Options for Excellence in Education Act of 1999

Options for Excellence in Education Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Education to allow qualified State educational agencies (SEAs) to participate in an Education Flexibility Partnership (Ed-Flex Partnership) program.

Allows a five-year waiver of Federal statutory or regulatory requirements applicable to SEAs, local educational agencies (LEAs), or individual schools under all or a portion of the requirements of any State-administered program under the Carl D. Perkins Education Act of 1998, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) (other than the ESEA title VIII Impact Aid program), including the following ESEA programs: (1) title I Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards; (2) title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program; (3) title III Technology for Education; (4) title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities; (5) title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (6) the part C Emergency Immigrant Education Program under title VII Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs. Makes an SEA qualified for such waiver if it has in place or develops specific, measurable educational improvement goals and expected outcomes, and comprehensive, challenging statewide student assessments.

Authorizes the Secretary, upon finding that the fundamental purposes of any program for which a waiver is granted are not being achieved, to require the SEA to submit an application for a waiver of such requirements, with a justification for failing to meet those purposes and a description of how the waiver will help raise overall student performance. Directs the Secretary, upon finding that waiver of such specific requirements will help raise overall student performance, to grant a two-year waiver of the specific requirements, not to exceed the overall five-year waiver period. Authorizes the Secretary, upon not granting a waiver of specific requirements, to reimpose any existing statutory or regulatory requirement necessary to ensure that the program's fundamental purposes are achieved.

Sets forth requirements for SEA applications and reports. Directs the Secretary to compile the results of student assessments and make the results widely available to the general public, including via the Internet.

(Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to make allotments to SEAs, through a formula based on relative State funding under ESEA title I, for competitive grants for: (1) student excellence (to 25 percent of LEAs in the State that demonstrate the greatest improvement in student performance, or the most innovative, comprehensive, and cost-effective approaches to raising student performance); and (2) school excellence (to 25 percent of elementary or secondary schools in the State that demonstrate the greatest improvement in student performance, or the most innovative, comprehensive, and cost-effective approaches to school support). Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants for teacher excellence to SEAs that demonstrate the greatest improvement in strengthening educational, certification, and performance standards for teachers, or the most innovative, comprehensive, and cost-effective approaches to teacher certification and professional development. Authorizes appropriations.

(Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to determine, for each State, the 25 percent of LEAS within the State that demonstrate they serve the lowest performing students in the State, as measured by the SEA. Directs the Secretary, for each such LEA for which such determination is made, to reduce by five percent the amount of Federal education assistance under those Federal provisions for which requirement waivers are given under section 4 of this Act. Directs the Secretary to make the total amount of such reduction (which may be referred to as an LEA's "School Improvement Fund") available to the State to carry out one or more of the following types of school choice programs: (1) public school choice; (2) private school choice; or (3) alternative school choice. Sets requirements for, and limitations on, such school choice programs.

(Sec. 7) Authorizes the Secretary to establish a careers-to-classroom placement program of grants to States to help: (1) eligible individuals obtain elementary school or secondary school teacher certificates or licenses, or teachers' aide credentials; and (2) LEAs to employ such eligible individuals, if the LEAs have shortages of teachers or teacher's aides.

Directs the Secretary, upon establishing such placement program, to: (1) identify States with alternative certificate or license requirements for teachers; (2) periodically request information from such identified States to identify those LEAs that are receiving ESEA for having concentrations of children from low-income families and that are also experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers, particularly science, mathematics, computer science, or engineering teachers; and (3) periodically request information from all States to identify LEAs that are receiving ESEA for having concentrations of children from low-income families and that are also experiencing a shortage of teachers' aides.

Requires States, in selecting eligible individuals to receive assistance for placement as elementary school or secondary school teachers, to give priority to those who: (1) have substantial, demonstrated career experience in science, mathematics, computer science, or engineering (or another subject area identified by the State as important for national educational objectives); and (2) agree to seek employment in their subject area in elementary schools or secondary schools.

Requires individual participation, including agreement to serve for at least two years as a teacher or teacher's aide with an identified LEA. Sets forth requirements for: (1) individual stipends (and repayment under certain conditions); and (2) grants to LEAs to facilitate placement.

(Sec. 8) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance construction and rehabilitation of high-growth area public elementary and secondary schools through public-private construction and ownership agreements. Limits the annual aggregate amount of a State's tax-exempt financing.

Sets forth State allocation rules, including a discretionary allocation for non high-growth school areas.

Exempts such bonds from: (1) State volume caps; and (2) land use or acquisition limitations.

(Sec. 9) Increases the arbitrage rebate exception for governmental bonds used to finance public schools.