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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1640

To provide a low-income school choice demonstration program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 1995

Mr. WELDON of Florida (for himself and Mr. RIGGS) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational

Opportunities

A BILL

To provide a low-income school choice demonstration

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 ‘‘Low-Income School

5 Choice Demonstration Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 The purpose of this Act is to determine the effects

8 on students and schools of providing financial assistance

9 to low-income parents to enable such parents to select the

10 public or private schools their children will attend.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 As used in this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘choice school’’ means any public

4 or private school, including a private sectarian

5 school or a public charter school, that is involved in

6 a demonstration project assisted under this Act;

7 (2) the term ‘‘eligible child’’ means a child in

8 grades 1 through 12 who is eligible for free or re9 duced price lunches under the National School

10 Lunch Act;

11 (3) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a public

12 agency, institution, or organization, such as a State,

13 a State or local educational agency, a consortium of

14 public agencies, or a consortium of public and pri15 vate nonprofit organizations, that can demonstrate,

16 to the satisfaction of the Secretary, its ability to—

17 (A) receive, disburse, and account for Fed18 eral funds; and

19 (B) carry out the activities described in its

20 application under this Act;

21 (4) the term ‘‘evaluating agency’’ means any

22 academic institution, consortium of professionals, or

23 private or nonprofit organization, with demonstrated

24 experience in conducting evaluations, that is not an

25 agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern26 ment;
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1 (5) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

2 same meaning given such term in section 14101 of

3 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

4 1965;

5 (6) the term ‘‘parent’’ includes a legal guardian

6 or other individual acting in loco parentis;

7 (7) the term ‘‘school’’ means a school that pro8 vides elementary education or secondary education

9 (through grade 12), as determined under State law;

10 and

11 (8) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

12 of Education.

13 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000

15 for fiscal year 1996, and such sums as may be necessary

16 for each of the fiscal years 1997 and 1998, to carry out

17 this Act.

18 SEC. 5. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

19 (a) RESERVATION.—From the amount appropriated

20 pursuant to the authority of section 4 in any fiscal year,

21 the Secretary shall reserve and make available to the

22 Comptroller General of the United States 5 percent for

23 evaluation of programs assisted under this Act in accord24 ance with section 11.

25 (b) GRANTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro2 priated pursuant to the authority of section 4 and

3 not reserved under subsection (a) for any fiscal year,

4 the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities

5 to enable such entities to carry out at least 10, but

6 not more than 20, demonstration projects under

7 which low-income parents receive education certifi8 cates for the costs of enrolling their eligible children

9 in a choice school.

10 (2) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall award

11 grants under paragraph (1) for fiscal year 1996 so

12 that—

13 (A) not more than 2 grants are awarded in

14 amounts of $5,000,000 or less; and

15 (B) grants not described in subparagraph

16 (A) are awarded in amounts of $3,000,000 or

17 less.

18 (3) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary

19 shall continue a demonstration project under this

20 Act by awarding a grant under paragraph (1) to an

21 eligible entity that received such a grant for a fiscal

22 year preceding the fiscal year for which the deter23 mination is made, if the Secretary determines that

24 such eligible entity was in compliance with this Act

25 for such preceding fiscal year.
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1 (c) USE OF GRANTS.—Grants awarded under sub2 section (b) shall be used to pay the costs of—

3 (1) providing education certificates to low-in4 come parents to enable such parents to pay the tui5 tion, the fees, the allowable costs of transportation,

6 if any, and the costs of complying with section

7 9(a)(1), if any, for their eligible children to attend

8 a choice school; and

9 (2) administration of the demonstration project,

10 which shall not exceed 15 percent of the amount re11 ceived in the first fiscal year for which the eligible

12 entity provides education certificates under this Act

13 or 10 percent in any subsequent year, including—

14 (A) seeking the involvement of choice

15 schools in the demonstration project;

16 (B) providing information about the dem17 onstration project, and the schools involved in

18 the demonstration project, to parents of eligible

19 children;

20 (C) making determinations of eligibility for

21 participation in the demonstration project for

22 eligible children;

23 (D) selecting students to participate in the

24 demonstration project;
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1 (E) determining the amount of, and issu2 ing, education certificates;

3 (F) compiling and maintaining such finan4 cial and programmatic records as the Secretary

5 may prescribe; and

6 (G) collecting such information about the

7 effects of the demonstration project as the eval8 uating agency may need to conduct the evalua9 tion described in section 11.

10 (d) SPECIAL RULE.—Any school participating in the

11 demonstration program under this Act shall comply with

12 title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and not discrimi13 nate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZED PROJECTS; PRIORITY.

