IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2639 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

To establish the Strength in Diversity 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 ‘‘Strength in Diversity 

5 Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to support the develop8 ment, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive 

9 strategies to address the effects of racial isolation or con10 centrated poverty by increasing diversity, including racial 

11 diversity and socioeconomic diversity, in covered schools. 


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1 SEC. 3. RESERVATION FOR NATIONAL AND STATE ACTIVI2 TIES. 

3 (a) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may re4 serve not more than 5 percent of the amounts made avail5 able under section 10 for a fiscal year to carry out activi6 ties of national significance relating to this Act, which may 

7 include— 

8 (1) research, development, data collection, mon9 itoring, technical assistance, evaluation, or dissemi10 nation activities; and 

11 (2) the development and maintenance of best 

12 practices for recipients of grants under section 4 and 

13 other experts in the field of school diversity. 

14 (b) STATE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may reserve 

15 not more than 10 percent of the amounts made available 

16 under section 10 for a fiscal year for planning grants and 

17 implementation grants made to State educational agencies 

18 under section 4. 

19 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

22 available under section 10 and not reserved under 

23 section 3 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award 

24 grants in accordance with subsection (b) to eligible 

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1 versity and reduce or eliminate racial or socio2 economic isolation in covered schools. 

3 (2) TYPES OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may, in 

4 any fiscal year, award— 

5 (A) planning grants to carry out the activi6 ties described in section 6(a); 

7 (B) implementation grants to carry out the 

8 activities described in section 6(b); or 

9 (C) both such planning grants and imple10 mentation grants. 

11 (b) AWARD BASIS.— 

12 (1) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICA13 TIONS.—The Secretary shall award grants under 

14 this section on a competitive basis, based on— 

15 (A) the quality of the application sub16 mitted by an eligible entity under section 5; 

17 (B) the likelihood, as determined by the 

18 Secretary, that the eligible entity will use the 

19 grant to improve student outcomes or outcomes 

20 on other performance measures described in 

21 section 7; and 

22 (C) the likelihood that the grant will lead 

23 to a meaningful reduction in racial and eco24 nomic isolation for children in covered schools. 


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1 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

2 section, the Secretary shall give priority to the fol3 lowing eligible entities: 

4 (A) First, to an eligible entity that sub5 mitted an application for a grant under the 

6 Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities pro7 gram described in the notice published by the 

8 Department of Education in the Federal Reg9 ister on December 14, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 

10 90343 et seq.). 

11 (B) Second, to an eligible entity that pro12 poses, in an application submitted under section 

13 5, to use the grant to support a program that 

14 addresses racial isolation. 

15 (C) Third, to an eligible entity that pro16 poses, in an application submitted under section 

17 5, to use the grant to support a program that 

18 extends beyond one local educational agency, 

19 such as an inter-district or regional program. 

20 (D) Fourth, to an eligible entity that dem21 onstrates meaningful coordination with local 

22 housing agencies to increase access to schools 

23 that have a disproportionately low number of 

24 low-income students. 

25 (c) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) PLANNING GRANT.—A planning grant 

2 awarded under this section shall be for a period of 

3 not more than 1 year. 

4 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—An implemen5 tation grant awarded under this section shall be for 

6 a period of not more than 3 years, except that the 

7 Secretary may extend an implementation grant for 

8 an additional 2-year period if the eligible entity re9 ceiving the grant demonstrates to the Secretary that 

10 the eligible entity is making significant progress, as 

11 determined by the Secretary, on the program per12 formance measures described in section 7. 

13 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

14 In order to receive a grant under section 4, an eligible 

15 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

16 time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. 

17 Such application shall include— 

18 (1) a description of the program for which the 

19 eligible entity is seeking a grant, including— 

20 (A) how the eligible entity proposes to use 

21 the grant to improve the academic and life out22 comes of students in racial or socioeconomic 

23 isolation in covered schools by supporting inter24 ventions that increase diversity for students in 

25 such covered schools; 


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1 (B) in the case of an implementation 

2 grant, the implementation grant plan described 

3 in section 6(b)(1); and 

4 (C) evidence, or if such evidence is not 

5 available, a rationale based on current research, 

6 regarding how the program will increase diver7 sity; 

8 (2) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 

9 use any of the grant to benefit covered schools that 

10 are racially isolated, a description of how the eligible 

11 entity will identify and define racial isolation; 

12 (3) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 

13 use any portion of the grant to benefit high-poverty 

14 covered schools, a description of how the eligible en15 tity will identify and define income level and socio16 economic status; 

17 (4) a description of the plan of the eligible enti18 ty for continuing the program after the grant period 

19 ends; 

