I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1109 

To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools and 

secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and 

to support programs in international education that supplement core 

curricula in such schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2011 

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To raise achievement in international education in elementary 

schools and secondary schools through grants to improve 

teacher competency and to support programs in international education that supplement core curricula in such 

schools, 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 ‘‘Global Education 

5 Nexus in U.S. Act’’ or the ‘‘GENIUS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (1) A host of growing challenges—international 

2 security, global markets, immigration, world health, 

3 the environment, and the emerging educational and 

4 material aspirations of the world’s poorest people— 

5 are fundamentally altering the international land6 scape. 

7 (2) Rapid technological advances and the infor8 mation age are shrinking the world, exponentially 

9 enlarging access of all peoples to essential knowl10 edge, concepts, and ideas, and connecting Americans 

11 to their counterparts across the globe. 

12 (3) The diversity of American workplaces, 

13 schools, and communities increasingly parallels the 

14 world’s diversity. 

15 (4) Americans, in the performance of their citi16 zenship roles, are required to make informed judg17 ments about the role of the United States in the 

18 world, as well as the impact of other nations and 

19 world regions on the United States. 

20 (5) The place of the United States in the world 

21 will depend on whether teachers, citizens, and policy22 makers of the United States understand how inter23 national events shape the lives, politics, economics, 

24 and security of the Nation. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (6) American-based multinational corporations, 

2 as well as small businesses, increasingly need em3 ployees with knowledge of foreign languages and cul4 tures to market products to customers domestically 

5 and around the globe, and to work effectively with 

6 foreign employees and partners in other countries. 

7 (7) It is the primary function of the Nation’s 

8 schools to prepare America’s students to meet the 

9 requirements of the workplace and to perform citi10 zenship roles in dynamic and rapidly changing do11 mestic and global communities. 

12 (8) Recent surveys consistently demonstrate the 

13 illiteracy of young Americans in geography, econom14 ics, and world history, as well as the low priority 

15 university students give to learning about other 

16 countries and cultures. 

17 (9) Only rarely do American high school or uni18 versity students elect to study geography, world his19 tory, international relations, or global issues, or to 

20 obtain fluency in a foreign language. 

21 (10) School curricula and university programs 

22 of study are not adequately aligned to new inter23 national and global realities. 

24 (11) State educational agencies and local edu25 cational agencies must be encouraged to include 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1109 IH

1 international education competency as part of teach2 er credentialing and licensing. 

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

4 (1) to raise student achievement in world his5 tory and cultures, international and global studies, 

6 and foreign languages by increasing the inter7 national education competence and literacy of ele8 mentary school and secondary school teachers; and 

9 (2) to support programs that supplement stu10 dent educational achievement in world history, inter11 national and global studies, and foreign languages. 

12 SEC. 3. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTER13 NATIONAL AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDU14 CATION. 

15 Section 205 of the Department of Education Organi16 zation Act (20 U.S.C. 3415) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b)— 

18 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

19 by inserting ‘‘elementary, secondary,’’ after ‘‘af20 fecting’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

22 the end; 

23 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe24 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, national non25 profit educational organizations or consortiums 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1109 IH

1 of nonprofit educational organizations, State 

2 educational agencies, local educational agencies, 

3 and other nonprofit organizations;’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(4) assist the Secretary in administering the 

6 grant program under section 4 of the Global Edu7 cation Nexus in U.S. Act; and 

8 ‘‘(5) develop an international education re9 search repository and make available the information 

10 contained in such repository to any State edu11 cational agency and local educational agency.’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘institution of higher education’ 

15 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

16 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 1001); 

18 ‘‘(2) the term ‘international education’ means 

19 educational subject matter related to world history, 

20 regions, cultures, and geography, as well as foreign 

21 languages, contemporary world issues, international 

22 relations, international economics, humanitarian law, 

23 international and non-governmental organizations, 

24 and the technology and communication mediums re25 lated to such subject matter. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1109 IH

1 ‘‘(3) the term ‘international education research 

2 repository’ means a research repository containing 

3 scientifically valid education research, promising and 

4 exemplary practices related to international edu5 cation, including foreign language education, as well 

6 as any other information related to international 

7 education that the Secretary determines would be 

8 beneficial for State educational agencies and local 

9 educational agencies in— 

10 ‘‘(A) the professional development of 

11 teachers of international education, including 

12 foreign language education; 

13 ‘‘(B) the implementation of international 

14 education programs, including foreign language 

15 programs; and 

16 ‘‘(C) improving the international education 

17 competency, including foreign language com18 petency, of elementary school and secondary 

19 school students; 

20 ‘‘(4) the term ‘national nonprofit educational 

21 organizations or consortiums of nonprofit edu22 cational organizations’ means national nonprofit 

23 educational organizations or consortiums of non24 profit educational organizations that have as their 

25 primary purpose the improvement of student comVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:06 Mar 17, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1109.IH H1109

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1109 IH

1 petency in international education, including foreign 

2 language competency, through effective international 

3 education instruction, including foreign language in4 struction, in elementary schools, secondary schools, 

5 and institutions of higher education; and 

6 ‘‘(5) the terms ‘local educational agency’, ‘ele7 mentary school’, ‘secondary school’, and ‘State edu8 cational agency’ have the meanings given such terms 

9 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).’’. 

