II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2084 

To include community partners and intermediaries in the planning and 

delivery of education and related programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2017 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To include community partners and intermediaries in the 

planning and delivery of education and related programs, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Community Partnerships in Education Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE CARL D. PERKINS CAREER AND 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT OF 2006 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 


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Sec. 102. Attainment of 21st century skills. 

Sec. 103. Inclusion of community partners and intermediary organizations in 

State and local plans. 

Sec. 104. Evaluations. 

TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 

1965 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. TRIO programs. 

Sec. 203. GEAR UP. 

Sec. 204. Maintenance and expansion of existing programs. 

1 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

2 CARL D. PERKINS CAREER 

3 AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

4 ACT OF 2006 

5 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

6 Section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech7 nical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9) through 

10 (18) and paragraphs (19) through (34) as para11 graphs (10) through (19) and paragraphs (21) 

12 through (36), respectively; 

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol14 lowing new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(9) COMMUNITY PARTNER.—The term ‘com16 munity partner’ means a nonprofit organization that 

17 has expertise in the planning and delivery of edu18 cation, career training, and related programs, in 

19 forging coordination and cooperation between edu20 cators and other members of the community, in 


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1 training educators and other deliverers of edu2 cational services, or in development and implementa3 tion of data systems that measure the progress of 

4 students, schools and institutions of higher edu5 cation, and programs.’’; and 

6 (3) by inserting after paragraph (19) (as redes7 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(20) INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION.—The 

10 term ‘intermediary organization’ means a nonprofit 

11 organization that has expertise in training, forging 

12 public-private partnerships, systems development, 

13 capacity-building, improving scalability, and evalua14 tion.’’. 

15 SEC. 102. ATTAINMENT OF 21ST CENTURY SKILLS. 

16 (a) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Section 113(b)(2)(C) of the 

17 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

18 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2323(b)(2)(C)) is amended by inserting 

19 ‘‘attainment of 21st century skills (such as critical think20 ing, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration) 

21 and’’ after ‘‘such as’’. 

22 (b) LOCAL AND STATE REPORTS.—Section 113 of 

23 such Act (20 U.S.C. 2323) is further amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (b)(4)(C)(ii)— 


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1 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

2 and inserting a semicolon; 

3 (B) in subclause (II), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the 

6 following new subclause: 

7 ‘‘(III) describe the progress of 

8 career and technical education stu9 dents served by the eligible recipient 

10 in attaining 21st century skills (such 

11 as critical thinking, problem-solving, 

12 communication, and collaboration).’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) in subsection (c)(2)— 

15 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; 

16 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

18 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

20 the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(C) describe the progress of career and 

22 technical education students of the State in at23 taining 21st century skills (such as critical 

24 thinking, problem-solving, communication, and 

25 collaboration).’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. INCLUSION OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND 

2 INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATIONS IN STATE 

3 AND LOCAL PLANS. 

4 (a) STATE PLAN.—Section 122 of the Carl D. Per5 kins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

6 U.S.C. 2342) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ix), by striking ‘‘in8 cluding parent and community organizations’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘including parent and intermediary organi10 zations and community partners’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(A)— 

12 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

13 inserting a semicolon; and 

14 (B) by inserting after clause (iv) the fol15 lowing new clauses: 

16 ‘‘(v) are carried out in partnership 

17 with one or more community partners, in18 cluding through joint planning and imple19 mentation, shared professional develop20 ment designed to improve the effectiveness 

21 of eligible recipient and community partner 

22 staff, development and implementation of 

23 shared data systems that support program 

24 improvement and the improvement of pro25 gram outcomes, and the alignment and co26 ordination of eligible recipient and commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Nov 08, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2084.IS S2084

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1 nity partner goals, activities, and training; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(vi) are carried out with the involve4 ment of one or more intermediary organi5 zations that will assist the eligible appli6 cants by training staff, providing technical 

7 assistance that is designed to ensure con8 tinuous improvement, helping to ensure ac9 countability for results, and helping to en10 sure that program funds flow quickly and 

11 effectively to effective service providers and 

12 activities;’’; and 

13 (3) in subsection (c)(2)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘; 

15 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 

17 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; and 

18 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (G) 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(H) may be provided by a community 

21 partner or an intermediary organization;’’. 

22 (b) LOCAL PLAN.—Section 134(b) of the Carl D. 

