I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4586 

To expand opportunity for Native American children through additional 

options in education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2019 

Mr. BIGGS (for himself, Mr. GOSAR, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, and Mr. 

KING of Iowa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To expand opportunity for Native American children through 

additional options in education, 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 ‘‘Native American Edu5 cation Opportunity Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title XI of the Edu9 cation Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2000 et seq.) is 

10 amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating section 1141 as section 

2 1142; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 1140 the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1141. FUNDING OF TRIBAL-BASED EDUCATION SAV6 INGS ACCOUNT PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DISBURSEMENTS.—At the request of 

9 Tribes, the Secretary of Education shall, for the 

10 2020–2021 school year and each subsequent school 

11 year, disburse amounts transferred under section 

12 2101(a)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6611(a)(2)) for the 

14 fiscal year to such Tribes that administer education 

15 savings account programs to enable the Tribes to 

16 award grants to education savings accounts for ESA 

17 eligible students for such school year, in accordance 

18 with subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply 

20 with respect to ESA eligible students who have sub21 mitted their application for participation under this 

22 section to the Tribe of which the student is an en23 rolled member on or after January 1, 2019. 

24 ‘‘(3) ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATION.—A Tribe may 

25 enter into an agreement with a nonprofit entity for 


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1 the administration of the accounts created through 

2 the Tribe’s education savings account program. 

3 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED USE OF FUNDS.—Funds dis4 bursed to a Tribe under this section shall be used 

5 to deposit $8,000 each year in the Tribal education 

6 savings accounts of ESA eligible students. 

7 ‘‘(5) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—Funds dis8 bursed to a Tribe under this section may be used 

9 for— 

10 ‘‘(A) private tutoring, including academic, 

11 Native language, or cultural tutoring; 

12 ‘‘(B) costs of attendance at a private ele13 mentary school or secondary school recognized 

14 by the State, which may include a private 

15 school that has a religious mission; 

16 ‘‘(C) private online learning programs; 

17 ‘‘(D) services provided by a public elemen18 tary school or secondary school attended by the 

19 child on a less than full-time basis, including in20 dividual classes and extracurricular activities 

21 and programs; 

22 ‘‘(E) textbooks, curriculum programs, or 

23 other instructional materials, including any sup24 plemental materials required by a curriculum 

25 program, private school, private online learning 


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1 program, or a public school, or any parent di2 rected curriculum associated with K–12 edu3 cation; 

4 ‘‘(F) computer hardware or other techno5 logical devices that are used to help meet a stu6 dent’s educational needs, except that such hard7 ware or devices may not be purchased by a par8 ent more than once in an 18-month period; 

9 ‘‘(G) educational software and applica10 tions; 

11 ‘‘(H) uniforms purchased for attendance at 

12 a private school recognized by the State; 

13 ‘‘(I) fees for nationally standardized as14 sessment exams, advanced placement exams, 

15 any exams related to college or university ad16 mission, or tuition or fees for preparatory 

17 courses for such exams; 

18 ‘‘(J) fees for summer education programs 

19 and specialized after-school education programs 

20 (but not including after-school childcare); 

21 ‘‘(K) educational services and therapies, 

22 including occupational, behavioral, physical, 

23 speech-language, and audiology therapies; 

24 ‘‘(L) transportation to receive a service 

25 under paragraph (4); 


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1 ‘‘(M) costs of attendance at an institution 

2 of higher education; 

3 ‘‘(N) costs associated with an apprentice4 ship or other vocational training program; 

5 ‘‘(O) fees for State-recognized industry 

6 certification exams, and tuition or fees for pre7 paratory courses for such exams; 

8 ‘‘(P) contributions to a college savings ac9 count, which may include contributions to a 

10 qualified tuition program (as defined in section 

11 529(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986) or other prepaid tuition plan offered by 

13 a State; or 

14 ‘‘(Q) any other educational expenses ap15 proved by the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(b) DISBURSEMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL DISBURSEMENTS.—A Tribe that 

18 receives a disbursement amount under subsection (a) 

19 shall make semi-annual distributions of such amount 

20 to education savings accounts for ESA eligible stu21 dents. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A Tribe shall allocate not 

23 more than 5 percent of the amount received per 

24 pupil under this section to the administration of the 

25 education savings account programs of the Tribe. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ROLL OVER AND REMAINING FUNDS IN AN

2 ACCOUNT.—Amounts remaining in the Tribal edu3 cation savings account of a student at the end of a 

4 school year shall remain available until expended for 

5 use in accordance with this section. 

