I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2317 

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

grants to States to establish a comprehensive school counseling program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2013 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. SIRES) 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 provide grants to States to establish a comprehensive school counseling program. 

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 ‘‘Counseling for Career 

5 Choice Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT. 

7 Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 

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1 ‘‘PART E—COUNSELING FOR CAREER CHOICE

2 ‘‘SEC. 5701. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘In this part: 

4 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com5 munity college’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a junior or community college (as de7 fined in section 312(f) of the Higher Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f))); 

9 ‘‘(B) a 4-year public institution of higher 

10 education (as defined in section 101 of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1001)) that awards a significant number of de13 grees and certificates, as determined by the 

14 Secretary, that are not— 

15 ‘‘(i) baccalaureate degrees (or an 

16 equivalent); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) master’s, professional, or other 

18 advanced degrees; or 

19 ‘‘(C) an area career and technical edu20 cation school (as defined in section 3 of the 

21 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu22 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)). 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en24 tity’ means— 

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1 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency, including 

2 an educational service agency; or 

3 ‘‘(B) a consortium that must consist of one 

4 local educational agency in combination with 

5 one or more local educational agencies, edu6 cational service agencies, non-profit organiza7 tions with demonstrated expertise in counseling 

8 or career and technical education, postsec9 ondary institutions, or tribal organizations. 

10 ‘‘(3) LOCAL WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

11 BOARD.—The term ‘local workforce investment 

12 board’ means a local workforce investment board es13 tablished under section 117 of the Workforce Invest14 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2832). 

15 ‘‘(4) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school 

16 counselor’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 5421. 

18 ‘‘(5) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘stakeholders’ 

19 includes local educational agencies, school coun20 selors, secondary schools, institutions of higher edu21 cation (including community colleges), eligible agen22 cies as defined under section 203 of the Workforce 

23 Investment Act of 1998, the State workforce invest24 ment board, the State agency responsible for labor 

25 market information, other applicable State agencies 

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1 as determined by the Secretary, local workforce in2 vestment boards, area career and technical education 

3 schools (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per4 kins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006), 

5 local businesses and industries, organizations offer6 ing apprenticeship programs, tribal organizations, 

7 labor organizations, programs leading to post-sec8 ondary credentials, including industry-recognized 

9 credentials, other programs for career and technical 

10 education (as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. 

11 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

12 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)), and any other organiza13 tions, individuals or persons that the Secretary de14 termines appropriate to carry out the purposes of 

15 this part. 

16 ‘‘(6) STATEWIDE COUNSELING FRAMEWORK.— 

17 The term ‘statewide counseling framework’ means a 

18 framework that encompasses grades 6 through 12 

19 and postsecondary education and that includes infor20 mation on career awareness, skills assessment, skills 

21 training, student interest surveys, postsecondary 

22 education entrance requirements, secondary school 

23 graduation requirements, high school equivalency, 

24 adult education programs and services, financial aid, 

25 institutions of higher education, community colleges, 

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1 programs leading to industry-recognized credentials, 

2 career and technical education programs, intern3 ships, dual enrollment programs, apprenticeships, 

4 and professional development opportunities for 

5 school counselors. 

6 ‘‘(7) STATE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT

7 BOARD.—The term ‘State workforce investment 

8 board’ means a State workforce investment board 

9 established under section 111 of the Workforce In10 vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2821). 

11 ‘‘(8) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

12 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec13 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

15 ‘‘(9) INDUSTRY RECOGNIZED CREDENTIAL.— 

16 The term ‘industry-recognized,’ used with respect to 

17 a credential, means a credential that— 

18 ‘‘(A) is sought or accepted by employers 

19 within the industry or sector involved as a rec20 ognized, preferred, or required credential for re21 cruitment, screening, hiring, retention or ad22 vancement purposes; and, 

23 ‘‘(B) where appropriate, is endorsed by a 

24 nationally recognized trade association or orgamstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 nization representing a significant part of the 

2 industry or sector. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 5702. ESTABLISHMENT AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 

4 GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT GRANTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 

7 appropriated to carry out this part and not reserved 

8 by the Secretary under subsection (b), the Secretary 

9 shall award establishment grants, on a competitive 

10 basis, to State educational agencies to enable the 

11 State educational agencies to carry out the activities 

12 described in section 5704. 

13 ‘‘(2) DURATION; EXTENSION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DURATION.—Each establishment 

15 grant under this subsection shall be for a period 

16 of not more than 2 years. 

17 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—Each grant shall be of an 

18 amount not less than $2,000,000 and not more 

19 than $5,000,000. 

20 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may ex21 tend a grant awarded under this subsection for 

22 additional 3-year periods if the State edu23 cational agency— 

24 ‘‘(i) is achieving the intended out25 comes of the grant; 

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1 ‘‘(ii) shows continued engagement 

2 with stakeholders; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) has established a statewide 

4 counseling framework. 

5 ‘‘(b) STATE CAPACITY-BUILDING GRANTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall reserve 

7 not less than 10 percent and not more than 20 per8 cent of the amounts appropriated to carry out this 

9 part for any fiscal year to award capacity-building 

10 grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational 

11 agencies that do not receive an establishment grant 

12 under subsection (a) for such year. 

