II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 213 

To amend the SOAR Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2019 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the SOAR Act. 

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 ‘‘SOAR Reauthorization 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE SOAR ACT. 

7 (a) AMENDMENTS TO SOAR.—The Scholarships for 

8 Opportunity and Results Act (division C of Public Law 

9 112–10) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 3007 (sec. 38–1853.07 D.C. Offi11 cial Code)— 


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1 (A) by striking subsection (c) and redesig2 nating subsection (d) as subsection (c); 

3 (B) in subsection (b)— 

4 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik5 ing ‘‘AND PARENTAL ASSISTANCE’’ and in6 serting ‘‘, PARENTAL ASSISTANCE, AND

7 STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE’’; 

8 (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

9 by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘$2,200,000’’; and 

11 (iii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(3) The expenses of providing tutoring service 

14 to participating eligible students that need additional 

15 academic assistance. If there are insufficient funds 

16 to provide tutoring services to all such students in 

17 a year, the eligible entity shall give priority in such 

18 year to students who previously attended an elemen19 tary school or secondary school identified as one of 

20 the lowest-performing schools under the District of 

21 Columbia’s accountability system.’’; and 

22 (C) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 

23 subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 

2 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

4 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking 

5 ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 

7 (2) in section 3008(h) (sec. 38–1853.08 D.C. 

8 Official Code)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 

10 3009(a)(2)(A)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

11 3009(a)’’; 

12 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(2) The Institute of Education Sciences may 

15 administer assessments to students participating in 

16 the evaluation under section 3009(a) for the purpose 

17 of conducting the evaluation under such section.’’; 

18 and 

19 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the na20 tionally norm-referenced standardized test de21 scribed in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘a na22 tionally norm-referenced standardized test’’; 

23 (3) in section 3009(a) (sec. 38–1853.09 D.C. 

24 Official Code)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘an2 nually’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 clause (i) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) is rigorous; and’’; and 

7 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

8 ‘‘impact of the program’’ and all that fol9 lows through the end of the subparagraph 

10 and inserting ‘‘impact of the program on 

11 academic achievement and educational at12 tainment.’’; 

13 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

14 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik15 ing ‘‘ON EDUCATION’’ and inserting ‘‘OF

16 EDUCATION’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A)— 

18 (I) by inserting ‘‘the academic 

19 progress of’’ after ‘‘assess’’; and 

20 (II) by striking ‘‘in each of 

21 grades 3’’ and all that follows through 

22 the end of the subparagraph and in23 serting ‘‘; and’’; 

24 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B); 

25 and 


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1 (iv) by redesignating subparagraph 

2 (C) as subparagraph (B); and 

3 (D) in paragraph (4)— 

4 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘A comparison of the academic achieve6 ment of participating eligible students who 

7 use an opportunity scholarship on the 

8 measurements described in paragraph 

9 (3)(B) to the academic achievement’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘The academic progress of par11 ticipating eligible students who use an op12 portunity scholarship compared to the aca13 demic progress’’; 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

15 ‘‘increasing the satisfaction of such parents 

16 and students with their choice’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘those parents’ and students’ satisfac18 tion with the program’’; and 

19 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D) 

20 through (F) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(D) The high school graduation rates, 

22 college enrollment rates, college persistence 

23 rates, and college graduation rates of partici24 pating eligible students who use an opportunity 

25 scholarship compared with the rates of public 


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1 school students described in subparagraph (A), 

2 to the extent practicable. 

3 ‘‘(E) The college enrollment rates, college 

4 persistence rates, and college graduation rates 

5 of students who participated in the program as 

6 the result of winning the Opportunity Scholar7 ship Program lottery compared to the enroll8 ment, persistence, and graduation rates for stu9 dents who entered but did not win such lottery 

10 and who, as a result, served as the control 

11 group for previous evaluations of the program 

12 under this division. Nothing in this subpara13 graph may be construed to waive section 

14 3004(a)(3)(A)(iii) with respect to any such stu15 dent. 

16 ‘‘(F) The safety of the schools attended by 

17 participating eligible students who use an op18 portunity scholarship compared with the schools 

19 in the District of Columbia attended by public 

20 school students described in subparagraph (A), 

21 to the extent practicable.’’; and 

22 (4) in section 3014(a) (sec. 38–1853.14, D.C. 

23 Official Code), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2019’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2024’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on September 30, 2019. 

Æ 


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