23 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

24 U.S.C. 2354(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘community 

2 partners, intermediary organizations,’’ after ‘‘labor 

3 organizations,’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (11), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

5 inserting a semicolon; 

6 (3) in paragraph (12)(B), by striking the period 

7 and inserting a semicolon; and 

8 (4) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol9 lowing new paragraphs: 

10 ‘‘(13) describe the data-sharing agreement or 

11 agreements that the eligible recipient agency has en12 tered into with other agencies and organizations so 

13 as to provide for shared access to information on 

14 student progress and success (consistent with the re15 quirements of subpart 4 of part C of the General 

16 Education Provisions Act), integrated planning and 

17 joint review of the data, and coordinated adjust18 ments in program strategies and activities in re19 sponse to changes in student needs or to new chal20 lenges; 

21 ‘‘(14) describe how the eligible recipient will 

22 carry out its program under this part in partnership 

23 with one or more community partners, including 

24 through joint planning and implementation, shared 

25 professional development designed to improve the efVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Nov 08, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2084.IS S2084

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1 fectiveness of eligible recipient and community part2 ner staff, development and implementation of shared 

3 data systems that support program improvement 

4 and the improvement of program outcomes, and the 

5 alignment and coordination of eligible recipient and 

6 community partner goals, activities, and training; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(15) a description of how the eligible recipient 

9 will carry out its program under this part with the 

10 involvement of one or more intermediary organiza11 tions that will assist the eligible entity by training 

12 staff, providing technical assistance that is designed 

13 to ensure continuous improvement, helping to ensure 

14 accountability for results, and helping to ensure that 

15 program funds flow quickly and effectively to effec16 tive service providers and activities.’’. 

17 (c) LOCAL USE OF FUNDS.—Section 135(b) of the 

18 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

19 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2355(b)) is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘development 

21 programs that’’ and inserting ‘‘development pro22 grams, which may be provided by community part23 ners or intermediary organizations, that’’; 

24 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

25 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (3) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 

2 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (4) by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol4 lowing new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(10) development and implementation of data6 sharing agreements between the eligible recipient 

7 and other agencies and organizations that provide 

8 for shared access to information on student progress 

9 and success (consistent with the requirements of 

10 subpart 4 of part C of the General Education Provi11 sions Act), integrated planning and joint review of 

12 the data, and coordinated adjustments in program 

13 strategies and activities in response to changes in 

14 student needs or to new challenges.’’. 

15 SEC. 104. EVALUATIONS. 

16 Section 114(d)(2)(B) of the Carl D. Perkins Career 

17 and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2324) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in20 serting a semicolon; 

21 (2) in clause (vii), by striking the period and in22 serting a semicolon; and 

23 (3) by inserting after clause (vii) the following 

24 new clauses: 


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1 ‘‘(viii) whether and how eligible recipi2 ents are involving community partners and 

3 intermediary organizations in their activi4 ties carried out under part C, and the im5 pact of that involvement; and 

6 ‘‘(ix) the implementation of the data7 sharing agreements entered into under sec8 tion 135(b)(10), and the impact of that 

9 implementation.’’. 

10 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 

11 HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 

12 1965 

13 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

14 Section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1088) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new subsections: 

17 ‘‘(g) COMMUNITY PARTNER.—For purposes of this 

18 title, the term ‘community partner’ means a nonprofit or19 ganization that has expertise in the planning and delivery 

20 of education, career training, and related programs, in 

21 forging coordination and cooperation between educators 

22 and other members of the community, in training edu23 cators and other deliverers of educational services, or in 

24 development and implementation of data systems that 


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1 measure the progress of students, schools and institutions 

2 of higher education, and programs. 

3 ‘‘(h) INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION.—For purposes 

4 of this title, the term ‘intermediary organization’ means 

5 a nonprofit organization that has expertise in training, 

6 forging public-private partnerships, systems development, 

7 capacity-building, improving scalability, evaluation, and 

8 development and implementation of data systems that 

9 measure the progress of students, schools and other edu10 cational institutions, and programs.’’. 

11 SEC. 202. TRIO PROGRAMS. 

12 Section 402A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

13 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘For the purposes de16 scribed’’ and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes de18 scribed’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND INTER21 MEDIARY ORGANIZATIONS.—An entity described 

22 in subparagraph (A) receiving a grant or enter23 ing into a contract under this chapter shall, to 

24 the extent practicable, carry out the grant or 

25 contract— 


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1 ‘‘(i) with one or more community 

2 partners, including through joint planning 

3 and implementation, shared professional 

4 development designed to improve the effec5 tiveness of such eligible entity and commu6 nity partner staff, development and imple7 mentation of shared data systems that 

8 support the improvement of the operations 

9 and outcomes of the program carried out 

10 with such grant or contract, and the align11 ment and coordination of such eligible enti12 ty and community partner goals, activities, 

13 and training; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) with the involvement of one or 

15 more intermediary organizations that will 

16 assist such eligible entity by training staff, 

17 providing technical assistance that is de18 signed to ensure continuous improvement, 

19 helping to ensure accountability for results, 

20 and helping to ensure that the grant or 

21 contract funds flow quickly and effectively 

22 to effective service providers and activi23 ties.’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (c)(6), by adding at the end 

25 the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall encourage entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Nov 08, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2084.IS S2084

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1 ties receiving grants or entering into contracts under 

2 this chapter to enter into data-sharing agreements 

3 with other agencies and organizations so as to pro4 vide for shared access to information on student 

5 progress and success (consistent with the require6 ments of subpart 4 of part C of the General Edu7 cation Provisions Act), integrated planning and re8 view of the data, and coordinated adjustments in 

