II 

Calendar No. 145 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1552 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2009 

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. VOINOVICH, 

Mr. BYRD, and Mr. ENSIGN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read the first time 

JULY 31, 2009 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship program, and 

for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Scholarships for Op5 portunity and Results Act of 2009’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

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1 (1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions 

2 for their children, including the educational setting 

3 that will best serve the interests and educational 

4 needs of their child. 

5 (2) For many parents in the District of Colum6 bia, public school choice provided under the Elemen7 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as 

8 amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 

9 as well as under other public school choice programs, 

10 is inadequate. More educational options are needed 

11 to ensure all families in the District of Columbia 

12 have access to a quality education. In particular, 

13 funds are needed to provide low-income parents with 

14 enhanced public opportunities and private edu15 cational environments, regardless of whether such 

16 environments are secular or nonsecular. 

17 (3) Public school records raise persistent con18 cerns regarding health and safety problems in Dis19 trict of Columbia public schools. For example, more 

20 than half of the District of Columbia’s teenage pub21 lic school students attend schools that meet the Dis22 trict of Columbia’s definition of ‘‘persistently dan23 gerous’’ due to the number of violent crimes. 

24 (4) While the per student cost for students in 

25 the public schools of the District of Columbia is one 

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1 of the highest in the United States, test scores for 

2 such students continue to be among the lowest in 

3 the Nation. The National Assessment of Educational 

4 Progress (NAEP), an annual report released by the 

5 National Center for Education Statistics, reported in 

6 its 2007 study that students in the District of Co7 lumbia were being outperformed by every State in 

8 the Nation. On the 2007 NAEP, 61 percent of 

9 fourth grade students scored ‘‘below basic’’ in read10 ing, and 51 percent scored ‘‘below basic’’ in mathe11 matics. Among eighth grade students, 52 percent 

12 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in reading and 56 percent 

13 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in mathematics. On the 2007 

14 NAEP reading assessment, only 14 percent of the 

15 District of Columbia fourth grade students could 

16 read proficiently, while only 12 percent of the eighth 

17 grade students scored at the proficient or advanced 

18 level. 

19 (5) In 2003, Congress passed the DC School 

20 Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 

21 118 Stat. 126) to provide opportunity scholarships 

22 to parents of students in the District of Columbia 

23 that could be used by students in kindergarten 

24 through grade 12 to attend a private educational in25 stitution. The opportunity scholarship program 

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1 under such Act was part of a comprehensive 3-part 

2 funding arrangement that also included additional 

3 funds for the District of Columbia public schools, 

4 and additional funds for public charter schools of 

5 the District of Columbia. The intent of the approach 

6 was to ensure that progress would continue to be 

7 made to improve public schools and public charter 

8 schools, and that funding for the opportunity schol9 arship program would not lead to a reduction in 

10 funding for the District of Columbia public and 

11 charter schools. Resources would be available for a 

12 variety of educational options that would give fami13 lies in the District of Columbia a range of choices 

14 with regard to the education of their children. 

15 (6) The opportunity scholarship program was 

16 established in accordance with the U.S. Supreme 

17 Court decision, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 

18 U.S. 639 (2002), which found that a program en19 acted for the valid secular purpose of providing edu20 cational assistance to low-income children in a de21 monstrably failing public school system is constitu22 tional if it is neutral with respect to religion and 

23 provides assistance to a broad class of citizens who 

24 direct government aid to religious and secular 

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1 schools solely as a result of their genuine and inde2 pendent private choices. 

3 (7) Since the opportunity scholarship program’s 

4 inception, it has consistently been oversubscribed. 

5 Parents express strong support for the opportunity 

6 scholarship program. A rigorous analysis of the pro7 gram by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) 

8 shows statistically significant improvements in pa9 rental satisfaction and in reading scores that are 

10 even more dramatic when only those students con11 sistently using the scholarships are considered. 

