IB 

Union Calendar No. 17 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 471 

[Report No. 112–36] 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 26, 2011 

Mr. BOEHNER (for himself, Mr. ISSA, Mr. KLINE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 

HUNTER, and Mr. GOWDY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. PENCE, Mr. WEBSTER, Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS, 

Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Ms. BUERKLE, Mr. 

WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. RIVERA, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. HARPER, Mr. POSEY, 

Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. HANNA, Mr. ROKITA, Mr. 

DREIER, Mr. HECK, Mr. FLEMING, Mr. AKIN, Mr. NUNES, Mr. ROONEY, 

Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. WALSH of Illinois, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. 

BUCSHON, Mr. WOODALL, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. MCHENRY, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. GOSAR, Mrs. 

SCHMIDT, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mr. NEUGEBAUER, Mr. PITTS, and Mr. 

LATTA

MARCH 17, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 26, 2011] 


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A BILL 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship program, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 Oppor5 tunity and Results Act’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions 

9 for their children, including the educational setting 

10 that will best serve the interests and educational needs 

11 of their child. 

12 (2) For many parents in the District of Colum13 bia, public school choice provided under the Elemen14 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as well 

15 as under other public school choice programs, is inad16 equate. More educational options are needed to ensure 

17 all families in the District of Columbia have access to 

18 a quality education. In particular, funds are needed 

19 to provide low-income parents with enhanced public 

20 opportunities and private educational environments, 

21 regardless of whether such environments are secular or 

22 nonsecular. 

23 (3) While the per student cost for students in the 

24 public schools of the District of Columbia is one of the 

25 highest in the United States, test scores for such stuVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:00 Mar 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H471.RH H471

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1 dents continue to be among the lowest in the Nation. 

2 The National Assessment of Educational Progress 

3 (NAEP), an annual report released by the National 

4 Center for Education Statistics, reported in its 2009 

5 study that students in the District of Columbia were 

6 being outperformed by every State in the Nation. On 

7 the 2009 NAEP, 56 percent of fourth grade students 

8 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in reading, and 44 percent 

9 scored ‘‘below basic’’ in mathematics. Among eighth 

10 grade students, 49 percent scored ‘‘below basic’’ in 

11 reading and 60 percent scored ‘‘below basic’’ in math12 ematics. On the 2009 NAEP reading assessment, only 

13 17 percent of the District of Columbia fourth grade 

14 students could read proficiently, while only 13 per15 cent of the eighth grade students scored at the pro16 ficient or advanced level. 

17 (4) In 2003, Congress passed the DC School 

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

19 118 Stat. 126), to provide opportunity scholarships to 

20 parents of students in the District of Columbia to en21 able them to pursue a high-quality education at a 

22 public or private elementary or secondary school of 

23 their choice. The DC Opportunity Scholarship Pro24 gram (DC OSP) under such Act was part of a com25 prehensive 3-part funding arrangement that also inVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:00 Mar 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H471.RH H471

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1 cluded additional funds for the District of Columbia 

2 public schools, and additional funds for public charter 

3 schools of the District of Columbia. The intent of the 

4 approach was to ensure that progress would continue 

5 to be made to improve public schools and public char6 ter schools, and that funding for the opportunity 

7 scholarship program would not lead to a reduction in 

8 funding for the District of Columbia public and char9 ter schools. Resources would be available for a variety 

10 of educational options that would give families in the 

11 District of Columbia a range of choices with regard 

12 to the education of their children. 

13 (5) The DC OSP was established in accordance 

14 with the Supreme Court decision, Zelman v. Sim15 mons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002), which found that 

16 a program enacted for the valid secular purpose of 

17 providing educational assistance to low-income chil18 dren in a demonstrably failing public school system 

19 is constitutional if it is neutral with respect to reli20 gion and provides assistance to a broad class of citi21 zens who direct government aid to religious and sec22 ular schools solely as a result of their genuine and 

23 independent private choices. 

