112 TH CONGRESS 1 ST SESSION 

# H. R. 471

AN ACT To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship program, and for other purposes.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 22

•HR 471 EH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scholarships for Op2 portunity and Results Act’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Act’’. 3

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions 6 for their children, including the educational setting 7 that will best serve the interests and educational 8 needs of their child. 9 (2) For many parents in the District of Colum10 bia, public school choice provided under the Elemen11 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as well 12 as under other public school choice programs, is in13 adequate. More educational options are needed to 14 ensure all families in the District of Columbia have 15 access to a quality education. In particular, funds 16 are needed to provide low-income parents with en17 hanced public opportunities and private educational 18 environments, regardless of whether such environ19
ments are secular or nonsecular. 20 (3) While the per student cost for students in 21 the public schools of the District of Columbia is one 22 of the highest in the United States, test scores for 23 such students continue to be among the lowest in 24 the Nation. The National Assessment of Educational 25 Progress (NAEP), an annual report released by the 263

•HR 471 EH National Center for Education Statistics, reported in 1 its 2009 study that students in the District of Co2 lumbia were being outperformed by every State in 3 the Nation. On the 2009 NAEP, 56 percent of 4 fourth grade students scored ‘‘below basic’’ in read5 ing, and 44 percent scored ‘‘below basic’’ in mathe6 matics. Among eighth grade students, 49 percent 7 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in reading and 60 percent 8 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in mathematics. On the 2009 9 NAEP reading assessment, only 17 percent of the 10 District of Columbia fourth grade students could 11 read proficiently, while only 13 percent of the eighth 12 grade students scored at the proficient or advanced 13
level. 14 (4) In 2003, Congress passed the DC School 15 Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 16 118 Stat. 126), to provide opportunity scholarships 17 to parents of students in the District of Columbia to 18 enable them to pursue a high-quality education at a 19 public or private elementary or secondary school of 20 their choice. The DC Opportunity Scholarship Pro21 gram (DC OSP) under such Act was part of a com22 prehensive 3-part funding arrangement that also in23 cluded additional funds for the District of Columbia 24 public schools, and additional funds for public char- 254

•HR 471 EH ter schools of the District of Columbia. The intent 1 of the approach was to ensure that progress would 2 continue to be made to improve public schools and 3 public charter schools, and that funding for the op4 portunity scholarship program would not lead to a 5 reduction in funding for the District of Columbia 6 public and charter schools. Resources would be avail7 able for a variety of educational options that would 8 give families in the District of Columbia a range of 9 choices with regard to the education of their chil10
dren. 11 (5) The DC OSP was established in accordance 12 with the Supreme Court decision, Zelman v. Sim13 mons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), which found 14 that a program enacted for the valid secular purpose 15 of providing educational assistance to low-income 16 children in a demonstrably failing public school sys17 tem is constitutional if it is neutral with respect to 18 religion and provides assistance to a broad class of 19 citizens who direct government aid to religious and 20 secular schools solely as a result of their genuine 21 and independent private choices. 22 (6) Since the inception of the DC OSP, it has 23 consistently been oversubscribed. Parents express 24 strong support for the opportunity scholarship pro- 255

•HR 471 EHgram. Rigorous studies of the program by the Insti1 tute of Education Sciences have shown significant 2 improvements in parental satisfaction and in reading 3 scores that are more dramatic when only those stu4 dents consistently using the scholarships are consid5 ered. The program also was found to result in sig6 nificantly higher graduation rates for DC OSP stu7
dents. 8 (7) The DC OSP is a program that offers fami9 lies in need, in the District of Columbia, important 10 alternatives while public schools are improved. This 11 program should be reauthorized as 1 of a 3-part 12 comprehensive funding strategy for the District of 13 Columbia school system that provides new and equal 14 funding for public schools, public charter schools, 15 and opportunity scholarships for students to attend 16 private schools. 17

SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 18 The purpose of this Act is to provide low-income par19 ents residing in the District of Columbia, particularly par20 ents of students who attend elementary schools or sec21 ondary schools identified for improvement, corrective ac22 tion, or restructuring under section 1116 of the Elemen23 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 24 6316), with expanded opportunities for enrolling their 256

