II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1238

To promote the engagement of young Americans in the democratic process

through civic education in classrooms, in service learning programs, and

in student leadership activities, of America’s public schools.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 2001

Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself and Mr. DAYTON) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To promote the engagement of young Americans in the

democratic process through civic education in classrooms,

in service learning programs, and in student leadership

activities, of America’s public schools.

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 ‘‘Hubert H. Humphrey

5 Civic Education Enhancement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings:
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1 (1) Civic knowledge, civic intellectual skills,

2 civic participation skills, and civic virtue on the part

3 of the United States citizenry are all crucial for the

4 vitality of a healthy representative democracy.

5 (2) In the years after leaving secondary school,

6 young Americans are becoming less engaged in the

7 democratic process. Whereas 50 percent of Ameri8 cans between the ages of 18 and 25 voted in 1972,

9 only 38 percent of that age group voted in 2000.

10 (3) The most recent nationwide survey of in11 coming college freshmen, conducted by the Higher

12 Education Research Institute at the University of

13 California at Los Angeles, reports that only 28.1

14 percent of the students entering college in the fall of

15 2000 reported an interest in ‘‘keeping up to date

16 with political affairs’’. This was the lowest level in

17 the 35-year history of the survey. In 1966, 60.3 per18 cent of students reported an interest in political af19 fairs.

20 (4) According to a Harvard University survey

21 published in 2000, 85 percent of young people said

22 that volunteer work is better than political engage23 ment as a way to solve important issues, suggesting

24 a disconnection between the record high rates of vol-
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1 unteerism by young Americans and an interest in

2 public affairs by these young citizens.

3 (5) The 1998 National Assessment of Edu4 cational Progress (NAEP) Civics Assessment re5 vealed startling results in terms of United States

6 students’ competence in civics at grade levels 4, 8,

7 and 12. At each grade level, the percentage of stu8 dents shown to be below the basic level outnumbered

9 the percentage at the proficient level and at the ad10 vanced level combined. 31 percent of fourth grade

11 students, 30 percent of eighth grade students, and

12 35 percent of secondary school seniors scored below

13 the basic level in their civics achievement.

14 (6) A 1999 study published by the Lyndon B.

15 Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University

16 of Texas at Austin showed that the introduction of

17 mandated State assessments in other fields, but

18 typically not in civics, has resulted in a reduction in

19 the amount of class time spent on civics.

20 (7) From the 1950s until the 1970s, new and

21 veteran teachers in the field of social studies had

22 high-quality professional development opportunities

23 made available to them through programs funded by

24 the Federal Government as part of the National De25 fense Education Act of 1958 (Public Law 85–864;
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1 72 Stat. 1580), the Education Professions Develop2 ment Act (Public Law 89–329; 79 Stat. 1254), the

3 National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42

4 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.), and other programs designed

5 by the Department of Education. Most of those fed6 erally funded opportunities—particularly helpful for

7 new teachers—have disappeared.

8 (8) Service-learning programs, when such pro9 grams are high in quality and linked to other civics

10 curricula, have been shown to increase student effi11 cacy in public affairs and to enhance students’

12 knowledge of how government works and how social

13 change can be brought about. According to a 1997

14 study by Youniss, McLellan, and Yates and a 1999

15 study by Melchoir, over 80 percent of participants in

16 high-quality service-learning programs felt they had

17 made a positive contribution to their community.

18 More importantly, according to another 1997 study,

19 by Billig and Conrad, individuals who participated in

20 service-learning programs as secondary school stu21 dents were shown to be more engaged in community

22 organizations and to vote, 15 years after the service23 learning experiences, than were the individuals’ non24 participant counterparts.
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1 (9) Our Nation’s public middle schools and sec2 ondary schools often miss opportunities to develop

3 and support student governments that are viable

4 voices for students in the operations of those

5 schools. A 1996 study by the National Association of

6 Secondary School Principals showed that fewer than

7 50 percent of high school students believed that

8 their student government ‘‘affects decisions about

cocurricular activities’’ and barely 1 9 ⁄3 expressed con10 fidence in those governments’ ability to ‘‘affect deci11 sions about school rules’’. Moreover, schools rarely

12 take full advantage in encouraging formal involve13 ment by students in local or State government.

