I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1874 

To amend the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 regarding school library media specialists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965 regarding school library media 

specialists, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Kids’ 

5 Interest in Learning and Libraries Act’’ or the ‘‘SKILLs 

6 Act’’. 


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1 TITLE I—SCHOOL LIBRARY 

2 MEDIA SPECIALIST REQUIRE3 MENTS 

4 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 Section 1002(b)(4) of the Elementary and Secondary 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2016’’. 

8 SEC. 102. STATE PLANS. 

9 (a) ACADEMIC STANDARDS, ACADEMIC ASSESS10 MENTS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—Section 1111(b)(8) of 

11 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 6311(b)(8)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

14 after the semicolon; 

15 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub16 paragraph (F); and 

17 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(E) how the State educational agency will 

20 meet the goal of ensuring that there is not less 

21 than 1 highly qualified school library media spe22 cialist in each school receiving funds under this 

23 part, as described in section 1119(h)(2); and’’. 

24 (b) OTHER PROVISIONS TO SUPPORT TEACHING AND

25 LEARNING.—Section 1111(c) of the Elementary and SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Apr 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1874.IH H1874

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1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)) is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

4 the semicolon; 

5 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period 

6 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (3) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(15) the State educational agency will estab10 lish a goal of having not less than 1 State-certified 

11 school library media specialist in each public school 

12 that receives funds under this part.’’. 

13 SEC. 103. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS. 

14 (a) PLAN PROVISIONS.—Section 1112(b)(1)(N) of 

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

16 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)(N)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, includ17 ing ensuring that there is not less than 1 highly qualified 

18 school library media specialist in each school’’ before the 

19 semicolon. 

20 (b) ASSURANCES.—Section 1112(c)(1) of the Ele21 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

22 6312(c)(1)) is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (N), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 after the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (O), by striking the period 

2 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (O) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(P) ensure, to the extent feasible, that 

6 each school served by the local educational 

7 agency and receiving funds under this part em8 ploys not less than 1 State-certified school li9 brary media specialist.’’. 

10 SEC. 104. SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS. 

11 Section 1114(b)(1)(D) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314(b)(1)(D)) 

13 is amended by inserting ‘‘school library media specialists,’’ 

14 after ‘‘teachers,’’. 

15 SEC. 105. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS. 

16 Section 1115(c)(1)(F) of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315(c)(1)(F)) 

18 is amended by inserting ‘‘school library media specialists,’’ 

19 after ‘‘teachers,’’. 

20 SEC. 106. QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, PARAPROFES21 SIONALS, AND SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPE22 CIALISTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1119 of the Elementary 

24 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319) 

25 is amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TEACH2 ERS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘TEACHERS, PARAPROFESSIONALS, AND

4 SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (h) through (l) 

6 as subsections (i) through (m), respectively; 

7 (3) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(h) SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REQUIRE11 MENT.—Each local educational agency receiving as12 sistance under this part shall ensure, to the extent 

13 feasible, that each school that is served by the local 

14 educational agency and receives funds under this 

15 part employs not less than 1 highly qualified school 

16 library media specialist. 

17 ‘‘(2) STATE GOAL.—Each State educational 

18 agency receiving assistance under this part shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) establish a goal of having not less 

20 than 1 highly qualified school library media spe21 cialist in each public school that is served by 

22 the State educational agency and receives funds 

23 under this part; and 

24 ‘‘(B) specify a date by which the State will 

25 reach this goal, which date shall be not later 


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1 than the beginning of the 2016–2017 school 

2 year.’’; and 

3 (4) in subsection (i) (as redesignated by sub4 section (a)(2)), by striking ‘‘and paraprofessionals’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘, paraprofessionals, and school library 

6 and media specialists’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1119(l) of 

8 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as 

9 redesignated by subsection (a)(2)) (20 U.S.C. 6319(l)) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub11 section (m)’’. 

12 SEC. 107. IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LI13 BRARIES. 

14 Section 1251 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6383) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘well-trained, 

17 professionally certified’’ and inserting ‘‘highly quali18 fied’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (e)(3)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘DISTRIBUTION.—The’’ 

21 and inserting the following: ‘‘DISTRIBUTION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The’’; 

23 and 

24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(B) BALANCE AMONG TYPES OF

2 SCHOOLS.—In awarding grants under this sub3 section, the Secretary shall take into consider4 ation whether funding is proportionally distrib5 uted among projects serving students in ele6 mentary, middle, and high schools.’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (f)(2)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘the need for student 

10 literacy improvement at all grade levels,’’ 

11 before ‘‘the need for’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘well-trained, profes13 sionally certified’’ and inserting ‘‘highly 

