II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 623 

To enhance the transparency and accelerate the impact of assistance provided 

under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to promote quality basic 

education in developing countries, to better enable such countries to 

achieve universal access to quality basic education and improved learning 

outcomes, to eliminate duplication and waste, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2017 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To enhance the transparency and accelerate the impact of 

assistance provided under the Foreign Assistance Act 

of 1961 to promote quality basic education in developing 

countries, to better enable such countries to achieve universal access to quality basic education and improved 

learning outcomes, to eliminate duplication and waste, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development 

4 Act’’ or the ‘‘READ Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Assistance to promote sustainable, quality basic education. 

Sec. 4. Comprehensive integrated United States strategy to promote basic education. 

Sec. 5. Improving coordination and oversight. 

Sec. 6. Monitoring and evaluation of programs. 

Sec. 7. Transparency and reporting to Congress. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 (a) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

9 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit10 tees’’ means— 

11 (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

12 Senate; 

13 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

14 Senate; 

15 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 House of Representatives; and 

17 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

18 House of Representatives. 

19 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms 

20 ‘‘basic education’’, ‘‘marginalized children and vulnerable 

21 groups’’, ‘‘national education plan’’, ‘‘partner country’’, 

22 and ‘‘relevant Executive branch agencies and officials’’ 


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1 have the meanings given such terms in section 105(c) of 

2 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 

3 3. 

4 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, QUALITY 

5 BASIC EDUCATION. 

6 Section 105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

7 (22 U.S.C. 2151c) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(c) ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, 

10 QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

12 ‘‘(A) BASIC EDUCATION.—The term ‘basic 

13 education’ includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) measurable improvements in lit15 eracy, numeracy, and other basic skills de16 velopment that prepare an individual to be 

17 an active, productive member of society 

18 and the workforce; 

19 ‘‘(ii) workforce development, voca20 tional training, and digital literacy in21 formed by real market needs and opportu22 nities and that results in measurable im23 provements in employment; 

24 ‘‘(iii) programs and activities designed 

25 to demonstrably improve— 


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1 ‘‘(I) early childhood, preprimary 

2 education, primary education, and 

3 secondary education, which can be de4 livered in formal or nonformal edu5 cation settings; and 

6 ‘‘(II) learning for out-of-school 

7 youth and adults; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) capacity building for teachers, 

9 administrators, counselors, and youth 

10 workers that results in measurable im11 provements in student literacy, numeracy, 

12 or employment. 

13 ‘‘(B) COMMUNITIES OF LEARNING.—The 

14 term ‘communities of learning’ means a holistic 

15 approach to education and community engage16 ment in which schools act as the primary re17 source center for delivery of a service to the 

18 community at large, leveraging and maximizing 

19 the impact of other development efforts and re20 ducing duplication and waste. 

21 ‘‘(C) GENDER PARITY IN BASIC EDU22 CATION.—The term ‘gender parity in basic edu23 cation’ means that girls and boys have equal ac24 cess to quality basic education. 


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1 ‘‘(D) MARGINALIZED CHILDREN AND VUL2 NERABLE GROUPS.—The term ‘marginalized 

3 children and vulnerable groups’ includes girls, 

4 children affected by or emerging from armed 

5 conflict or humanitarian crises, children with 

6 disabilities, children in remote or rural areas 

7 (including those who lack access to safe water 

8 and sanitation), religious or ethnic minorities, 

9 indigenous peoples, orphans and children af10 fected by HIV/AIDS, child laborers, married 

11 adolescents, and victims of trafficking. 

12 ‘‘(E) NATIONAL EDUCATION PLAN.—The 

13 term ‘national education plan’ means a com14 prehensive national education plan developed by 

15 partner country governments in consultation 

16 with other stakeholders as a means for wide17 scale improvement of the country’s education 

18 system, including explicit, credible strategies in19 formed by effective practices and standards to 

20 achieve quality universal basic education. 

21 ‘‘(F) NONFORMAL EDUCATION.—The term 

22 ‘nonformal education’ means organized edu23 cational activities outside the established formal 

24 system, whether operating separately or as an 

25 important feature of a broader activity, that are 


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1 intended to provide students with measurable 

2 improvements in literacy, numeracy, and other 

3 basic skills development that prepare an indi4 vidual to be an active, productive member of so5 ciety and the workforce. 