24 (6) Since the inception of the DC OSP, it has 

25 consistently been oversubscribed. Parents express 


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1 strong support for the opportunity scholarship pro2 gram. Rigorous studies of the program by the Insti3 tute of Education Sciences have shown significant im4 provements in parental satisfaction and in reading 

5 scores that are more dramatic when only those stu6 dents consistently using the scholarships are consid7 ered. The program also was found to result in signifi8 cantly higher graduation rates for DC OSP students. 

9 (7) The DC OSP is a program that offers fami10 lies in need, in the District of Columbia, important 

11 alternatives while public schools are improved. This 

12 program should be reauthorized as 1 of a 3-part com13 prehensive funding strategy for the District of Colum14 bia school system that provides new and equal fund15 ing for public schools, public charter schools, and op16 portunity scholarships for students to attend private 

17 schools. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

19 The purpose of this Act is to provide low-income par20 ents residing in the District of Columbia, particularly par21 ents of students who attend elementary schools or secondary 

22 schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or re23 structuring under section 1116 of the Elementary and Sec24 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316), with ex25 panded opportunities for enrolling their children in other 


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1 schools in the District of Columbia, at least until the public 

2 schools in the District of Columbia have adequately ad3 dressed shortfalls in health, safety, and security, and the 

4 students in the District of Columbia public schools are test5 ing in mathematics and reading at or above the national 

6 average. 

7 SEC. 4. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

8 (a) OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—From funds appropriated 

10 under section 14(a)(1), the Secretary shall award 

11 grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities with 

12 approved applications under section 5 to carry out a 

13 program to provide eligible students with expanded 

14 school choice opportunities. The Secretary may award 

15 a single grant or multiple grants, depending on the 

16 quality of applications submitted and the priorities of 

17 this Act. 

18 (2) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

19 make grants under this subsection for a period of not 

20 more than 5 years. 

21 (b) DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS.— 

22 From funds appropriated under paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

23 section 14(a), the Secretary shall provide funds to the 

24 Mayor of the District of Columbia, if the Mayor agrees to 

25 the requirements described in section 11(a), for— 


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1 (1) the District of Columbia public schools to im2 prove public education in the District of Columbia; 

3 and 

4 (2) the District of Columbia public charter 

5 schools to improve and expand quality public charter 

6 schools in the District of Columbia. 

7 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

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

9 section 4(a), an eligible entity shall submit an application 

10 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom11 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

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

13 request of an eligible entity for a grant under section 4(a) 

14 unless the entity’s application includes— 

15 (1) a detailed description of— 

16 (A) how the entity will address the prior17 ities described in section 6; 

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

19 eligible students seek admission in the program 

20 of the entity than the program can accommodate, 

21 eligible students are selected for admission 

22 through a random selection process which gives 

23 weight to the priorities described in section 6; 

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

25 participating eligible students seek admission to 


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1 a participating school than the school can ac2 commodate, participating eligible students are 

3 selected for admission through a random selec4 tion process; 

5 (D) how the entity will notify parents of el6 igible students of the expanded choice opportuni7 ties in order to allow the parents to make in8 formed decisions; 

9 (E) the activities that the entity will carry 

10 out to provide parents of eligible students with 

11 expanded choice opportunities through the 

12 awarding of scholarships under section 7(a); 

13 (F) how the entity will determine the 

14 amount that will be provided to parents under 

15 section 7(a)(2) for the payment of tuition, fees, 

16 and transportation expenses, if any; 

17 (G) how the entity will seek out private ele18 mentary schools and secondary schools in the 

19 District of Columbia to participate in the pro20 gram; 

21 (H) how the entity will ensure that each 

22 participating school will meet the reporting and 

23 other program requirements under this Act; 

24 (I) how the entity will ensure that partici25 pating schools submit to site visits by the entity 


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1 as determined to be necessary by the entity, ex2 cept that a participating school may not be re3 quired to submit to more than 1 site visit per 

4 school year; 

5 (J) how the entity will ensure that partici6 pating schools are financially responsible and 

7 will use the funds received under section 7 effec8 tively; 

9 (K) how the entity will address the renewal 

10 of scholarships to participating eligible students, 

11 including continued eligibility; and 

12 (L) how the entity will ensure that a major13 ity of its voting board members or governing or14 ganization are residents of the District of Colum15 bia; and 

16 (2) an assurance that the entity will comply 

17 with all requests regarding any evaluation carried 

18 out under section 9(a). 