•HR 471 EH children in other schools in the District of Columbia, at 1 least until the public schools in the District of Columbia 2 have adequately addressed shortfalls in health, safety, and 3 security, and the students in the District of Columbia pub4 lic schools are testing in mathematics and reading at or 5 above the national average. 6

SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 7 (a) O PPORTUNITY S CHOLARSHIPS .— 8 (1) IN GENERAL .—From funds appropriated 9 under section 14(a)(1), the Secretary shall award 10 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities with 11 approved applications under section 5 to carry out a 12 program to provide eligible students with expanded 13 school choice opportunities. The Secretary may 14 award a single grant or multiple grants, depending 15 on the quality of applications submitted and the pri16 orities of this Act. 17 (2) D URATION OF GRANTS .—The Secretary 18 may make grants under this subsection for a period 19 of not more than 5 years. 20 (b) DC PUBLIC S CHOOLS AND C HARTER 21 S CHOOLS .—From funds appropriated under paragraphs 22 (2) and (3) of section 14(a), the Secretary shall provide 23 funds to the Mayor of the District of Columbia, if the 247

•HR 471 EH Mayor agrees to the requirements described in section 1 11(a), for— 2 (1) the District of Columbia public schools to 3 improve public education in the District of Colum4 bia; and 5 (2) the District of Columbia public charter 6 schools to improve and expand quality public charter 7 schools in the District of Columbia. 8

SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL .—In order to receive a grant under 10 section 4(a), an eligible entity shall submit an application 11 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom12 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 13 (b) C ONTENTS .—The Secretary may not approve the 14 request of an eligible entity for a grant under section 4(a) 15 unless the entity’s application includes— 16 (1) a detailed description of— 17 (A) how the entity will address the prior18 ities described in section 6; 19 (B) how the entity will ensure that if more 20 eligible students seek admission in the program 21 of the entity than the program can accommo22 date, eligible students are selected for admission 23 through a random selection process which gives 24 weight to the priorities described in section 6; 258

•HR 471 EH (C) how the entity will ensure that if more 1 participating eligible students seek admission to 2 a participating school than the school can ac3 commodate, participating eligible students are 4 selected for admission through a random selec5 tion process; 6 (D) how the entity will notify parents of el7 igible students of the expanded choice opportu8 nities in order to allow the parents to make in9 formed decisions; 10 (E) the activities that the entity will carry 11 out to provide parents of eligible students with 12 expanded choice opportunities through the 13 awarding of scholarships under section 7(a); 14 (F) how the entity will determine the 15 amount that will be provided to parents under 16 section 7(a)(2) for the payment of tuition, fees, 17 and transportation expenses, if any; 18 (G) how the entity will seek out private el19 ementary schools and secondary schools in the 20 District of Columbia to participate in the pro21

gram; 22 (H) how the entity will ensure that each 23 participating school will meet the reporting and 24 other program requirements under this Act; 259

•HR 471 EH (I) how the entity will ensure that partici1 pating schools submit to site visits by the entity 2 as determined to be necessary by the entity, ex3 cept that a participating school may not be re4 quired to submit to more than 1 site visit per 5 school year; 6 (J) how the entity will ensure that partici7 pating schools are financially responsible and 8 will use the funds received under section 7 ef9 fectively; 10 (K) how the entity will address the renewal 11 of scholarships to participating eligible stu12 dents, including continued eligibility; and 13 (L) how the entity will ensure that a ma14 jority of its voting board members or governing 15 organization are residents of the District of Co16 lumbia; and 17 (2) an assurance that the entity will comply 18 with all requests regarding any evaluation carried 19 out under section 9(a). 20

SEC. 6. PRIORITIES. 21 In awarding grants under section 4(a), the Secretary 22 shall give priority to applications from eligible entities that 23 will most effectively— 2410

•HR 471 EH (1) in awarding scholarships under section 7(a), 1 give priority to— 2 (A) eligible students who, in the school 3 year preceding the school year for which the eli4 gible students are seeking a scholarship, at5 tended an elementary school or secondary 6 school identified for improvement, corrective ac7 tion, or restructuring under section 1116 of the 8 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316); 10 (B) students who have been awarded a 11 scholarship in a preceding year under this Act 12 or the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 13 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), 14 as such Act was in effect on the day before the 15 date of the enactment of this Act, but who have 16 not used the scholarship, including eligible stu17 dents who were provided notification of selec18 tion for a scholarship for school year 2009- 19 2010, which was later rescinded in accordance 20 with direction from the Secretary of Education; 21
and 22 (C) students whose household includes a 23 sibling or other child who is already partici24 pating in the program of the eligible entity 2511