6 ‘‘(4) TERMINITION AND RETURN OF FUNDS.— 

7 The Tribal education savings account of a student 

8 shall terminate on— 

9 ‘‘(A) the date on which the student enrolls 

10 in a public elementary school or secondary 

11 school on a full-time basis; 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of a student who is pur13 suing postsecondary education, the earlier of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the date on which the student 

15 completes postsecondary education; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the student at17 tains the age of 25 years; 

18 ‘‘(C) in the case of a student who is an in19 dividual with a disability, the date on which the 

20 student attains the age of 26 years; or 

21 ‘‘(D) in the case of an individual not de22 scribed in subparagraphs (B) or (C), the earlier 

23 of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the date on which the student at25 tains the age of 25 years; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the expiration of any 2-year pe2 riod during which funds in the account are 

3 not used in accordance with this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 A State that receives funds under this title shall consider 

6 a child with a Tribal education savings account for a 

7 school year as meeting the State’s compulsory school at8 tendance requirements for such school year. 

9 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a child with a 

10 Tribal education savings account who attends a public 

11 school on a less than full-time basis in a school year— 

12 ‘‘(1) the child may not attend the public school 

13 free of charge; and 

14 ‘‘(2) funds in the account, in an amount deter15 mined pursuant to an agreement between the parent 

16 of the child and the local educational agency con17 cerned, shall be used to pay for the child’s costs of 

18 attendance at such school. 

19 ‘‘(e) TRIBAL CONSULTATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before providing edu21 cational services to ESA eligible students, and on an 

22 annual basis thereafter, a participating educational 

23 service provider shall engage in consultation with ap24 propriate tribal officials before providing educational 

25 services to ESA eligible students. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DOCUMENTATION.—The participating edu2 cational service provider shall maintain in the pro3 vider’s records and provide to the Bureau of Indian 

4 Education a written affirmation signed by the ap5 propriate officials of the participating tribes or tribal 

6 organizations approved by the tribes that the con7 sultation required by this section has occurred. If 

8 such officials do not provide such affirmation within 

9 a reasonable period of time, the affected educational 

10 service provider shall forward documentation that 

11 such consultation has taken place to the Bureau of 

12 Indian Education. 

13 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

14 this section shall be construed to require the partici15 pating educational service provider to determine who 

16 are the appropriate officials. 

17 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Consultation required under 

18 this section shall not interfere with the timely ap19 proval and operation of participating educational 

20 service providers. 

21 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A grant awarded to 

22 an ESA eligible student under this section shall be consid23 ered assistance to the student and shall not be considered 

24 assistance to a school that enrolls the ESA eligible student 

25 or any other educational service provider from which the 


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1 ESA eligible student receives services. The amounts pro2 vided on behalf of an ESA eligible student under this sec3 tion shall not be treated as income of the parent or the 

4 student for purposes of Federal tax laws or for deter5 mining eligibility for any other Federal program. 

6 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out this 

7 section shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS.—The term ‘ap11 propriate officials’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) tribal officials who are elected; or 

13 ‘‘(B) appointed tribal leaders or officials 

14 designated in writing. 

15 ‘‘(2) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

16 term ‘educational service provider’ means an edu17 cational service provider that has entered into an 

18 agreement with a Tribe. 

19 ‘‘(3) ESA ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term 

20 ‘ESA eligible student’ means an individual who is— 

21 ‘‘(A) an elementary school or secondary 

22 school Tribal enrolled student who attended a 

23 school operated by the Bureau of Indian Edu24 cation in the semester preceding the date on 


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1 which the student first applies for participation 

2 in an education savings account program; or 

3 ‘‘(B) a child who— 

4 ‘‘(i) will be eligible to attend a school 

5 operated by the Bureau of Indian Edu6 cation for kindergarten or any other ele7 mentary school grade in the next semester 

8 that will start after the date on which the 

9 student first applies for participation in an 

10 education savings account program; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) will not be attending a school op12 erated by the Bureau of Indian Education, 

13 receiving an education savings account 

14 from another Tribe, or attending a public 

15 elementary school or secondary school, 

16 while the student is participating in an 

17 education savings account program of a 

18 Tribe. 

19 ‘‘(4) EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT PRO20 GRAM.—The term ‘education savings account pro21 gram’ means a program administered by a Tribe in 

22 which the Tribe awards a grant to an account man23 aged by the Tribe or a nonprofit entity on behalf of 

24 a parent of an elementary school or secondary school 


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1 student from which the parent may purchase goods 

2 and services needed for the education of the student. 

3 ‘‘(5) NONPROFIT ENTITY DEFINED.—In this 

4 paragraph, the term ‘nonprofit entity’ means an en5 tity that is described in the section 501(c)(3) of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from 

7 taxation under section 501(a) of such Code. 

8 ‘‘(6) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

11 U.S.C. 7801). 

12 ‘‘(7) TRIBE.—The term ‘Tribe’ means any rec13 ognized Indian tribe included on the current list 

14 published by the Secretary under section 104 of the 

15 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe Act of 1994 (25 

16 U.S.C. 5131).’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1126(c) of 

18 the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2006(c)) 

19 is amended by striking ‘‘section 1141(12)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘section 1142(12)’’. 