14 (10) While a variety of civic education enhance15 ment programs have been implemented through Fed16 eral Government efforts and at the State and local

17 levels, no comprehensive, national research exists on

18 the short- and long-term efficacy of such programs

19 in encouraging civic knowledge and other learning or

20 in promoting civic engagement.

21 (11) As a political scientist, mayor, Senator,

22 and Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey exempli23 fied consummately the application of civic knowl24 edge, civic intellectual skills, civic participation skills,
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1 and civic virtue in the representative democracy of

2 the United States.

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

4 (1) to promote interest and engagement in

5 democratic processes by Americans, particularly by

6 younger Americans, through a variety of civic edu7 cation programs;

8 (2) to promote the vitality of elementary school

9 and secondary school civics curricula and pedagogy

10 through innovative professional development oppor11 tunities for teachers of social studies and related

12 fields;

13 (3) to promote service-learning programs in

14 public schools that are effective in promoting lasting

15 civic involvement by students through developing

16 and expanding professional development opportuni17 ties for teachers participating in the school-based

18 programs under the Learn and Serve America pro19 gram carried out under subtitle B of title I of the

20 National Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

21 12521 et seq.);

22 (4) to permit local educational agencies to use

23 funds made available under an innovative education

24 program to support certain community service and

25 service-learning programs;
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1 (5) to provide funding for public schools desir2 ing to revitalize the efficacy of student governments

3 in the decisionmaking process within those schools;

4 (6) to provide funding for public schools to de5 velop opportunities for secondary school students to

6 participate formally in local or State government ac7 tivities; and

8 (7) to carry out a national study to gain a

9 fuller understanding of the efficacy of various civic

10 education strategies in promoting civic knowledge

11 and other learning and in promoting long-term in12 volvement in civic affairs.

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

14 In this Act:

15 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen16 tary school’’ has the meaning given the term in sec17 tion 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

19 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

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

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

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

23 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

24 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given
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1 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

3 (4) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec4 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in

5 section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

7 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

8 the Secretary of Education.

9 (6) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

10 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given

11 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

12 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

13 SEC. 4. CIVICS EDUCATOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

15 award grants to institutions of higher education, State

16 educational agencies, and other nonprofit educational pro17 viders to enable such institutions, agencies, and providers

18 to establish and operate teacher training and retraining

19 institutes that focus on effective and innovative ap20 proaches and processes for the teaching of civics.

21 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Each institution of higher edu22 cation, State educational agency, and other nonprofit edu23 cational provider desiring a grant under this section shall

24 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
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1 such manner, and accompanied by such information as the

2 Secretary may reasonably require.

3 (c) CIVICS INSTITUTES.—The teacher training and

4 retraining institutes authorized in subsection (a)—

5 (1) shall—

6 (A) be conducted primarily during the

7 summer months with the possibility of short fol8 low-up sessions at other points in the year;

9 (B) be 2 to 6 weeks in duration, including

10 follow-up sessions;

11 (C) be of a size small enough to allow a

12 seminar format;

13 (D) train and retrain teachers who teach

14 in elementary schools and secondary schools;

15 and

16 (E) focus on improving grade-appropriate

17 pedagogy or curricula in specific areas of civics

18 education; and

19 (2) may incorporate participation by elementary

20 school and secondary school students.

21 (d) STIPENDS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—From grant funds received

23 under subsection (a), an institution of higher edu24 cation, State educational agency, or other nonprofit

25 educational provider shall award stipends to individ-
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1 uals participating in a training and retraining insti2 tute carried out by the institution, agency, or pro3 vider under this section. The institution, agency, or

4 provider may also offer course credit as an incentive

5 to participants.

6 (2) AMOUNTS.—Stipends awarded under this

7 subsection shall include allowances for subsistence

8 and such other expenses as the Secretary may deter9 mine to be appropriate, taking into account any ad10 ditional incentive being provided in the form of

11 course credit, and shall be awarded in a manner that

12 is consistent with prevailing practices under federally

13 supported programs comparable to the program car14 ried out under this Act.