•HR 471 EHunder this Act, regardless of whether such stu1 dents have, in the past, been assigned as mem2 bers of a control study group for the purposes 3 of an evaluation under section 9(a); 4 (2) target resources to students and families 5 that lack the financial resources to take advantage 6 of available educational options; and 7 (3) provide students and families with the 8 widest range of educational options. 9

SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 10 (a) O PPORTUNITY S CHOLARSHIPS .— 11 (1) IN GENERAL .—Subject to paragraphs (2) 12 and (3), an eligible entity receiving a grant under 13 section 4(a) shall use the grant funds to provide eli14 gible students with scholarships to pay the tuition, 15 fees, and transportation expenses, if any, to enable 16 the eligible students to attend the District of Colum17 bia private elementary school or secondary school of 18 their choice beginning in school year 2011–2012. 19 Each such eligible entity shall ensure that the 20 amount of any tuition or fees charged by a school 21 participating in such entity’s program under this Act 22 to an eligible student participating in the program 23 does not exceed the amount of tuition or fees that 2412

•HR 471 EHthe school charges to students who do not partici1 pate in the program. 2 (2) P AYMENTS TO PARENTS .—An eligible entity 3 receiving a grant under section 4(a) shall make 4 scholarship payments under the entity’s program 5 under this Act to the parent of the eligible student 6 participating in the program, in a manner which en7 sures that such payments will be used for the pay8 ment of tuition, fees, and transportation expenses (if 9 any), in accordance with this Act. 10 (3) A MOUNT OF ASSISTANCE .— 11 (A) V ARYING AMOUNTS PERMITTED .—Sub12 ject to the other requirements of this section, 13 an eligible entity receiving a grant under sec14 tion 4(a) may award scholarships in larger 15 amounts to those eligible students with the 16 greatest need. 17 (B) A NNUAL LIMIT ON AMOUNT .— 18 (i) L IMIT FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2011– 19

2012 .—The amount of assistance provided 20 to any eligible student by an eligible entity 21 under the entity’s program under this Act 22 for school year 2011–2012 may not ex23
ceed— 2413

•HR 471 EH (I) $8,000 for attendance in kin1 dergarten through grade 8; and 2 (II) $12,000 for attendance in 3 grades 9 through 12. 4 (ii) C UMULATIVE INFLATION ADJUST

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MENT .—Beginning the school year fol6 lowing the school year of the date of the 7 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 8 adjust the maximum amounts of assistance 9 described in clause (i) for inflation, as 10 measured by the percentage increase, if 11 any, from the preceding fiscal year in the 12 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con13 sumers, published by the Bureau of Labor 14 Statistics of the Department of Labor. 15 (4) P ARTICIPATING SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS .— 16 None of the funds provided under this Act for op17 portunity scholarships may be used by an eligible 18 student to enroll in a participating private school 19 unless the participating school— 20 (A) has and maintains a valid certificate of 21 occupancy issued by the District of Columbia; 22 (B) makes readily available to all prospec23 tive students information on its school accredi24 tation; 2514

•HR 471 EH (C) in the case of a school that has been 1 operating for 5 years or less, submits to the eli2 gible entity administering the program proof of 3 adequate financial resources reflecting the fi4 nancial sustainability of the school and the 5 school’s ability to be in operation through the 6 school year; 7 (D) agrees to submit to site visits as deter8 mined to be necessary by the eligible entity pur9 suant to section 5(b)(1)(I); 10 (E) has financial systems, controls, poli11 cies, and procedures to ensure that funds are 12 used according to this Act; and 13 (F) ensures that each teacher of core sub14 ject matter in the school has a baccalaureate 15 degree or equivalent degree, whether such de16 gree was awarded in or outside of the United 17 States. 18 (b) A DMINISTRATIVE E XPENSES .—An eligible entity 19 receiving a grant under section 4(a) may use not more 20 than 3 percent of the amount provided under the grant 21 each year for the administrative expenses of carrying out 22 its program under this Act during the year, including— 23 (1) determining the eligibility of students to 24 participate; 2515