19 SEC. 6. PRIORITIES. 

20 In awarding grants under section 4(a), the Secretary 

21 shall give priority to applications from eligible entities that 

22 will most effectively— 

23 (1) in awarding scholarships under section 7(a), 

24 give priority to— 


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1 (A) eligible students who, in the school year 

2 preceding the school year for which the eligible 

3 students are seeking a scholarship, attended an 

4 elementary school or secondary school identified 

5 for improvement, corrective action, or restruc6 turing under section 1116 of the Elementary and 

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6316); 

9 (B) students who have been awarded a 

10 scholarship in a preceding year under this Act 

11 or the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 

12 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as 

13 such Act was in effect on the day before the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act, but who have not 

15 used the scholarship, including eligible students 

16 who were provided notification of selection for a 

17 scholarship for school year 2009-2010, which was 

18 later rescinded in accordance with direction from 

19 the Secretary of Education; and 

20 (C) students whose household includes a sib21 ling or other child who is already participating 

22 in the program of the eligible entity under this 

23 Act, regardless of whether such students have, in 

24 the past, been assigned as members of a control 


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1 study group for the purposes of an evaluation 

2 under section 9(a); 

3 (2) target resources to students and families that 

4 lack the financial resources to take advantage of 

5 available educational options; and 

6 (3) provide students and families with the widest 

7 range of educational options. 

8 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS. 

9 (a) OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) and 

11 (3), an eligible entity receiving a grant under section 

12 4(a) shall use the grant funds to provide eligible stu13 dents with scholarships to pay the tuition, fees, and 

14 transportation expenses, if any, to enable the eligible 

15 students to attend the District of Columbia private el16 ementary school or secondary school of their choice be17 ginning in school year 2011–2012. Each such eligible 

18 entity shall ensure that the amount of any tuition or 

19 fees charged by a school participating in such entity’s 

20 program under this Act to an eligible student partici21 pating in the program does not exceed the amount of 

22 tuition or fees that the school charges to students who 

23 do not participate in the program. 

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

25 receiving a grant under section 4(a) shall make scholVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:00 Mar 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H471.RH H471

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1 arship payments under the entity’s program under 

2 this Act to the parent of the eligible student partici3 pating in the program, in a manner which ensures 

4 that such payments will be used for the payment of 

5 tuition, fees, and transportation expenses (if any), in 

6 accordance with this Act. 

7 (3) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.— 

8 (A) VARYING AMOUNTS PERMITTED.—Sub9 ject to the other requirements of this section, an 

10 eligible entity receiving a grant under section 

11 4(a) may award scholarships in larger amounts 

12 to those eligible students with the greatest need. 

13 (B) ANNUAL LIMIT ON AMOUNT.— 

14 (i) LIMIT FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2011– 

15 2012.—The amount of assistance provided to 

16 any eligible student by an eligible entity 

17 under the entity’s program under this Act 

18 for school year 2011–2012 may not exceed— 

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

21 (II) $12,000 for attendance in 

22 grades 9 through 12. 

23 (ii) CUMULATIVE INFLATION ADJUST24 MENT.—Beginning the school year following 

25 the school year of the date of the enactment 


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1 of this Act, the Secretary shall adjust the 

2 maximum amounts of assistance described 

3 in clause (i) for inflation, as measured by 

4 the percentage increase, if any, from the 

5 preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price 

6 Index for All Urban Consumers, published 

7 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the De8 partment of Labor. 