6 ‘‘(G) PARTNER COUNTRY.—The term 

7 ‘partner country’ means a developing country 

8 that participates in or benefits from basic edu9 cation programs under this subsection pursuant 

10 to the prioritization criteria described in para11 graph (4), including level of need, opportunity 

12 for impact, and the availability of resources. 

13 ‘‘(H) RELEVANT EXECUTIVE BRANCH

14 AGENCIES AND OFFICIALS.—The term ‘relevant 

15 Executive branch agencies and officials’ means 

16 the Department of State, the United States 

17 Agency for International Development, the De18 partment of the Treasury, the Department of 

19 Labor, the Department of Education, the De20 partment of Agriculture, and the Department of 

21 Defense, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mil22 lennium Challenge Corporation, the National 

23 Security Advisor, and the Director of the Peace 

24 Corps. 


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1 ‘‘(I) SUSTAINABILITY.—The term ‘sustain2 ability’ means, with respect to any basic edu3 cation program that receives funding pursuant 

4 to this section, the ability of a service delivery 

5 system, community, partner, or beneficiary to 

6 maintain, over time, such basic education pro7 gram without the use of foreign assistance. 

8 ‘‘(2) POLICY.—In carrying out this section, it 

9 shall be the policy of the United States to work with 

10 partner countries, as appropriate, other donors, mul11 tilateral institutions, the private sector, and non12 governmental and civil society organizations, includ13 ing faith-based organizations and organizations that 

14 represent teachers, students, and parents, to pro15 mote sustainable, quality basic education through 

16 programs and activities that— 

17 ‘‘(A) take into consideration and help re18 spond to the needs, capacities, and commitment 

19 of developing countries to achieve measurable 

20 improvements in literacy, numeracy, and other 

21 basic skills development that prepare an indi22 vidual to be an active, productive member of so23 ciety and the workforce; 

24 ‘‘(B) strengthen educational systems, pro25 mote communities of learning, as appropriate, 


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1 expand access to safe learning environments, in2 cluding by breaking down specific barriers to 

3 basic education for women and girls, ensure 

4 continuity of education, including in conflict 

5 settings, measurably improve teacher skills and 

6 learning outcomes, and support the engagement 

7 of parents in the education of their children to 

8 help partner countries ensure that all children, 

9 including marginalized children and other vul10 nerable groups, have access to and benefit from 

11 quality basic education; 

12 ‘‘(C) promote education as a foundation 

13 for sustained economic growth and development 

14 within a comprehensive assistance strategy that 

15 places partner countries on a trajectory toward 

16 graduation from assistance provided under this 

17 section with clearly defined benchmarks of suc18 cess that are used as requirements for related 

19 procurement vehicles, such as grants, contracts, 

20 and cooperative agreements; and 

21 ‘‘(D) monitor and evaluate the effective22 ness and quality of basic education programs in 

23 partner countries. 

24 ‘‘(3) PRINCIPLES.—In carrying out the policy 

25 referred to in paragraph (2), the United States shall 


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1 be guided by the following principles of aid effective2 ness: 

3 ‘‘(A) ALIGNMENT.—Assistance provided 

4 under this section to support programs and ac5 tivities under this subsection shall be aligned 

6 with and advance United States foreign policy 

7 and economic interests. 

8 ‘‘(B) COUNTRY OWNERSHIP.—To the 

9 greatest extent practicable, assistance provided 

10 under this section to support programs and ac11 tivities under this subsection should be aligned 

12 with and support the national education plans 

13 and country development strategies of partner 

14 countries, including activities that are appro15 priate for and meet the needs of local and in16 digenous cultures. 

17 ‘‘(C) COORDINATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Assistance pro19 vided under this section to support pro20 grams and activities under this subsection 

21 should be coordinated with and leverage 

22 the unique capabilities and resources of 

23 local and national governments in partner 

24 countries, other donors, multilateral insti25 tutions, the private sector, and nongovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:23 Mar 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S623.IS S623

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1 mental and civil society organizations, in2 cluding faith-based organizations and orga3 nizations that represent teachers, students, 

4 and parents. 

5 ‘‘(ii) MULTILATERAL PROGRAMS AND

6 INITIATIVES.—Assistance provided under 

7 this section to support programs and ac8 tivities under this subsection should be co9 ordinated with and support proven multi10 lateral education programs and financing 

11 mechanisms, which may include the Global 

12 Partnership for Education, that dem13 onstrate commitment to efficiency, effec14 tiveness, transparency, and accountability. 

