I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2159 

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

the Secretary of Education to carry out a STEM grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. ESTY, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. LANGEVIN, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, and Mr. MCGOVERN) 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 direct the Secretary of Education to carry 

out a STEM grant 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 ‘‘21st Century STEM 

5 Competitive Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Harvard Graduate School of Edu2 cation’s report ‘‘Pathways to Prosperity’’ cites re3 search that shows employers across the country con4 tinue to see that young adults are not equipped with 

5 the skills and work experience needed to succeed in 

6 the 21st century workforce. In addition, research 

7 shows that courses that include a vocational or 

8 work-based component best prepare students to suc9 ceed in the workplace. 

10 (2) Numerous reports by national advisory 

11 groups, including the President’s Council of Advisors 

12 on Science and Technology and National Academies’ 

13 committees, have highlighted the need to raise stu14 dent achievement in STEM fields to enable the 

15 United States to maintain its competitive edge in the 

16 global economy. 

17 (3) Nearly all of the top 30 fastest growing oc18 cupations require science, technology, engineering, or 

19 mathematics skills, according to the Bureau of 

20 Labor Statistics. 

21 (4) Recent standardized tests show United 

22 States students’ mathematics and science perform23 ance is only average or below average compared with 

24 their international peers. American students placed 

25 25th in mathematics and 17th in science out of 34 


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1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel2 opment countries in the 2009 Program for Inter3 national Student Assessment. 

4 (5) Too few American students graduate from 

5 high school with the interest and the preparation to 

6 successfully pursue STEM degrees in college. Well 

7 over half of college students in China and Japan 

8 major in STEM fields, compared with only a third 

9 of students in America. 

10 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ESEA. 

11 (a) TITLE IV.—Title IV of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘PART D—STEM GRANT PROGRAM 

15 ‘‘SEC. 4401. GRANT PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

17 under subsection (f), the Secretary shall award grants to 

18 local educational agencies to improve the education of stu19 dents in science, technology, engineering, and mathe20 matics (in this section referred to as ‘STEM’) and prepare 

21 such students to pursue undergraduate and graduate de22 grees and careers in such fields. 

23 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 

24 section, a local educational agency shall submit an applica25 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 


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1 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

2 which shall include a description of— 

3 ‘‘(1) the local, regional, or national employer in 

4 a STEM field with whom the local educational agen5 cy will partner or collaborate to carry out the re6 quired activities under subsection (c)(1)(A); and 

7 ‘‘(2) the dual-credit courses the will be carried 

8 out with the grant under subsection (c)(1)(B). 

9 ‘‘(c) USES OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency 

10 receiving a grant under this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall use such funds to— 

12 ‘‘(A) partner or collaborate with the local, 

13 regional, or national employer described in the 

14 agency’s application under subsection (b) to— 

15 ‘‘(i) assist students in being placed in 

16 internships or apprenticeships with such 

17 employers; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) develop the curriculum and 

19 metrics of STEM coursework; and 

20 ‘‘(B) collaborate with institutions of higher 

21 education to— 

22 ‘‘(i) carry out dual-credit courses that 

23 offer both secondary school credit and col24 lege credit and incorporate STEM edu25 cation and STEM workplace training; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) assist students in being placed in 

2 internships or apprenticeships with the em3 ployers described in subparagraph (A); and 

4 ‘‘(iii) develop the curriculum and 

5 metrics described in subparagraph (A)(ii); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(2) may use such funds to— 

8 ‘‘(A) provide tutoring in STEM coursework 

9 and mentoring programs for academic advice 

10 and assistance in discussing future career op11 portunities in STEM fields; 

12 ‘‘(B) enable students and their teachers to 

13 attend STEM events outside the classroom; 

14 ‘‘(C) provide after-school and summer 

15 STEM programs for students; and 

16 ‘‘(D) purchase education materials or 

17 equipment to facilitate STEM instruction. 

18 ‘‘(d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational 

20 agency that receives a grant under this section shall 

21 provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal 

22 to 50 percent of the grant. Such non-Federal con23 tribution may be provided in cash or in kind. 

24 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP AUTHORIZED.—A local edu25 cational agency may partner with a public and priVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:12 May 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2159.IH H2159

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1 vate entity that may assist the local educational 

2 agency in meeting the matching requirement under 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

5 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 

6 (1) for a local educational agency if the local edu7 cational agency demonstrates that such requirement 

8 would result in a serious financial hardship or a fi9 nancial inability to carry out the goals of the grant. 

10 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

11 provided to a local educational agency under this section 

12 shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, funds that 

13 would otherwise be used for activities authorized under 

14 this section. 

15 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriate such sums as may be nec17 essary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2014 and 

18 each succeeding fiscal year.’’. 

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

20 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is 

21 amended by inserting after the item relating to part C 

22 of title IV of such Act, the following new item: 

‘‘PART D—STEM GRANT PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 4401. Grant program.’’. 

Æ 


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