I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1933

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

for parental notification and consent prior to enrollment of a child

in a bilingual education program or a special alternative instructional

program for limited English proficient students.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 25, 1999

Mr. SALMON (for himself and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to provide for parental notification and consent

prior to enrollment of a child in a bilingual education

program or a special alternative instructional program

for limited English proficient students.

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 ‘‘Parents Know Best

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION AND CONSENT TO PAR2 TICIPATE.

3 Section 7502(b) of the Elementary and Secondary

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7602(b)) is amended

5 to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(b) PARENTAL NOTIFICATION AND CONSENT.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A parent or the parents of

8 a limited English proficient student participating in

9 a bilingual education program, or a special alter10 native instructional program, assisted under this Act

11 shall be informed of—

12 ‘‘(A) the reasons for the identification of

13 the student as being in need of participation;

14 ‘‘(B) the child’s level of English pro15 ficiency, how such level was assessed, and the

16 status of the child’s academic achievement;

17 ‘‘(C) how such program will specifically

18 help the child acquire English and meet age-ap19 propriate standards for grade promotion and

20 graduation;

21 ‘‘(D) what the specific exit requirements

22 for the program are;

23 ‘‘(E) the expected rate of graduation from

24 the program into mainstream classes; and

25 ‘‘(F) the expected rate of graduation from

26 high school for the program.
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1 ‘‘(2) PARENTAL CONSENT.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A parent or the par3 ents of a limited English proficient student who

4 is identified for participation in a bilingual edu5 cation program, or a special alternative instruc6 tional program, assisted under this Act shall—

7 ‘‘(i) sign a form consenting to the stu8 dent’s placement in such a program prior

9 to such time as the student is enrolled in

10 the program;

11 ‘‘(ii) select among methods of instruc12 tion, if more than one method is offered in

13 the program; and

14 ‘‘(iii) have the right to have the stu15 dent immediately removed from the pro16 gram upon the parent’s request.

17 ‘‘(B) EFFECT OF LAU DECISION.—A local

18 educational agency shall not be relieved of any

19 of its obligations under the holding in the Su20 preme Court case of Lau v. Nichols, 414 U.S.

21 563 (1974), because any parent chooses not to

22 enroll their child in a bilingual education pro23 gram.

24 ‘‘(3) RECEIPT OF INFORMATION.—A parent or

25 the parents of a limited English proficient student
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1 who is identified for participation in a bilingual edu2 cation program, or a special alternative instructional

3 program, assisted under this Act shall receive, in a

4 manner and form understandable to the parent or

5 parents, the information required by this subsection.

6 At a minimum, the parent or parents shall receive—

7 ‘‘(A) timely information about such pro8 grams; and

9 ‘‘(B) if a parent of a participating child so

10 desires, notice of opportunities for regular

11 meetings for the purpose of formulating and re12 sponding to recommendations from such par13 ents.’’.

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