•HR 471 EH(2) selecting eligible students to receive scholar1 ships; 2 (3) determining the amount of scholarships and 3 issuing the scholarships to eligible students; 4 (4) compiling and maintaining financial and 5 programmatic records; and 6 (5) conducting site visits as described in section 7 5(b)(1)(I). 8 (c) P ARENTAL ASSISTANCE .—An eligible entity re9 ceiving a grant under section 4(a) may use not more than 10 2 percent of the amount provided under the grant each 11 year for the expenses of educating parents about the enti12 ty’s program under this Act, and assisting parents 13 through the application process, under this Act, includ14 ing— 15 (1) providing information about the program 16 and the participating schools to parents of eligible 17 students; 18 (2) providing funds to assist parents of stu19 dents in meeting expenses that might otherwise pre20 clude the participation of eligible students in the 21 program; and 22 (3) streamlining the application process for par23

ents. 2416

•HR 471 EH (d) S TUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE .—An eligible 1 entity receiving a grant under section 4(a) may use not 2 more than 1 percent of the amount provided under the 3 grant each year for expenses to provide tutoring services 4 to participating eligible students that need additional aca5 demic assistance. If there are insufficient funds to provide 6 tutoring services to all such students in a year, the eligible 7 entity shall give priority in such year to students who pre8 viously attended an elementary school or secondary school 9 that was identified for improvement, corrective action, or 10 restructuring under section 1116 of the Elementary and 11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316). 12
SEC. 8. NONDISCRIMINATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS 13

FOR PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL .—An eligible entity or a school par15 ticipating in any program under this Act shall not dis16 criminate against program participants or applicants on 17 the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. 18 (b) A PPLICABILITY AND SINGLE SEX S CHOOLS , 19 C LASSES , OR ACTIVITIES .— 20 (1) IN GENERAL .—Notwithstanding any other 21 provision of law, the prohibition of sex discrimina22 tion in subsection (a) shall not apply to a partici23 pating school that is operated by, supervised by, con24 trolled by, or connected to a religious organization to 2517

•HR 471 EH the extent that the application of subsection (a) is 1 inconsistent with the religious tenets or beliefs of the 2
school. 3 (2) SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS , CLASSES , OR ACTIVI

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TIES .—Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other 5 provision of law, a parent may choose and a school 6 may offer a single sex school, class, or activity. 7 (3) A PPLICABILITY .—For purposes of this Act, 8 the provisions of section 909 of the Education 9 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) shall apply 10 to this Act as if section 909 of the Education 11 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) were part of 12 this Act. 13 (c) C HILDREN W ITH D ISABILITIES .—Nothing in this 14 Act may be construed to alter or modify the provisions 15 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 16 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 17 (d) RELIGIOUSLY A FFILIATED S CHOOLS .— 18 (1) IN GENERAL .—Notwithstanding any other 19 provision of law, a school participating in any pro20 gram under this Act that is operated by, supervised 21 by, controlled by, or connected to, a religious organi22 zation may exercise its right in matters of employ23 ment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act 2418

•HR 471 EH of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the 1 exemptions in such title. 2 (2) M AINTENANCE OF PURPOSE .—Notwith3 standing any other provision of law, funds made 4 available under this Act to eligible students, which 5 are used at a participating school as a result of their 6 parents’ choice, shall not, consistent with the first 7 amendment of the Constitution, necessitate any 8 change in the participating school’s teaching mis9 sion, require any participating school to remove reli10 gious art, icons, scriptures, or other symbols, or pre11 clude any participating school from retaining reli12 gious terms in its name, selecting its board members 13 on a religious basis, or including religious references 14 in its mission statements and other chartering or 15 governing documents. 16 (e) RULE OF C ONSTRUCTION .—A scholarship (or any 17 other form of support provided to parents of eligible stu18 dents) under this Act shall be considered assistance to the 19 student and shall not be considered assistance to the 20 school that enrolls the eligible student. The amount of any 21 scholarship (or other form of support provided to parents 22 of an eligible student) under this Act shall not be treated 23 as income of the parents for purposes of Federal tax laws 2419

•HR 471 EHor for determining eligibility for any other Federal pro1

gram. 2 (f) REQUESTS FOR DATA AND INFORMATION .—Each 3 school participating in a program funded under this Act 4 shall comply with all requests for data and information 5 regarding evaluations conducted under section 9(a). 6 (g) RULES OF C ONDUCT AND O THER S CHOOL P OLI