15 (a) AUTHORIZED PROJECTS.—The Secretary may

16 award a grant under this Act only for a demonstration

17 project that—

18 (1) involves at least one local educational agen19 cy that—

20 (A) receives funds under section 1124A of

21 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

22 of 1965; and

23 (B) is among the 20 percent of local edu24 cational agencies receiving funds under section

25 1124A of such Act in the State and having the
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1 highest number of children described in section

2 1124(c) of such Act; and

3 (2) includes the involvement of a sufficient

4 number of public and private choice schools, in the

5 judgment of the Secretary, to allow for a valid dem6 onstration project.

7 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this Act,

8 the Secretary shall give priority to demonstration

9 projects—

10 (1) in which choice schools offer an enrollment

11 opportunity to the broadest range of eligible chil12 dren;

13 (2) that involve diverse types of choice schools;

14 and

15 (3) that will contribute to the geographic diver16 sity of demonstration projects assisted under this

17 Act, including awarding grants for demonstration

18 projects in States that are primarily rural and

19 awarding grants for demonstration projects in States

20 that are primarily urban.

21 SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible entity that wishes to

23 receive a grant under this Act shall submit an application

24 to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the

25 Secretary may prescribe.
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1 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application described in sub2 section (a) shall contain—

3 (1) information demonstrating the eligibility for

4 participation in the demonstration program of the

5 eligible entity;

6 (2) with respect to choice schools—

7 (A) a description of the standards used by

8 the eligible entity to determine which public and

9 private schools are within a reasonable commut10 ing distance of eligible children and present a

11 reasonable commuting cost for such eligible

12 children;

13 (B) a description of the types of potential

14 choice schools that will be involved in the dem15 onstration project;

16 (C)(i) a description of the procedures used

17 to encourage public and private schools to be

18 involved in the demonstration project; and

19 (ii) a description of how the eligible entity

20 will annually determine the number of spaces

21 available for eligible children in each choice

22 school;

23 (D) an assurance that each choice school

24 will not impose higher standards for admission

25 or participation in its programs and activities
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1 for eligible children provided education certifi2 cates under this Act than the choice school does

3 for other children;

4 (E) an assurance that each choice school

5 operated, for at least 1 year prior to accepting

6 education certificates under this Act, an edu7 cational program similar to the educational pro8 gram for which such choice school will accept

9 such education certificates;

10 (F) an assurance that the eligible entity

11 will terminate the involvement of any choice

12 school that fails to comply with the conditions

13 of its involvement in the demonstration project;

14 and

15 (G) a description of the extent to which

16 choice schools will accept education certificates

17 under this Act as full or partial payment for

18 tuition and fees;

19 (3) with respect to the participation in the dem20 onstration project of eligible children—

21 (A) a description of the procedures to be

22 used to make a determination of eligibility for

23 participation in the demonstration project for

24 an eligible child, which shall include—
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1 (i) the procedures used to determine

2 eligibility for free or reduced price lunches

3 under the National School Lunch Act; or

4 (ii) any other procedure, subject to

5 the Secretary’s approval, that accurately

6 establishes the eligibility for such partici7 pation for an eligible child;

8 (B) a description of the procedures to be

9 used to ensure that, in selecting eligible chil10 dren to participate in the demonstration

11 project, the eligible entity will—

12 (i) apply the same criteria to both

13 public and private school eligible children;

14 and

15 (ii) give priority to eligible children

16 from the lowest income families;

17 (C) a description of the procedures to be

18 used to ensure maximum choice of schools for

19 participating eligible children, including proce20 dures to be used when—

21 (i) the number of parents provided

22 education certificates under this Act who

23 desire to enroll their eligible children in a

24 particular choice school exceeds the num-
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1 ber of eligible children that the choice

2 school will accept; and

3 (ii) grant funds and funds from local

4 sources are insufficient to support the total

5 cost of choices made by parents with edu6 cation certificates under this Act; and

7 (D) a description of the procedures to be

8 used to ensure compliance with section 9(a)(1),

9 which may include—

10 (i) the direct provision of services by

11 a local educational agency; and

12 (ii) arrangements made by a local

13 educational agency with other service pro14 viders;

15 (4) with respect to the operation of the dem16 onstration project—

17 (A) a description of the geographic area to

18 be served;

19 (B) a timetable for carrying out the dem20 onstration project;

21 (C) a description of the procedures to be

22 used for the issuance and redemption of edu23 cation certificates under this Act;

24 (D) a description of the procedures by

25 which a choice school will make a pro rata re-
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1 fund of the education certificate under this Act

2 for any participating eligible child who with3 draws from the school for any reason, before

