The Magnet Schools Assistance Program provides grants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) or consortia of LEAs for use in magnet schools that are part of an approved desegregation plan and that are designed to bring students from different social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds together. The purposes of the program are to support, through financial assistance to eligible LEAs or consortia of LEAs—

(a) The elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial portions of minority students, which shall include assisting in the efforts of the United States to achieve voluntary desegregation in public schools;

(b) The development and implementation of magnet school projects that will assist LEAs in achieving systemic reforms and providing all students the opportunity to meet challenging State academic content standards and student academic achievement standards;

(c) The development and design of innovative educational methods and practices that promote diversity and increase choices in public elementary schools and public secondary schools and public educational programs;

(d) Courses of instruction within magnet schools that will substantially strengthen the knowledge of academic subjects and the attainment of tangible and marketable vocational, technological, and professional skills of students attending such schools;

(e) Improvement of the capacity of LEAs, including through professional development, to continue operating magnet schools at a high performance level after Federal funding for the magnet schools is terminated; and

(f) Ensuring that all students enrolled in the magnet school programs have equitable access to high quality education that will enable the students to succeed academically and continue with postsecondary education or productive employment.

(a) An LEA or consortia of LEAs is eligible to receive assistance under this part if the LEA or consortia of LEAs meets any of the following requirements:

(1) The LEA or consortia of LEAs is implementing a plan undertaken pursuant to a final order of a court of the United States, or a court of any State, or any other State agency or official of competent jurisdiction, and the order requires the desegregation of minority group segregated children or faculty in the elementary and secondary schools of that agency or those agencies.

(2) The LEA or consortia of LEAs adopted and is implementing on either a voluntary basis or as required under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—or will adopt and implement if assistance is made available under this part—a plan that has been approved by the Secretary as adequate under title VI.

(b) The Secretary approves a voluntary plan under paragraph (a)(2) of this section only if he determines that for each magnet school for which funding is sought, the magnet school will reduce, eliminate, or prevent minority group isolation within the period of the grant award, either in the magnet school or in a feeder school, as appropriate.

The following regulations apply to the Magnet Schools Assistance Program:

(a) The Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), 34 CFR parts 75 (Direct Grant Programs), 77 (Definitions that Apply to Department Regulations), 79 (Intergovernmental Review of Department of Education Programs and Activities) and 84 (Governmentwide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Financial Assistance)).

(b) The regulations in this part.

(c) The Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards in 2 CFR part 200, as adopted in 2 CFR part 3474 and OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension (Nonprocurement) in 2 CFR part 180, as adopted in part 3485.

(a) Definitions in EDGAR. The following terms used in this part are defined in 34 CFR part 77:

(b) Definitions that apply to this program. The following definitions also apply to this part:

Act means the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as amended by title V, Part C of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. 107-110 (20 U.S.C. 7231-7231j).

Desegregation, in reference to a plan, means a plan for the reassignment of children or faculty to remedy the illegal separation of minority group children or faculty in the schools of an LEA or a plan for the reduction, elimination, or prevention of minority group isolation in one or more of the schools of an LEA.

Feeder school means a school from which students are drawn to attend a magnet school.

Magnet school means a public elementary school, public secondary school, public elementary education center, or public secondary education center that offers a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial numbers of students of different racial backgrounds.

Minority group means the following:

(1) American Indian or Alaskan Native. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, and who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

(2) Asian of Pacific Islander. A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.

(3) Black (Not of Hispanic Origin). A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

(4) Hispanic. A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Special curriculum means a course of study embracing subject matter or a teaching methodology that is not generally offered to students of the same age or grade level in the same LEA or consortium of LEAs, as the students to whom the special curriculum is offered in the magnet schools. This term does not include:

(1) A course of study or a part of a course of study designed solely to provide basic educational services to handicapped students or to students of limited English-speaking ability;

(2) A course of study or a part of a course of study in which any student is unable to participate because of his or her limited English-speaking ability;

(3) A course of study or a part of a course of study in which any student is unable to participate because of his or her limited financial resources; or

(4) A course of study or a part of a course of study that fails to provide for a participating student's meeting the requirements for completion of elementary or secondary education in the same period as other students enrolled in the applicant's schools.