9 (4) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 None of the funds provided under this Act for oppor11 tunity scholarships may be used by an eligible student 

12 to enroll in a participating private school unless the 

13 participating school— 

14 (A) has and maintains a valid certificate of 

15 occupancy issued by the District of Columbia; 

16 (B) makes readily available to all prospec17 tive students information on its school accredita18 tion; 

19 (C) in the case of a school that has been op20 erating for 5 years or less, submits to the eligible 

21 entity administering the program proof of ade22 quate financial resources reflecting the financial 

23 sustainability of the school and the school’s abil24 ity to be in operation through the school year; 


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1 (D) agrees to submit to site visits as deter2 mined to be necessary by the eligible entity pur3 suant to section 5(b)(1)(I); 

4 (E) has financial systems, controls, policies, 

5 and procedures to ensure that funds are used ac6 cording to this Act; and 

7 (F) ensures that each teacher of core subject 

8 matter in the school has a baccalaureate degree 

9 or equivalent degree, whether such degree was 

10 awarded in or outside of the United States. 

11 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible entity 

12 receiving a grant under section 4(a) may use not more than 

13 3 percent of the amount provided under the grant each year 

14 for the administrative expenses of carrying out its program 

15 under this Act during the year, including— 

16 (1) determining the eligibility of students to par17 ticipate; 

18 (2) selecting eligible students to receive scholar19 ships; 

20 (3) determining the amount of scholarships and 

21 issuing the scholarships to eligible students; 

22 (4) compiling and maintaining financial and 

23 programmatic records; and 

24 (5) conducting site visits as described in section 

25 5(b)(1)(I). 


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1 (c) PARENTAL ASSISTANCE.—An eligible entity receiv2 ing a grant under section 4(a) may use not more than 2 

3 percent of the amount provided under the grant each year 

4 for the expenses of educating parents about the entity’s pro5 gram under this Act, and assisting parents through the ap6 plication process, under this Act, including— 

7 (1) providing information about the program 

8 and the participating schools to parents of eligible 

9 students; 

10 (2) providing funds to assist parents of students 

11 in meeting expenses that might otherwise preclude the 

12 participation of eligible students in the program; and 

13 (3) streamlining the application process for par14 ents. 

15 (d) STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE.—An eligible en16 tity receiving a grant under section 4(a) may use not more 

17 than 1 percent of the amount provided under the grant each 

18 year for expenses to provide tutoring services to partici19 pating eligible students that need additional academic as20 sistance. If there are insufficient funds to provide tutoring 

21 services to all such students in a year, the eligible entity 

22 shall give priority in such year to students who previously 

23 attended an elementary school or secondary school that was 

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1 turing under section 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316). 

3 SEC. 8. NONDISCRIMINATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS 

4 FOR PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity or a school par6 ticipating in any program under this Act shall not dis7 criminate against program participants or applicants on 

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

9 (b) APPLICABILITY AND SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, CLASS10 ES, OR ACTIVITIES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

12 provision of law, the prohibition of sex discrimination 

13 in subsection (a) shall not apply to a participating 

14 school that is operated by, supervised by, controlled 

15 by, or connected to a religious organization to the ex16 tent that the application of subsection (a) is incon17 sistent with the religious tenets or beliefs of the school. 

18 (2) SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS, CLASSES, OR ACTIVI19 TIES.—Notwithstanding subsection (a) or any other 

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

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

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

23 the provisions of section 909 of the Education Amend24 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) shall apply to this 


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1 Act as if section 909 of the Education Amendments 

2 of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) were part of this Act. 

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

4 Act may be construed to alter or modify the provisions of 

5 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

6 1400 et seq.). 

7 (d) RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED SCHOOLS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, a school participating in any pro10 gram under this Act that is operated by, supervised 

11 by, controlled by, or connected to, a religious organi12 zation may exercise its right in matters of employ13 ment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

14 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the ex15 emptions in such title. 

16 (2) MAINTENANCE OF PURPOSE.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law, funds made 

18 available under this Act to eligible students, which 

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

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

21 amendment of the Constitution, necessitate any 

22 change in the participating school’s teaching mission, 

23 require any participating school to remove religious 

24 art, icons, scriptures, or other symbols, or preclude 

25 any participating school from retaining religious 


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1 terms in its name, selecting its board members on a 

2 religious basis, or including religious references in its 

3 mission statements and other chartering or governing 

4 documents. 