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CIES .—A participating school, including the schools de8 scribed in subsection (d), may require eligible students to 9 abide by any rules of conduct and other requirements ap10 plicable to all other students at the school. 11 (h) N ATIONALLY NORM-REFERENCED S TANDARD

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IZED T ESTS .— 13 (1) IN GENERAL .—Each participating school 14 shall comply with any testing requirements deter15 mined to be necessary for evaluation under section 16 9(a)(2)(A)(i). 17 (2) M AKE

- UP SESSION .—If a participating 18 school does not administer a nationally norm-ref19 erenced standardized test or the Institute of Edu20 cation Sciences does not receive data on a student 21 who is receiving an opportunity scholarship, then the 22 Secretary (through the Institute of Education 23 Sciences of the Department of Education) shall ad24 minister such test at least one time during a school 2520

•HR 471 EHyear for each student receiving an opportunity schol1 arship. 2

SEC. 9. EVALUATIONS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL .— 4 (1) D UTIES OF THE SECRETARY AND THE 5

MAYOR .—The Secretary and the Mayor of the Dis6 trict of Columbia shall— 7 (A) jointly enter into an agreement with 8 the Institute of Education Sciences of the De9 partment of Education to evaluate annually the 10 performance of students who received scholar11 ships under the 5-year program under this Act; 12 (B) jointly enter into an agreement to 13 monitor and evaluate the use of funds author14 ized and appropriated for the District of Co15 lumbia public schools and the District of Co16 lumbia public charter schools under this Act; 17
and 18 (C) make the evaluations described in sub19 paragraphs (A) and (B) public in accordance 20 with subsection (c). 21 (2) D UTIES OF THE SECRETARY .—The Sec22 retary, through a grant, contract, or cooperative 23 agreement, shall— 2421

•HR 471 EH (A) ensure that the evaluation under para1 graph (1)(A)— 2 (i) is conducted using the strongest 3 possible research design for determining 4 the effectiveness of the opportunity schol5 arship program under this Act; and 6 (ii) addresses the issues described in 7 paragraph (4); and 8 (B) disseminate information on the impact 9 of the program— 10 (i) in increasing the academic growth 11 and achievement of participating eligible 12 students; and 13 (ii) on students and schools in the 14 District of Columbia. 15 (3) D UTIES OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 16

SCIENCES .—The Institute of Education Sciences of 17 the Department of Education shall— 18 (A) use a grade appropriate, nationally 19 norm-referenced standardized test each school 20 year to assess participating eligible students; 21 (B) measure the academic achievement of 22 all participating eligible students; and 23 (C) work with the eligible entities to en24 sure that the parents of each student who ap- 2522

•HR 471 EHplies for a scholarship under this Act (regard1 less of whether the student receives the scholar2 ship) and the parents of each student partici3 pating in the scholarship program under this 4 Act, agree that the student will participate in 5 the measurements given annually by the Insti6 tute of Educational Sciences for the period for 7 which the student applied for or received the 8 scholarship, respectively, except that nothing in 9 this subparagraph shall affect a student’s pri10 ority for an opportunity scholarship as provided 11 under section 6. 12 (4) I SSUES TO BE EVALUATED .—The issues to 13 be evaluated under paragraph (1)(A) shall include 14 the following: 15 (A) A comparison of the academic growth 16 and achievement of participating eligible stu17 dents in the measurements described in para18 graph (3) to the academic growth and achieve19 ment of the eligible students in the same grades 20 who sought to participate in the scholarship 21 program under this Act but were not selected. 22 (B) The success of the program in expand23 ing choice options for parents of participating 24 eligible students, improving parental and stu- 2523

•HR 471 EH dent satisfaction of such parents and students, 1 respectively, and increasing parental involve2 ment of such parents in the education of their 3 children. 4 (C) The reasons parents of participating 5 eligible students choose for their children to 6 participate in the program, including important 7 characteristics for selecting schools. 8 (D) A comparison of the retention rates, 9 high school graduation rates, and college admis10 sion rates of participating eligible students with 11 the retention rates, high school graduation 12 rates, and college admission rates of students of 13 similar backgrounds who do not participate in 14 such program. 15 (E) A comparison of the safety of the 16 schools attended by participating eligible stu17 dents and the schools in the District of Colum18 bia attended by students who do not participate 19 in the program, based on the perceptions of the 20 students and parents. 21 (F) Such other issues with respect to par22 ticipating eligible students as the Secretary con23 siders appropriate for inclusion in the evalua24 tion, such as the impact of the program on pub- 2524

