II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1710 

To authorize a grant-matching program that strengthens and accelerates 

interventions in the lowest-performing elementary schools and secondary 

schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 7, 2015 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. COONS, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize a grant-matching program that strengthens and 

accelerates interventions in the lowest-performing elementary schools and secondary schools. 

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 ‘‘AmeriCorps School 

5 Turnaround Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Students are most successful when they 

9 have personal, attentive support. 


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1 (2) Turning schools around requires collabora2 tion among teachers, administrators, counselors, 

3 business leaders, the philanthropic sector, and com4 munity members. 

5 (3) National service provides valuable support 

6 to elementary schools and secondary schools and has 

7 a record for improving student academic achieve8 ment. 

9 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

10 (1) strengthen and accelerate interventions in 

11 the lowest-performing elementary schools and sec12 ondary schools; 

13 (2) provide financial support to eligible entities 

14 that serve low-performing schools; 

15 (3) significantly improve outcomes for students 

16 in persistently low-performing schools by— 

17 (A) providing opportunities for academic 

18 enrichment; 

19 (B) extending learning time; and 

20 (C) providing individual support for stu21 dents; and 

22 (4) improve high school graduation rates and 

23 college readiness for the most disadvantaged stu24 dents. 


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1 SEC. 3. SCHOOL TURNAROUND PROGRAM. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term 

4 ‘‘Chief Executive Officer’’ means the Chief Executive 

5 Officer of the Corporation for National and Commu6 nity Service appointed under section 193 of the Na7 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

8 U.S.C. 12651c). 

9 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means— 

11 (A) an elementary school or secondary 

12 school; or 

13 (B) any of the following entities that serve 

14 low-performing schools: 

15 (i) Public or private nonprofit organi16 zations, including faith-based and other 

17 community organizations. 

18 (ii) Local educational agencies. 

19 (iii) Institutions of higher education. 

20 (iv) Government entities within 

21 States. 

22 (v) Indian Tribes. 

23 (vi) Labor organizations. 

24 (3) LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOL.—The term 

25 ‘‘low-performing school’’ means an elementary school 

26 or secondary school that is identified under section 


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1 1116 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

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

3 (4) NATIONAL SERVICE PARTICIPANT.—The 

4 term ‘‘national service participant’’ means an indi5 vidual described under part III of the National and 

6 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12591 

7 et seq.). 

8 (5) SCHOOL TURNAROUND CORPS PROJECT.— 

9 The term ‘‘School Turnaround Corps project’’ means 

10 a project carried out by an eligible entity that is a 

11 permissible use of funds for a grant under this Act. 

12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Education. 

14 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT FOR SCHOOL TURN15 AROUND GRANTS. 

16 (a) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive Officer 

18 shall enter into an interagency agreement with the 

19 Secretary similar to an interagency agreement de20 scribed in section 121(b)(1) of the National and 

21 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

22 12571(b)(1)) regarding the grant program described 

23 in section 5, except that funds appropriated under 

24 this Act may be used as if for the purposes for 

25 which funds may be provided through grants under 


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1 section 121(a) of the National and Community Serv2 ice Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(a)). 

3 (2) AMENDMENT TO THE NCSA.—Section 

4 121(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL TURNAROUND GRANT INTER7 AGENCY AGREEMENT.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

8 (1), the Corporation shall enter into an interagency 

9 agreement similar to an interagency agreement de10 scribed in paragraph (1) with the Secretary of Edu11 cation under this subsection regarding the school 

12 turnaround grant program described in section 5 of 

13 the AmeriCorps School Turnaround Act of 2015.’’. 

14 (b) APPROVED NATIONAL SERVICE POSITIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive Officer 

16 shall approve positions for School Turnaround Corps 

17 projects as approved national service positions in ac18 cordance with subtitle C of title I of the National 

19 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

20 12571 et seq.). 

21 (2) DISTRIBUTION OF ASSISTANCE AND AP22 PROVED POSITIONS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

23 Act shall be construed to affect the distribution of 

24 assistance or approved national service positions 


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1 under section 129 of the National and Community 

2 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12581). 

3 (c) TREATMENT OF FUNDS APPROPRIATED.— 

4 (1) NATIONAL SERVICE TRUST.—For purposes 

5 of section 145(a)(1) of the National and Community 

6 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601(a)(1)), a por7 tion of the funds appropriated under this Act, as de8 termined by the Chief Executive Officer based on 

9 the number of participants selected for School Turn10 around Corps projects, shall be treated as funds 

11 made available to carry out subtitle D of title I of 

12 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

13 (42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.). 

14 (2) INVESTMENT OF TRUST FUNDS.—For pur15 poses of subsection (b) of section 145 of the Na16 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

17 U.S.C. 12601), a portion of the funds appropriated 

18 under this Act, as determined by the Chief Execu19 tive Officer based on the number of participants se20 lected for School Turnaround Corps projects, shall 

21 be treated as if appropriated to the Trust estab22 lished under such section. 

