II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4615 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of successful educator and school leader professional development programs on family engagement that will increase 

the capacity of educators and school leaders to work with families to 

develop and support the social-emotional learning of children. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. KING (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the 

development, implementation, and evaluation of successful educator and school leader professional development 

programs on family engagement that will increase the 

capacity of educators and school leaders to work with 

families to develop and support the social-emotional 

learning of children. 

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 ‘‘Social-Emotional 

3 Learning for Families Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SELF Act 

4 of 2020’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated to 

7 carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants, 

8 on a competitive basis, to local educational agencies to de9 velop, implement, and evaluate educator and school leader 

10 professional development programs on social-emotional 

11 learning and family engagement. Local educational agen12 cies may work in partnership with the entities described 

13 in subsection (e)(3) to carry out such programs. The ob14 jective of such programs will be to increase the capacity 

15 of educators and school leaders to work with families to 

16 develop and support the social-emotional learning of chil17 dren. 

18 (b) GRANT AWARDS.— 

19 (1) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The total 

20 amount of each grant awarded under this section 

21 may not exceed $1,200,000. 

22 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under 

23 this section shall be for a period of 5 years, and may 

24 be renewed. 

25 (3) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

26 award not more than 100 grants under this section. 


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1 (4) RURAL SET ASIDE.—The Secretary shall re2 serve 10 percent of the funds appropriated to carry 

3 out this section to award grants to rural local edu4 cational agencies that are eligible local educational 

5 agencies under section 5211(b) of the Elementary 

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

7 7345(b)). 

8 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An application submitted by a 

9 local educational agency for a grant under this section 

10 shall demonstrate through descriptions in the grant appli11 cation— 

12 (1) the ability to provide instructional space for 

13 proposed programming; 

14 (2) a commitment to the development, imple15 mentation, and evaluation of successful educator and 

16 school leader professional development programs on 

17 family engagement that will increase the capacity of 

18 educators and school leaders to work with families to 

19 develop and support the social-emotional learning of 

20 children; 

21 (3) a plan to ensure that the proposed pro22 grams will serve diverse groups, such as Native 

23 Americans and underrepresented or economically 

24 disadvantaged families; 


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1 (4) a long-term commitment to the proposed 

2 programs to be carried out with the grant, including 

3 a plan to continue the actions described in para4 graphs (1) through (3) for a period of not less than 

5 5 years; 

6 (5) how the local educational agency intends to 

7 measure outcomes related to the grant; and 

8 (6) how the population to be served with grant 

9 funds is experiencing youth trauma resulting from 

10 recent natural disasters (such as hurricanes, 

11 wildfires, or tornados), the opioid epidemic, or a 

12 qualifying emergency. 

13 (d) SELECTION.—In awarding grants under this sec14 tion, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) give priority to— 

16 (A) high-need local educational agencies, 

17 as defined in section 200 of the Higher Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021); and 

19 (B) local educational agencies that serve 

20 populations that are likely to have an increased 

21 likelihood of youth trauma resulting from recent 

22 natural disasters (such as hurricanes, wildfires, 

23 or tornados), the opioid epidemic, or a quali24 fying emergency; and 


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1 (2) ensure that, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, the projects funded under this section are lo3 cated in diverse geographic regions of the United 

4 States. 

5 (e) USES OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

7 receiving a grant under this section shall use such 

8 funds to carry out programs at elementary schools 

9 and secondary schools served by the local edu10 cational agency that— 

11 (A) involves instruction of evidence-based 

12 social-emotional learning through locally rel13 evant materials for educators and school leaders 

14 and families; 

15 (B) provides professional development for 

16 educators and school leaders to engage families 

17 and support the development of the social-emo18 tional learning of families; 

19 (C) provides direct instruction on social20 emotional learning to families during times 

21 when families are available and in places that 

22 are safe, convenient, and easily accessible; 

23 (D) encourages participation of families in 

24 the programs offered by the local educational 

25 agency under this section, including programs 


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1 supported by partner entities as described 

2 under paragraph (3); and 

3 (E) is designed to result in improved meas4 urable outcomes related to children, including 

5 positive social behavior and academic outcomes. 