•HR 471 EH lic elementary schools and secondary schools in 1 the District of Columbia. 2 (G) An analysis of the issues described in 3 subparagraphs (A) through (F) by applying 4 such subparagraphs by substituting ‘‘the sub5 group of participating eligible students who 6 have used each opportunity scholarship awarded 7 to such students under this Act to attend a par8 ticipating school’’ for ‘‘participating eligible stu9 dents’’ each place such term appears. 10 (5) PROHIBITION .—Personally identifiable in11 formation regarding the results of the measurements 12 used for the evaluations may not be disclosed, except 13 to the parents of the student to whom the informa14 tion relates. 15 (b) REPORTS .—The Secretary shall submit to the 16 Committees on Appropriations, Education and the Work17 force, and Oversight and Government Reform of the 18 House of Representatives and the Committees on Appro19 priations, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and 20 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen21
ate— 22 (1) annual interim reports, not later than April 23 1 of the year following the year of the date of enact24 ment of this Act, and each subsequent year through 2525

•HR 471 EH the year in which the final report is submitted under 1 paragraph (2), on the progress and preliminary re2 sults of the evaluation of the opportunity scholarship 3 program funded under this Act; and 4 (2) a final report, not later than 1 year after 5 the final year for which a grant is made under sec6 tion 4(a), on the results of the evaluation of the pro7

gram. 8 (c) PUBLIC A VAILABILITY .—All reports and under9 lying data gathered pursuant to this section shall be made 10 available to the public upon request, in a timely manner 11 following submission of the applicable report under sub12 section (b), except that personally identifiable information 13 shall not be disclosed or made available to the public. 14 (d) L IMIT ON A MOUNT E XPENDED .—The amount ex15 pended by the Secretary to carry out this section for any 16 fiscal year may not exceed 5 percent of the total amount 17 appropriated under section 14(a)(1) for the fiscal year. 18
SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 19 (a) ACTIVITIES REPORTS .—Each eligible entity re20 ceiving funds under section 4(a) during a year shall sub21 mit a report to the Secretary not later than July 30 of 22 the following year regarding the activities carried out with 23 the funds during the preceding year. 24 (b) ACHIEVEMENT REPORTS .— 2526

•HR 471 EH (1) IN GENERAL .—In addition to the reports 1 required under subsection (a), each eligible entity re2 ceiving funds under section 4(a) shall, not later than 3 September 1 of the year during which the second 4 school year of the entity’s program is completed and 5 each of the next 2 years thereafter, submit to the 6 Secretary a report, including any pertinent data col7 lected in the preceding 2 school years, concerning— 8 (A) the academic growth and achievement 9 of students participating in the program; 10 (B) the high school graduation and college 11 admission rates of students who participate in 12 the program, where appropriate; and 13 (C) parental satisfaction with the program. 14 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL 15

INFORMATION .—No report under this subsection 16 may contain any personally identifiable information. 17 (c) REPORTS TO P ARENTS .— 18 (1) IN GENERAL .—Each eligible entity receiving 19 funds under section 4(a) shall ensure that each 20 school participating in the entity’s program under 21 this Act during a school year reports at least once 22 during the year to the parents of each of the school’s 23 students who are participating in the program on— 2427

•HR 471 EH (A) the student’s academic achievement, as 1 measured by a comparison with the aggregate 2 academic achievement of other participating 3 students at the student’s school in the same 4 grade or level, as appropriate, and the aggre5 gate academic achievement of the student’s 6 peers at the student’s school in the same grade 7 or level, as appropriate; 8 (B) the safety of the school, including the 9 incidence of school violence, student suspen10 sions, and student expulsions; and 11 (C) the accreditation status of the school. 12 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL 13