23 (3) RESERVE ACCOUNT.—For purposes of sec24 tion 149(b)(1)(B)(ii) of the National and Commu25 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 12606(b)(1)(B)(ii)), a portion of the funds appro2 priated under this Act, as determined by the Chief 

3 Executive Officer based on the number of partici4 pants selected for School Turnaround Corps 

5 projects, shall be treated as funds appropriated for 

6 the fiscal year involved under section 501 of the Na7 tional and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

8 U.S.C. 12681) and made available to carry out sub9 title C or D of title I of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12571 

10 et seq.; 42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.). 

11 (4) AUDITS.—For purposes of section 149(c) of 

12 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 

13 (42 U.S.C. 12606(c)), funds appropriated under this 

14 Act shall be treated as appropriated funds for ap15 proved national service positions. 

16 SEC. 5. SCHOOL TURNAROUND GRANT PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

18 under this Act after the reservation described in sub19 section (b), the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation 

20 with the Secretary, shall award grants, on a competitive 

21 basis, to eligible entities to enable such eligible entities— 

22 (1) to improve the academic achievement of ele23 mentary school and secondary school students; and 


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1 (2) to select national service participants and 

2 engage such participants’ in School Turnaround 

3 Corps projects. 

4 (b) AMOUNTS RESERVED.—The Chief Executive Of5 ficer shall reserve not less than 1 percent, and not more 

6 than 2 percent, of the amount appropriated to carry out 

7 this Act for each fiscal year to award grants under this 

8 Act to Indian tribes and organizations serving tribal popu9 lations. 

10 (c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this Act, the 

11 Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Sec12 retary— 

13 (1) shall give priority to eligible entities that 

14 will serve significant populations of low-income stu15 dents; and 

16 (2) may give priority to eligible entities that— 

17 (A) are located in low-income communities; 

18 (B) will serve communities with significant 

19 populations of families with limited English 

20 proficiency; 

21 (C) will place national service participants 

22 in urban or rural areas; or 

23 (D) will increase the ability of educators to 

24 provide appropriate services and coordinate ac25 tivities with State and local systems providing 


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1 services under part B of the Individuals with 

2 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et 

3 seq.) for children with developmental delays or 

4 disabilities, including such children in the child 

5 welfare system of the State. 

6 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re8 ceives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

9 made available through the grant to carry out 1 or 

10 more of the activities described in paragraphs (2) 

11 through (6), and shall engage national service par12 ticipants to carry out such activities. 

13 (2) INCREASING HIGH-QUALITY, INDIVIDUAL14 IZED LEARNING TIME.—Improving the quality and 

15 frequency of individualized learning time provided to 

16 elementary school and secondary school students by 

17 providing individualized support, which may include 

18 increasing postsecondary education enrollment rates 

19 through postsecondary education preparation coun20 seling assistance, including assistance with com21 pleting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 

22 (FAFSA) and applications for institutions of higher 

23 education, and educating students and their families 

24 about financial literacy for postsecondary education. 


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1 (3) OUT-OF-SCHOOL AND EXTENDED LEARNING

2 PROGRAMS.—Increasing personalized, out-of-school 

3 and extended learning programs provided to elemen4 tary school and secondary school students by engag5 ing national service participants to serve as— 

6 (A) tutors who provide individualized, aca7 demic support outside of the standard school 

8 day; and 

9 (B) family resource mentors who connect 

10 the student, family, and school in an open con11 versation about the student’s academic situa12 tion. 

13 (4) COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS AND

14 GRADUATION COACHES.—The provision of individual 

15 graduation, postsecondary education, and career 

16 preparation guidance and assistance by college or 

17 career planing advisors. 

18 (5) SCHOOLWIDE ACTIVITIES.—Carrying out 

19 schoolwide activities, including— 

20 (A) establishing a school culture and envi21 ronment that improves school safety, attend22 ance, and discipline and addressing other non23 academic factors that impact student achieve24 ment, such as students’ social, emotional, and 

25 health needs; and 


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1 (B) carrying out activities to increase 

2 graduation rates, such as early warning sys3 tems, credit-recovery programs, and re-engage4 ment strategies. 

5 (6) ACCELERATING READING AND MATHE6 MATICS KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS.—The provision of 

7 activities to accelerate students’ acquisition of read8 ing and mathematics knowledge and skills. 

9 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of any 

11 funds for a program under this Act, each grantee shall 

12 agree to submit an annual report at such time, in such 

13 manner, and containing such information as the Chief Ex14 ecutive Officer, in consultation with the Secretary, may 

15 require. 

16 (b) CONTENT.—At a minimum, each annual report 

17 under this subsection shall describe— 

18 (1) the degree to which progress has been made 

19 toward meeting the annual benchmarks and long20 term goals and objectives described in the grant re21 cipient’s application; and 

22 (2) demographic data about low-performing 

23 schools, including the number of low-income and mi24 nority students, served in each program. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, and such sums 

4 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

5 years. 

Æ 


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