14 qualified’’; 

15 (4) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) a needs assessment of which grade 

18 spans are served, ensuring funding is propor19 tionally distributed to serve students in elemen20 tary, middle, and high schools;’’; and 

21 (5) in subsection (g)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the semi23 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘and reading 

24 materials, such as books and materials that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) are appropriate for students in all 

2 grade levels to be served and for students with 

3 special learning needs, including students who 

4 are limited English proficient; and 

5 ‘‘(B) engage the interest of readers at all 

6 reading levels;’’; and 

7 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘profes8 sional development described in section 

9 1222(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘professional devel10 opment in information literacy instruction that 

11 is appropriate for all grades, including the as12 sessment of student literacy needs, the coordi13 nation of reading and writing instruction across 

14 content areas, and training in literacy strategies 

15 in all content areas’’. 

16 TITLE II—PREPARING, TEACH17 ING, AND RECRUITING HIGH 

18 QUALITY TEACHERS, SCHOOL 

19 LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIAL20 ISTS, AND PRINCIPALS 

21 SEC. 201. TEACHER, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST, 

22 AND PRINCIPAL TRAINING AND RECRUITING 

23 FUND. 

24 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

25 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘HIGH 

2 QUALITY TEACHERS AND PRIN3 CIPALS’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH QUALITY 

4 TEACHERS, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA 

5 SPECIALISTS, AND PRINCIPALS’’; and 

6 (2) in the part heading, by striking ‘‘TEACHER

7 AND PRINCIPAL’’ and inserting ‘‘TEACHER, 

8 SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST, AND

9 PRINCIPAL’’. 

10 SEC. 202. PURPOSE. 

11 Section 2101(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 

12 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601(1)) is amended 

13 to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(1) increase student academic achievement 

15 through strategies such as— 

16 ‘‘(A) improving teacher, school library 

17 media specialist, and principal quality; and 

18 ‘‘(B) increasing the number of highly 

19 qualified teachers in the classroom, highly 

20 qualified school library media specialists in the 

21 library, and highly qualified principals and as22 sistant principals in schools; and’’. 

23 SEC. 203. STATE APPLICATIONS. 

24 Section 2112(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6612(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, school li2 brary media specialists,’’ before ‘‘and principals’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘, school li5 brary media specialist,’’ before ‘‘and paraprofes6 sional’’. 

7 SEC. 204. STATE USE OF FUNDS. 

8 Section 2113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

12 (A), by inserting ‘‘highly qualified school library 

13 media specialists,’’ before ‘‘principals’’; and 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

15 highly qualified school library media special16 ists,’’ before ‘‘and principals’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘teachers and 

18 principals’’ each place the term appears and insert19 ing ‘‘teachers, school library media specialists, and 

20 principals’’. 

21 SEC. 205. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS. 

22 Section 2123(a) of the Elementary and Secondary 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6623(a)) is amended 

24 by inserting after paragraph (8) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9)(A) Developing and implementing strategies 

2 to assist in recruiting and retaining highly qualified 

3 school library media specialists. 

4 ‘‘(B) Providing appropriate professional devel5 opment for such specialists, particularly related to 

6 skills necessary to assist students to improve the 

7 students’ academic achievement, including skills re8 lated to information literacy.’’. 

9 TITLE III—GENERAL 

10 PROVISIONS 

11 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

12 Section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(23)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(II), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(VII), by striking 

18 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(D) when used with respect to a school li21 brary media specialist employed in an elemen22 tary school or secondary school in a State, 

23 means that the school library media specialist— 

24 ‘‘(i) holds at least a bachelor’s degree; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) has obtained full State certifi2 cation as a school library media specialist 

3 or passed the State teacher licensing exam4 ination, with State certification in library 

5 media, in such State, except that when 

6 used with respect to any school library 

7 media specialist teaching in a public char8 ter school, the term means that the school 

9 library media specialist meets the require10 ments set forth in the State’s public char11 ter school law; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) has not had certification or li13 censure requirements waived on an emer14 gency, temporary, or provisional basis.’’. 

15 SEC. 302. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

16 (a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

17 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

18 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 note) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking the item relating to section 1119 

20 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1119. Qualifications for teachers, paraprofessionals, and school library 

media specialists.’’; 


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1 (2) by striking the item relating to title II and 

2 inserting the following: 

‘‘TITLE II—PREPARING, TRAINING, AND RECRUITING HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS, AND 

PRINCIPALS’’; 

3 and 

4 (3) by striking the item relating to part A of 

5 title II and inserting the following: 

‘‘PART A—TEACHER, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST, AND PRINCIPAL

TRAINING AND RECRUITING FUND’’. 

Æ 


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