I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6547 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 

criminal background checks for school employees. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2010 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to require criminal background checks for school 

employees. 

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 at the ‘‘Protecting Students 

5 from Sexual and Violent Predators Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

7 Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary 

8 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9537. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 

2 ‘‘(a) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—Each State that re3 ceives funds under this Act shall have in effect policies 

4 and procedures that— 

5 ‘‘(1) require that criminal background checks 

6 be conducted for school employees that include— 

7 ‘‘(A) a search of the State criminal reg8 istry or repository in the State in which the 

9 school employee resides and each State in which 

10 such school employee previously resided; 

11 ‘‘(B) a search of State-based child abuse 

12 and neglect registries and databases in the 

13 State in which the school employee resides and 

14 each State in which such school employee pre15 viously resided; 

16 ‘‘(C) a search of the National Crime Infor17 mation Center of the Department of Justice; 

18 ‘‘(D) a Federal Bureau of Investigation 

19 fingerprint check using the Integrated Auto20 mated Fingerprint Identification System; and 

21 ‘‘(E) a search of the National Sex Of22 fender Registry established under section 19 of 

23 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 

24 Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919); 


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1 ‘‘(2) prohibit the employment of school employ2 ees for a position as a school employee if such indi3 vidual— 

4 ‘‘(A) refuses to consent to the criminal 

5 background check described in paragraph (1); 

6 ‘‘(B) makes a false statement in connec7 tion with such criminal background check; 

8 ‘‘(C) has been convicted of a felony con9 sisting of— 

10 ‘‘(i) homicide; 

11 ‘‘(ii) child abuse or neglect; 

12 ‘‘(iii) a crime against children, includ13 ing child pornography; 

14 ‘‘(iv) spousal abuse; 

15 ‘‘(v) a crime involving rape or sexual 

16 assault; 

17 ‘‘(vi) kidnapping; 

18 ‘‘(vii) arson; or 

19 ‘‘(viii) physical assault, battery, or a 

20 drug-related offense, committed within the 

21 past 5 years; or 

22 ‘‘(D) has been convicted of any other crime 

23 that is a violent or sexual crime against a 

24 minor; 


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1 ‘‘(3) require that a local educational agency or 

2 State educational agency that receives information 

3 from a criminal background check conducted under 

4 this section that an individual who has applied for 

5 employment with such agency as a school employee 

6 is a sexual predator report to local law enforcement 

7 that such individual has so applied; 

8 ‘‘(4) require that the criminal background 

9 checks described in paragraph (1) be periodically re10 peated; and 

11 ‘‘(5) provide for a timely process by which a 

12 school employee may appeal the results of a criminal 

13 background check conducted under this section to 

14 challenge the accuracy or completeness of the infor15 mation produced by such background check and seek 

16 appropriate relief for any final employment decision 

17 based on materially inaccurate or incomplete infor18 mation produced by such background check, but 

19 that does not permit the school employee to be em20 ployed as a school employee during such process. 

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) SCHOOL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘school 

23 employee’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) an employee of, or a person seeking 

25 employment with, a local educational agency or 


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1 State educational agency, and who has a job 

2 duty that results in exposure to students; or 

3 ‘‘(B) an employee of, or a person seeking 

4 employment with, a for-profit or nonprofit enti5 ty, or local public agency, that has a contract 

6 or agreement to provide services with a school, 

7 local educational agency, or State educational 

8 agency, and whose job duty— 

9 ‘‘(i) is to provide such services; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) results in exposure to students. 

11 ‘‘(2) SEXUAL PREDATOR.—The term ‘sexual 

12 predator’ means a person 18 years of age or older 

13 who has been convicted of, or pled guilty to, a sexual 

14 offense against a minor.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

16 Section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 is amended by adding after the item 

18 relating to section 9536 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 9537. Background checks.’’. 

Æ 


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