II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4563 

To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds follow the 

child. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds 

follow the child. 

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 ‘‘Choice for Every Child 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TITLE I PORTABILITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title I of the Elemen8 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 6311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1128. TITLE I FUNDS FOLLOW THE LOW-INCOME 

2 CHILD STATE OPTION. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION TO LEAS.—Notwithstanding 

5 any other provision of law and to the extent per6 mitted under State law, a State educational agency 

7 may allocate grant funds under this part to the local 

8 educational agencies in the State based on the num9 ber of eligible children in each local educational 

10 agency (including such children who are enrolled in 

11 the public schools served by the local educational 

12 agency, enrolled in the State-accredited private 

13 schools within local educational agency’s geographic 

14 jurisdiction, or participating in homeschool in such 

15 jurisdiction). 

16 ‘‘(2) CHOICE OF DISTRIBUTION.—Each State 

17 may choose whether to have local educational agen18 cies in the State distribute funds made available for 

19 eligible children who are enrolled in State-accredited 

20 private schools within each local educational agen21 cy’s geographic jurisdiction directly to such schools 

22 in accordance with subsection (c)(3)(A) or directly to 

23 the parents of such children in accordance with sub24 section (c)(3)(B). 

25 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

2 ‘eligible child’ means a child aged 5 to 17, inclusive, 

3 from a family with an income below the poverty level 

4 on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data 

5 published by the Department of Commerce. 

6 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA OF POVERTY.—In determining 

7 the families with incomes below the poverty level for 

8 the purposes of this section, a State educational 

9 agency shall use the criteria of poverty used by the 

10 Census Bureau in compiling the most recent decen11 nial census, as the criteria have been updated by in12 creases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 

13 Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Sta14 tistics. 

15 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT PER ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The 

16 amount available for each eligible child in the State 

17 shall be equal to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the total amount available to the 

19 State under this section; divided by 

20 ‘‘(B) the total number of eligible children 

21 in the State. 

22 ‘‘(c) STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN PUBLIC AND PRI23 VATE SCHOOLS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE CHIL25 DREN.—On an annual basis, on a date to be deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563

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1 mined by the State educational agency, each local 

2 educational agency that receives grant funding in ac3 cordance with subsection (a) shall inform the State 

4 educational agency of the number of eligible children 

5 enrolled in the public schools served by the local 

6 educational agency, enrolled in the State-accredited 

7 private schools within local educational agency’s geo8 graphic jurisdiction, or participating in homeschool 

9 in such jurisdiction. 

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

11 AGENCIES.—Based on the identification of eligible 

12 children in paragraph (1), the State educational 

13 agency shall provide to a local educational agency an 

14 amount equal to the sum of the amount available for 

15 each eligible child in the State multiplied by the 

16 number of eligible children identified by the local 

17 educational agency under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) DIRECT DISTRIBUTION TO PRIVATE

20 SCHOOLS.—In the case of a State that chooses 

21 to have funds under this section distributed di22 rectly to State-accredited private schools within 

23 the local educational agency’s geographic juris24 diction, the local educational agency that re25 ceives funds under paragraph (2) shall disVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563

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1 tribute such funds to the public schools served 

2 by the local educational agency and State-ac3 credited private schools within the local edu4 cational agency’s geographic jurisdiction— 

5 ‘‘(i) based on the number of eligible 

6 children enrolled in such schools; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) in a manner that would, in the 

8 absence of such Federal funds, supplement 

9 the funds made available from non-Federal 

10 resources for the education of pupils par11 ticipating in programs under this subpart, 

12 and not to supplant such funds. 

13 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION TO PARENTS OF PRI14 VATE SCHOOL STUDENTS.—In the case of a 

15 State that chooses to have funds under this sec16 tion distributed directly to parents of children 

17 that are enrolled in State-accredited private 

18 schools within the local educational agency’s ge19 ographic jurisdiction, the local educational 

20 agency that receives funds under paragraph (2) 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) distribute such funds to the pub23 lic schools served by the local educational 

24 agency based on the number of eligible 

25 children enrolled in such schools; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) distribute the amount available 

2 for each eligible child to the parents of 

3 each child who is enrolled in a State-ac4 credited private school within the local 

5 educational agency’s geographic jurisdic6 tion for use for qualified educational ex7 penses; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) distribute funds under para9 graph (2) in a manner that would, in the 

10 absence of such Federal funds, supplement 

11 the funds made available from non-Federal 

12 resources for the education of pupils par13 ticipating in programs under this subpart, 

14 and not to supplant such funds. 

15 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION TO PARENTS OF HOME

16 SCHOOL STUDENTS.—Each local educational 

17 agency that receives funds under paragraph (2) 

18 shall distribute the amount available for each 

19 eligible child to the parents of each child who 

20 participates in homeschool for use for qualified 

21 educational expenses. 

