I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8535 

To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

2006 to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants for new 

agricultural education programs in secondary schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 6, 2020 

Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, and Mr. BRINDISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to direct the Secretary of Education 

to award grants for new agricultural education programs 

in 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 ‘‘Growing Opportunities 

5 in Agriculture Act’’ or the ‘‘GO Ag Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR NEW AGRICULTURAL EDU2 CATION PROGRAMS. 

3 Section 114 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech4 nical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2324) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding 

7 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(other than subsection 

8 (g))’’ after ‘‘section’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(g) GRANT PROGRAM FOR NEW AGRICULTURAL

11 EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

15 entities to support the creation of new agricul16 tural education programs in secondary schools. 

17 ‘‘(B) GRANT DURATION.—A grant awarded 

18 under this subsection may not exceed a 5-year 

19 grant period. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant 

22 under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 

23 submit an application to the Secretary at such 

24 time, in such manner, and containing such in25 formation as the Secretary may require, includ26 ing— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an identification and the role with 

2 respect to each program to be funded 

3 under the grant of any eligible partners of 

4 the eligible entity, including an assurance 

5 the grant under this subsection will not be 

6 used to prepare students for employment 

7 with solely one or more of such eligible 

8 partners; 

9 ‘‘(ii) an assurance that each program 

10 that will receive assistance under the grant 

11 is not yet in operation and such grant will 

12 be used to start such program; 

13 ‘‘(iii) a description of the grant budg14 et, how each program will fund necessary 

15 expenses for the program not covered by 

16 the grant (such as any funds to be pro17 vided by State, local, or private entities), 

18 and how the eligible entity will continue 

19 each such program after the grant is ex20 hausted; 

21 ‘‘(iv) a description of how grant will 

22 directly benefit students, including special 

23 populations, served by the eligible entity; 

24 ‘‘(v) a description of how each such 

25 program will be coordinated with the acVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8535.IH H8535

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1 tivities carried out under section 124 or 

2 135; 

3 ‘‘(vi) a description of how each such 

4 program reflects the needs of regional, 

5 State, or local employers, as demonstrated 

6 by the comprehensive needs assessment 

7 under section 134(c) carried out by the eli8 gible entity; and 

9 ‘‘(vii) an assurance that the eligible 

10 entity will— 

11 ‘‘(I) provide information to the 

12 Secretary, as requested, for the eval13 uation under paragraph (4) and any 

14 evaluations that the Secretary may 

15 carry out; and 

16 ‘‘(II) make data available to 

17 third parties for validation, in accord18 ance with applicable data privacy 

19 laws, including section 444 of the 

20 General Education Provisions Act (20 

21 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly known as 

22 the ‘Family Educational Rights and 

23 Privacy Act of 1974’). 

24 ‘‘(B) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall cre25 ate a process for evaluating applications subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:33 Oct 30, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8535.IH H8535

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1 mitted under subparagraph (A) and deter2 mining the amount of each grant for successful 

3 applications, except that in no case may an eli4 gible entity receive a grant exceeding $100,000. 

5 ‘‘(3) USES OF FUNDS.—Each eligible entity re6 ceiving a grant under this subsection shall use such 

7 grant for the creation of new agricultural education 

8 programs in secondary schools, which may include— 

9 ‘‘(A) curriculum development and delivery, 

10 including classroom or laboratory instruction, 

11 work-based learning, and leadership education 

12 delivered through career and technical student 

13 organizations; 

14 ‘‘(B) the purchase of equipment, tech15 nology, and course materials; and 

16 ‘‘(C) other costs the Secretary may deter17 mine to be eligible. 

18 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION AND ANNUAL REPORT.— 

19 Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this sub20 section shall provide for an independent evaluation 

21 of the activities carried out using such grant and 

22 submit to the Secretary an annual report that in23 cludes— 

24 ‘‘(A) a description of how the grant was 

25 used; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the performance of each program as2 sistance with such grant with respect to, at a 

3 minimum, the performance indicators described 

4 under section 113, as applicable, and disaggre5 gated— 

6 ‘‘(i) by subgroups of students de7 scribed in section 1111(c)(2)(B) of the El8 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2)(B)); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) by each special population; and 

11 ‘‘(C) a quantitative analysis of the effec12 tiveness of each such program. 

13 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this subsection $5,000,000, to remain available 

16 through fiscal year 2025. 

17 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

18 ‘‘(A) AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION.—The 

19 term ‘agricultural education’ means career and 

20 technical education that is focused on agri21 culture, including classroom or laboratory in22 struction, work-based learning, and leadership 

23 education delivered through career and tech24 nical student organizations. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi2 ble entity’ has the meaning given the term ‘eli3 gible recipient’ in section 3(21)(A) of the Carl 

4 D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act 

5 of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302(21)(A)). 

6 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The term ‘eli7 gible partner’ means— 

8 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education 

9 or a consortium of such institutions; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) a community stakeholder rel11 evant to a program to be funded under 

12 this subsection, including a labor organiza13 tion, a local or regional business or indus14 try, or a local workforce development 

15 board.’’. 

Æ 


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