11 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GRANTS. 

12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the funds appro13 priated under section 6, the Secretary, acting through the 

14 Deputy Assistant Secretary, shall award grants on a com15 petitive basis to eligible entities to promote international 

16 education instruction in elementary schools and secondary 

17 schools in accordance with subsection (c) by— 

18 (1) increasing teacher competency with respect 

19 to international education subject matter; and 

20 (2) implementing supplemental international 

21 education services. 

22 (b) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.— 

23 (1) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

24 grant under this section, an eligible entity shall sub25 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1109 IH

1 such manner, and containing such information as 

2 the Secretary may require. 

3 (2) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give pri4 ority to eligible entities that— 

5 (A) are eligible for assistance under part A 

6 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 

8 seq.); 

9 (B) offer professional development in inter10 national education to all teachers and encour11 age the inclusion of international education in 

12 core elementary school and secondary school 

13 curricula; and 

14 (C) the Secretary determines are most in 

15 need of receiving assistance in the area of inter16 national education. 

17 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity awarded a 

18 grant under this section shall use— 

19 (1) 50 percent of such grant funds to develop, 

20 implement, and strengthen programs to teach inter21 national education within core elementary school and 

22 secondary school curricula, which shall include pro23 grams with respect to international education sub24 ject matter that— 

25 (A) improve the quality of instruction; and 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (B) provide professional development and 

2 teacher education activities; and 

3 (2) 50 percent of such grant funds to supple4 ment core academic subjects through supplemental 

5 international education services outside of normal in6 struction hours, such as— 

7 (A) Model United Nations; 

8 (B) geography bees; and 

9 (C) any other service or program deemed 

10 beneficial to the development of student inter11 national education competency by the Sec12 retary. 

13 SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND REPORT. 

14 (a) EVALUATION.—From the funds appropriated 

15 under section 6, the Secretary shall conduct, through 

16 grant or by contract, a biennial independent evaluation of 

17 the international education programs administered by eli18 gible entities under section 4 that— 

19 (1) quantifies student academic achievement in 

20 international education; and 

21 (2) describes promising and exemplary practices 

22 of preparing teachers to teach international edu23 cation topics and providing international education 

24 to students. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (b) REPORT.—From the funds appropriated under 

2 section 6, the Secretary shall prepare, through grant or 

3 by contract, and submit to each House of Congress, an 

4 annual independent report that includes— 

5 (1) the total amount of grant funds awarded 

6 under section 4, and the geographic distribution of 

7 such awards; 

8 (2) the results of the evaluation conducted 

9 under subsection (a); and 

10 (3) any other information deemed appropriate 

11 by the Deputy Assistant Secretary or the Secretary. 

12 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated 

14 $200,000,000 to carry out this Act for fiscal year 2012 

15 and such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year 

16 thereafter. 

17 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term 

20 ‘‘Deputy Assistant Secretary’’ means the Deputy As21 sistant Secretary for International and Foreign Lan22 guage Education in the Office of Postsecondary 

23 Education of the Department of Education. 

24 (2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen25 tary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 1109 IH

1 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti4 ty’’ means— 

5 (A) a local educational agency; or 

6 (B) a partnership consisting of— 

7 (i) a local educational agency; and 

8 (ii) a private organization or institu9 tion of higher education that provides such 

10 local educational agency with funding to 

11 carry out the activities described in section 

12 4(c). 

13 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

14 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

15 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High16 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

17 (5) INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION.—The term 

18 ‘‘international education’’ means educational subject 

19 matter related to world history, regions, cultures, 

20 and geography, as well as foreign languages, con21 temporary world issues, international relations, 

22 international economics, humanitarian law, inter23 national and non-governmental organizations, and 

24 the technology and communication mediums related 

25 to such subject matter. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (6) INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION RESEARCH RE2 POSITORY.—The term ‘‘international education re3 search repository’’ means a research repository con4 taining scientifically valid education research, prom5 ising and exemplary practices related to inter6 national education, including foreign language edu7 cation, as well as any other information related to 

8 international education that the Secretary deter9 mines would be beneficial for State educational 

10 agencies and local educational agencies in— 

11 (A) the professional development of teach12 ers of international education, including foreign 

13 language education; 

14 (B) the implementation of international 

15 education programs, including foreign language 

16 programs; and 

17 (C) improving the international education 

18 competency, including foreign language com19 petency, of elementary school and secondary 

20 school students. 

21 (7) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

22 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

23 such term in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

24 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 1109 IH

1 (8) NATIONAL NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL ORGA2 NIZATIONS OR CONSORTIUMS OF NONPROFIT EDU3 CATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The term ‘‘national 

4 nonprofit educational organizations or consortiums 

5 of nonprofit educational organizations’’ means na6 tional nonprofit educational organizations or consor7 tiums of nonprofit educational organizations that 

8 have as their primary purpose the improvement of 

9 student competency in international education, in10 cluding foreign language competency, through effec11 tive international education instruction, including 

12 foreign language instruction, in elementary schools, 

13 secondary schools, and institutions of higher edu14 cation. 

15 (9) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec16 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 

17 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Education. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS