I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1439 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into a partnership with 

a qualified local educational agency to conduct a model school-to-work 

program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mr. RUSH (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. OWENS, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. LEWIS

of Georgia, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, 

Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MEEKS of New 

York, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. WEXLER, and Mr. ANDREWS) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into a 

partnership with a qualified local educational agency to 

conduct a model school-to-work 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 ‘‘Vocational Opportuni3 ties and Instruction through Cooperative Education Act 

4 of 2005’’ or the ‘‘VOICE Act of 2005’’. 

5 SEC. 2. MODEL SCHOOL-TO-WORK PROGRAM. 

6 (a) PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary of Education may 

7 enter into a partnership with a qualified local educational 

8 agency to conduct a model school-to-work program de9 scribed in subsection (b) for the purpose of determining 

10 whether such a program should be incorporated into public 

11 secondary schools on a nationwide basis. 

12 (b) MODEL SCHOOL-TO-WORK PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The model school-to-work 

14 program under this section shall provide course 

15 credits to secondary school students who participate 

16 in work-based learning experiences in the public or 

17 private sector. 

18 (2) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—To participate in 

19 the model school-to-work program under this sec20 tion, a student— 

21 (A) must have no criminal background; 

22 (B) must have a grade point average of 2.0 

23 or higher; and 

24 (C) must have a record of school attend25 ance that is deemed satisfactory by the quali26 fied local educational agency. 
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1 (3) MINIMUM WAGE.—The model school-to2 work program under this section shall ensure that 

3 students are paid at least the minimum wage under 

4 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

5 201 et seq.) for work performed in connection with 

6 such program. 

7 (4) MAXIMUM HOURS.—The model school-to8 work program under this section shall not require, 

9 or provide course credits for, any work experience in 

10 excess of a total of 20 hours for any week. 

11 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

12 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education 

13 shall submit a report to the Congress on the results of 

14 the model school-to-work program under this section, in15 cluding recommendations on whether such a program 

16 should be incorporated into public secondary schools on 

17 a nationwide basis. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 (1) The term ‘‘qualified local educational agen20 cy’’ means a local educational agency that— 

21 (A) is located in a Midwestern urban dis22 trict; and 

23 (B) serves at least 400,000 students, of 

24 whom at least 70 percent are eligible for free or 

25 reduced-price lunches under the Richard B. 
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1 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1751 et seq.). 

3 (2) The terms ‘‘local educational agency’’ and 

4 ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings give to those 

5 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

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