II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2443 

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

a new career counseling program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2018 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Mr. PERDUE) 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 to establish a new career counseling 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 ‘‘Careers Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) A career guidance and counseling program 

8 develops an individual’s competencies in self-knowlVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:51 Feb 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2443.IS S2443

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1 edge, educational and occupational exploration, and 

2 career planning. 

3 (2) Career guidance and counseling programs 

4 help individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and 

5 experience necessary to identify options, explore al6 ternatives, and succeed in a 21st century society. 

7 (3) The American School Counselor Association 

8 recommends a student-to-counselor ratio of two-hun9 dred fifty to one. Forty-seven States do not meet 

10 this recommendation. 

11 (4) School counselors design and implement 

12 comprehensive school counseling programs that in13 clude educational and career planning activities for 

14 all students that are designed to assist students in 

15 reaching academic, career, and personal goals. 

16 (5) Students at schools with highly integrated, 

17 rigorous, academic and career and technical edu18 cation programs have significantly higher achieve19 ment in reading, mathematics, and science than do 

20 students at schools with less integrated programs. 

21 SEC. 3. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM. 

22 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Part B of title II of the 

23 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 6621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 5—Career Counseling Program 

2 ‘‘SEC. 2251. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘In this subpart: 

4 ‘‘(1) CAREER COUNSELOR.—The term ‘career 

5 counselor’ means a school counselor licensed or cer6 tified by a State. 

7 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE CAREER COUNSELING

8 PROGRAM.—The term ‘comprehensive career coun9 seling program’ means a program that— 

10 ‘‘(A) provides access for students (and par11 ents, as appropriate) to information regarding 

12 career awareness and planning with respect to 

13 an individual’s occupational and academic fu14 ture; 

15 ‘‘(B) provides information with respect to 

16 career options, financial aid, and postsecondary 

17 options, including baccalaureate degree pro18 grams, registered apprenticeship programs, and 

19 professional trades; and 

20 ‘‘(C) is implemented in a school by a ca21 reer counselor. 

22 ‘‘(3) EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—The 

23 term ‘educational development plan’ means an indi24 vidualized plan for a student that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) contains a series of steps to help the 

2 student promote career awareness and explo3 ration; and 

4 ‘‘(B) assists students in identifying— 

5 ‘‘(i) career and technical programs of 

6 study described in section 122(c)(1)(A) of 

7 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 

8 Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

9 2342(c)(1)(A)); 

10 ‘‘(ii) career pathways (as defined in 

11 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 

12 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)); and 

13 ‘‘(iii) programs of training services 

14 leading to a recognized postsecondary cre15 dential included on a State’s list under sec16 tion 122(d) of the Workforce Innovation 

17 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3152(d)). 

18 ‘‘(4) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PRO19 GRAM.—The term ‘registered apprenticeship pro20 gram’ means an apprenticeship program registered 

21 under the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known 

22 as the ‘National Apprenticeship Act’; 50 Stat. 664, 

23 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2252. CAREER COUNSELING PROGRAM. 

2 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

3 available to carry out this subpart, the Secretary shall 

4 award grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational 

5 agencies, to pay the Federal share of a program enabling 

6 the State educational agencies to address the shortage of 

7 career counselors and to expand effective career coun8 seling programs by awarding subgrants under section 

9 2253. 

10 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—A State that desires a grant 

11 under this subpart shall submit an application to the Sec12 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

13 information as the Secretary may require, including a de14 scription of— 

15 ‘‘(1) how the State will award subgrants with 

16 an emphasis toward supporting local educational 

17 agencies with disproportionally high student-to-coun18 selor ratios; 

19 ‘‘(2) a professional development program ap20 proved by the State for all career counselors in the 

21 State, which may include opportunities for extern22 ships, fellowships, and other activities to ensure that 

23 career counselors are able to provide current and rel24 evant workforce information; 


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1 ‘‘(3) how the State will provide technical assist2 ance to local educational agencies to enable the local 

3 educational agencies to qualify for subgrants; 

4 ‘‘(4) the State-wide strategies to be imple5 mented by the State to increase the number of high6 quality career counselors; 

7 ‘‘(5) how the State will disseminate, in a timely 

8 manner, information regarding— 

9 ‘‘(A) national, regional, and local labor 

10 market trends; and 

11 ‘‘(B) other career-relevant data; and 

12 ‘‘(6) how the State will assist local educational 

13 agencies in the State in developing a comprehensive 

14 career counseling program. 

15 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 

16 under this program, the Secretary shall give special con17 sideration to State educational agencies that have high 

18 student-to-counselor ratios. 

19 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE; NON-FEDERAL SHARE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of a 

21 grant under this subpart shall be 80 percent of the 

22 costs of the activities under the grant. 

23 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

24 share of a grant under this subpart shall be 20 per25 cent, and may be provided in cash or in-kind. 


