116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2639 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strength in Diversity 

3 Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

5 The purpose of this Act is to support the develop6 ment, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive 

7 strategies to address the effects of racial isolation or con8 centrated poverty by increasing diversity, including racial 

9 diversity and socioeconomic diversity, in covered schools. 

10 SEC. 3. RESERVATION FOR NATIONAL AND STATE ACTIVI11 TIES. 

12 (a) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may re13 serve not more than 5 percent of the amounts made avail14 able under section 10 for a fiscal year to carry out activi15 ties of national significance relating to this Act, which may 

16 include— 

17 (1) research, development, data collection, mon18 itoring, technical assistance, evaluation, or dissemi19 nation activities; and 

20 (2) the development and maintenance of best 

21 practices for recipients of grants under section 4 and 

22 other experts in the field of school diversity. 

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

24 not more than 10 percent of the amounts made available 

25 under section 10 for a fiscal year for planning grants and 
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1 implementation grants made to State educational agencies 

2 under section 4. 

3 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

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

6 available under section 10 and not reserved under 

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

8 grants in accordance with subsection (b) to eligible 

9 entities to develop or implement plans to improve di10 versity and reduce or eliminate racial or socio11 economic isolation in covered schools. 

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

13 any fiscal year, award— 

14 (A) planning grants to carry out the activi15 ties described in section 6(a); 

16 (B) implementation grants to carry out the 

17 activities described in section 6(b); or 

18 (C) both such planning grants and imple19 mentation grants. 

20 (b) AWARD BASIS.— 

21 (1) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICA22 TIONS.—The Secretary shall award grants under 

23 this section on a competitive basis, based on— 

24 (A) the quality of the application sub25 mitted by an eligible entity under section 5; 
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1 (B) the likelihood, as determined by the 

2 Secretary, that the eligible entity will use the 

3 grant to improve student outcomes or outcomes 

4 on other performance measures described in 

5 section 7; and 

6 (C) the likelihood that the grant will lead 

7 to a meaningful reduction in racial and eco8 nomic isolation for children in covered schools. 

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

10 section, the Secretary shall give priority to the fol11 lowing eligible entities: 

12 (A) First, to an eligible entity that sub13 mitted an application for a grant under the 

14 Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities pro15 gram described in the notice published by the 

16 Department of Education in the Federal Reg17 ister on December 14, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 

18 90343 et seq.). 

19 (B) Second, to an eligible entity that pro20 poses, in an application submitted under section 

21 5, to use the grant to support a program that 

22 addresses racial isolation. 

23 (C) Third, to an eligible entity that pro24 poses, in an application submitted under section 

25 5, to use the grant to support a program that 
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1 extends beyond one local educational agency, 

2 such as an inter-district or regional program. 

3 (D) Fourth, to an eligible entity that dem4 onstrates meaningful coordination with local 

5 housing agencies to increase access to schools 

6 that have a disproportionately low number of 

7 low-income students. 

8 (c) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

9 (1) PLANNING GRANT.—A planning grant 

10 awarded under this section shall be for a period of 

11 not more than 1 year. 

12 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—An implemen13 tation grant awarded under this section shall be for 

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

15 Secretary may extend an implementation grant for 

16 an additional 2-year period if the eligible entity re17 ceiving the grant demonstrates to the Secretary that 

18 the eligible entity is making significant progress, as 

19 determined by the Secretary, on the program per20 formance measures described in section 7. 

21 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 

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

23 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

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

25 Such application shall include— 
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1 (1) a description of the program for which the 

2 eligible entity is seeking a grant, including— 

3 (A) how the eligible entity proposes to use 

4 the grant to improve the academic and life out5 comes of students in racial or socioeconomic 

6 isolation in covered schools by supporting inter7 ventions that increase diversity for students in 

8 such covered schools; 

9 (B) in the case of an implementation 

10 grant, the implementation grant plan described 

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

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

13 available, a rationale based on current research, 

14 regarding how the program will increase diver15 sity; 

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

17 use any of the grant to benefit covered schools that 

18 are racially isolated, a description of how the eligible 

19 entity will identify and define racial isolation; 

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

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

22 covered schools, a description of how the eligible en23 tity will identify and define income level and socio24 economic status; 
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1 (4) a description of the plan of the eligible enti2 ty for continuing the program after the grant period 

3 ends; 

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

5 assess, monitor, and evaluate the impact of the ac6 tivities funded under the grant on student achieve7 ment and student enrollment diversity; 