12 (8) The DC opportunity scholarship program is 

13 a program that offers families in need, in the Dis14 trict of Columbia, important alternatives while pub15 lic schools are improved. It is the sense of Congress 

16 that this program should continue as 1 of a 3-part 

17 comprehensive funding strategy for the District of 

18 Columbia school system that provides new and equal 

19 funding for public schools, public charter schools, 

20 and opportunity scholarships for students to attend 

21 private schools. 

22 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

23 The purpose of this Act is to provide low-income par24 ents residing in the District of Columbia, particularly par25 ents of students who attend elementary schools or secmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 ondary schools identified for improvement, corrective ac2 tion, or restructuring under section 1116 of the Elemen3 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 6316), with expanded opportunities for enrolling their 

5 children in other schools in the District of Columbia, at 

6 least until the public schools in the District of Columbia 

7 have adequately addressed shortfalls in health, safety, and 

8 security and the students in the District of Columbia pub9 lic schools are testing in mathematics and reading at or 

10 above the national average. 

11 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

12 (a) AUTHORITY.—From funds appropriated to carry 

13 out this Act, the Secretary shall award grants on a com14 petitive basis to eligible entities with approved applications 

15 under section 5 to carry out activities to provide eligible 

16 students with expanded school choice opportunities. The 

17 Secretary may award a single grant or multiple grants, 

18 depending on the quality of applications submitted and the 

19 priorities of this Act. 

20 (b) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

21 make grants under this section for a period of not more 

22 than 5 years. 

23 (c) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec24 retary and the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall 

25 enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding the 

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1 design of, selection of eligible entities to receive grants 

2 under, and implementation of, a program assisted under 

3 this Act. 

4 (d) SPECIAL RULES.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law— 

6 (1) funding appropriated for the opportunity 

7 scholarship program under the Omnibus Appropria8 tions Act, 2009, or any other Act, may be used to 

9 provide opportunity scholarships under section 7 to 

10 new applicants; 

11 (2) each student application for admission in 

12 the program under this Act for the 2009-2010 

13 school year that was received before the date of en14 actment of this Act shall be considered for admission 

15 into the program for such school year; and 

16 (3) subject to the availability of appropriated 

17 funds, each student whose selection for admission in 

18 the program under this Act for the 2009–2010 

19 school year was revoked by the Secretary before the 

20 date of enactment of this Act shall have the stu21 dent’s admission reinstated for such school year. 

22 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant under 

24 this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 

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1 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom2 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The Secretary may not approve the 

4 request of an eligible entity for a grant under this Act 

5 unless the entity’s application includes— 

6 (1) a detailed description of— 

7 (A) how the entity will address the prior8 ities described in section 6; 

9 (B) how the entity will ensure that if more 

10 eligible students seek admission in the program 

11 than the program can accommodate, eligible 

12 students are selected for admission through a 

13 random selection process which gives weight to 

14 the priorities described in section 6; 

15 (C) how the entity will ensure that if more 

16 participating eligible students seek admission to 

17 a participating school than the school can ac18 commodate, participating eligible students are 

19 selected for admission through a random selec20 tion process; 

21 (D) how the entity will notify parents of el22 igible students of the expanded choice opportu23 nities and how the entity will ensure that par24 ents receive sufficient information about their 

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1 options to allow the parents to make informed 

2 decisions; 

3 (E) the activities that the entity will carry 

4 out to provide parents of eligible students with 

5 expanded choice opportunities through the 

6 awarding of scholarships under section 7(a); 

7 (F) how the entity will determine the 

8 amount that will be provided to parents for the 

9 tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if 

10 any; 

11 (G) how the entity will— 

12 (i) seek out private elementary schools 

13 and secondary schools in the District of 

14 Columbia to participate in the program; 

15 and 

16 (ii) ensure that participating schools 

17 will meet the reporting and other require18 ments of this Act; 

19 (H) how the entity will ensure that partici20 pating schools are financially responsible and 

21 will use the funds received under this Act effec22 tively; 

23 (I) how the entity will address the renewal 

24 of scholarships to participating eligible stu25 dents, including continued eligibility; and 

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1 (J) how the entity will ensure that a ma2 jority of its voting board members or governing 

3 organization are residents of the District of Co4 lumbia; and 

5 (2) an assurance that the entity will comply 

6 with all requests regarding any evaluation carried 

7 out under section 9. 