22 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

24 ‘qualified educational expenses’ means— 

25 ‘‘(A) tuition; 


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1 ‘‘(B) curriculum and curricular materials; 

2 ‘‘(C) books or other instructional mate3 rials; 

4 ‘‘(D) online educational materials; and 

5 ‘‘(E) tuition for tutoring or educational 

6 classes outside of the home, including at a tu7 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc8 tor— 

9 ‘‘(i) is not related to the student; 

10 ‘‘(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 

11 State; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 

13 relevant subject. 

14 ‘‘(2) HOMESCHOOL.—Qualified educational ex15 penses shall include expenses for the purposes de16 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para17 graph (1) in connection with a homeschool (whether 

18 treated as a homeschool or a private school for pur19 poses of applicable State law). 

20 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF DIRECT PAYMENTS.—The 

21 amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible 

22 child under this section shall not be treated as income of 

23 the child or his or her parents for purposes of the Internal 

24 Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 

25 any other Federal program. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON-PUBLIC

2 EDUCATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

3 to authorize additional Federal or State control over non4 public education providers.’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

6 of contents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amend8 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 1127 the 

9 following: 

‘‘1128. Title I funds follow the low-income child State option.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL FUNDING UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH 

11 DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT TO FOLLOW 

12 THE CHILD. 

13 Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

14 Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 620. IDEA FUNDS FOLLOW THE CHILD STATE OPTION. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro18 vision of law and to the extent permitted under State law, 

19 a State educational agency may establish a program 

20 through which the funds made available under this part 

21 are allocated to the local educational agencies in the State 

22 based on the number of eligible children within each local 

23 educational agency’s geographic jurisdiction. 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE CHILD DEFINED.—In this sec2 tion, the term ‘eligible child’ means a child with a 

3 disability who is eligible to receive special education 

4 and related services under this part. 

5 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT PER ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The 

6 amount available for each eligible child in the State 

7 shall be equal to— 

8 ‘‘(A) the total amount available to the 

9 State under this part; divided by 

10 ‘‘(B) the total number of eligible children 

11 in the State. 

12 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION TO LEAS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE CHIL14 DREN.—On an annual basis, on a date to be deter15 mined by the State educational agency, each local 

16 educational agency that receives grant funding in ac17 cordance with subsection (a) shall inform the State 

18 educational agency of the number of eligible children 

19 within the local educational agency’s geographic ju20 risdiction. 

21 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

22 AGENCIES.—Based on the identification of eligible 

23 children in paragraph (1), the State educational 

24 agency shall provide to a local educational agency an 

25 amount equal to the amount available for each eligiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563

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1 ble child in the State multiplied by the number of 

2 eligible children identified by the local educational 

3 agency under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Each local 

5 educational agency that receives funds under para6 graph (2) shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) distribute to each public school served 

8 by the local educational agency an amount 

9 equal to— 

10 ‘‘(i) number of eligible children en11 rolled in such school; multiplied by 

12 ‘‘(ii) the amount available for each eli13 gible child in the State; 

14 ‘‘(B) distribute to the parents of each eligi15 ble child in local educational agency’s geo16 graphic jurisdiction who is not enrolled in pub17 lic school an amount equal to the amount avail18 able for each eligible child in the State for use 

19 for qualified educational expenses; and 

20 ‘‘(C) distribute the funds under paragraph 

21 (2) in a manner that would, in the absence of 

22 such Federal funds, supplement the funds made 

23 available from non-Federal resources for the 

24 education of pupils participating in programs 


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1 under this subpart, and not to supplant such 

2 funds. 

3 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘qualified educational expenses’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) tuition; 

7 ‘‘(B) curriculum and curricular materials; 

8 ‘‘(C) books or other instructional mate9 rials; 

10 ‘‘(D) online educational materials; and 

11 ‘‘(E) tuition for tutoring or educational 

12 classes outside of the home, including at a tu13 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc14 tor— 

15 ‘‘(i) is not related to the student; 

16 ‘‘(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 

17 State; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 

19 relevant subject. 

20 ‘‘(2) HOMESCHOOL.—Qualified educational ex21 penses shall include expenses for the purposes de22 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para23 graph (1) in connection with a homeschool (whether 

24 treated as a homeschool or a private school for pur25 poses of applicable State law). 


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1 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—In the case of an eli2 gible child who is not enrolled in public school and whose 

3 parents receive a direct payment under subsection 

4 (c)(3)(B), the State shall be considered to have provided 

5 that child with a free appropriate public education, to have 

6 provided special education and related services to that 

7 child, and to have fulfilled the State’s other obligations 

8 under this part with respect to that child. 

9 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF DIRECT PAYMENTS.—The 

10 amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible 

11 child under this section shall not be treated as income of 

12 the child or his or her parents for purposes of the Internal 

13 Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 

14 any other Federal program. 

15 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON-PUBLIC

16 EDUCATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

17 to authorize additional Federal or State control over non18 public education providers.’’. 

Æ 


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