I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2556

To provide low-income parents residing in the District of Columbia, particularly parents of students who attend elementary or secondary schools 

identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under title 

I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, with expanded opportunities for enrolling their children in higher-performing 

schools in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2003

Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. CARTER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. EHLERS, and Mr. DEMINT) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

A BILL

To provide low-income parents residing in the District of 

Columbia, particularly parents of students who attend 

elementary or secondary schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under title I 

of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 

with expanded opportunities for enrolling their children 

in higher-performing schools in the District of Columbia, 

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DC Parental Choice 

3 Incentive Act of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions 

7 for their children, including the educational setting 

8 that will best serve the interests and educational 

9 needs of their child. 

10 (2) For many parents in the District of Colum11 bia, public school choice provided for under the No 

12 Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is inadequate due to 

13 capacity constraints within the public schools. 

14 Therefore, in keeping with the spirit of the No Child 

15 Left Behind Act of 2001, school choice options, in 

16 addition to those already available to parents in the 

17 District of Columbia (such as magnet and charter 

18 schools and open enrollment schools) should be made 

19 available to those parents. 

20 (3) In the most recent mathematics assessment 

21 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress 

22 (NAEP), administered in 2000, a lower percentage 

23 of 4th-grade students in DC demonstrated pro24 ficiency than was the case for any State. Seventy-six 

25 percent of DC fourth-graders scored at the ‘‘below 

26 basic’’ level and of the 8th-grade students in the 
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1 District of Columbia, only 6 percent of the students 

2 tested at the proficient or advanced levels, and 77 

3 percent were below basic. In the most recent NAEP 

4 reading assessment, in 1998, only 10 percent of DC 

5 fourth-graders could read proficiently, while 72 per6 cent were below basic. At the 8th-grade level, 12 

7 percent were proficient or advanced and 56 percent 

8 were below basic. 

9 (4) A program enacted for the valid secular 

10 purpose of providing educational assistance to low11 income children in a demonstrably failing public 

12 school system is constitutional under Zelman v. Sim13 mons-Harris if it is neutral with respect to religion 

14 and provides assistance to a broad class of citizens 

15 who direct government aid to schools solely as a re16 sult of their independent private choices. 

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 or secondary 

21 schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or 

22 restructuring under section 1116 of the Elementary and 

23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316), with 

24 expanded opportunities for enrolling their children in high25 er-performing schools in the District of Columbia. 
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1 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY.—From funds appropriated to carry 

3 out this Act, the Secretary shall award grants on a com4 petitive basis to eligible entities with approved applications 

5 under section 5 to carry out activities to provide eligible 

6 students with expanded school choice opportunities. The 

7 Secretary may award a single grant or multiple grants, 

8 depending on the quality of applications submitted and the 

9 priorities of this Act. 

10 (b) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

11 make grants under this section for a period of not more 

12 than 5 years. 

13 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant under 

15 this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

16 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom17 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The Secretary may not approve the 

19 request of an eligible entity for a grant under this Act 

20 unless the entity’s application includes—

21 (1) a detailed description of—

22 (A) how the entity will address the prior23 ities described in section 6; 

24 (B) how the entity will select eligible stu25 dents to participate in the program, including 

26 how it will ensure that if more eligible students 
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1 participating in the program seek admission in 

2 a participating school than the school can ac3 commodate, eligible students are selected for 

4 admission through a random selection process; 

5 (C) how the entity will notify parents of el6 igible students of the expanded choice opportu7 nities; 

8 (D) the activities that the entity will carry 

9 out to provide parents of eligible students with 

10 expanded choice opportunities through the 

11 awarding of scholarships under section 7(a); 

12 (E) how the entity will determine the 

13 amount that will be provided to parents for the 

14 tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if 

15 any; 

16 (F) how the entity will seek out private ele17 mentary and secondary schools in the District 

18 of Columbia to participate in the program, and 

19 will ensure that participating schools will meet 

20 the applicable requirements of this Act and pro21 vide the information needed for the entity to 

22 meet the reporting requirements of this Act; 

23 and 

24 (G) how the entity will ensure that partici25 pating schools are financially responsible; and 
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1 (2) an assurance that the entity will comply 

2 with all requests regarding any evaluation carried 

3 out under section 9. 

4 SEC. 6. PRIORITIES. 

5 In awarding grants under this Act, the Secretary 

6 shall give priority to applications from eligible entities who 

7 will most effectively—

8 (1) give priority to eligible students who attend 

9 an elementary or secondary school identified for im10 provement, corrective action, or restructuring under 

11 section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu12 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316); 

13 (2) target resources to students and families 

14 that lack the financial resources to take advantage 

15 of available educational options; 

16 (3) provide students and families with the 

17 widest range of educational options; and 

18 (4) serve students of varying age and grade lev19 els. 

20 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 

21 (a) SCHOLARSHIPS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

23 and (3), a grantee shall use the grant funds to pro24 vide eligible students with scholarships to pay the 

25 tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if any, to 
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1 enable them to attend the District of Columbia pri2 vate elementary or secondary school of their choice. 

3 Each grantee shall ensure that the amount of any 

4 tuition or fees charged by a school participating in 

5 the grantee’s program under this Act to an eligible 

6 student participating in the program does not exceed 

7 the amount of tuition or fees that the school custom8 arily charges to students who do not participate in 

9 the program. 

10 (2) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—A grantee shall 

11 make scholarship payments under the program 

12 under this Act to the parent of the eligible student 

13 participating in the program, in a manner which en14 sures that such payments will be used for the pay15 ment of tuition, fees, and transportation expenses (if 

16 any), in accordance with this Act. 

17 (3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—

18 (A) VARYING AMOUNTS PERMITTED.—Sub19 ject to the other requirements of this sub20 section, a grantee may award scholarships in 

21 larger amounts to those eligible students with 

22 the greatest need. 

23 (B) ANNUAL LIMIT ON AMOUNT.—The 

24 amount of assistance provided to any eligible 

25 student by a grantee under a program under 
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1 this Act may not exceed $7,500 for any aca2 demic year. 

3 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A grantee may 

4 use not more than 3 percent of the amount provided under 

5 the grant each year for the administrative expenses of car6 rying out its program under this Act during the year, in7 cluding—

8 (1) determining the eligibility of students to 

9 participate; 

10 (2) providing information about the program 

11 and the schools involved to parents of eligible stu12 dents; 

13 (3) selecting students to receive support; 

14 (4) determining the amount of scholarships and 

15 issuing them to eligible students; 

16 (5) compiling and maintaining financial and 

17 programmatic records; and 

18 (6) providing funds to assist parents in meeting 

19 expenses that might otherwise preclude the partici20 pation of their child in the program. 

21 SEC. 8. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—A school participating in any pro23 gram under this Act shall not discriminate on the basis 

24 of race, color, national origin, or sex in participating in 

25 the program. 
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1 (b) APPLICABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION WITH RE2 SPECT TO DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEX.—

3 (1) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding sub4 section (a) or any other provision of law, it shall not 

5 be considered discrimination on the basis of sex for 

6 a school that is operated by, supervised by, con7 trolled by, or connected to a religious organization to 

8 take sex into account to the extent that failing to do 

9 so would be inconsistent with the religious tenets or 

10 beliefs of the school. 

11 (2) SINGLE-SEX SCHOOLS, CLASSES, OR ACTIVI12 TIES.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other 

13 provision of law, a parent may choose and a school 

14 may offer a single-sex school, class, or activity. 

15 (c) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—Nothing in this 

16 Act may be construed to alter or modify the provisions 

17 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

18 (d) RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED SCHOOLS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, a school participating in any pro21 gram under this Act which is operated by, super22 vised by, controlled by, or connected to, a religious 

23 organization may employ persons of the same reli24 gion to the extent determined by that school to pro-
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1 mote the religious purpose for which the school is es2 tablished or maintained. 

3 (2) RELIGIOUS PURPOSES.—Notwithstanding 

4 any other provision of law, funds made available 

5 under this Act may be used for religious educational 

6 purposes, and no participating school shall be re7 quired to remove religious art, icons, scriptures, or 

8 other symbols. A participating school may retain re9 ligious terms in its name, select its board members 

10 on a religious basis, and include religious references 

11 in its mission statements and other chartering or 

12 governing documents. 

13 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A scholarship (or any 

14 other form of support provided to parents of eligible stu15 dents) under this Act shall be considered assistance to the 

16 student and shall not be considered assistance to the 

17 school that enrolls the eligible student. The amount of any 

18 scholarship (or other form of support provided to parents 

19 of an eligible student) under this Act shall not be treated 

20 as income of the parents for purposes of Federal tax laws 

21 or for determining eligibility for any other Federal pro22 gram. 

23 SEC. 9. EVALUATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—
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1 (1) DUTIES OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

2 shall—

3 (A) conduct an evaluation using the 

4 strongest possible research design for deter5 mining the effectiveness of the programs funded 

6 under this Act that addresses the issues de7 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

8 (B) disseminate information on the impact 

9 of the programs in increasing the student aca10 demic achievement of participating students, as 

11 well as other appropriate measures of student 

12 success, and on the impact of the programs on 

13 students and schools in the District of Colum14 bia. 

15 (2) ISSUES TO BE EVALUATED.—The issues de16 scribed in this paragraph include the following: 

17 (A) A comparison of the academic achieve18 ment of students who participate in the pro19 grams funded under this Act with the academic 

20 achievement of students of similar backgrounds 

21 who do not participate in such programs. 

22 (B) The success of the programs in ex23 panding choice options for parents. 

24 (C) The reasons parents choose for their 

25 children to participate in the programs. 
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1 (D) A comparison of the retention rates, 

2 dropout rates, and (if appropriate) graduation 

3 and college admission rates of students who 

4 participate in the programs funded under this 

5 Act with the retention rates, dropout rates, and 

6 (if appropriate) graduation and college admis7 sion rates of students of similar backgrounds 

8 who do not participate in such programs. 