15 ‘‘(D) EFFICIENCY.—The President shall 

16 seek to improve the efficiency and effectiveness 

17 of assistance provided under this section to sup18 port programs and activities under this sub19 section by coordinating the related efforts of 

20 relevant Executive branch agencies and offi21 cials. 

22 ‘‘(E) EFFECTIVENESS.—Programs and ac23 tivities supported under this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall be consistent with the poli2 cies and principles set forth in this sub3 section; 

4 ‘‘(ii) shall be designed to achieve spe5 cific, measurable goals and objectives that 

6 are directly related to the provision of 

7 basic education (as defined in this section); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) shall include appropriate tar10 gets, metrics, and indicators that— 

11 ‘‘(I) move a country along the 

12 path to graduation from assistance 

13 provided under this subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(II) can be applied with reason15 able consistency across such programs 

16 and activities to measure progress and 

17 outcomes. 

18 ‘‘(F) TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNT19 ABILITY.—Programs and activities supported 

20 under this subsection shall be subject to rig21 orous monitoring and evaluation, which may in22 clude impact evaluations, the results of which 

23 shall be made publically available in a fully 

24 searchable, electronic format. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 The President shall ensure that assistance provided 

3 under this section to support programs and activities 

4 under this subsection is aligned with the foreign pol5 icy and economic interests of the United States and, 

6 subject to such alignment, priority is given to devel7 oping countries in which— 

8 ‘‘(A) there is the greatest need and oppor9 tunity to expand access to basic education and 

10 to improve learning outcomes, including for 

11 marginalized and vulnerable groups, particu12 larly women and girls to ensure gender parity 

13 in basic education, or populations affected by 

14 conflict or crisis; and 

15 ‘‘(B) such assistance can produce a sub16 stantial, measurable impact on children and 

17 educational systems.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES 

19 STRATEGY TO PROMOTE BASIC EDUCATION. 

20 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than October 

21 1, 2017, the President shall submit to the appropriate con22 gressional committees a comprehensive United States 

23 strategy to be carried out during fiscal years 2018 through 

24 2022 to promote quality basic education in partner coun25 tries by— 


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1 (1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic 

2 education for all children, particularly marginalized 

3 children and vulnerable groups; and 

4 (2) measurably improving the quality of basic 

5 education and learning outcomes. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENT TO CONSULT.—In developing the 

7 strategy required under subsection (a), the President shall 

8 consult with— 

9 (1) the appropriate congressional committees; 

10 (2) relevant Executive branch agencies and offi11 cials; 

12 (3) partner country governments; and 

13 (4) local and international nongovernmental or14 ganizations, including faith-based organizations and 

15 organizations representing students, teachers, and 

16 parents, and other development partners engaged in 

17 basic education assistance programs in developing 

18 countries. 

19 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The President shall provide 

20 an opportunity for public comment on the strategy re21 quired under subsection (a). 

22 (d) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub23 section (a)— 

24 (1) shall be developed and implemented con25 sistent with the principles set forth in section 105(c) 


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1 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 

2 section 3; and 

3 (2) shall seek— 

4 (A) to prioritize assistance provided under 

5 this subsection to countries that are partners of 

6 the United States and whose populations are 

7 most in need of improved basic education, as 

8 determined by indicators such as literacy and 

9 numeracy rates; 

10 (B) to build the capacity of relevant actors 

11 in partner countries, including in government 

12 and in civil society, to develop and implement 

13 national education plans that measurably im14 prove basic education; 

15 (C) to identify and replicate successful 

16 interventions that improve access to and quality 

17 of basic education in conflict settings and in 

18 partner countries; 

19 (D) to project general levels of resources 

20 needed to achieve stated program objectives; 

21 (E) to develop means to track implementa22 tion in partner countries and ensure that such 

23 countries are expending appropriate domestic 

24 resources and instituting any relevant legal, 


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1 regulatory, or institutional reforms needed to 

2 achieve stated program objectives; 

3 (F) to leverage United States capabilities, 

4 including through technical assistance, training, 

5 and research; and 

6 (G) to improve coordination and reduce 

7 duplication among relevant Executive branch 

8 agencies and officials, other donors, multilateral 

9 institutions, nongovernmental organizations, 

10 and governments in partner countries. 