INFORMATION .—No report under this subsection 14 may contain any personally identifiable information, 15 except as to the student who is the subject of the 16 report to that student’s parent. 17 (d) REPORT TO C ONGRESS .—Not later than 6 18 months after the first appropriation of funds under section 19 14, and each succeeding year thereafter, the Secretary 20 shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations, Edu21 cation and the Workforce, and Oversight and Government 22 Reform of the House of Representatives and the Commit23 tees on Appropriations, Health, Education, Labor, and 24 Pensions, and Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 2528

•HR 471 EH fairs of the Senate, an annual report on the findings of 1 the reports submitted under subsections (a) and (b). 2

SEC. 11. DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DC PUBLIC CHARTER 3

SCHOOLS. 4 (a) C ONDITION OF RECEIPT OF F UNDS .—As a condi5 tion of receiving funds under this Act on behalf of the 6 District of Columbia public schools and the District of Co7 lumbia public charter schools, the Mayor shall agree to 8 carry out the following: 9 (1) INFORMATION REQUESTS .—Ensure that all 10 the District of Columbia public schools and the Dis11 trict of Columbia public charter schools comply with 12 all reasonable requests for information for purposes 13 of the evaluation under section 9(a). 14 (2) AGREEMENT WITH THE SECRETARY .— 15 Enter into the agreement described in section 16 9(a)(1)(B) to monitor and evaluate the use of funds 17 authorized and appropriated for the District of Co18 lumbia public schools and the District of Columbia 19 public charter schools under this Act. 20 (3) SUBMISSION OF REPORT .—Not later than 6 21 months after the first appropriation of funds under 22 section 14, and each succeeding year thereafter, sub23 mit to the Committee on Appropriations, the Com24 mittee on Education and the Workforce, and the 2529

•HR 471 EH Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of 1 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 2 Appropriations, the Committee on Health, Edu3 cation, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on 4 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 5 Senate, information on— 6 (A) how the funds authorized and appro7 priated under this Act for the District of Co8 lumbia public schools and the District of Co9 lumbia public charter schools were used in the 10 preceding school year; and 11 (B) how such funds are contributing to 12 student achievement. 13 (b) E NFORCEMENT .—If, after reasonable notice and 14 an opportunity for a hearing for the Mayor, the Secretary 15 determines that the Mayor has not been in compliance 16 with 1 or more of the requirements described in subsection 17 (a), the Secretary may withhold from the Mayor, in whole 18 or in part, further funds under this Act for the District 19 of Columbia public schools and the District of Columbia 20 public charter schools. 21 (c) RULE OF C ONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed to reduce, or otherwise affect, 23 funding provided under this Act for the opportunity schol24 arship program under this Act. 2530

•HR 471 EH SEC. 12. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 1 (a) REPEAL .—The DC School Choice Incentive Act 2 of 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is 3 repealed. 4 (b) SPECIAL RULES .—Notwithstanding any other 5 provision of law— 6 (1) funding appropriated to provide opportunity 7 scholarships for students in the District of Columbia 8 under the heading ‘‘Federal Payment for School Im9 provement’’ in title IV of division D of the Omnibus 10 Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 123 11 Stat. 653), the heading ‘‘Federal Payment for 12 School Improvement’’ in title IV of division C of the 13 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 14 111–117; 123 Stat. 3181), or any other Act, may be 15 used to provide opportunity scholarships under sec16 tion 7(a) for the 2011–2012 school year to students 17 who have not previously received such scholarships; 18 (2) the fourth and fifth provisos under the 19 heading ‘‘Federal Payment for School Improvement’’ 20 of title IV of Division C of the Consolidated Appro21 priations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111–117; 123 Stat. 22 3181) shall not apply; and 23 (3) any unobligated amounts reserved to carry 24 out the provisos described in paragraph (2) shall be 2531

•HR 471 EH made available to an eligible entity receiving a grant 1 under section 4(a)— 2 (A) for administrative expenses described 3 in section 7(b); or 4 (B) to provide opportunity scholarships 5 under section 7(a), including to provide such 6 scholarships for the 2011–2012 school year to 7 students who have not previously received such 8 scholarships. 9 (c) MULTIYEAR A WARDS .—The recipient of a grant 10 or contract under the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 11 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as 12 such Act was in effect on the day before the date of the 13 enactment of this Act, shall continue to receive funds in 14 accordance with the terms and conditions of such grant 15 or contract, except that— 16 (1) the provisos relating to opportunity scholar17 ships in the Acts described in subsection (b)(1) shall 18 not apply; and 19 (2) the memorandum of understanding de20 scribed in subsection (d), including any revision 21 made under such subsection, shall apply. 22 (d) MEMORANDUM OF U NDERSTANDING .—The Sec23 retary and the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall 24 revise the memorandum of understanding entered into 2532