20 (5) a description of how the eligible entity will 

21 assess, monitor, and evaluate the impact of the ac22 tivities funded under the grant on student achieve23 ment and student enrollment diversity; 

24 (6) an assurance that the eligible entity has 

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1 munity engagement, while planning for and imple2 menting the program, such as through— 

3 (A) consultation with appropriate officials 

4 from Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations ap5 proved by the Tribes located in the area served 

6 by the eligible entity; 

7 (B) consultation with other community en8 tities, including local housing or transportation 

9 authorities; 

10 (C) public hearings or other open forums 

11 to inform the development of any formal strat12 egy to increase diversity; and 

13 (D) outreach to parents and students, in a 

14 language that parents and students can under15 stand, and consultation with students and fami16 lies in the targeted district or region that is de17 signed to ensure participation in the planning 

18 and development of any formal strategy to in19 crease diversity; 

20 (7) an estimate of the number of students that 

21 the eligible entity plans to serve under the program 

22 and the number of students to be served through ad23 ditional expansion of the program after the grant 

24 period ends; 

25 (8) an assurance that the eligible entity will— 


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1 (A) cooperate with the Secretary in evalu2 ating the program, including any evaluation 

3 that might require data and information from 

4 multiple recipients of grants under section 4; 

5 and 

6 (B) engage in the best practices developed 

7 under section 3(2); 

8 (9) an assurance that, to the extent possible, 

9 the eligible entity has considered the potential impli10 cations of the grant activities on the demographics 

11 and student enrollment of nearby covered schools 

12 not included in the activities of the grant; 

13 (10) in the case of an eligible entity applying 

14 for an implementation grant, a description of how 

15 the eligible entity will— 

16 (A) implement, replicate, or expand a 

17 strategy based on a strong or moderate level of 

18 evidence (as described in subclause (I) or (II) 

19 of section 8101(21)(A)(i) of the Elementary 

20 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)(i))); or 

22 (B) test a promising strategy to increase 

23 diversity in covered schools; 

24 (11) in the case of an application by a consor25 tium of local educational agencies, a specification of 


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1 which agency is the lead applicant, and how the 

2 grant funds will be divided among the school dis3 tricts served by such consortium; and 

4 (12) in the case of an application by a State 

5 education agency, a demonstration that the agency 

6 has procedures in place— 

7 (A) to assess and prevent the redrawing of 

8 school district lines in a manner that increases 

9 racial or socioeconomic isolation; 

10 (B) to assess the segregation impacts of 

11 new school construction proposals and to 

12 prioritize school construction funding that will 

13 foreseeably increase racial and economic inte14 gration; and 

15 (C) to include progress toward reduction of 

16 racial and economic isolation as a factor in its 

17 State plan under section 1111 of the Elemen18 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 6311). 

20 SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 

21 (a) PLANNING GRANTS.—Each eligible entity that re22 ceives a planning grant under section 4 shall use the grant 

23 to support students in covered schools through the fol24 lowing activities: 


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1 (1) Completing a comprehensive assessment of, 

2 with respect to the geographic area served by such 

3 eligible entity— 

4 (A) the educational outcomes and racial 

5 and socioeconomic stratification of children at6 tending covered schools; 

7 (B) an analysis of the location and capac8 ity of program and school facilities and the ade9 quacy of local or regional transportation infra10 structure; and 

11 (C) teacher diversity in covered schools, 

12 and plans for expanding teacher diversity. 

13 (2) Developing and implementing a robust fam14 ily, student, and community engagement plan, in15 cluding, where feasible, public hearings or other 

16 open forums that would precede and inform the de17 velopment of a formal strategy to improve diversity 

18 in covered schools. 

19 (3) Developing options, including timelines and 

20 cost estimates, for improving diversity in covered 

21 schools, such as weighted lotteries, revised feeder 

22 patterns, school boundary redesign, or regional co23 ordination. 


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1 (4) Developing an implementation plan based 

2 on community preferences among the options devel3 oped under paragraph (3). 

4 (5) Building the capacity to collect and analyze 

5 data that provide information for transparency, con6 tinuous improvement, and evaluation. 

7 (6) Developing an implementation plan to com8 ply with a court-ordered school desegregation plan. 

9 (7) Engaging in best practices developed under 

10 section 3(2). 

11 (8) If applicable, developing an implementation 

12 plan to replace entrance exams or other competitive 

13 application procedures with methods of student as14 signment to promote racial and socioeconomic diver15 sity. 