8 SEC. 6. PRIORITIES. 

9 In awarding grants under this Act, the Secretary 

10 shall give priority to applications from eligible entities that 

11 will most effectively— 

12 (1) give priority to eligible students who, in the 

13 school year preceding the school year for which the 

14 eligible student is seeking a scholarship, attended an 

15 elementary school or secondary school identified for 

16 improvement, corrective action, or restructuring 

17 under section 1116 of the Elementary and Sec18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316); 

19 (2) give priority to students whose household 

20 includes a sibling or other child who is already par21 ticipating in the program of the eligible entity under 

22 this Act, regardless of whether such students have, 

23 in the past, been assigned as members of a control 

24 study group for the purposes of an evaluation under 

25 section 9; 

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1 (3) target resources to students and families 

2 that lack the financial resources to take advantage 

3 of available educational options; and 

4 (4) provide students and families with the 

5 widest range of educational options. 

6 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 

7 (a) SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

9 and (3), an eligible entity receiving a grant under 

10 this Act shall use the grant funds to provide eligible 

11 students with scholarships to pay the tuition, fees, 

12 and transportation expenses, if any, to enable the el13 igible students to attend the District of Columbia 

14 private elementary school or secondary school of 

15 their choice beginning in school year 2010–2011. 

16 Each such eligible entity shall ensure that the 

17 amount of any tuition or fees charged by a school 

18 participating in such eligible entity’s program under 

19 this Act to an eligible student participating in the 

20 program does not exceed the amount of tuition or 

21 fees that the school charges to students who do not 

22 participate in the program. 

23 (2) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—An eligible entity 

24 receiving a grant under this Act shall make scholar25 ship payments under the program under this Act to 

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1 the parent of the eligible student participating in the 

2 program, in a manner which ensures that such pay3 ments will be used for the payment of tuition, fees, 

4 and transportation expenses (if any), in accordance 

5 with this Act. 

6 (3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.— 

7 (A) VARYING AMOUNTS PERMITTED.—Sub8 ject to the other requirements of this section, 

9 an eligible entity receiving a grant under this 

10 Act may award scholarships in larger amounts 

11 to those eligible students with the greatest 

12 need. 

13 (B) ANNUAL LIMIT ON AMOUNT.— 

14 (i) LIMIT FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2010– 

15 2011.—The amount of assistance provided 

16 to any eligible student by an eligible entity 

17 under a program under this Act for school 

18 year 2010–2011 may not exceed— 

19 (I) $9,000 for attendance in kin20 dergarten through grade 8; and 

21 (II) $11,000 for attendance in 

22 grades 9 through 12. 

23 (ii) CUMULATIVE INFLATION ADJUST24 MENT.—The limits described in clause (i) 

25 shall apply for each school year following 

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1 school year 2010–2011, except that the 

2 Secretary shall adjust the maximum 

3 amounts of assistance (as described in 

4 clause (i) and adjusted under this clause 

5 for the preceding year) for inflation, as 

6 measured by the percentage increase, if 

7 any, from the preceding fiscal year in the 

8 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con9 sumers, published by the Bureau of Labor 

10 Statistics of the Department of Labor. 

11 (4) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 None of the funds provided under this Act for op13 portunity scholarships may be used by an eligible 

14 student to enroll in a participating private school 

15 unless the participating school— 

16 (A) has and maintains a valid certificate of 

17 occupancy issued by the District of Columbia; 

18 (B) makes readily available to all prospec19 tive students information on its school accredi20 tation; 

21 (C) in the case of a school that has been 

22 operating for 5 years or less, submits to the eli23 gible entity administering the program proof of 

24 adequate financial resources reflecting the fi25 nancial sustainability of the school and the 

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1 school’s ability to be in operation through the 

2 school year; 

3 (D) has financial systems, controls, poli4 cies, and procedures to ensure that Federal 

5 funds are used according to this Act; and 

6 (E) ensures that each teacher of core sub7 ject matter in the school has a baccalaureate 

8 degree or equivalent degree. 

