to build a continuum of solutions, and have the capacity to achieve results.