16 (b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

17 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT PLAN.—Each eli18 gible entity that receives an implementation grant 

19 under section 4 shall implement a high-quality plan 

20 to support students in covered schools that in21 cludes— 

22 (A) a comprehensive set of strategies de23 signed to improve academic outcomes for all 

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1 income students, by increasing diversity in cov2 ered schools; 

3 (B) evidence of strong family and commu4 nity support for such strategies, including evi5 dence that the eligible entity has engaged in 

6 meaningful family and community outreach ac7 tivities; 

8 (C) goals to increase diversity in covered 

9 schools over the course of the grant period; 

10 (D) collection and analysis of data to pro11 vide transparency and support continuous im12 provement throughout the grant period; and 

13 (E) a rigorous method of evaluation of the 

14 effectiveness of the program. 

15 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT ACTIVITIES.— 

16 Each eligible entity that receives an implementation 

17 grant under section 4 may use the grant to carry 

18 out one or more of the following activities: 

19 (A) Recruiting, hiring, or training addi20 tional teachers, administrators, school coun21 selors, and other instructional and support staff 

22 in new, expanded, or restructured covered 

23 schools, or other professional development ac24 tivities for staff and administrators. 


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1 (B) Investing in specialized academic pro2 grams or facilities designed to encourage inter3 district school attendance patterns. 

4 (C) Developing or initiating a transpor5 tation plan for bringing students to and from 

6 covered schools, if such transportation is sus7 tainable beyond the grant period and does not 

8 represent a significant portion of the grant re9 ceived by an eligible entity under section 4. 

10 (D) Developing innovative and equitable 

11 school assignment plans. 

12 (E) Carrying out innovative activities de13 signed to increase racial and socioeconomic 

14 school diversity and engagement between chil15 dren from different racial, economic, and cul16 tural backgrounds. 

17 (F) Creating or improving systems and 

18 partnerships to create a one-stop enrollment 

19 process for students with multiple public school 

20 options, including making school information 

21 and data more accessible and easy to under22 stand, in order to ensure access to low poverty 

23 or high-performing schools for low-income chil24 dren and to promote racial and socioeconomic 

25 diversity. 


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1 SEC. 7. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

2 The Secretary shall establish performance measures 

3 for the programs and activities carried out through a 

4 grant under section 4. These measures, at a minimum, 

5 shall track the progress of each eligible entity in— 

6 (1) improving academic and other develop7 mental or noncognitive outcomes for each subgroup 

8 described in section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) of the Ele9 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(B)(xi)) that is served by the eligi11 ble entity on measures, including, as applicable, 

12 by— 

13 (A) increasing school readiness; 

14 (B) increasing student achievement and 

15 decreasing achievement gaps; 

16 (C) increasing high school graduation 

17 rates; 

18 (D) increasing readiness for postsecondary 

19 education and careers; 

20 (E) improving access to mental health and 

21 social-emotional learning; 

22 (F) reducing school discipline rates; and 

23 (G) any other indicator the Secretary or el24 igible entity may identify; and 

25 (2) increasing diversity and decreasing racial or 

26 socioeconomic isolation in covered schools. 


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1 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

2 An eligible entity that receives a grant under section 

3 4 shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

4 manner as the Secretary may require, an annual report 

5 that includes— 

6 (1) a description of the efforts of the eligible 

7 entity to increase inclusivity; 

8 (2) information on the progress of the eligible 

9 entity with respect to the performance measures de10 scribed in section 7; 

11 (3) the data supporting such progress; 

12 (4) a description of how the eligible entity will 

13 continue to make improvements toward increasing 

14 diversity and decreasing racial or socioeconomic iso15 lation in covered schools and sustaining inclusion; 

16 and 

17 (5) information on the progress of regional pro18 grams on reducing racial and socioeconomic isolation 

19 in covered schools, if applicable. 

20 SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY. 

21 Section 426 of the General Education Provisions Act 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1228) shall not apply with respect to activities 

23 carried out under a grant under this Act. 


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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

4 2020 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

5 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) COVERED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 school’’ means— 

9 (A) a publicly-funded early childhood edu10 cation program; 

11 (B) a public elementary school; or 

12 (C) a public secondary school. 

13 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti14 ty’’ means a State educational agency, a local edu15 cational agency, a consortium of such agencies, an 

16 educational service agency, or regional educational 

17 agency that at the time of the application of such el18 igible entity has significant achievement gaps and 

19 socioeconomic or racial segregation within or be20 tween the school districts served by such entity. 

21 (3) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘educational 

22 service agency’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu23 cational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, 

24 and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings 

25 given such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 


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1 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 7801). 

3 (4) PUBLICLY-FUNDED EARLY CHILDHOOD

4 EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘publicly-funded 

5 early childhood education program’’ means an early 

6 childhood education program (as defined in section 

7 103(8) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1003(8)) that receives State or Federal 

9 funds. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 15, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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