II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1785

To provide for local family information centers, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 26, 1999

Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for local family information centers, 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. LOCAL FAMILY INFORMATION CENTERS.

4 (a) CENTERS ESTABLISHED.—Part E of title I of the

5 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

6 U.S.C. 6491 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

7 the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 1503. LOCAL FAMILY INFORMATION CENTERS.

9 ‘‘(a) CENTERS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

10 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative
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1 agreements with, local nonprofit parent organizations to

2 enable the organizations to support local family informa3 tion centers that help ensure that parents of students in

4 schools assisted under part A have the training, informa5 tion, and support the parents need to enable the parents

6 to participate effectively in helping their children to meet

7 challenging State standards.

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF LOCAL NONPROFIT PARENT

9 ORGANIZATION.—In this section, the term ‘local nonprofit

10 parent organization’ means a private nonprofit organiza11 tion (other than an institution of higher education) that—

12 ‘‘(1) has a demonstrated record of working with

13 low-income individuals and parents;

14 ‘‘(2)(A) has a board of directors—

15 ‘‘(i) the majority of whom are parents of

16 students in schools that are assisted under part

17 A and located in the geographic area to be

18 served by the center; and

19 ‘‘(ii) that includes individuals who work in

20 schools that are assisted under part A and lo21 cated in the geographic area to be served by the

22 center; or

23 ‘‘(B) has—

24 ‘‘(i) as a part of the organization’s mis25 sion, serving the interests of low-income fami-
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1 lies in public schools located in the geographic

2 area to be served by the center; and

3 ‘‘(ii)(I) a special governing committee to

4 direct and implement the center, a majority of

5 the members of whom are parents of students

6 in schools assisted under part A, which com7 mittee shall include 1 or more individuals work8 ing in the schools assisted under part A in the

9 geographic area to be served by the center; and

10 ‘‘(II) entered into a memorandum of un11 derstanding between the special governing com12 mittee and the board of directors that clearly

13 outlines the decisionmaking responsibilities and

14 authority of the special governing committee;

15 and

16 ‘‘(3) is located in a community with schools

17 that receive funds under part A, and is accessible to

18 the families of students in those schools.

19 ‘‘(c) REQUIRED CENTER ACTIVITIES.—Each center

20 assisted under this section shall—

21 ‘‘(1) provide training, information, and support

22 that meets the needs of parents of children in

23 schools assisted under part A who are served

24 through the grant, contract, or cooperative agree25 ment, particularly underserved parents, low-income
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1 parents, parents of students with limited English

2 proficiency, parents of students with disabilities, and

3 parents of students in schools identified for school

4 improvement or corrective action under section

5 1116(c);

6 ‘‘(2) help families of students enrolled in a

7 school assisted under part A—

8 ‘‘(A) to understand and effectively carry

9 out their responsibilities under the parent in10 volvement provisions of this Act, including par11 ticipation in parent compacts, parent involve12 ment policies, and joint decisionmaking;

13 ‘‘(B) to learn how to participate effectively

14 with the school to create a needs assessment or

15 school improvement plan in accordance with

16 part A; and

17 ‘‘(C) to understand all of the provisions of

18 this Act designed to improve the achievement of

19 students in the school;

20 ‘‘(3) provide information in a language and

21 form that parents understand, including taking steps

22 to ensure that underserved parents, low-income par23 ents, parents with limited English proficiency, par24 ents of students with disabilities, or parents of stu25 dents in schools identified for school improvement or
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1 corrective action, are effectively informed and as2 sisted;

3 ‘‘(4) assist parents to—

4 ‘‘(A) understand State content and student

5 performance standards, State and local assess6 ments, and how schools assisted under part A

7 are required to help students meet the State

8 standards;

9 ‘‘(B) understand the accountability system

10 in place in the State, and support activities that

11 are likely to improve student achievement in

12 schools assisted under part A;

13 ‘‘(C) communicate effectively with per14 sonnel responsible for providing educational

15 services to their child, and for planning and im16 plementing policies and programs under part A,

17 in the school and the school district;

18 ‘‘(D) understand and analyze the meaning

19 of data that schools, local educational agencies,

20 and States provide under the reporting require21 ments of this Act and other statutes, including

22 State reporting requirements;

23 ‘‘(E) locate and understand appropriate in24 formation about research on ways in which high
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1 poverty schools have made real progress in hav2 ing all students meet State standards;

3 ‘‘(F) understand what their child’s school

4 is doing to enable students at the school to

5 meet the standards, including understanding

6 the curriculum and instructional methods the

7 school is using to help the students meet the

8 standards;

9 ‘‘(G) better understand their child’s edu10 cational needs, where their child stands with re11 spect to State standards, and how the school is

12 addressing the child’s education needs;

13 ‘‘(H) participate in—

14 ‘‘(i) the decisionmaking processes at

15 the school, school district, and State levels;

16 ‘‘(ii) the development, review, and

17 amendment of school-parent compacts, the

18 school and school district parent involve19 ment policies, and the school plan; and

20 ‘‘(iii) the review of the needs assess21 ment of the school;

22 ‘‘(I) understand the requirements of sec23 tions 1114, 1115, and 1116, regarding im24 proved student achievement, school planning

25 and improvement, and corrective action;
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1 ‘‘(J) understand the provisions of other

2 Federal education programs that provide—

3 ‘‘(i) resources and opportunities for

4 school improvement; or

5 ‘‘(ii) educational resources to indi6 vidual students, including programs under

7 chapters 1 and 2 of subpart 2 of part A

8 of title IV of the Higher Education Act of

9 1965 (Gear Up and Federal TRIO pro10 grams) and other programs;