15 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants

16 under this section, the Secretary shall seek to achieve an

17 equitable geographical distribution of training and retrain18 ing opportunities throughout the Nation, taking into ac19 count the number of children in each State who are public

20 school students.

21 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may

24 be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
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1 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OP2 PORTUNITIES FOR TEACHERS IN THE LEARN

3 AND SERVE AMERICA PROGRAM.

4 (a) FUNDING AMENDMENT.—Section 501(a)(1)(A)

5 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42

6 U.S.C. 12681) is amended by striking ‘‘, $45,000,000 for

7 fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for

8 each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1996’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘$65,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may

10 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2006’’.

11 (b) SERVICE-LEARNING INSTITUTES.—The National

12 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501

13 et seq.) is amended—

14 (1) by redesignating section 116B as section

15 116C; and

16 (2) by inserting after section 116A the fol17 lowing:

18 ‘‘SEC. 116B. SERVICE-LEARNING INSTITUTES.

19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Corporation is author20 ized to award grants to institutions of higher education,

21 State educational agencies, and other nonprofit edu22 cational providers to enable such institutions, agencies,

23 and providers to establish and operate teacher training

24 and retraining institutes that focus on effective and inno25 vative approaches and processes for school-based service26 learning programs.
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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—Each institution of higher edu2 cation, State educational agency, and other nonprofit edu3 cational provider desiring a grant under this section shall

4 submit an application to the Corporation at such time, in

5 such manner, and accompanied by such information as the

6 Corporation may reasonably require.

7 ‘‘(c) SERVICE-LEARNING INSTITUTES.—The teacher

8 training and retraining institutes authorized in subsection

9 (a)—

10 ‘‘(1) shall—

11 ‘‘(A) be conducted primarily during the

12 summer months with the possibility of short fol13 low-up sessions at other points in the year;

14 ‘‘(B) be 2 to 6 weeks in duration, including

15 follow-up sessions;

16 ‘‘(C) be of a size small enough to allow a

17 seminar format;

18 ‘‘(D) train and retrain teachers who teach

19 in elementary schools and secondary schools;

20 and

21 ‘‘(E) focus on improving grade-appropriate

22 service-learning pedagogy or curricula; and

23 ‘‘(2) may incorporate participation by elemen24 tary school and secondary school students.

25 ‘‘(d) STIPENDS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From grant funds received

2 under subsection (a), an institution of higher edu3 cation, State educational agency, or other nonprofit

4 educational provider shall award stipends to individ5 uals participating in a training and retraining insti6 tute carried out by the institution, agency, or pro7 vider under this section. The institution, agency, or

8 provider may also offer course credit as an incentive

9 to participants.

10 ‘‘(2) AMOUNTS.—Stipends awarded under this

11 subsection shall include allowances for subsistence

12 and such other expenses as the Corporation may de13 termine to be appropriate, taking into account any

14 additional incentive being provided in the form of

15 course credit, and shall be awarded in a manner that

16 is consistent with prevailing practices under federally

17 supported programs comparable to the program car18 ried out under this Act.

19 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICE-LEARNING INSTI20 TUTES.—In awarding grants under this section, the Cor21 poration, in consultation with the Secretary of Education,

22 shall seek to achieve an equitable geographical distribution

23 of training and retraining opportunities throughout the

24 Nation, taking into account the number of children in each

25 State who are public school students.
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1 ‘‘(f) RULE.—Funds appropriated under this section

2 shall be used to supplement and not supplant funds ex3 pended to provide other professional development activities

4 under this subpart.

5 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

7 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may

8 be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

9 SEC. 6. LOCAL INNOVATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

10 Section 6301(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7351(b)) is amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and

13 inserting a semicolon;

14 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at

15 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

16 (3) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(10) community service programs under which

18 qualified school personnel train and mobilize young

19 people to measurably strengthen their communities

20 through nonviolence, responsibility, compassion, re21 spect, and moral courage.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE ENDEAVORS IN ENCOUR2 AGING ACTIVE STUDENT GOVERNMENT AND

3 STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN LOCAL AND

4 STATE GOVERNMENT.

5 (a) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—

6 The Secretary is authorized to award grants to local edu7 cational agencies to enable such agencies to carry out 1

8 or more of the following activities:

9 (1) Planning, developing, and implementing a

10 program to invigorate and enhance the efficacy of

11 student government and other student leadership

12 programs in the decision-making processes of sec13 ondary schools throughout the school district served

14 by the local educational agency.

