I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 969 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to expand 

access to school-wide arts and music programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 

BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LEE of 

California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. ROSS, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. CICILLINE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to expand access to school-wide arts and music 

programs, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guarantee Access to 

5 Arts and Music Education Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘GAAME 

6 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL-WIDE ACCESS TO ARTS EDUCATION. 

2 Section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)(7)(A)(iii)— 

5 (A) in subclauses (IV) and (V), by striking 

6 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(VI) sequential, standards-based 

9 arts education taught by certified arts 

10 educators (as defined by the State) 

11 and community arts providers to meet 

12 the challenging State academic stand13 ards; and’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF ARTS.—For purposes of sub16 section (b)(7)(A)(iii)(VI), the term ‘arts’ means dance, 

17 media arts, theater, and visual arts.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. SCHOOL-WIDE ACCESS TO MUSIC EDUCATION. 

19 Section 1114(b)(7)(A)(iii) of the Elementary and 

20 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

21 6314(b)(7)(A)(iii)), as amended by section (2), is further 

22 amended by inserting after subclause (VI) the following: 

23 ‘‘(VII) sequential, standards24 based music education that is aligned 

25 to challenging State academic stand26 ards and is taught by certified music 


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1 educators (as defined by the State); 

2 and’’. 

3 SEC. 4. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS FOR ARTS EDU4 CATION. 

5 Section 1115 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘well8 rounded education;’’ inserting the following: ‘‘well 

9 rounded education, such as— 

10 ‘‘(i) programmatic assistance for stu11 dents to participate in arts programs that 

12 address their academic needs (including 

13 support for certified arts educators (as de14 fined by the State), arts educator profes15 sional development, supplies, and other ex16 penses associated with instruction in the 

17 arts); and’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF ARTS.—For purposes of sub20 section (b)(2)(A)(i), the term ‘arts’ means dance, media 

21 arts, theater, and visual arts.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS FOR MUSIC EDU23 CATION. 

24 Section 1115(b)(2)(A) of the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315(b)(2)(A)), 


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1 as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding 

2 at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(ii) programmatic assistance for stu4 dents to participate in music programs 

5 that address their academic needs (includ6 ing support for certified music educators, 

7 music educator professional development, 

8 instruments, sheet music, music tech9 nology, and other expenses associated with 

10 music instruction);’’. 

Æ 


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