21 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC22 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

23 Section 2101(a) of the Elementary and Secondary 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6611(a)) is amended 

25 at the end by inserting the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) one-half of one percent for Tribes that ad2 minister education savings account programs under 

3 section 1141 of part B of title XI of the Education 

4 Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2000 et seq.).’’. 

5 SEC. 4. CHARTER SCHOOLS AUTHORIZED. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of Indian Education 

7 is authorized to approve and fund a Bureau-Funded Char8 ter School at any school operated or funded by the Bureau 

9 of Indian Education. 

10 (b) USE OF BUREAU FACILITIES.—Tribes are au11 thorized to use existing Bureau of Indian Education facili12 ties for the operation, management, and expansion of 

13 grades in Bureau-funded charter schools, as defined in 

14 section 4(d)(1). 

15 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds dispersed to tribes 

16 under this section may be used for subcontracts with a 

17 tribal organization or developer to manage or operate Bu18 reau-funded charter schools. 

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) BUREAU-FUNDED CHARTER SCHOOL.—The 

21 term ‘‘Bureau-Funded Charter School’’ means a 

22 school that— 

23 (A) is approved by the Tribal government 

24 where the school operates and is approved and 

25 funded by the Bureau of Indian Education; 


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1 (B) is exempt from significant Federal, 

2 State, or local rules that inhibit the flexible op3 eration and management of Bureau-funded 

4 schools, but not from any rules relating to the 

5 other requirements of this paragraph; 

6 (C) is created by a developer as a Bureau7 funded school, or is adapted by a developer 

8 from an existing Bureau-funded school; 

9 (D) operates in pursuit of a specific set of 

10 educational objectives determined by the 

11 school’s developer and agreed to by each Tribe 

12 served and the Bureau of Indian Education; 

13 (E) provides a program of elementary or 

14 secondary education, or both; 

15 (F) is not affiliated with a sectarian school 

16 or religious institution; 

17 (G) does not charge tuition; 

18 (H) complies with the Age Discrimination 

19 Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), title VI 

20 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

21 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 

22 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), 

23 section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

24 (29 U.S.C. 794), the Americans with Disabil25 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), 


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1 section 1232g of this title (commonly referred 

2 to as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Pri3 vacy Act of 1974’’), and part B of the Individ4 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

5 1411 et seq.); 

6 (I) is a school to which parents choose to 

7 send their children, and that— 

8 (i) admits students on the basis of a 

9 lottery, consistent with section 

10 4303(c)(3)(A) of the Elementary and Sec11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 7221b(c)(3)(A)), if more students apply 

13 for admission than can be accommodated; 

14 or 

15 (ii) automatically enrolls students who 

16 are enrolled in the immediate prior grade 

17 level of Bureau-funded schools and, for any 

18 additional student openings or student 

19 openings created through regular attrition 

20 in student enrollment in the affiliated 

21 charter school and the enrolling school, ad22 mits students on the basis of a lottery as 

23 described in clause (i); 

24 (J) agrees to comply with the same Fed25 eral audit requirements as do other BureauVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4586.IH H4586

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1 funded schools, unless such Federal audit re2 quirements are waived by the Bureau of Indian 

3 Education; 

4 (K) meets all applicable Federal health 

5 and safety requirements; 

6 (L) operates in accordance with Federal 

7 law; 

8 (M) has a written performance contract 

9 with the Bureau of Indian Education that in10 cludes a description of how student perform11 ance will be measured in charter schools pursu12 ant to assessments that are required of other 

13 schools and pursuant to any other assessments 

14 mutually agreeable to the Bureau of Indian 

15 Education, tribe(s) served, and the charter 

16 school; and 

17 (N) may serve students in early childhood 

18 education programs. 

19 (2) DEVELOPER.—The term ‘‘developer’’ means 

20 an individual or group of individuals (including a 

21 public, private, or tribal nonprofit organization), 

22 which may include teachers, administrators and 

23 other school staff, parents, or other members of the 

24 local community in which a charter school project 

25 will be carried out. 


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1 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY. 

2 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

4 shall— 

5 (1) conduct a review of the implementation of 

6 the programs established by this Act during the pre7 ceding 3-year period, including any factors impact8 ing increased participation in education savings ac9 count programs established pursuant to the amend10 ments made by this Act; 

11 (2) submit a report describing the results of the 

12 review under paragraph (1) to— 

13 (A) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the 

14 Senate; and 

15 (B) the Subcommittee on Indian, Insular 

16 and Alaska Native Affairs of the Committee on 

17 Natural Resources of the House of Representa18 tives; and 

19 (3) make the report described in paragraph (2) 

20 publicly available. 

21 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

23 by this Act, or the application of such provision or amend24 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, 

25 the remainder of this Act, or an amendment made by this 


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1 Act, or the application of such provision to other persons 

2 or circumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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