8 (6) an assurance that the eligible entity has 

9 conducted, or will conduct, robust parent and com10 munity engagement, while planning for and imple11 menting the program, such as through— 

12 (A) consultation with appropriate officials 

13 from Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations ap14 proved by the Tribes located in the area served 

15 by the eligible entity; 

16 (B) consultation with other community en17 tities, including local housing or transportation 

18 authorities; 

19 (C) public hearings or other open forums 

20 to inform the development of any formal strat21 egy to increase diversity; and 

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

23 language that parents and students can under24 stand, and consultation with students and fami25 lies in the targeted district or region that is de-
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1 signed to ensure participation in the planning 

2 and development of any formal strategy to in3 crease diversity; 

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

5 the eligible entity plans to serve under the program 

6 and the number of students to be served through ad7 ditional expansion of the program after the grant 

8 period ends; 

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

10 (A) cooperate with the Secretary in evalu11 ating the program, including any evaluation 

12 that might require data and information from 

13 multiple recipients of grants under section 4; 

14 and 

15 (B) engage in the best practices developed 

16 under section 3(2); 

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

18 the eligible entity has considered the potential impli19 cations of the grant activities on the demographics 

20 and student enrollment of nearby covered schools 

21 not included in the activities of the grant; 

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

23 for an implementation grant, a description of how 

24 the eligible entity will— 
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1 (A) implement, replicate, or expand a 

2 strategy based on a strong or moderate level of 

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

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

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

7 (B) test a promising strategy to increase 

8 diversity in covered schools; 

9 (11) in the case of an application by a consor10 tium of local educational agencies, a specification of 

11 which agency is the lead applicant, and how the 

12 grant funds will be divided among the school dis13 tricts served by such consortium; and 

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

15 education agency, a demonstration that the agency 

16 has procedures in place— 

17 (A) to assess and prevent the redrawing of 

18 school district lines in a manner that increases 

19 racial or socioeconomic isolation; 

20 (B) to assess the segregation impacts of 

21 new school construction proposals and to 

22 prioritize school construction funding that will 

23 foreseeably increase racial and economic inte24 gration; and 
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1 (C) to include progress toward reduction of 

2 racial and economic isolation as a factor in its 

3 State plan under section 1111 of the Elemen4 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 6311). 

6 SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 

7 (a) PLANNING GRANTS.—Each eligible entity that re8 ceives a planning grant under section 4 shall use the grant 

9 to support students in covered schools through the fol10 lowing activities: 

11 (1) Completing a comprehensive assessment of, 

12 with respect to the geographic area served by such 

13 eligible entity— 

14 (A) the educational outcomes and racial 

15 and socioeconomic stratification of children at16 tending covered schools; 

17 (B) an analysis of the location and capac18 ity of program and school facilities and the ade19 quacy of local or regional transportation infra20 structure; and 

21 (C) teacher diversity in covered schools, 

22 and plans for expanding teacher diversity. 

23 (2) Developing and implementing a robust fam24 ily, student, and community engagement plan, in25 cluding, where feasible, public hearings or other 
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1 open forums that would precede and inform the de2 velopment of a formal strategy to improve diversity 

3 in covered schools. 

4 (3) Developing options, including timelines and 

5 cost estimates, for improving diversity in covered 

6 schools, such as weighted lotteries, revised feeder 

7 patterns, school boundary redesign, or regional co8 ordination. 

9 (4) Developing an implementation plan based 

10 on community preferences among the options devel11 oped under paragraph (3). 

12 (5) Building the capacity to collect and analyze 

13 data that provide information for transparency, con14 tinuous improvement, and evaluation. 

15 (6) Developing an implementation plan to com16 ply with a court-ordered school desegregation plan. 

17 (7) Engaging in best practices developed under 

18 section 3(2). 

19 (8) If applicable, developing an implementation 

20 plan to replace entrance exams or other competitive 

21 application procedures with methods of student as22 signment to promote racial and socioeconomic diver23 sity. 

24 (b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 
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1 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT PLAN.—Each eli2 gible entity that receives an implementation grant 

3 under section 4 shall implement a high-quality plan 

4 to support students in covered schools that in5 cludes— 

6 (A) a comprehensive set of strategies de7 signed to improve academic outcomes for all 

8 students, particularly students of color and low9 income students, by increasing diversity in cov10 ered schools; 

11 (B) evidence of strong family and commu12 nity support for such strategies, including evi13 dence that the eligible entity has engaged in 

14 meaningful family and community outreach ac15 tivities; 

16 (C) goals to increase diversity in covered 

17 schools over the course of the grant period; 

18 (D) collection and analysis of data to pro19 vide transparency and support continuous im20 provement throughout the grant period; and 

21 (E) a rigorous method of evaluation of the 

22 effectiveness of the program. 