15 (2) Planning, developing, and implementing a

16 partnership program with the appropriate govern17 mental entities to allow formal involvement by sec18 ondary school student representatives in local gov19 ernment activities, on the school board, in the local

20 educational agency, or in State government.

21 (b) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—

22 The Secretary is authorized to award grants to State edu23 cational agencies to enable such agencies to carry out 1

24 or more of the following activities:

25 (1) Providing professional training programs

26 for student leaders that—
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1 (A) inform such student leaders about

2 local and State government and about the Fed3 eral Government; and

4 (B) are less than 1 week in duration.

5 (2) Providing training programs for student

6 leaders that—

7 (A) use experienced student leaders to

8 carry out training on the importance of civic

9 engagement, methods of engagement, and other

10 aspects of leadership development; and

11 (B) are less than 1 week in duration.

12 (3) Providing stipends for student leaders who

13 participate in training programs carried out by the

14 State educational agency under paragraphs (1) and

15 (2).

16 (c) APPLICATIONS.—Each local educational agency

17 or State educational agency desiring a grant under this

18 section shall submit an application to the Secretary at

19 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in20 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require.

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

23 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may

24 be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
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1 SEC. 8. STUDY ON THE EFFICACY OF VARIOUS CIVIC EDU2 CATION STRATEGIES.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Educational Re4 search and Improvement shall conduct a study of a rep5 resentative sample of State educational agencies and local

6 educational agencies, to evaluate the effectiveness of the

7 various approaches used in civic education in elementary

8 schools and secondary schools.

9 (b) DURATION.—The study shall not exceed 5 years

10 in duration.

11 (c) PROCESS.—The study shall be based on a re12 search design determined by the Office of Educational Re13 search and Improvement, in consultation with others, that

14 involves the use of existing data, and the development of

15 new data as feasible and advisable.

16 (d) SCOPE OF STUDY.—The study shall examine, at

17 a minimum—

18 (1) the frequency of the use of various civic

19 education approaches in elementary schools and sec20 ondary schools and the approaches used for students

21 at different levels, including—

22 (A) service-learning (as defined in section

23 101 of the National and Community Service

24 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511);
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1 (B) the Close Up program and other expe2 riential learning with State and local govern3 ment;

4 (C) instruction based on the ‘‘We the Peo5 ple . . . The Citizen and the Constitution’’ cur6 riculum;

7 (D) law-related education programs;

8 (E) participation in simulations of govern9 mental activities;

10 (F) public work programs;

11 (G) participation in student government;

12 and

13 (H) classroom instruction in civics; and

14 (2) the effectiveness of the various civic edu15 cation approaches in elementary schools and sec16 ondary schools and the comparative effectiveness of

17 the various approaches among students at different

18 levels in promoting learning and civic engagement,

19 including effectiveness in promoting—

20 (A) student knowledge as specified in the

21 voluntary National Standards for Civics and

22 Government and in the third National Edu23 cation Goal;

24 (B) student knowledge of the content of

25 challenging State student performance stand-
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1 ards that incorporate civics, government, and

2 the law;

3 (C) student interest in public affairs and

4 political activity; and

5 (D) student belief that political engage6 ment is a way to solve important societal prob7 lems.

8 (e) DISAGGREGATION OF RESULTS.—The results of

9 the study shall be disaggregated by—

10 (1) gender;

11 (2) major racial and ethnic groups; and

12 (3) economically disadvantaged students as

13 compared to students who are not economically dis14 advantaged.

15 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, ‘‘public work pro16 gram’’ means a program that involves work on common

17 projects of civic benefit with a focus on bringing together

18 individuals with ideological, cultural, racial, income, and

19 other differences in carrying out the projects.

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