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

6 other form of support provided to parents of eligible stu7 dents) under this Act shall be considered assistance to the 

8 student and shall not be considered assistance to the school 

9 that enrolls the eligible student. The amount of any scholar10 ship (or other form of support provided to parents of an 

11 eligible student) under this Act shall not be treated as in12 come of the parents for purposes of Federal tax laws or for 

13 determining eligibility for any other Federal program. 

14 (f) REQUESTS FOR DATA AND INFORMATION.—Each 

15 school participating in a program funded under this Act 

16 shall comply with all requests for data and information re17 garding evaluations conducted under section 9(a). 

18 (g) RULES OF CONDUCT AND OTHER SCHOOL POLI19 CIES.—A participating school, including the schools de20 scribed in subsection (d), may require eligible students to 

21 abide by any rules of conduct and other requirements appli22 cable to all other students at the school. 

23 (h) NATIONALLY NORM-REFERENCED STANDARDIZED

24 TESTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each participating school 

2 shall comply with any testing requirements deter3 mined to be necessary for evaluation under section 

4 9(a)(2)(A)(i). 

5 (2) MAKE-UP SESSION.—If a participating 

6 school does not administer a nationally norm-ref7 erenced standardized test or the Institute of Edu8 cation Sciences does not receive data on a student 

9 who is receiving an opportunity scholarship, then the 

10 Secretary (through the Institute of Education 

11 Sciences of the Department of Education) shall ad12 minister such test at least one time during a school 

13 year for each student receiving an opportunity schol14 arship. 

15 SEC. 9. EVALUATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

17 (1) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY AND THE

18 MAYOR.—The Secretary and the Mayor of the District 

19 of Columbia shall— 

20 (A) jointly enter into an agreement with the 

21 Institute of Education Sciences of the Depart22 ment of Education to evaluate annually the per23 formance of students who received scholarships 

24 under the 5-year program under this Act; 


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1 (B) jointly enter into an agreement to mon2 itor and evaluate the use of funds authorized and 

3 appropriated for the District of Columbia public 

4 schools and the District of Columbia public char5 ter schools under this Act; and 

6 (C) make the evaluations described in sub7 paragraph (A) and (B) public in accordance 

8 with subsection (c). 

9 (2) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—The Sec10 retary, through a grant, contract, or cooperative 

11 agreement, shall— 

12 (A) ensure that the evaluation under para13 graph (1)(A)— 

14 (i) is conducted using the strongest 

15 possible research design for determining the 

16 effectiveness of the opportunity scholarship 

17 program under this Act; and 

18 (ii) addresses the issues described in 

19 paragraph (4); and 

20 (B) disseminate information on the impact 

21 of the program— 

22 (i) in increasing the academic growth 

23 and achievement of participating eligible 

24 students; and 


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1 (ii) on students and schools in the Dis2 trict of Columbia. 

3 (3) DUTIES OF THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION

4 SCIENCES.—The Institute of Education Sciences of 

5 the Department of Education shall— 

6 (A) use a grade appropriate, nationally 

7 norm-referenced standardized test each school 

8 year to assess participating eligible students; 

9 (B) measure the academic achievement of 

10 all participating eligible students; and 

11 (C) work with the eligible entities to ensure 

12 that the parents of each student who applies for 

13 a scholarship under this Act (regardless of 

14 whether the student receives the scholarship) and 

15 the parents of each student participating in the 

16 scholarship program under this Act, agree that 

17 the student will participate in the measurements 

18 given annually by the Institute of Educational 

19 Sciences for the period for which the student ap20 plied for or received the scholarship, respectively, 

21 except that nothing in this subparagraph shall 

22 affect a student’s priority for an opportunity 

23 scholarship as provided under section 6. 


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

2 evaluated under paragraph (1)(A) shall include the 

3 following: 

4 (A) A comparison of the academic growth 

5 and achievement of participating eligible stu6 dents in the measurements described in para7 graph (3) to the academic growth and achieve8 ment of the eligible students in the same grades 

9 who sought to participate in the scholarship pro10 gram under this Act but were not selected. 