13 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—A State educational agency 

14 that receives a capacity-building grant under this 

15 subsection shall use grant funds to carry out 1 or 

16 more of the activities from the State educational 

17 agency’s application under section 5703 that the 

18 Secretary determines is an acceptable use of funds. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 5703. APPLICATION. 

20 ‘‘A State educational agency desiring a grant under 

21 this part shall submit an application at such time, in such 

22 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

23 may require. The application shall include— 

24 ‘‘(1)(A) a description of a proposed statewide 

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1 tion with not less than 5 stakeholders, of which at 

2 least 1 stakeholder shall be a local business or indus3 try or statewide industry organization and 1 stake4 holder shall be a local educational agency or sec5 ondary school; 

6 ‘‘(B) a detailed plan to implement a statewide 

7 counseling framework that is developed in consulta8 tion with not less than 5 stakeholders, of which at 

9 least 1 stakeholder shall be a local business or indus10 try or statewide industry organization and 1 shall be 

11 a local educational agency or secondary school; or 

12 ‘‘(C) evidence of an existing statewide coun13 seling framework and implementation plan sup14 ported by not less than 5 stakeholders, of which at 

15 least 1 stakeholder shall be a local business or indus16 try or statewide industry organization and 1 shall be 

17 a local educational agency or secondary school; and 

18 ‘‘(2) a description of how the State educational 

19 agency will award subgrants and ensure that the ac20 tivities described in section 5704 are carried out. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 5704. ACTIVITIES. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency re23 ceiving an establishment grant under section 5702(a) shall 

24 use grant funds to— 

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1 ‘‘(1) develop and implement comprehensive 

2 school counseling programs that align with the state3 wide counseling framework proposed or described in 

4 the State educational agency’s application; 

5 ‘‘(2) identify and assess school counseling ac6 tivities and postsecondary options available within 

7 the State, and outside the State as applicable; 

8 ‘‘(3) hire additional school counselors to effec9 tively serve more students in postsecondary edu10 cation and adult education planning and career 

11 guidance activities, where applicable; 

12 ‘‘(4) identify regional workforce trends in col13 laboration with entities at the State and regional 

14 level with expertise in identifying such trends, such 

15 as State workforce investment boards, local work16 force investment boards, regional economic develop17 ment organizations, or State employment agencies; 

18 ‘‘(5) train school counselors effectively to pro19 vide students with current and relevant workforce 

20 information, financial aid assistance, personal coun21 seling, and academic advising relevant to students’ 

22 individual career and postsecondary education goals; 

23 ‘‘(6) develop and implement a process and in24 frastructure for school counselors and school coun25 selor programs to access the statewide counseling 

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1 framework and information regarding the regional 

2 workforce trends identified in paragraph (4); 

3 ‘‘(7) develop and implement professional devel4 opment programs for counselors and other educators 

5 involved in preparing students for postsecondary op6 portunities; 

7 ‘‘(8) develop a searchable method by which 

8 counseling professional development opportunities 

9 from around the State are collected, maintained, and 

10 disseminated to school counselors; 

11 ‘‘(9) establish, improve, or coordinate postsec12 ondary opportunities, which may include individual 

13 career planning, personalized learning plans, reg14 istered apprenticeships, internships, dual enrollment 

15 programs, programs leading to industry-recognized 

16 credentials (including programs at a secondary 

17 school), 2-year degree programs, 4-year degree pro18 grams, and other applicable postsecondary opportu19 nities; 

20 ‘‘(10) provide recommendations and improve a 

21 local educational agency’s and other education serv22 ice program providers to out of school youth and 

23 adults curricula to better align with workforce 

24 trends and available postsecondary opportunities; 

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1 ‘‘(11) conduct other activities pertaining to the 

2 administration of the statewide framework; 

3 ‘‘(12) establish partnerships with American Job 

4 Centers, which may include co-locating an American 

5 Job Center in a high school, transporting students 

6 to local American Job Centers, or having American 

7 Job Center career counselors and business liaisons 

8 assist school counselors in hosting job fairs, career 

9 days, or other such similar tasks; and 

10 ‘‘(13) leverage resources and emerging tech11 nologies that are being developed by stakeholders to 

12 support the counseling framework. 

13 ‘‘(b) SUBGRANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

15 that receives an establishment grant may carry out 

16 the activities described in subsection (a) directly or 

17 through awarding subgrants, on a competitive basis, 

18 to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to 

19 carry out any of the activities. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that de21 sires a subgrant under this subsection shall submit 

22 an application to the State educational agency at 

23 such time, in such manner, and containing such in24 formation as the State educational agency may rea25 sonably require, including a description of the commstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 prehensive school counseling program for partici2 pating schools and students that the eligible entity 

3 proposes to develop and implement using subgrant 

4 funds. 

5 ‘‘(c) HIRING OF PERSONNEL.—An eligible entity that 

6 receives an establishment grant under section 5702(a) 

7 may use grant funds to hire additional school personnel 

8 to carry out the activities described in subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘SEC. 5705. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT. 

10 ‘‘Funds made available under this part shall be used 

11 to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, 

12 and local funds available to carry out the activities sup13 ported under this part. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5706. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

15 ‘‘Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

16 of the Counseling for Career Choice Act, and every 3 years 

17 thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the 

18 appropriate committees of Congress a report on the 

19 progress made by the eligible entities receiving grants 

20 under this part in implementing grant activities. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 5707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

23 this part $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and 

24 $40,000,000 for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

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