I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5136 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

grants to eligible local educational agencies to encourage female students 

to pursue studies and careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and 

technology. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2018 

Mr. MCNERNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide grants to eligible local educational 

agencies to encourage female students to pursue studies 

and careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and 

technology. 

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 ‘‘Getting Involved in 

5 Researching, Learning, and Studying of Science, Tech6 nology, Engineering, and Mathematics Act’’ or the 

7 ‘‘GIRLS STEM Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PREPARE FEMALES FOR THE 21ST CEN2 TURY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et 

5 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART G—PREPARING FEMALE STUDENTS FOR 

7 THE 21ST CENTURY 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PROGRAM AUTHORITY. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From funds provided under sec10 tion 4702, the Secretary may provide grants to eligible 

11 local educational agencies to enable elementary schools 

12 and secondary schools served by the agencies to establish 

13 and implement a program to— 

14 ‘‘(1) encourage the ongoing interest of female 

15 students in careers requiring skills in science, math16 ematics, engineering, or technology at all levels of 

17 the career pathway, including at the technician level; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) prepare female students to pursue indus20 try-recognized credentials, such as certificates, li21 censes, undergraduate, and graduate degrees, needed 

22 to pursue a career in the science, mathematics, engi23 neering, or technology field. 

24 ‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—A grant awarded under this 

25 part shall be awarded in 4 school year increments. 

26 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

2 grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative agree3 ment, under this part an eligible local educational 

4 agency shall submit an application to the Secretary 

5 at such time and in such manner as the Secretary 

6 may require. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The application shall con8 tain, at a minimum, the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) A program description, including the 

10 content of the program and the research and 

11 models used to design the program. 

12 ‘‘(B) A description of the collaboration be13 tween elementary schools and secondary schools 

14 to fulfill goals of the program and how the eligi15 ble local educational agency will ensure that 

16 there is a comprehensive plan to improve 

17 science, mathematics, engineering, and tech18 nology education for female students in kinder19 garten through grade 12. 

20 ‘‘(C) A description of the process for re21 cruitment and selection of participants. 

22 ‘‘(D) A description of the planned instruc23 tional and motivational activities. 

24 ‘‘(E) A description of any collaboration 

25 among local, regional, or national institutions 


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1 and organizations that will be necessary to ful2 fill the goals of the program. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—In selecting an eligible 

4 local educational agency to receive a grant under 

5 this part, the Secretary shall consider the applica6 tion of each eligible local educational agency that 

7 demonstrates that the agency will use the grant 

8 funds to carry out the activities described in sub9 section (d). 

10 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible local educational 

11 agency shall use a grant received under this section to 

12 carry out the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) Acquainting female students with careers 

14 requiring skills in science, mathematics, engineering, 

15 and technology, and preparing such students for 

16 pursuing careers in such areas, including careers in 

17 such areas at the technician level. 

18 ‘‘(2) Educating the parents of female students 

19 about the opportunities and advantages of science, 

20 mathematics, engineering, and technology careers. 

21 ‘‘(3) Providing tutoring and mentoring pro22 grams for female students in science, mathematics, 

23 engineering, and technology. 

24 ‘‘(4) Establishing partnerships and other oppor25 tunities that expose female students to role models, 


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1 events, academic programs, or career and technical 

2 education programs in the fields of science, mathe3 matics, engineering, and technology. 

4 ‘‘(5) Providing after-school activities designed 

5 to encourage interest, and develop skills of female 

6 students, in science, mathematics, engineering, and 

7 technology. 

8 ‘‘(6) Carrying out summer programs designed 

9 to assist female students in— 

10 ‘‘(A) developing an interest and skills in; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) understanding the relevance and sig13 nificance of, science, mathematics, engineering, 

14 and technology. 

15 ‘‘(7) Purchasing educational instructional mate16 rials, equipment, and instrumentation or software 

17 designed to teach and encourage interest of female 

18 students in science, mathematics, engineering, and 

19 technology. 

20 ‘‘(8) Providing academic and career counseling 

21 services and assistance in secondary school course 

22 selection that encourages female students to take 

23 courses that provide preparation for postsecondary 

24 education, and experiential learning opportunities 

25 (such as apprenticeships, mentorships, internships), 


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1 in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and 

2 mathematics. 

3 ‘‘(9) Facilitating internships in science, mathe4 matics, engineering, or technology for female stu5 dents. 

6 ‘‘(10) Providing professional development for 

7 teachers and other school personnel that includes— 

8 ‘‘(A) topics on how to eliminate gender 

9 bias in the classroom; 

10 ‘‘(B) topics on how to engage students in 

11 the face of gender-based peer pressure and pa12 rental expectations; and 

13 ‘‘(C) increased instructional strategies and 

14 content knowledge of science, mathematics, en15 gineering, and technology. 

16 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—The Secretary 

17 shall require each eligible local educational agency receiv18 ing a grant under this part to supplement, and not to sup19 plant, any other assistance or funds made available from 

20 non-Federal sources for the activities assisted under this 

21 part. 

22 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS.—Each eligible local educational 

23 agency that receives a grant under this part shall provide 

24 the Secretary, at the conclusion of every school year dur25 ing which the funds are received, with an evaluation asVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Mar 07, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5136.IH H5136

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1 sessing the improvements made in the areas described in 

2 subsection (a), in a form prescribed by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(g) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY DE4 FINED.—For purposes of this part, the term ‘eligible local 

5 educational agency’ means a local educational agency that 

6 serves underrepresented or low-income students. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 4702. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this part $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 through 

10 2023.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con12 tents for such Act (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended 

13 by adding at the end of the items relating to title IV the 

14 following: 

‘‘PART G—PREPARING FEMALES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

‘‘Sec. 4701. Program authority. 

‘‘Sec. 4702. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Æ 


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