11 SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT. 

12 (a) SENIOR COORDINATOR OF UNITED STATES

13 INTERNATIONAL BASIC EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.—There 

14 is established within the United States Agency for Inter15 national Development a Senior Coordinator of United 

16 States International Basic Education Assistance (referred 

17 to in this section as the ‘‘Senior Coordinator’’). The Senior 

18 Coordinator shall be appointed by the President, shall be 

19 a current USAID employee serving in a career or non20 career position in the Senior Executive Service or at the 

21 level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher, and 

22 shall serve concurrently as the Senior Coordinator. 

23 (b) DUTIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Senior Coordinator 

25 shall have primary responsibility for the oversight 


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1 and coordination of all resources and activities of the 

2 United States Government relating to the promotion 

3 of international basic education programs and activi4 ties. 

5 (2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The Senior Coordinator 

6 shall— 

7 (A) facilitate program and policy coordina8 tion of international basic education programs 

9 and activities among relevant Executive branch 

10 agencies and officials, partner governments, 

11 multilateral institutions, the private sector, and 

12 nongovernmental and civil society organizations; 

13 (B) develop and revise the strategy re14 quired under section 4; 

15 (C) monitor, evaluate, and report on activi16 ties undertaken pursuant to the strategy re17 quired under section 4; and 

18 (D) establish due diligence criteria for all 

19 recipients of funds provided by the United 

20 States to carry out activities under this Act and 

21 the amendments made by this Act. 

22 (c) OFFSET.—In order to eliminate duplication of ef23 fort and activities and to offset any costs incurred by the 

24 United States Agency for International Development in 

25 appointing the Senior Coordinator under subsection (a), 


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1 the President shall, after consulting with appropriate con2 gressional committees, eliminate a position within the 

3 United States Agency for International Development (un4 less otherwise authorized or required by law) that the 

5 President determines to be necessary to fully offset such 

6 costs and eliminate duplication. 

7 SEC. 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. 

8 The President shall seek to ensure that programs car9 ried out under the strategy required under section 4 

10 shall— 

11 (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

12 methodologies to determine if programs and activi13 ties provided under this subsection accomplish meas14 urable improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other 

15 basic skills development that prepare an individual 

16 to be an active, productive member of society and 

17 the workforce; 

18 (2) include methodological guidance in the im19 plementation plan and support systemic data collec20 tion using internationally comparable indicators, 

21 norms, and methodologies, to the extent practicable 

22 and appropriate; 

23 (3) disaggregate all data collected and reported 

24 by age, gender, marital status, disability, and loca25 tion, to the extent practicable and appropriate; 


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1 (4) include funding for both short- and long2 term monitoring and evaluation to enable assess3 ment of the sustainability and scalability of assist4 ance programs; and 

5 (5) support the increased use and public avail6 ability of education data for improved decision7 making, program effectiveness, and monitoring of 

8 global progress. 

9 SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

10 (a) ANNUAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

11 STRATEGY.—Not later than each March 31 immediately 

12 following a fiscal year during which the strategy developed 

13 pursuant to section 4(a) was carried out, the President 

14 shall— 

15 (1) submit a report to the appropriate congres16 sional committees that describes the implementation 

17 of such strategy; and 

18 (2) make the report described in paragraph (1) 

19 available to the public. 

20 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re21 quired under subsection (a) shall include— 

22 (1) a description of the efforts made by relevant 

23 Executive branch agencies and officials to implement 

24 the strategy developed pursuant to section 4, with a 


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1 particular focus on the activities carried out under 

2 the strategy; 

3 (2) a description of the extent to which each 

4 partner country selected to receive assistance for 

5 basic education meets the priority criteria specified 

6 in section 105(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

7 1961, as added by section 3; and 

8 (3) a description of the progress achieved over 

9 the reporting period toward meeting the goals, objec10 tives, benchmarks, and timeframes specified in the 

11 strategy developed pursuant to section 4 at the pro12 gram level, as developed pursuant to monitoring and 

13 evaluation specified in section 6, with particular em14 phasis on whether there are demonstrable student 

15 improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other basic 

16 skills development that prepare an individual to be 

17 an active, productive member of society and the 

18 workforce. 

Æ 


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