23 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT ACTIVITIES.— 

24 Each eligible entity that receives an implementation 
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1 grant under section 4 may use the grant to carry 

2 out one or more of the following activities: 

3 (A) Recruiting, hiring, or training addi4 tional teachers, administrators, school coun5 selors, and other instructional and support staff 

6 in new, expanded, or restructured covered 

7 schools, or other professional development ac8 tivities for staff and administrators. 

9 (B) Investing in specialized academic pro10 grams or facilities designed to encourage inter11 district school attendance patterns. 

12 (C) Developing or initiating a transpor13 tation plan for bringing students to and from 

14 covered schools, if such transportation is sus15 tainable beyond the grant period and does not 

16 represent a significant portion of the grant re17 ceived by an eligible entity under section 4. 

18 (D) Developing innovative and equitable 

19 school assignment plans. 

20 (E) Carrying out innovative activities de21 signed to increase racial and socioeconomic 

22 school diversity and engagement between chil23 dren from different racial, economic, and cul24 tural backgrounds. 
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1 (F) Creating or improving systems and 

2 partnerships to create a one-stop enrollment 

3 process for students with multiple public school 

4 options, including making school information 

5 and data more accessible and easy to under6 stand, in order to ensure access to low poverty 

7 or high-performing schools for low-income chil8 dren and to promote racial and socioeconomic 

9 diversity. 

10 SEC. 7. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 

11 The Secretary shall establish performance measures 

12 for the programs and activities carried out through a 

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

14 shall track the progress of each eligible entity in— 

15 (1) improving academic and other develop16 mental or noncognitive outcomes for each subgroup 

17 described in section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) of the Ele18 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(B)(xi)) that is served by the eligi20 ble entity on measures, including, as applicable, 

21 by— 

22 (A) increasing school readiness; 

23 (B) increasing student achievement and 

24 decreasing achievement gaps; 
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1 (C) increasing high school graduation 

2 rates; 

3 (D) increasing readiness for postsecondary 

4 education and careers; 

5 (E) improving access to mental health and 

6 social-emotional learning; 

7 (F) reducing school discipline rates; and 

8 (G) any other indicator the Secretary or el9 igible entity may identify; and 

10 (2) increasing diversity and decreasing racial or 

11 socioeconomic isolation in covered schools. 

12 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

13 An eligible entity that receives a grant under section 

14 4 shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in such 

15 manner as the Secretary may require, an annual report 

16 that includes— 

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

18 entity to increase inclusivity; 

19 (2) information on the progress of the eligible 

20 entity with respect to the performance measures de21 scribed in section 7; 

22 (3) the data supporting such progress; 

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

24 continue to make improvements toward increasing 

25 diversity and decreasing racial or socioeconomic iso-
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1 lation in covered schools and sustaining inclusion; 

2 and 

3 (5) information on the progress of regional pro4 grams on reducing racial and socioeconomic isolation 

5 in covered schools, if applicable. 

6 SEC. 9. APPLICABILITY. 

7 Section 426 of the General Education Provisions Act 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1228) shall not apply with respect to activities 

9 carried out under a grant under this Act. 

10 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

13 2020 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

14 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

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

17 school’’ means— 

18 (A) a publicly-funded early childhood edu19 cation program; 

20 (B) a public elementary school; or 

21 (C) a public secondary school. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means a State educational agency, a local edu24 cational agency, a consortium of such agencies, an 

25 educational service agency, or regional educational 
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1 agency that at the time of the application of such el2 igible entity has significant achievement gaps and 

3 socioeconomic or racial segregation within or be4 tween the school districts served by such entity. 

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

6 service agency’’, ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local edu7 cational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, 

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

9 given such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary 

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

11 7801). 

12 (4) PUBLICLY-FUNDED EARLY CHILDHOOD

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

14 early childhood education program’’ means an early 

15 childhood education program (as defined in section 

16 103(8) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

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

18 funds. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 15, 

2020. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2639 

AN ACT 

To establish the Strength in Diversity Program, 

and for other purposes.