9 (E) The effects of the programs on public 

10 elementary and secondary schools. 

11 (F) A comparison of the safety of the 

12 schools attended by students who participate in 

13 the programs and the schools attended by stu14 dents who do not participate in the programs. 

15 (G) The impact of the program on stu16 dents and schools in the District of Columbia. 

17 (H) Such other issues as the Secretary 

18 considers appropriate for inclusion in the eval19 uation. 

20 (b) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

21 Committees on Appropriations, Education and the Work22 force, and Government Reform of the House of Represent23 atives and the Committees on Appropriations, Health, 

24 Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Governmental Af25 fairs of the Senate—
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1 (1) annual interim reports not later than De2 cember 1 of each year for which a grant is made 

3 under this Act on the progress and preliminary re4 sults of the evaluation of the programs funded under 

5 this Act; and 

6 (2) a final report not later than 1 year after the 

7 final year for which a grant is made under this Act 

8 on the results of the evaluation of the programs 

9 funded under this Act. 

10 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All reports and under11 lying data gathered pursuant to this section shall be made 

12 available to the public upon request, in a timely manner 

13 following submission of the applicable report under sub14 section (b), except that personally identifiable information 

15 shall not be disclosed or made available to the public. 

16 (d) LIMIT ON AMOUNT EXPENDED.—The amount ex17 pended by the Secretary to carry out this section for any 

18 fiscal year may not exceed 3 percent of the total amount 

19 appropriated to carry out this Act for the year. 

20 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

21 (a) ACTIVITIES REPORTS.—Each grantee receiving 

22 funds under this Act during a year shall submit a report 

23 to the Secretary not later than July 30 of the following 

24 year regarding the activities carried out with the funds 

25 during the preceding year. 
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1 (b) ACHIEVEMENT REPORTS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the reports 

3 required under subsection (a), each grantee shall, 

4 not later than September 1 of the year during which 

5 the second academic year of the grantee’s program 

6 is completed and each of the next 2 years thereafter, 

7 submit a report to the Secretary regarding the data 

8 collected in the previous 2 academic years con9 cerning—

10 (A) the academic achievement of students 

11 participating in the program; 

12 (B) the graduation and college admission 

13 rates of students who participate in the pro14 gram, where appropriate; and 

15 (C) parental satisfaction with the program. 

16 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL

17 INFORMATION.—No report under this subsection 

18 may contain any personally identifiable information. 

19 (c) REPORTS TO PARENT.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each grantee shall ensure 

21 that each school participating in the grantee’s pro22 gram under this Act during a year reports at least 

23 once during the year to the parents of each of the 

24 school’s students who are participating in the pro25 gram on—
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1 (A) the student’s academic achievement, as 

2 measured by a comparison with the aggregate 

3 academic achievement of other participating 

4 students at the student’s school in the same 

5 grade or level, as appropriate, and the aggre6 gate academic achievement of the student’s 

7 peers at the student’s school in the same grade 

8 or level, as appropriate; and 

9 (B) the safety of the school, including the 

10 incidence of school violence, student suspen11 sions, and student expulsions. 

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 CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

18 submit to the Committees on Appropriations, Education 

19 and the Workforce, and Government Reform of the House 

20 of Representatives and the Committees on Appropriations, 

21 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Govern22 mental Affairs of the Senate an annual report on the find23 ings of the reports submitted under subsections (a) and 

24 (b). 
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1 SEC. 11. OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING 

2 SCHOOLS. 

3 (a) ADMISSION OF ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—Each 

4 school choosing to participate in a program funded under 

5 this Act shall accept participating eligible students on a 

6 first-come, first-served basis, except that if more eligible 

7 students participating in the program seek admission in 

8 a participating school than the school can accommodate, 

9 participating eligible students shall be selected for admis10 sion through a random selection process. 

11 (b) REQUESTS FOR DATA AND INFORMATION.—Each 

12 school participating in a program funded under this Act 

13 shall comply with all requests for data and information 

14 regarding evaluations conduced under section 9(a). 

15 (c) RULES OF CONDUCT AND OTHER SCHOOL POLI16 CIES.—Subject to section 8, a participating school may re17 quire eligible students to abide by any rules of conduct 

18 and other requirements applicable to all other students at 

19 the school. 

20 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

21 As used in this Act: 

22 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen23 tary school’’ has the meaning given that term in sec24 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
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1 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means any of the following: 

3 (A) An educational entity of the District of 

4 Columbia Government. 

5 (B) A nonprofit organization. 

6 (C) A consortium of nonprofit organiza7 tions. 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

9 student’’ means a student who is a resident of the 

10 District of Columbia and who comes from a house11 hold whose income does not exceed 185 percent of 

12 the poverty line applicable to a family of the size in13 volved. 

14 (4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

15 meaning given that term in section 9101 of the Ele16 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 7801). 

18 (5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

19 has the meaning given that term in section 9101 of 

20 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec23 ondary school’’ has the meaning given that term in 

24 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums 

6 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

7 years.

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