11 (B) The success of the program in expand12 ing choice options for parents of participating 

13 eligible students, improving parental and student 

14 satisfaction of such parents and students, respec15 tively, and increasing parental involvement of 

16 such parents in the education of their children. 

17 (C) The reasons parents of participating el18 igible students choose for their children to par19 ticipate in the program, including important 

20 characteristics for selecting schools. 

21 (D) A comparison of the retention rates, 

22 high school graduation rates, and college admis23 sion rates of participating eligible students with 

24 the retention rates, high school graduation rates, 

25 and college admission rates of students of similar 


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1 backgrounds who do not participate in such pro2 gram. 

3 (E) A comparison of the safety of the schools 

4 attended by participating eligible students and 

5 the schools in the District of Columbia attended 

6 by students who do not participate in the pro7 gram, based on the perceptions of the students 

8 and parents. 

9 (F) Such other issues with respect to par10 ticipating eligible students as the Secretary con11 siders appropriate for inclusion in the evalua12 tion, such as the impact of the program on pub13 lic elementary schools and secondary schools in 

14 the District of Columbia. 

15 (G) An analysis of the issues described in 

16 subparagraphs (A) through (F) by applying such 

17 subparagraphs by substituting ‘‘the subgroup of 

18 participating eligible students who have used 

19 each opportunity scholarship awarded to such 

20 students under this Act to attend a participating 

21 school’’ for ‘‘participating eligible students’’ each 

22 place such term appears. 

23 (5) PROHIBITION.—Personally identifiable infor24 mation regarding the results of the measurements 

25 used for the evaluations may not be disclosed, except 


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1 to the parents of the student to whom the information 

2 relates. 

3 (b) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to the Com4 mittees on Appropriations, Education and the Workforce, 

5 and Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committees on Appropriations, Health, 

7 Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Homeland Security 

8 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate— 

9 (1) annual interim reports, not later than April 

10 1 of the year following the year of the date of enact11 ment of this Act, and each subsequent year through 

12 the year in which the final report is submitted under 

13 paragraph (2), on the progress and preliminary re14 sults of the evaluation of the opportunity scholarship 

15 program funded under this Act; and 

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

17 final year for which a grant is made under section 

18 4(a), on the results of the evaluation of the program. 

19 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All reports and under20 lying data gathered pursuant to this section shall be made 

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

22 following submission of the applicable report under sub23 section (b), except that personally identifiable information 

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


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1 (d) LIMIT ON AMOUNT EXPENDED.—The amount ex2 pended by the Secretary to carry out this section for any 

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

4 appropriated under section 14(a)(1) for the fiscal year. 

5 SEC. 10. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

6 (a) ACTIVITIES REPORTS.—Each eligible entity receiv7 ing funds under section 4(a) during a year shall submit 

8 a report to the Secretary not later than July 30 of the fol9 lowing year regarding the activities carried out with the 

10 funds during the preceding year. 

11 (b) ACHIEVEMENT REPORTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the reports re13 quired under subsection (a), each eligible entity re14 ceiving funds under section 4(a) shall, not later than 

15 September 1 of the year during which the second 

16 school year of the entity’s program is completed and 

17 each of the next 2 years thereafter, submit to the Sec18 retary a report, including any pertinent data col19 lected in the preceding 2 school years, concerning— 

20 (A) the academic growth and achievement of 

21 students participating in the program; 

22 (B) the high school graduation and college 

23 admission rates of students who participate in 

24 the program, where appropriate; and 

25 (C) parental satisfaction with the program. 


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1 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL IN2 FORMATION.—No report under this subsection may 

3 contain any personally identifiable information. 

4 (c) REPORTS TO PARENTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity receiving 

6 funds under section 4(a) shall ensure that each school 

7 participating in the entity’s program under this Act 

8 during a school year reports at least once during the 

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

10 who are participating in the program on— 

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

12 measured by a comparison with the aggregate 

13 academic achievement of other participating stu14 dents at the student’s school in the same grade 

15 or level, as appropriate, and the aggregate aca16 demic achievement of the student’s peers at the 

17 student’s school in the same grade or level, as ap18 propriate; 

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

20 incidence of school violence, student suspensions, 

21 and student expulsions; and 

22 (C) the accreditation status of the school. 