9 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible entity 

10 receiving a grant under this Act may use not more than 

11 3 percent of the amount provided under the grant each 

12 year for the administrative expenses of carrying out its 

13 program under this Act during the year, including— 

14 (1) determining the eligibility of students to 

15 participate; 

16 (2) selecting eligible students to receive scholar17 ships; 

18 (3) determining the amount of scholarships and 

19 issuing the scholarships to eligible students; and 

20 (4) compiling and maintaining financial and 

21 programmatic records. 

22 (c) PARENTAL ASSISTANCE.—An eligible entity re23 ceiving a grant under this Act may use not more than 

24 2 percent of the amount provided under the grant each 

25 year for the expenses of educating parents about the promstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 gram under this Act and assisting parents through the 

2 application process under this Act during the year, includ3 ing— 

4 (1) providing information about the program 

5 and the participating schools to parents of eligible 

6 students; 

7 (2) providing funds to assist parents of stu8 dents in meeting expenses that might otherwise pre9 clude the participation of eligible students in the 

10 program; and 

11 (3) streamlining the application process for par12 ents. 

13 (d) STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE.—An eligible 

14 entity receiving a grant under this Act may use not more 

15 than 1 percent of the amount provided under the grant 

16 each year for expenses to provide tutoring services to par17 ticipating eligible students that need additional academic 

18 assistance in the students’ new schools. If there are insuf19 ficient funds to pay for these costs for all such students, 

20 the eligible entity shall give priority to students who pre21 viously attended an elementary school or secondary school 

22 that was identified for improvement, corrective action, or 

23 restructuring under section 1116 of the Elementary and 

24 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316) as 

25 of the time the student attended the school. 

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1 SEC. 8. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity or a school par3 ticipating in any program under this Act shall not dis4 criminate against program participants or applicants on 

5 the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. 

6 (b) APPLICABILITY AND SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, 

7 CLASSES, OR ACTIVITIES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the prohibition of sex discrimina10 tion in subsection (a) shall not apply to a partici11 pating school that is operated by, supervised by, con12 trolled by, or connected to a religious organization to 

13 the extent that the application of subsection (a) is 

14 inconsistent with the religious tenets or beliefs of the 

15 school. 

16 (2) SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, CLASSES, OR ACTIVI17 TIES.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other 

18 provision of law, a parent may choose and a school 

19 may offer a single sex school, class, or activity. 

20 (3) APPLICABILITY.—For purposes of this Act, 

21 the provisions of section 909 of the Education 

22 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) shall apply 

23 to this Act as if section 909 of the Education 

24 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) were part of 

25 this Act. 

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1 (c) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—Nothing in this 

2 Act may be construed to alter or modify the provisions 

3 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

4 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 

5 (d) RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED SCHOOLS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of law, a school participating in any pro8 gram under this Act that is operated by, supervised 

9 by, controlled by, or connected to, a religious organi10 zation may exercise its right in matters of employ11 ment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

12 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the 

13 exemptions in such title. 

14 (2) MAINTENANCE OF PURPOSE.—Notwith15 standing any other provision of law, funds made 

16 available under this Act to eligible students, which 

17 are used at a participating school as a result of their 

18 parents’ choice, shall not, consistent with the first 

19 amendment of the United States Constitution, ne20 cessitate any change in the participating school’s 

21 teaching mission, require any participating school to 

22 remove religious art, icons, scriptures, or other sym23 bols, or preclude any participating school from re24 taining religious terms in its name, selecting its 

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1 ligious references in its mission statements and 

2 other chartering or governing documents. 