9 program strategies and activities in response to 

10 changes in student needs or to new challenges.’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (f)(3)— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

13 (i) by redesignating clauses (v) and 

14 (vi) as clauses (vi) and (vii), respectively; 

15 and 

16 (ii) by inserting after clause (iv) the 

17 following new clause: 

18 ‘‘(v) student acquisition of 21st cen19 tury skills (such as critical thinking, prob20 lem-solving, communication, and collabora21 tion);’’; and 

22 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

23 (i) by redesignating clauses (v), (vi), 

24 and (vii) as clauses (vi), (vii), and (viii), 

25 respectively; and 


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1 (ii) by inserting after clause (iv) the 

2 following new clause: 

3 ‘‘(v) student acquisition of 21st cen4 tury skills (such as critical thinking, prob5 lem-solving, communication, and collabora6 tion);’’. 

7 SEC. 203. GEAR UP. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—Section 

9 404A(c)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 1070a–21(c)(2)) is amended— 

11 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

13 (i); and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(iii) one or more community part16 ners; and’’; and 

17 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘inter18 mediary organizations,’’ after ‘‘subpart 4,’’. 

19 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 404B(b) of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–22(b)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

23 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and adjust24 ing the margins of such subparagraphs accordingly; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘Each eligible entity’’ and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(2) DATA SHARING.—Each eligible entity re6 ceiving a grant under this chapter shall, to the ex7 tent feasible, enter into data-sharing agreements 

8 with other organizations or agencies so as to provide 

9 for shared access to information on student progress 

10 and success (consistent with the requirements of 

11 subpart 4 of part C of the General Education Provi12 sions Act), integrated planning and joint review of 

13 the data, and coordinated adjustments in program 

14 strategies and activities in response to changes in 

15 student needs or to new challenges.’’. 

16 (c) APPLICATIONS.—Section 404C(a)(2) of the High17 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–23(a)(2)) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara20 graph (I); 

21 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 

22 at the end of subparagraph (J); and 

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

24 ‘‘(K) describe, in the case of an eligible en25 tity described in section 404A(c)(2), how the 


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1 entities included in the partnership will engage 

2 in— 

3 ‘‘(i) joint planning and implementa4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(ii) shared professional development 

6 designed to improve the effectiveness of 

7 school, community partner, and other 

8 staff; 

9 ‘‘(iii) development and implementation 

10 of shared data systems that support pro11 gram improvement and the improvement of 

12 program outcomes; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) the alignment and coordination 

14 of local educational agency, school, commu15 nity partner, and other partnership mem16 ber goals, activities, and training.’’. 

17 (d) ACTIVITIES.—Section 404D(a)(3) of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–24(a)(3)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara21 graph (A); 

22 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub23 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(C) at the discretion of the eligible entity, 

2 acquire 21st century skills (such as critical 

3 thinking, problem-solving, communication, and 

4 collaboration).’’. 

5 SEC. 204. MAINTENANCE AND EXPANSION OF EXISTING 

6 PROGRAMS. 

7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—Section 418A(a) of the 

8 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070d–2(a)) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in11 serting the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall’’; and 

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

14 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND INTER15 MEDIARY ORGANIZATIONS.—Each such program 

16 shall be implemented— 

17 ‘‘(A) in partnership with one or more com18 munity partners, including through joint plan19 ning and implementation, shared professional 

20 development designed to improve the effective21 ness of, as applicable, school, institution of 

22 higher education, nonprofit organization, and 

23 community partner staff, development and im24 plementation of shared data systems that sup25 port program improvement and the improveVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Nov 08, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2084.IS S2084

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1 ment of program outcomes, and the alignment 

2 and coordination of, as applicable, school, insti3 tution of higher education, nonprofit organiza4 tion, and community partner goals, activities, 

5 and training; and 

6 ‘‘(B) with the involvement of one or more 

7 intermediary organizations that assist the 

8 grantee by training staff, providing technical 

9 assistance that is designed to ensure continuous 

10 improvement, helping to ensure accountability 

11 for results, and helping to ensure that program 

12 funds flow quickly and effectively to effective 

13 service providers and activities. 

14 ‘‘(3) DATA SHARING.—Each such program shall 

15 include the implementation of one or more data16 sharing agreements between the grantee and other 

17 organizations or agencies that provide for shared ac18 cess to information on student progress and success 

19 (consistent with the requirements of subpart 4 of 

20 part C of the General Education Provisions Act), in21 tegrated planning and joint review of the data, and 

22 coordinated adjustments in program strategies and 

23 activities in response to changes in student needs or 

24 to new challenges.’’. 


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1 (b) SERVICES PROVIDED.—Section 418A(b) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070d–2(b)) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (8); 

6 (2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para7 graph (10); and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(9) activities designed to ensure that partici11 pants acquire 21st century skills (such as critical 

12 thinking, problem-solving, communication, and col13 laboration); and’’. 

Æ 


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