23 (2) PROHIBITING DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL IN24 FORMATION.—No report under this subsection may 

25 contain any personally identifiable information, exVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:00 Mar 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H471.RH H471

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1 cept as to the student who is the subject of the report 

2 to that student’s parent. 

3 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 months 

4 after the first appropriation of funds under section 14, and 

5 each succeeding year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

6 to the Committees on Appropriations, Education and the 

7 Workforce, and Oversight and Government Reform of the 

8 House of Representatives and the Committees on Appro9 priations, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and 

10 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen11 ate, an annual report on the findings of the reports sub12 mitted under subsections (a) and (b). 

13 SEC. 11. DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND DC PUBLIC CHARTER 

14 SCHOOLS. 

15 (a) CONDITION OF RECEIPT OF FUNDS.—As a condi16 tion of receiving funds under this Act on behalf of the Dis17 trict of Columbia public schools and the District of Colum18 bia public charter schools, the Mayor shall agree to carry 

19 out the following: 

20 (1) INFORMATION REQUESTS.—Ensure that all 

21 the District of Columbia public schools and the Dis22 trict of Columbia public charter schools comply with 

23 all reasonable requests for information for purposes of 

24 the evaluation under section 9(a). 


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1 (2) AGREEMENT WITH THE SECRETARY.—Enter 

2 into the agreement described in section 9(a)(1)(B) to 

3 monitor and evaluate the use of funds authorized and 

4 appropriated for the District of Columbia public 

5 schools and the District of Columbia public charter 

6 schools under this Act. 

7 (3) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Not later than 6 

8 months after the first appropriation of funds under 

9 section 14, and each succeeding year thereafter, sub10 mit to the Committee on Appropriations, the Com11 mittee on Education and the Workforce, and the Com12 mittee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

13 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Ap14 propriations, the Committee on Health, Education, 

15 Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on Home16 land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen17 ate, information on— 

18 (A) how the funds authorized and appro19 priated under this Act for the District of Colum20 bia public schools and the District of Columbia 

21 public charter schools were used in the preceding 

22 school year; and 

23 (B) how such funds are contributing to stu24 dent achievement. 


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1 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—If, after reasonable notice and an 

2 opportunity for a hearing for the Mayor, the Secretary de3 termines that the Mayor has not been in compliance with 

4 1 or more of the requirements described in subsection (a), 

5 the Secretary may withhold from the Mayor, in whole or 

6 in part, further funds under this Act for the District of Co7 lumbia public schools and the District of Columbia public 

8 charter schools. 

9 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

10 shall be construed to reduce, or otherwise affect, funding 

11 provided under this Act for the opportunity scholarship 

12 program under this Act. 

13 SEC. 12. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 

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

15 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is re16 pealed. 

17 (b) SPECIAL RULES.—Notwithstanding any other pro18 vision of law— 

19 (1) funding appropriated to provide opportunity 

20 scholarships for students in the District of Columbia 

21 under the heading ‘‘Federal Payment for School Im22 provement’’ in title IV of division D of the Omnibus 

23 Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111–8; 123 

24 Stat. 653), the heading ‘‘Federal Payment for School 

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1 dated Appropriations Act, 2010 (Public Law 111– 

2 117; 123 Stat. 3181), or any other Act, may be used 

3 to provide opportunity scholarships under section 

4 7(a) for the 2011–2012 school year to students who 

5 have not previously received such scholarships; 

6 (2) the fourth and fifth provisos under the head7 ing ‘‘Federal Payment for School Improvement’’ of 

8 title IV of Division C of the Consolidated Appropria9 tions Act, 2010 (Public Law 111–117; 123 Stat. 

10 3181) shall not apply; and 

11 (3) any unobligated amounts reserved to carry 

12 out the provisos described in paragraph (2) shall be 

13 made available to an eligible entity receiving a grant 

14 under section 4(a)— 

15 (A) for administrative expenses described in 

16 section 7(b); or 

17 (B) to provide opportunity scholarships 

18 under section 7(a), including to provide such 

19 scholarships for the 2011–2012 school year to 

20 students who have not previously received such 

21 scholarships. 