11 ‘‘(K) participate in other school reform ac12 tivities; and

13 ‘‘(L) understand public school choice op14 tions available in the local community, including

15 magnet schools, charter schools, and alternative

16 schools;

17 ‘‘(5) provide appropriate training and informa18 tion to students in schools assisted under part A, to

19 enable the students to participate in school compacts

20 and in school reform activities;

21 ‘‘(6) provide information on local parent in22 volvement needs and successes, where appropriate,

23 to teachers and administrators in schools assisted

24 under part A, and facilitate greater understanding

25 of good parent involvement strategies;
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1 ‘‘(7) establish cooperative partnerships with

2 parent training and information centers and commu3 nity parent resource centers assisted under sections

4 682 and 683, respectively, of the Individuals with

5 Disabilities Education Act, and with parental infor6 mation and resource centers assisted under section

7 1118(g);

8 ‘‘(8) be designed to meet the specific needs of

9 families who experience significant isolation from

10 available sources of information and support;

11 ‘‘(9) network with appropriate clearinghouses;

12 and

13 ‘‘(10) report annually to the Secretary

14 regarding—

15 ‘‘(A) the number of parents to whom the

16 center provided information and support in the

17 preceding fiscal year;

18 ‘‘(B) the number of parents who partici19 pate in training sessions and the average num20 ber of parents at training sessions;

21 ‘‘(C) the prior year’s training that was

22 held at times and places designed to allow the

23 attendance of the largest number of parents of

24 students in schools assisted under part A who
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1 are most likely to have been isolated from other

2 sources of information and training;

3 ‘‘(D) the effectiveness of strategies used to

4 reach and serve parents, including underserved

5 parents, low-income parents, parents with lim6 ited English proficiency, parents of students

7 with disabilities, and parents of students in

8 schools identified for school improvement or

9 corrective action;

10 ‘‘(E) how the center ensured that parents

11 had the skills necessary to participate in their

12 children’s education, as described in paragraph

13 (4);

14 ‘‘(F) the information provided to parents

15 by local educational agencies in the geographic

16 area served by the center; and

17 ‘‘(G) other measures, as determined appro18 priate by the Secretary.

19 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each local non20 profit parent organization desiring assistance under this

21 section shall submit to the Secretary an application at

22 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such in23 formation as the Secretary may require. Each such appli24 cation shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) describe how the organization will use the

2 assistance to help families under this section;

3 ‘‘(2) describe what steps the organization has

4 taken to meet with school district or school per5 sonnel in the geographic area to be served by the

6 center in order to inform the personnel of the plan

7 and application for the assistance; and

8 ‘‘(3) identify with specificity the special efforts

9 that the organization will take—

10 ‘‘(A) to ensure that the needs for training,

11 information, and support for parents of stu12 dents in schools assisted under part A, particu13 larly underserved parents, low-income parents,

14 parents with limited English proficiency, par15 ents of students with disabilities, and parents of

16 students in schools identified for school im17 provement or corrective action, are effectively

18 met; and

19 ‘‘(B) to work with community-based orga20 nizations.

21 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Secretary

23 shall make at least 2 awards of assistance under this

24 section to a local nonprofit parent organization in

25 each State, unless the Secretary does not receive at
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1 least 2 applications from such organizations in a

2 State of sufficient quality to warrant providing the

3 assistance in the State.

4 ‘‘(2) SELECTION REQUIREMENT FOR LOCAL

5 FAMILY INFORMATION CENTERS.—

6 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible

7 to receive assistance under this part, a center

8 shall serve a geographic area (which may in9 clude 1 or more school districts), having be10 tween 15,000 and 25,000 students, 50 percent

11 of whom are eligible for a free and reduced

12 price lunch under the National School Lunch

13 Act. The number of students served under the

14 preceding sentence may increase, at the discre15 tion of the Secretary, if the geographic area to

16 be served contains only 1 school district and the

17 center has the capacity to serve effectively the

18 entire school district.

19 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall se20 lect local nonprofit parent organizations in a

21 State to receive assistance under this section in

22 a manner that ensures the provision of the most

23 effective assistance to low-income parents of

24 students in schools assisted under part A that

25 are located in high poverty rural and urban
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1 areas in the State, with particular emphasis on

2 rural and urban geographic areas with high

3 school dropout rates, high percentages of lim4 ited English proficient students, or geographic

5 areas with schools identified for school improve6 ment or corrective action under section 1116(c).

7 ‘‘(e) QUARTERLY REVIEW.—

8 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS.—

9 ‘‘(A) MEETINGS.—The board of directors

10 or special governing committee of each organi11 zation that receives assistance under this sec12 tion shall meet at least once in each calendar

13 quarter to review the activities for which the as14 sistance was provided.

15 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION REQUIREMENT.—For

16 each year that an organization submits an ap17 plication for assistance under this section after

18 the first year the organization receives assist19 ance under this section, the board of directors

20 or special governing committee of the organiza21 tion shall submit to the Secretary a written re22 view of the activities of the center carried out

23 by the organization during the preceding year.

24 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall conduct an

25 evaluation of the centers assisted under this section, and
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1 shall report the findings of such evaluation to Congress

2 not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this

3 section.’’.

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

5 1002(g)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Education

6 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302(g)(2)) is amended to read

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘(2) SECTIONS 1502 AND 1503.—For the pur9 poses of carrying out sections 1502 and 1503, there

10 are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for

11 fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary

12 for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which

13 $50,000,000 shall be available for each fiscal year to

14 carry out section 1503.’’.

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