3 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A scholarship (or any 

4 other form of support provided to parents of eligible stu5 dents) under this Act shall be considered assistance to the 

6 student and shall not be considered assistance to the 

7 school that enrolls the eligible student. The amount of any 

8 scholarship (or other form of support provided to parents 

9 of an eligible student) under this Act shall not be treated 

10 as income of the parents for purposes of Federal tax laws 

11 or for determining eligibility for any other Federal pro12 gram. 

13 SEC. 9. EVALUATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

15 (1) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY AND THE

16 MAYOR.—The Secretary and the Mayor of the Dis17 trict of Columbia shall— 

18 (A) jointly enter into an agreement with 

19 the Institute of Education Sciences of the De20 partment of Education to evaluate annually the 

21 performance of students who received scholar22 ships under the 5-year program under this Act, 

23 and 

24 (B) make the evaluations public in accord25 ance with subsection (c). 

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1 (2) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The Sec2 retary, through a grant, contract, or cooperative 

3 agreement, shall— 

4 (A) ensure that the evaluation is conducted 

5 using the strongest possible research design for 

6 determining the effectiveness of the program 

7 funded under this Act that addresses the issues 

8 described in paragraph (4); and 

9 (B) disseminate information on the impact 

10 of the program in increasing the academic 

11 growth and achievement of participating stu12 dents, and on the impact of the program on 

13 students and schools in the District of Colum14 bia. 

15 (3) DUTIES OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

16 SCIENCES.—The Institute of Education Sciences 

17 shall— 

18 (A) use a grade appropriate measurement 

19 each school year to assess participating eligible 

20 students; 

21 (B) measure the academic achievement of 

22 all participating eligible students; and 

23 (C) work with the eligible entities to en24 sure that the parents of each student who ap25 plies for a scholarship under this Act (regardmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 less of whether the student receives the scholar2 ship) and the parents of each student partici3 pating in the scholarship program under this 

4 Act, agree that the student will participate in 

5 the measurements given annually by the Insti6 tute of Educational Sciences for the period for 

7 which the student applied for or received the 

8 scholarship, respectively, except that nothing in 

9 this subparagraph shall affect a student’s pri10 ority for an opportunity scholarship as provided 

11 under section 6(2). 

12 (4) ISSUES TO BE EVALUATED.—The issues to 

13 be evaluated include the following: 

14 (A) A comparison of the academic growth 

15 and achievement of participating eligible stu16 dents in the measurements described in this 

17 section to the academic growth and achievement 

18 of— 

19 (i) students in the same grades in the 

20 District of Columbia public schools; and 

21 (ii) the eligible students in the same 

22 grades in the District of Columbia public 

23 schools who sought to participate in the 

24 scholarship program but were not selected. 

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1 (B) The success of the program in expand2 ing choice options for parents. 

3 (C) The reasons parents choose for their 

4 children to participate in the program. 

5 (D) A comparison of the retention rates, 

6 dropout rates, and (if appropriate) graduation 

7 and college admission rates, of students who 

8 participate in the program funded under this 

9 Act with the retention rates, dropout rates, and 

10 (if appropriate) graduation and college admis11 sion rates of students of similar backgrounds 

12 who do not participate in such program. 

13 (E) The impact of the program on stu14 dents, and public elementary schools and sec15 ondary schools, in the District of Columbia. 

16 (F) A comparison of the safety of the 

17 schools attended by students who participate in 

18 the program funded under this Act and the 

19 schools attended by students who do not par20 ticipate in the program, based on the percep21 tions of the students and parents and on objec22 tive measures of safety. 

23 (G) Such other issues as the Secretary 

24 considers appropriate for inclusion in the eval25 uation. 

