II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1050 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by establishing a program to support the modernization, renovation, or repair 

of career and technical education facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 by establishing a program to support the modernization, renovation, or repair of career and technical 

education facilities, 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 ‘‘Inspiring New STEM 

5 Professionals by Investing in Renovation of Education 

6 Spaces Act’’ or the ‘‘INSPIRES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Over the past 10 years, the growth in jobs 

2 requiring science, technology, engineering, and 

3 mathematics (referred to in this section as 

4 ‘‘STEM’’) skills was three times faster than the 

5 growth in non-STEM jobs. 

6 (2) STEM skills and knowledge are now re7 quired in a wide range of occupations, including 

8 many that are not traditionally considered to be 

9 science or engineering related. 

10 (3) Over 50 percent of jobs that require STEM 

11 skills do not require a baccalaureate degree, and de12 mand for these middle-skill STEM workers is dis13 tributed nationwide. 

14 (4) When including sub-baccalaureate workers 

15 (those with 2-year degrees or occupational licenses 

16 or certifications), there may be as many as 

17 26,000,000 jobs in the United States that require 

18 STEM competency in at least 1 field. 

19 (5) In recent years, the unemployment rate for 

20 STEM workers has been approximately half of the 

21 unemployment rate of non-STEM workers, and the 

22 average annual wage for STEM workers has been 

23 substantially higher than that of non-STEM work24 ers. 


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1 (6) In order for students to be high-performing, 

2 the education facilities used by the students must 

3 also be high-performing. 

4 (7) Many school facilities required for STEM 

5 and career and technical education are inefficient 

6 and outdated. 

7 SEC. 3. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES. 

8 (a) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILI9 TIES.—Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amend11 ed by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘Subpart 22—Career and Technical Education 

13 Facilities 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5621. DEFINITIONS. 

15 ‘‘In this subpart: 

16 ‘‘(1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.— 

17 The term ‘career and technical education’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Carl D. 

19 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

20 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 

21 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com22 munity college’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) a junior or community college, as 

24 that term is defined in section 312(f) of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1058(f)); or 

3 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education (as 

4 defined in section 101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

5 1001)) that awards a significant number of de6 grees and certificates, as determined by the 

7 Secretary, that are not— 

8 ‘‘(i) baccalaureate degrees (or an 

9 equivalent); or 

10 ‘‘(ii) master’s, professional, or other 

11 advanced degrees. 

12 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en13 tity’ means a local educational agency, community 

14 college, or other entity determined appropriate by 

15 the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED PROJECT.—The term ‘qualified 

17 project’— 

18 ‘‘(A) means the modernization, renovation, 

19 or repair of a facility that will be used to im20 prove the quality and availability of science, 

21 technology, engineering, mathematics, or career 

22 and technical education instruction to public el23 ementary school or secondary school, or com24 munity college, students, and that may in25 clude— 


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1 ‘‘(i) improving the energy efficiency of 

2 the facility; 

3 ‘‘(ii) improving the cost-effectiveness 

4 of the facility in delivering quality edu5 cation; 

6 ‘‘(iii) improving student, faculty, and 

7 staff health and safety at the facility; 

8 ‘‘(iv) improving, installing, or upgrad9 ing educational technology infrastructure; 

10 ‘‘(v) retrofitting an existing building 

11 for career and technical education pur12 poses; and 

13 ‘‘(vi) a one-time repair of serviceable 

14 equipment at the facility, or replacement of 

15 equipment at the facility that is at the end 

16 of its serviceable lifespan, that will be used 

17 to further educational outcomes; and 

18 ‘‘(B) does not include new construction or 

19 the payment of routine maintenance costs. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 5622. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILI21 TIES IMPROVEMENT. 

22 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts ap23 propriated under section 5401(b), the Secretary shall 

24 carry out a program to improve career and technical edu25 cation facilities by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) awarding grants to eligible entities to en2 able the eligible entities to carry out qualified 

3 projects; 

4 ‘‘(2) guaranteeing loans made to eligible entities 

5 for qualified projects; or 

6 ‘‘(3) making payments of interest on bonds, 

7 loans, or other financial instruments (other than a 

8 refinancing) that are issued to eligible entities for 

9 qualified projects. 