4 completing 75 percent of the school attendance

5 period for which the education certificate was

6 issued;

7 (E) a description of the procedures to be

8 used to provide the parental notification de9 scribed in section 10;

10 (F) an assurance that the eligible entity

11 will place all funds received under this Act into

12 a separate account, and that no other funds will

13 be placed in such account;

14 (G) an assurance that the eligible entity

15 will provide the Secretary periodic reports on

16 the status of such funds;

17 (H) an assurance that the eligible entity

18 will cooperate with the Comptroller General of

19 the United States and the evaluating agency in

20 carrying out the evaluations described in section

21 11; and

22 (I) an assurance that the eligible entity

23 will—

24 (i) maintain such records as the Sec25 retary may require; and
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1 (ii) comply with reasonable requests

2 from the Secretary for information; and

3 (5) such other assurances and information as

4 the Secretary may require.

5 SEC. 8. EDUCATION CERTIFICATES.

6 (a) EDUCATION CERTIFICATES.—

7 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of an eligible

8 child’s education certificate under this Act shall be

9 determined by the eligible entity, but shall be an

10 amount that provides to the recipient of the edu11 cation certificate the maximum degree of choice in

12 selecting the choice school the eligible child will at13 tend.

14 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to such regula16 tions as the Secretary shall prescribe, in deter17 mining the amount of an education certificate

18 under this Act an eligible entity shall con19 sider—

20 (i) the additional reasonable costs of

21 transportation directly attributable to the

22 eligible child’s participation in the dem23 onstration project; and

24 (ii) the cost of complying with section

25 9(a)(1).
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1 (B) SCHOOLS CHARGING TUITION.—If an

2 eligible child participating in a demonstration

3 project under this Act was attending a public or

4 private school that charged tuition for the year

5 preceding the first year of such participation,

6 then in determining the amount of an education

7 certificate for such eligible child under this Act

8 the eligible entity shall consider—

9 (i) the tuition charged by such school

10 for such eligible child in such preceding

11 year; and

12 (ii) the amount of the education cer13 tificates under this Act that are provided

14 to other eligible children.

15 (3) SPECIAL RULE.—An eligible entity may pro16 vide an education certificate under this Act to the

17 parent of an eligible child who chooses to attend a

18 school that does not charge tuition or fees, to pay

19 the additional reasonable costs of transportation di20 rectly attributable to the eligible child’s participation

21 in the demonstration project or the cost of comply22 ing with section 9(a)(1).

23 (b) ADJUSTMENT.—The amount of the education cer24 tificate for a fiscal year may be adjusted in the second

25 and third years of an eligible child’s participation in a
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1 demonstration project under this Act to reflect any in2 crease or decrease in the tuition, fees, or transportation

3 costs directly attributable to that eligible child’s continued

4 attendance at a choice school, but shall not be increased

5 for this purpose by more than 10 percent of the amount

6 of the education certificate for the fiscal year preceding

7 the fiscal year for which the determination is made. The

8 amount of the education certificate may also be adjusted

9 in any fiscal year to comply with section 9(a)(1).

10 (c) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding any other

11 provision of this section, the amount of an eligible child’s

12 education certificate shall not exceed the per pupil expend13 iture for elementary or secondary education, as appro14 priate, by the local educational agency in which the public

15 school to which the eligible child would normally be as16 signed is located for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal

17 year for which the determination is made.

18 (d) INCOME.—An education certificate under this

19 Act, and funds provided under the education certificate,

20 shall not be treated as income of the parents for purposes

21 of Federal tax laws or for determining eligibility for any

22 other Federal program.

23 SEC. 9. EFFECT ON OTHER PROGRAMS; USE OF SCHOOL

24 LUNCH DATA.

25 (a) EFFECT ON OTHER PROGRAMS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible child participat2 ing in a demonstration project under this Act, who,

3 in the absence of such a demonstration project,

4 would have received services under part A of title I

5 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

6 1965 shall be provided such services.

7 (2) PART B OF THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS8 ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.—Nothing in this Act

9 shall be construed to affect the requirements of part

10 B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

11 (b) COUNTING OF ELIGIBLE CHILDREN.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, any local educational

13 agency participating in a demonstration project under this

14 Act may count eligible children who, in the absence of such

15 a demonstration project, would attend the schools of such

16 agency, for purposes of receiving funds under any program

17 administered by the Secretary.

