I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1097 

To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to make 

grants to the parents of students served by local educational agencies 

that will not provide in-person instruction in a manner consistent with 

school year 2019–2020, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. OWENS, Mr. NORMAN, Ms. 

HERRELL, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. STEUBE, and Mr. CAWTHORN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant 

program to make grants to the parents of students 

served by local educational agencies that will not provide 

in-person instruction in a manner consistent with school 

year 2019–2020, 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 ‘‘Creating Hope and 

5 Opportunity through Increased Choice in Education Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘CHOICE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

3 grant program (to be known as the ‘‘Opportunity Grant 

4 Program’’) to make grants to parents of eligible students 

5 for the purposes described in subsection (d). 

6 (b) APPLICATION.— 

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

8 grant under this section, a parent of an eligible stu9 dent shall submit to the Secretary an application 

10 demonstrating— 

11 (A) the household income of such eligible 

12 student; and 

13 (B) with respect to school year 2020–2021, 

14 that the local educational agency serving such 

15 eligible student has not provided in-person in16 struction in a manner consistent with school 

17 year 2019–2020. 

18 (2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

19 shall accept applications under paragraph (1) on an 

20 annual rolling basis and make such application avail21 able as a standardized form in electronic and written 

22 format. 

23 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Subject to the availability 

24 of appropriations, each parent of an eligible student who 

25 the Secretary determines qualifies for a grant under this 


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1 section shall receive a grant under this section in an 

2 amount that— 

3 (1) in the case of an eligible student with a 

4 household income less than or equal to 100 percent 

5 of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 

6 100 percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to 

7 the local educational agency serving such eligible 

8 student, as determined by the Secretary; 

9 (2) in the case of an eligible student with a 

10 household income greater than 100 percent but less 

11 than or equal to 150 percent of the reduced price 

12 lunch rate income, is equal to 90 percent of the per13 pupil funding with respect to the local educational 

14 agency serving such eligible student, as determined 

15 by the Secretary; 

16 (3) in the case of an eligible student with a 

17 household income greater than 150 percent but less 

18 than or equal to 200 percent of the reduced price 

19 lunch rate income, is equal to 80 percent of the per20 pupil funding with respect to the local educational 

21 agency serving such eligible student, as determined 

22 by the Secretary; and 

23 (4) in the case of an eligible student with a 

24 household income greater than 200 percent but less 

25 than or equal to 250 percent of the reduced price 


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1 lunch rate income, is equal to 70 percent of the per2 pupil funding with respect to the local educational 

3 agency serving such eligible student, as determined 

4 by the Secretary. 

5 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Any amounts made available 

6 to a parent under this section may be used— 

7 (1) with respect to an eligible student, to pay 

8 the tuition and fees for a private elementary school 

9 or a private secondary school; 

10 (2) for private tutoring (including through a 

11 learning pod or microschool); 

12 (3) for the home school expenses of such eligi13 ble student; 

14 (4) to purchase educational materials, including 

15 instruction materials and textbooks for such eligible 

16 student; 

17 (5) for purchasing electronic devices to facili18 tate the education of such eligible student; or 

19 (6) for such other purposes as the Secretary de20 termines appropriate. 

21 (e) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion shall be construed— 

23 (1) to impact any aspect of private, religious, or 

24 home education providers; 


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1 (2) to exclude private, religious, or home edu2 cation providers from receiving funds pursuant to a 

3 grant under this section; or 

4 (3) to require a qualified educational service 

5 provider to alter any creed, practice, admissions pol6 icy, or curriculum in order to receive funds pursuant 

7 to a grant under this section. 

8 (f) FUNDING.—From any amounts appropriated for 

9 section 18003 of division B of the CARES Act on or after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, not11 withstanding any other provision of title XVIII of division 

12 B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136), use 10 per13 cent of such amounts to carry out this section and award 

14 opportunity grants to parents with approved applications 

15 in accordance with this section. 

16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

18 student’’ means a student— 

19 (A) served by a local educational agency 

20 that, with respect to school year 2020–2021, 

21 will not provide in-person instruction in a man22 ner consistent with school year 2019–2020; and 

23 (B) from a household with a household in24 come that is less than 200 percent of the re25 duced price lunch rate income. 


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1 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu2 cational agency’’, ‘‘parent’’, and ‘‘Secretary’’ have 

3 the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of 

4 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

6 (3) HOUSEHOLD INCOME.—The term ‘‘house7 hold income’’ has the meaning given such term in 

8 section 36B(d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 (26 U.S.C. 36B(d)(2)). 

10 (4) REDUCED PRICE LUNCH RATE INCOME.— 

11 The term ‘‘reduced price lunch rate income’’ means 

12 185 percent of the applicable family size income lev13 els contained in the nonfarm income poverty guide14 lines prescribed by the Office of Management and 

15 Budget, as adjusted annually in accordance with 

16 subparagraph (B) of section 9(b)(1) of the Richard 

17 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 1758(b)(1)). 

Æ 


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