II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 69 

To amend the SOAR Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2023 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, 

and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the SOAR Act. 

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 ‘‘SOAR Permanent Au5 thorization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE SOAR ACT. 

7 The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act 

8 (division C of Public Law 112–10) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 3007 (sec. 38–1853.07 D.C. Offi10 cial Code)— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a)(5)(A)(i), by striking 

2 subclause (I) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(I) is fully accredited by an ac4 crediting body with jurisdiction in the 

5 District of Columbia or that is recog6 nized by the Student and Visitor Ex7 change English Language Program 

8 administered by U.S. Immigration 

9 and Customs Enforcement; or’’; 

10 (B) by striking subsection (c) and redesig11 nating subsection (d) as subsection (c); 

12 (C) in subsection (b)— 

13 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik14 ing ‘‘AND PARENTAL ASSISTANCE’’ and in15 serting ‘‘, PARENTAL ASSISTANCE, AND

16 STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE’’; 

17 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 

18 (1), by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘$2,200,000’’; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(3) The expenses of providing tutoring service 

23 to participating eligible students that need additional 

24 academic assistance. If there are insufficient funds 

25 to provide tutoring services to all such students in 


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1 a year, the eligible entity shall give priority in such 

2 year to students who previously attended an elemen3 tary school or secondary school identified as one of 

4 the lowest-performing schools under the District of 

5 Columbia’s accountability system.’’; and 

6 (D) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 

7 subparagraph (B)— 

8 (i) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 

9 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

11 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

12 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

14 (2) in section 3008(h) (sec. 38–1853.08(h) 

15 D.C. Official Code)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 

17 3009(a)(2)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

18 3009(a)’’; 

19 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert20 ing the following: 

21 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF TESTS.—The Insti22 tute of Education Sciences may administer assess23 ments to students participating in the evaluation 

24 under section 3009(a) for the purpose of conducting 

25 the evaluation under such section.’’; and 


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1 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the na2 tionally norm-referenced standardized test de3 scribed in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘a na4 tionally norm-referenced standardized test’’; 

5 (3) in section 3009(a) (sec. 38–1853.09(a) D.C. 

6 Official Code)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘an8 nually’’ and inserting ‘‘regularly’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

11 clause (i) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) is rigorous; and’’; and 

13 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘impact of the program’’ and all that fol15 lows through the end of the subparagraph 

16 and inserting ‘‘impact of the program on 

17 academic progress and educational attain18 ment.’’; 

19 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

20 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik21 ing ‘‘ON EDUCATION’’ and inserting ‘‘OF

22 EDUCATION’’; 

23 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

24 (I) by inserting ‘‘the academic 

25 progress of’’ after ‘‘assess’’; and 


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1 (II) by striking ‘‘in each of 

2 grades 3’’ and all that follows through 

3 the end of the subparagraph and in4 serting ‘‘; and’’; 

5 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); 

6 and 

7 (iv) by redesignating subparagraph 

8 (C) as subparagraph (B); and 

9 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘A comparison of 

12 the academic achievement of partici13 pating eligible students who use an 

14 opportunity scholarship on the meas15 urements described in paragraph 

16 (3)(B) to the academic achievement’’ 

17 and inserting ‘‘The academic progress 

18 of participating eligible students who 

19 use an opportunity scholarship com20 pared to the academic progress’’; and 

21 (II) by inserting ‘‘, which may in22 clude students’’ after ‘‘students with 

23 similar backgrounds’’; 

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

25 ‘‘increasing the satisfaction of such parents 


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1 and students with their choice’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘those parents’ and students’ satisfac3 tion with the program’’; 

4 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D) 

5 through (F) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(D) The high school graduation rates, 

7 college enrollment rates, college persistence 

8 rates, and college graduation rates of partici9 pating eligible students who use an opportunity 

10 scholarship compared with the rates of public 

11 school students described in subparagraph (A), 

12 to the extent practicable. 

13 ‘‘(E) The college enrollment rates, college 

14 persistence rates, and college graduation rates 

15 of students who participated in the program as 

16 the result of winning the Opportunity Scholar17 ship Program lottery compared to the enroll18 ment, persistence, and graduation rates for stu19 dents who entered but did not win such lottery 

20 and who, as a result, served as the control 

21 group for previous evaluations of the program 

22 under this division. Nothing in this subpara23 graph may be construed to waive section 

24 3004(a)(3)(A)(iii) with respect to any such stu25 dent. 


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1 ‘‘(F) The safety of the schools attended by 

2 participating eligible students who use an op3 portunity scholarship compared with the schools 

4 attended by public school students described in 

5 subparagraph (A), to the extent practicable.’’; 

6 and 

7 (iv) in subparagraph (G), by striking 

8 ‘‘achievement’’ and inserting ‘‘progress’’; 

9 and 

10 (4) in section 3014 (sec. 38–1853.14, D.C. Of11 ficial Code)— 

12 (A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre13 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$60,000,000 

14 for fiscal year 2012 and for each fiscal year 

15 through fiscal year 2023’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and for each 

17 succeeding fiscal year’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (b), by striking 

19 ‘‘$60,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000’’. 

Æ 


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