18 (c) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding section 9 of

19 the National School Lunch Act, an eligible entity receiving

20 a grant under this Act may use information collected for

21 the purpose of determining eligibility for free or reduced

22 price lunches to determine an eligible child’s eligibility to

23 participate in a demonstration project under this Act and,

24 if needed, to rank families by income, in accordance with

25 section 7(b)(3)(B)(ii). All such information shall otherwise
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1 remain confidential, and information pertaining to income

2 may be disclosed only to persons who need that informa3 tion for the purposes of a demonstration project under this

4 Act.

5 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—

6 (1) OTHER INSTITUTIONS.—Nothing in this Act

7 shall be construed to supersede or modify any provi8 sion of a State constitution or State law that pro9 hibits the expenditure of public funds in or by reli10 gious or other private institutions, except that no

11 provision of a State constitution or State law shall

12 be construed or applied to prohibit any grantee from

13 paying the administrative costs of a program under

14 this Act or to prohibit the expenditure in or by reli15 gious or other private institutions of any Federal

16 funds provided under this Act.

17 (2) DESEGREGATION PLANS.—Nothing in this

18 Act shall be construed to interfere with any desegre19 gation plans that involve school attendance areas af20 fected by this Act.

21 SEC. 10. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION.

22 Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act

23 shall provide timely notice of the demonstration project

24 to parents of eligible children residing in the area to be
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1 served by the demonstration project. At a minimum, such

2 notice shall—

3 (1) describe the demonstration project;

4 (2) describe the eligibility requirements for par5 ticipation in the demonstration project;

6 (3) describe the information needed to make a

7 determination of eligibility for participation in the

8 demonstration project for an eligible child;

9 (4) describe the selection procedures to be used

10 if the number of eligible children seeking to partici11 pate in the demonstration project exceeds the num12 ber that can be accommodated in the demonstration

13 project;

14 (5) provide information about each choice

15 school, including information about any admission

16 requirements or criteria for each choice school par17 ticipating in the demonstration project; and

18 (6) include the schedule for parents to apply for

19 their eligible children to participate in the dem20 onstration project.

21 SEC. 11. EVALUATION.

22 (a) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—

23 (1) CONTRACT.—The Comptroller General of

24 the United States shall enter into a contract, with

25 an evaluating agency that has demonstrated experi-
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1 ence in conducting evaluations, for the conduct of an

2 ongoing rigorous evaluation of the demonstration

3 program under this Act.

4 (2) ANNUAL EVALUATION REQUIREMENT.—The

5 contract described in paragraph (1) shall require the

6 evaluating agency entering into such contract to an7 nually evaluate each demonstration project under

8 this Act in accordance with the evaluation criteria

9 described in subsection (b).

10 (3) TRANSMISSION.—The contract described in

11 paragraph (1) shall require the evaluating agency

12 entering into such contract to transmit to the Comp13 troller General of the United States—

14 (A) the findings of each annual evaluation

15 under paragraph (1); and

16 (B) a copy of each report received pursu17 ant to section 12(a) for the applicable year.

18 (b) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—The Comptroller Gen19 eral of the United States, in consultation with the Sec20 retary, shall establish minimum criteria for evaluating the

21 demonstration program under this Act. Such criteria shall

22 provide for—

23 (1) a description of the implementation of each

24 demonstration project under this Act and the dem25 onstration project’s effects on all participants,
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1 schools, and communities in the demonstration

2 project area, with particular attention given to the

3 effect of parent participation in the life of the school

4 and the level of parental satisfaction with the dem5 onstration program; and

6 (2) a comparison of the educational achieve7 ment of all students in the demonstration project

8 area, including a comparison of—

9 (A) students receiving education certifi10 cates under this Act; and

11 (B) students not receiving education cer12 tificates under this Act.

13 SEC. 12. REPORTS.

14 (a) REPORT BY GRANT RECIPIENT.—Each eligible

15 entity receiving a grant under this Act shall submit to the

16 evaluating agency entering into the contract under section

17 11(a)(1) an annual report regarding the demonstration

18 project under this Act. Each such report shall be submit19 ted at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

20 such information, as such evaluating agency may require.

21 (b) REPORTS BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—

22 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Comptroller Gen23 eral of the United States shall report annually to the

24 Congress on the findings of the annual evaluation

25 under section 11(a)(2) of each demonstration project
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1 under this Act. Each such report shall contain a

2 copy of—

3 (A) the annual evaluation under section

4 11(a)(2) of each demonstration project under

5 this Act; and

6 (B) each report received under subsection

7 (a) for the applicable year.

8 (2) FINAL REPORT.—The Comptroller General

9 shall submit a final report to the Congress within 9

10 months after the conclusion of the demonstration

11 program under this Act that summarizes the find12 ings of the annual evaluations conducted pursuant to

13 section 11(a)(2).

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