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1 (H) An analysis of the issues described in 

2 subparagraphs (A) through (G) with respect to 

3 the subgroup of eligible students participating 

4 in the program funded under this Act who con5 sistently use the opportunity scholarships to at6 tend a participating school. 

7 (5) PROHIBITION.—Personally identifiable in8 formation regarding the results of the measurements 

9 used for the evaluations may not be disclosed, except 

10 to the parents of the student to whom the informa11 tion relates. 

12 (b) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

13 Committees on Appropriations, Education and Labor, and 

14 Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committees on Appropriations, 

16 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Homeland 

17 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate— 

18 (1) annual interim reports, not later than De19 cember 1 of each year for which a grant is made 

20 under this Act, on the progress and preliminary re21 sults of the evaluation of the program funded under 

22 this Act; and 

23 (2) a final report, not later than 1 year after 

24 the final year for which a grant is made under this 

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1 Act, on the results of the evaluation of the program 

2 funded under this Act. 

3 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All reports and under4 lying data gathered pursuant to this section shall be made 

5 available to the public upon request, in a timely manner 

6 following submission of the applicable report under sub7 section (b), except that personally identifiable information 

8 shall not be disclosed or made available to the public. 

9 (d) LIMIT ON AMOUNT EXPENDED.—The amount ex10 pended by the Secretary to carry out this section for any 

11 fiscal year may not exceed 5 percent of the total amount 

12 appropriated to carry out this Act for the fiscal year. 

13 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) ACTIVITIES REPORTS.—Each eligible entity re15 ceiving funds under this Act during a year shall submit 

16 a report to the Secretary not later than July 30 of the 

17 following year regarding the activities carried out with the 

18 funds during the preceding year. 

19 (b) ACHIEVEMENT REPORTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the reports 

21 required under subsection (a), each grantee receiving 

22 funds under this Act shall, not later than September 

23 1 of the year during which the second academic year 

24 of the grantee’s program is completed and each of 

25 the next 2 years thereafter, submit to the Secretary 

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1 a report, including any pertinent data collected in 

2 the preceding 2 academic years, concerning— 

3 (A) the academic growth and achievement 

4 of students participating in the program; 

5 (B) the graduation and college admission 

6 rates of students who participate in the pro7 gram, where appropriate; and 

8 (C) parental satisfaction with the program. 

9 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL

10 INFORMATION.—No report under this subsection 

11 may contain any personally identifiable information. 

12 (c) REPORTS TO PARENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each grantee receiving 

14 funds under this Act shall ensure that each school 

15 participating in the grantee’s program under this 

16 Act during a year reports at least once during the 

17 year to the parents of each of the school’s students 

18 who are participating in the program on— 

19 (A) the student’s academic achievement, as 

20 measured by a comparison with the aggregate 

21 academic achievement of other participating 

22 students at the student’s school in the same 

23 grade or level, as appropriate, and the aggre24 gate academic achievement of the student’s 

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1 peers at the student’s school in the same grade 

2 or level, as appropriate; and 

3 (B) the safety of the school, including the 

4 incidence of school violence, student suspen5 sions, and student expulsions. 

6 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL

7 INFORMATION.—No report under this subsection 

8 may contain any personally identifiable information, 

9 except as to the student who is the subject of the 

10 report to that student’s parent. 

11 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

12 submit to the Committees on Appropriations, Education 

13 and the Workforce, and Oversight and Government Re14 form of the House of Representatives and the Committees 

15 on Appropriations, Health, Education, Labor, and Pen16 sions, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

17 of the Senate an annual report on the findings of the re18 ports submitted under subsections (a) and (b). 

19 SEC. 11. OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING 

20 SCHOOLS. 

21 (a) TESTING.—Students participating in a program 

22 under this Act shall take a nationally norm-referenced 

23 standardized test in reading and mathematics. Results of 

24 such test shall be reported to the student’s parent and 

25 the Institute of Education Sciences. To preserve confidenmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 tiality, at no time should results for individual students 

2 or schools be released to the public. 