6 (2) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—In the 

7 case of a local educational agency that is a State 

8 educational agency, such entity shall award sub9 grants, on a competitive basis, to local educational 

10 agencies to carry out the program described in para11 graph (1). 

12 (3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Each 

13 local educational agency awarded a grant under this 

14 section may carry out the program funded under the 

15 grant in partnership with one or more of the fol16 lowing: 

17 (A) Institutions of higher education, in18 cluding Tribal Colleges and Universities. 

19 (B) Nonprofit organizations. 

20 (C) Community-based organizations. 

21 (f) REPORTS.— 

22 (1) REPORTS FROM GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A 

23 local educational agency that receives a grant under 

24 this section shall submit to the Secretary, not later 

25 than 1 year after the date of receipt of grant funds, 


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1 a report containing any relevant information, as re2 quested by the Secretary, in accordance with the in3 formation required of the Secretary under paragraph 

4 (2). 

5 (2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

6 than 2 years after the first grant is awarded under 

7 this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

8 shall submit to the Committee on Health, Edu9 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

10 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 

11 Representatives and make publicly available, a re12 port on activities and results under this section. 

13 Such report shall describe— 

14 (A) the total number of grant applications 

15 received during the year preceding the report; 

16 (B) the number and geographic distribu17 tion of the grants for such year and for all 

18 grants awarded under this section; 

19 (C) participation of minority-serving insti20 tutions, including Tribal Colleges and Univer21 sities; 

22 (D) participation of underrepresented and 

23 economically disadvantaged families; 

24 (E) overall program outcomes and issues 

25 of concern; and 


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1 (F) recommendations for program revi2 sions to achieve the desired program outcome. 

3 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

4 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

5 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘professional 

6 development’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘specialized in7 structional support personnel’’, and ‘‘State edu8 cational agency’’ have the meanings given the terms 

9 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 (2) EDUCATOR AND SCHOOL LEADER PROFES12 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘edu13 cator and school leader professional development 

14 programs’’ includes professional development pro15 grams for educators, principals, school leaders, spe16 cialized instructional support personnel, and other 

17 school-based personnel. 

18 (3) EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL LEADERS.—The 

19 term ‘‘educators and school leaders’’ means edu20 cators, principals, school leaders, specialized instruc21 tional support personnel, and other school-based per22 sonnel. 

23 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

3 (5) INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘instruction’’ 

4 means activities that— 

5 (A) emphasize communication of knowl6 edge concerning social-emotional learning in 

7 adults and children; 

8 (B) provide opportunities to practice so9 cial-emotional learning through interactive ac10 tivities between families and their children; and 

11 (C) are aligned with and integrated into 

12 family involvement and engagement standards 

13 that may exist in the applicable State or that 

14 may be developed. 

15 (6) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

16 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti17 tution of higher education described in section 

18 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

20 (7) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 

21 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 

22 (A) a public health emergency related to 

23 the coronavirus declared by the Secretary of 

24 Health and Human Services pursuant to secVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615

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1 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 247d); 

3 (B) an event related to the coronavirus for 

4 which the President declared a major disaster 

5 or an emergency under section 401 or 501, re6 spectively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 

7 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 

8 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 

9 (C) a national emergency related to the 

10 coronavirus declared by the President under 

11 section 201 of the National Emergencies Act 

12 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

13 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of Education. 

15 (9) SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING.—The term 

16 ‘‘social-emotional learning’’ includes— 

17 (A) self-awareness, or having a realistic 

18 perception of one’s own values, interests, and 

19 strengths, and being able to recognize one’s 

20 own emotions; 

21 (B) self-management, or how well one 

22 manages emotions, impulses, and stress, and is 

23 able to establish and achieve goals and exercise 

24 self-discipline; 


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1 (C) social awareness, or the ability to take 

2 the perspective of and empathize with someone 

3 else and to appreciate and respect diversity; 

4 (D) relationship skills, or the ability to 

5 participate in healthy, cooperative, and caring 

6 relationships, and effectively resolve conflicts; 

7 and 

8 (E) responsible decision making, or the 

9 ability to recognize and generate good choices, 

10 evaluate the likely consequences of actions, and 

11 take responsibility for one’s decisions. 

12 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $130,000,000, of which not more than $10,000,000 may 

15 be used by the Secretary for reports and technical assist16 ance. 

Æ 


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