22 (c) MULTIYEAR AWARDS.—The recipient of a grant or 

23 contract under the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 

24 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as such Act 

25 was in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 


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1 of this Act, shall continue to receive funds in accordance 

2 with the terms and conditions of such grant or contract, 

3 except that— 

4 (1) the provisos relating to opportunity scholar5 ships in the Acts described in subsection (b)(1) shall 

6 not apply; and 

7 (2) the memorandum of understanding described 

8 in subsection (d), including any revision made under 

9 such subsection, shall apply. 

10 (d) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec11 retary and the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall re12 vise the memorandum of understanding entered into under 

13 the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (sec. 38– 

14 1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as such Act was in ef15 fect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act, 

16 to address— 

17 (1) the implementation of the opportunity schol18 arship program under this Act; and 

19 (2) how the Mayor will ensure that the District 

20 of Columbia public schools and the District of Colum21 bia public charter schools comply with all the reason22 able requests for information as necessary to fulfill the 

23 requirements for evaluations conducted under section 

24 9(a). 


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1 (e) ORDERLY TRANSITION.—Subject to subsections (c) 

2 and (d), the Secretary shall take such steps as the Secretary 

3 determines to be appropriate to provide for the orderly tran4 sition to the authority of this Act from any authority under 

5 the provisions of the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 

6 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code), as such Act 

7 was in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

8 this Act. 

9 SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS. 

10 As used in this Act: 

11 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen12 tary school’’ means an institutional day or residen13 tial school, including a public elementary charter 

14 school, that provides elementary education, as deter15 mined under District of Columbia law. 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means any of the following: 

18 (A) A nonprofit organization. 

19 (B) A consortium of nonprofit organiza20 tions. 

21 (3) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible stu22 dent’’ means a student who is a resident of the Dis23 trict of Columbia and comes from a household— 

24 (A) receiving assistance under the supple25 mental nutrition assistance program established 


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1 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 

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

3 (B) whose income does not exceed— 

4 (i) 185 percent of the poverty line; or 

5 (ii) in the case of a student partici6 pating in the opportunity scholarship pro7 gram in the preceding year under this Act 

8 or the DC School Choice Incentive Act of 

9 2003 (sec. 38–1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official 

10 Code), as such Act was in effect on the day 

11 before the date of enactment of this Act, 300 

12 percent of the poverty line. 

13 (4) MAYOR.—The term ‘‘Mayor’’ means the 

14 Mayor of the District of Columbia. 

15 (5) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ has the mean16 ing given that term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 7801). 

19 (6) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The 

20 term ‘‘participating eligible student’’ means an eligi21 ble student awarded an opportunity scholarship 

22 under this Act, without regard to whether the student 

23 uses the scholarship to attend a participating school. 

24 (7) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘partici25 pating school’’ means a private elementary school or 


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1 secondary school participating in the opportunity 

2 scholarship program of an eligible entity under this 

3 Act. 

4 (8) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 

5 has the meaning given that term in section 9101 of 

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (9) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘secondary 

9 school’’ means an institutional day or residential 

10 school, including a public secondary charter school, 

11 that provides secondary education, as determined 

12 under District of Columbia law, except that the term 

13 does not include any education beyond grade 12. 

14 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Education. 

16 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and for each of 

19 the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which— 

20 (1) one-third shall be made available to carry 

21 out the opportunity scholarship program under this 

22 Act for each fiscal year; 

23 (2) one-third shall be made available to carry 

24 out section 4(b)(1) for each fiscal year; and 


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1 (3) one-third shall be made available to carry 

2 out section 4(b)(2) for each fiscal year. 

3 (b) APPORTIONMENT.—If the total amount of funds 

4 appropriated under subsection (a) for a fiscal year does not 

5 equal $60,000,000, the funds shall be apportioned in the 

6 manner described in subsection (a) for such fiscal year. 


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Union Calendar No. 17 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 471 

[Report No. 112–36] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the DC opportunity scholarship 

program, and for other purposes. 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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