•HR 471 EH under the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (sec. 1 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as such Act was 2 in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 3 this Act, to address— 4 (1) the implementation of the opportunity 5 scholarship program under this Act; and 6 (2) how the Mayor will ensure that the District 7 of Columbia public schools and the District of Co8 lumbia public charter schools comply with all the 9 reasonable requests for information as necessary to 10 fulfill the requirements for evaluations conducted 11 under section 9(a). 12 (e) O RDERLY T RANSITION .—Subject to subsections 13 (c) and (d), the Secretary shall take such steps as the Sec14 retary determines to be appropriate to provide for the or15 derly transition to the authority of this Act from any au16 thority under the provisions of the DC School Choice In17 centive Act of 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official 18 Code), as such Act was in effect on the day before the 19 date of enactment of this Act. 20

SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 21 As used in this Act: 22 (1) E LEMENTARY SCHOOL .—The term ‘‘elemen23 tary school’’ means an institutional day or residen24 tial school, including a public elementary charter 2533

•HR 471 EHschool, that provides elementary education, as deter1 mined under District of Columbia law. 2 (2) E LIGIBLE ENTITY .—The term ‘‘eligible enti3 ty’’ means any of the following: 4 (A) A nonprofit organization. 5 (B) A consortium of nonprofit organiza6 tions. 7 (3) E LIGIBLE STUDENT .—The term ‘‘eligible 8 student’’ means a student who is a resident of the 9 District of Columbia and comes from a household— 10 (A) receiving assistance under the supple11 mental nutrition assistance program established 12 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 13 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 14 (B) whose income does not exceed— 15 (i) 185 percent of the poverty line; or 16 (ii) in the case of a student partici17 pating in the opportunity scholarship pro18 gram in the preceding year under this Act 19 or the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 20 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Offi21 cial Code), as such Act was in effect on the 22 day before the date of enactment of this 23 Act, 300 percent of the poverty line. 2434

•HR 471 EH (4) M AYOR .—The term ‘‘Mayor’’ means the 1 Mayor of the District of Columbia. 2 (5) P ARENT .—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 3 meaning given that term in section 9101 of the Ele4 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 5 U.S.C. 7801). 6 (6) P ARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE STUDENT .—The 7 term ‘‘participating eligible student’’ means an eligi8 ble student awarded an opportunity scholarship 9 under this Act, without regard to whether the stu10 dent uses the scholarship to attend a participating 11
school. 12 (7) P ARTICIPATING SCHOOL .—The term ‘‘par13 ticipating school’’ means a private elementary school 14 or secondary school participating in the opportunity 15 scholarship program of an eligible entity under this 16 Act. 17 (8) POVERTY LINE .—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 18 has the meaning given that term in section 9101 of 19 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 21 (9) SECONDARY SCHOOL .—The term ‘‘sec22 ondary school’’ means an institutional day or resi23 dential school, including a public secondary charter 24 school, that provides secondary education, as deter- 2535

•HR 471 EH mined under District of Columbia law, except that 1 the term does not include any education beyond 2 grade 12. 3 (10) SECRETARY .—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 4 means the Secretary of Education. 5

SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL .—There are authorized to be appro7 priated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and for each of 8 the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which— 9 (1) one-third shall be made available to carry 10 out the opportunity scholarship program under this 11 Act for each fiscal year; 12 (2) one-third shall be made available to carry 13 out section 4(b)(1) for each fiscal year; and 14 (3) one-third shall be made available to carry 15 out section 4(b)(2) for each fiscal year. 16 (b) A PPORTIONMENT .—If the total amount of funds 17 appropriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year does 18 not equal $60,000,000, the funds shall be apportioned in 1936

•HR 471 EH the manner described in subsection (a) for such fiscal 1

year. 2 Passed the House of Representatives March 30, 2011. Attest:

Clerk.112THCONGRESS1STSESSIONH. R. 471AN ACTTo reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarshipprogram, and for other purposes.