I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1855

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

a grant program to enhance parental involvement in elementary and

secondary schools.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 2001

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ 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 authorize a grant program to enhance parental involvement in elementary and secondary schools.

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 ‘‘Parental Involvement

5 Enhancement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Research indicates that, regardless of eco9 nomic, ethnic, or cultural background, parental in-
2

•HR 1855 IH

1 volvement in a child’s education is a major factor in

2 determining success in school.

3 (2) Parental involvement in a child’s education

4 contributes to such positive outcomes as improved

5 grades and test scores, higher expectations for stu6 dent achievement, better school attendance, im7 proved rates of homework completion and gradua8 tion from secondary schools, decreased violence and

9 substance abuse, and higher rates of graduation

10 from and enrollment in postsecondary schools.

11 (3) According to the Department of Education

12 study entitled ‘‘Strong Families, Strong Schools’’, in

13 elementary schools where parents were actively in14 volved, the average fourth grade reading scores were

15 17 points above the national average.

16 (4) According to the National Commission on

17 Children, more than 70 percent of students ages 10

18 to 13, and more than 50 percent of students ages

19 14 to 17, would like to talk to their parents more

20 about school and schoolwork.

21 (5) Ninety-five percent of parents strongly

22 agree that parental involvement is as important a

23 factor as quality of teachers in ensuring student suc24 cess in school, and 69 percent of parents believe that
3

•HR 1855 IH

1 in order to improve public schools, more opportuni2 ties for parental involvement are necessary.

3 (6) Of the 800 parents questioned under the

4 National Parent Teacher Association’s 1998 survey

5 of public school parents, more than half stated that

6 low levels of parental involvement and the inability

7 of schools to keep parents informed are serious prob8 lems.

9 (7) Teachers rank strengthening parental roles

10 in their children’s education as an important issue

11 that should receive the highest priority in the formu12 lation of public education policy over the next few

13 years.

14 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Elementary and

16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et

17 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new

18 part:

19 ‘‘PART G—PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

20 ‘‘SEC. 1701. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section,

22 the Secretary may make grants to elementary schools or

23 secondary schools to promote the involvement of parents

24 in the education of their children.
4

•HR 1855 IH

1 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each school receiving a grant

2 under this section may use the proceeds of such grant

3 only—

4 ‘‘(1) for educational or outreach materials or

5 resources designed to increase parental involvement

6 in their children’s education; or

7 ‘‘(2) to pay the salary or benefits of an indi8 vidual who is an eligible parent liaison as described

9 in subsection (c).

10 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PARENT LIAISONS.—For the pur11 poses of this section, an individual shall be an eligible par12 ent liaison if the individual is employed by the school to

13 be a parent liaison and meets each of the following cri14 teria:

15 ‘‘(1) The individual holds a degree in social

16 work, counseling, psychology, human resources, or

17 any other field that the school considers relevant to

18 performing the functions described in paragraph (3).

19 ‘‘(2) The individual is bilingual or multilingual,

20 if appropriate for the needs of the school.

21 ‘‘(3) The individual is responsible for—

22 ‘‘(A) facilitating communication between

23 the school’s teachers and the parents of the

24 school’s students, especially parents who have

25 limited English proficiency;
5

•HR 1855 IH

1 ‘‘(B) if national or State tests or assess2 ments are conducted at the school, explaining to

3 such parents how such tests or assessments

4 work and what the results mean; and

5 ‘‘(C) if the school provides report cards,

6 explaining to such parents what such report

7 cards mean.

8 ‘‘(4) The individual maintains a flexible sched9 ule that allows the individual to perform the func10 tions described in paragraph (3) while accommo11 dating the needs of working parents.

12 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each school seeking a

14 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec15 retary an application that includes—

16 ‘‘(A) a description of the school’s student

17 population, including information on the socio18 economic status and the English-speaking abil19 ity of the students;

20 ‘‘(B) a plan describing how the school

21 seeks to increase parental involvement at the

22 school, including information on—

23 ‘‘(i) the number of eligible parent liai24 sons the school plans to employ;
6

•HR 1855 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) the activities the school plans to

2 conduct to increase parental involvement;

3 and

4 ‘‘(iii) the materials or resources that

5 the school plans to acquire to increase pa6 rental involvement; and

7 ‘‘(C) a description of how the school will

8 evaluate the materials and resources acquired,

9 and the success of the activities carried out,

10 with the grant.

11 ‘‘(2) PARENTAL INPUT.—Each application sub12 mitted under this paragraph (including the plan de13 scribed in paragraph (1)(B)) shall be developed with

14 the input of parents of students at the school sub15 mitting the application.

16 ‘‘(e) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In making grants under

17 this section, the Secretary shall give preference—

18 ‘‘(1) to schools that have a large percentage of

19 students whose parents have limited English pro20 ficiency; and

21 ‘‘(2) to schools at which the involvement of par22 ents in the education of their children has tradition23 ally been low.

24 ‘‘(f) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN HIRING DECI25 SIONS.—As a condition of the receipt of funds made avail-
7

•HR 1855 IH

1 able under this section, the Secretary shall require that

2 each school receiving such funds involve each of the fol3 lowing when making a hiring decision with respect to an

4 eligible parent liaison hired with such funds:

5 ‘‘(1) The parents of the students at the school.

6 ‘‘(2) Any local parent organization active in the

7 affairs of the school.’’.

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section

9 1002 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302) is amended by adding at the end

11 the following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(h) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—There is authorized

13 to be appropriated to carry out part G $100,000,000 for

14 fiscal year 2002.’’.

Æ