3 (b) REQUESTS FOR DATA AND INFORMATION.—Each 

4 school participating in a program funded under this Act 

5 shall comply with all requests for data and information 

6 regarding evaluations conducted under section 9(a). 

7 (c) RULES OF CONDUCT AND OTHER SCHOOL POLI8 CIES.—A participating school, including a participating 

9 school described in section 8(d), may require eligible stu10 dents to abide by any rules of conduct and other require11 ments applicable to all other students at the school. 

12 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen15 tary school’’ means an institutional day or residen16 tial school, including a public elementary charter 

17 school, that provides elementary education, as deter18 mined under District of Columbia law. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ means any of the following: 

21 (A) A nonprofit organization. 

22 (B) A consortium of nonprofit organiza23 tions. 

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1 (3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

2 student’’ means a student who is a resident of the 

3 District of Columbia and comes from a household— 

4 (A) receiving assistance under the supple5 mental nutrition assistance program established 

6 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 

8 (B) whose income does not exceed— 

9 (i) 185 percent of the poverty line; 

10 (ii) in the case of a student in a 

11 household that had a student participating 

12 in a program under this Act for the pre13 ceding school year, 250 percent of the pov14 erty line; or 

15 (iii) in the case of a student in a 

16 household that had a student participating 

17 in a program under the DC School Choice 

18 Incentive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108– 

19 199; 118 Stat. 126) on or before the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, 300 percent of 

21 the poverty line. 

22 (4) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the 

23 meaning given that term in section 9101 of the Ele24 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 7801). 

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1 (5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

2 has the meaning given that term in section 9101 of 

3 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

5 (6) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec6 ondary school’’ means an institutional day or resi7 dential school, including a public secondary charter 

8 school, that provides secondary education, as deter9 mined under District of Columbia law, except that 

10 the term does not include any education beyond 

11 grade 12. 

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

13 the Secretary of Education. 

14 SEC. 13. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) REPEAL.—The DC School Choice Incentive Act 

16 of 2003 (title III of division C of the Consolidated Appro17 priations Act, 2004 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 126)) 

18 is repealed. 

19 (b) REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.—This Act 

20 shall be deemed to be the reauthorization of the oppor21 tunity scholarship program under the DC School Choice 

22 Incentive Act of 2003. 

23 (c) ORDERLY TRANSITION.—Subject to subsections 

24 (d) and (e), the Secretary shall take such steps as the Sec25 retary determines to be appropriate to provide for the ormstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 derly transition to the authority of this Act from any au2 thority under the provisions of the DC School Choice In3 centive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 126), 

4 as the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 was in 

5 effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

7 or a repeal made by this Act shall be construed to alter 

8 or affect the memorandum of understanding entered into 

9 with the District of Columbia, or any grant or contract 

10 awarded, under the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 

11 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 126), as the DC 

12 School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 was in effect on the 

13 day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (e) MULTI-YEAR AWARDS.—The recipient of a multi15 year grant or contract award under the DC School Choice 

16 Incentive Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–199; 118 Stat. 

17 126), as the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 was 

18 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, shall continue to receive funds in accordance with the 

20 terms and conditions of such award. 

21 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) FISCAL YEAR 2010.—There are authorized to be 

23 appropriated— 

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1 (1) to carry out this Act, $20,000,000 for fiscal 

2 year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary for 

3 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years; 

4 (2) for the District of Columbia public schools, 

5 in addition to any other amounts available for Dis6 trict of Columbia public schools, $20,000,000 for fis7 cal year 2010 and such sums as may be necessary 

8 for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years; and 

9 (3) for District of Columbia public charter 

10 schools, in addition to any other amounts available 

11 for District of Columbia public charter schools, 

12 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as 

13 may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

14 years. 

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Calendar No. 145 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1552 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship 

program, and for other purposes. 

JULY 31, 2009 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

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