10 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

11 receive a grant, loan guarantee, or payment of interest 

12 under this subpart shall submit an application to the Sec13 retary at such a time, in such a manner, and containing 

14 such information as the Secretary may require. The appli15 cation shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) a detailed description of the qualified 

17 project; 

18 ‘‘(2) in the case of a qualified project described 

19 in section 5621(4)(A)(vi), a description of the edu20 cational outcomes to be furthered by the one-time 

21 repair of serviceable equipment or replacement of 

22 equipment; 

23 ‘‘(3) an indication as to whether the eligible en24 tity prefers to receive a grant, loan guarantee, or 

25 payment of interest; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a description of the need for the qualified 

2 project; 

3 ‘‘(5) a description of how the eligible entity will 

4 ensure that the qualified project will be adequately 

5 maintained; 

6 ‘‘(6) an identification of any public elementary 

7 school or secondary school or community college that 

8 will benefit from the qualified project; 

9 ‘‘(7) a description of how the qualified project 

10 will improve instruction and educational outcomes at 

11 the facility, including any opportunities to integrate 

12 project activities within the curriculum of such 

13 school or community college; 

14 ‘‘(8) a description of how the facility supported 

15 by the qualified project will be used for providing 

16 educational services in science, technology, engineer17 ing, mathematics, or career and technical education; 

18 ‘‘(9) a description of how the eligible entity will 

19 ensure that the modernization, renovation, or repair 

20 supported by the qualified project meets Leadership 

21 in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 

22 building rating standards, Energy Star standards, 

23 Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) 

24 criteria, Green Building Initiative environmental de25 sign and rating standards (Green Globes), the LivVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 May 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1050.IS S1050

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1 ing Building Challenge certification standards, or 

2 equivalent standards adopted by entities with juris3 diction over or related to the eligible entity; 

4 ‘‘(10) a description of the fiscal capacity of the 

5 eligible entity; 

6 ‘‘(11) the percentage of students enrolled in the 

7 public elementary school or secondary school or com8 munity college to be served by the qualified project 

9 who are from low-income families; 

10 ‘‘(12) in the case of a qualified project at a fa11 cility that is used by students in a secondary school, 

12 the secondary school graduation rates; and 

13 ‘‘(13) such additional information and assur14 ances as the Secretary may require. 

15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In making awards under this sub16 part, the Secretary shall use not less than a total of 25 

17 percent of the funds appropriated under section 5401(b) 

18 to eligible entities for qualified projects to benefit— 

19 ‘‘(1) public elementary schools or secondary 

20 schools served by high-need local educational agen21 cies, as described in section 2102(3)(A); or 

22 ‘‘(2) community colleges serving a substantial 

23 number of rural students, as determined by the Sec24 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

2 available under this subpart shall be used to supplement, 

3 and not supplant, other Federal and State funds available 

4 to carry out the activities supported under this subpart. 

5 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE

6 COSTS.—The Secretary may reserve not more than 3 per7 cent of funds appropriated under section 5401(b) for the 

8 administrative costs of this subpart and to provide tech9 nical assistance to community colleges and local edu10 cational agencies concerning best practices in school facil11 ity renovation, repair, and modernization. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 1 

13 year after funds are appropriated to carry out this sub14 part, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall pre15 pare and submit to the appropriate committees of Con16 gress a report on the effect of the qualified projects sup17 ported under this subpart on improving academic achieve18 ment.’’. 

19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

20 5401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking the matter preceding paragraph 

23 (1) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap2 propriated to carry out this part (except for subpart 22) 

3 the following amounts:’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR SUBPART 22.—There are 

6 authorized to be appropriated to carry out subpart 22 

7 $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2016 and each succeeding fis8 cal year.’’. 

9 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con10 tents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu11 cation Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item 

12 relating to section 5618 the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 22—CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES

‘‘Sec. 5621. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 5622. Career and technical facilities improvement.’’. 

Æ 


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