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1 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State receiving a grant 

2 under this subpart— 

3 ‘‘(1) may use not more than 10 percent of the 

4 total amounts available for the grant to support the 

5 grant by carrying out the activities described in 

6 paragraphs (2) through (6) of subsection (b), as pro7 posed by the State and approved by the Secretary in 

8 the application submitted under subsection (b); 

9 ‘‘(2) may use not more than 3 percent of such 

10 total amounts for the administrative costs associated 

11 with the grant; and 

12 ‘‘(3) shall use not less than 87 percent of such 

13 total amounts to carry out the subgrant program de14 scribed in section 2253. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2253. CAREER COUNSELING SUBGRANTS. 

16 ‘‘(a) SUBGRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 

17 made available under section 2252(e)(3), each State re18 ceiving a grant under this subpart shall award subgrants, 

19 on a competitive basis, to local educational agencies to en20 able the local educational agencies to improve career coun21 seling programs. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency de23 siring a subgrant under this subpart shall submit to the 

24 State an application at such time, in such manner, and 


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1 containing such information as the State may require, in2 cluding the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) A description of a comprehensive career 

4 counseling program to be offered in the local edu5 cational agency that— 

6 ‘‘(A) encompasses grades 6 through 12; 

7 ‘‘(B) includes strategies to ensure that— 

8 ‘‘(i) all students served by the local 

9 educational agency start developing an 

10 educational development plan beginning in 

11 grade 7; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the educational development plan 

13 of each student is regularly reviewed and 

14 updated until the date that the student 

15 graduates from secondary school or is no 

16 longer enrolled in a school served by the 

17 local educational agency; and 

18 ‘‘(C) is developed in consultation with not 

19 less than two of the following types of stake20 holders: 

21 ‘‘(i) Institutions of higher education 

22 or postsecondary vocational institutions (as 

23 defined in section 102(c) of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

25 1002(c))). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Sponsors of registered appren2 ticeship programs. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Local boards (as defined in sec4 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 

5 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)). 

6 ‘‘(iv) Nonprofit organizations with ex7 pertise in career counseling. 

8 ‘‘(v) Tribal organizations. 

9 ‘‘(vi) Labor organizations. 

10 ‘‘(vii) Trade associations. 

11 ‘‘(2) In the case of a local educational agency 

12 whose student-to-counselor ratio is higher than the 

13 national average ratio (as determined by the Amer14 ican School Counselor Association, or a similar orga15 nization designated by the Secretary), a description 

16 of the activities that will be offered under the pro17 gram described in paragraph (1) to reduce the local 

18 educational agency’s ratio. 

19 ‘‘(3) A description of activities to be offered 

20 under the comprehensive career counseling program 

21 to promote student engagement with registered ap22 prenticeship programs, internships, and other work23 based learning experiences. 

24 ‘‘(4) A description of the strategies to be em25 ployed by the local educational agency— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to ensure the effective dissemination 

2 of career and labor market information to par3 ents and students; and 

4 ‘‘(B) to ensure students are aware of in5 school career development activities, including 

6 career and technical education programs and 

7 career and technical student organizations. 

8 ‘‘(5) A description of how the local educational 

9 agency will ensure that parents of students are rou10 tinely engaged in the development of the educational 

11 development plans for their students. 

12 ‘‘(6) A description of the strategies to be em13 ployed by the local educational agency— 

14 ‘‘(A) for ensuring that the comprehensive 

15 career counseling program described in para16 graph (1) is incorporated in the school cur17 riculum; and 

18 ‘‘(B) for bolstering career readiness among 

19 out-of-school youth, economically disadvantaged 

20 students, students who are children with dis21 abilities, and other at-risk populations. 

22 ‘‘(c) USE OF SUBGRANT FUNDS.—A local edu23 cational agency receiving a subgrant under this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) shall use subgrant funds to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) develop and implement the com2 prehensive career counseling program proposed 

3 by the local educational agency in the applica4 tion submitted under subsection (b)(1); and 

5 ‘‘(B) develop and carry out other activities 

6 and strategies proposed in the application under 

7 subsection (b); and 

8 ‘‘(2) may use subgrant funds to— 

9 ‘‘(A) purchase software or online platforms 

10 to directly support the comprehensive career 

11 counseling program of the local educational 

12 agency; and 

13 ‘‘(B) train school personnel to effectively 

14 provide students with current and relevant 

15 workforce information. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2254. REPORTS. 

17 ‘‘Each State educational agency receiving a grant 

18 under this subpart shall submit an annual report to the 

19 Secretary regarding the progress of the grant. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2255. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT. 

21 ‘‘Amounts made available under this subpart shall 

22 supplement, and not supplant, other amounts available to 

23 carry out the activities supported under this subpart. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 2256. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 this subpart $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 and each 

4 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2003(b) of 

6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 6603(b)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(except for sub8 part 5)’’ after ‘‘part B’’. 

Æ 


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