II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1014 

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

parental choice for those students that attend schools that are in need 

of improvement and have been identified for restructuring. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2007 

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. MARTINEZ, and Mr. DEMINT) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide parental choice for those students 

that attend schools that are in need of improvement 

and have been identified for restructuring. 

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 ‘‘Empowering Parents 

5 Through Choice Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to support State and 

8 local efforts to enable students from low-income families 


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1 who attend a school identified for restructuring under sec2 tion 1116(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8))— 

4 (1) to attend a private elementary school or sec5 ondary school, or a public elementary school or sec6 ondary school outside the student’s home school dis7 trict, including a public charter school; or 

8 (2) to receive intensive, sustained supplemental 

9 educational services. 

10 SEC. 3. PROMISE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARENTS AND STU11 DENTS. 

12 Section 1116(b)(8) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 

13 6316(b)(8)) is amended— 

14 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (A) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

16 end; 

17 (B) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 

18 (iv); and 

19 (C) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(iii) make scholarships available to 

22 students to attend a private elementary or 

23 secondary school chosen by the student’s 

24 parents; and’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub2 paragraph (F); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL

6 CHOICE.—If a local education agency imple7 ments subparagraph (A)(iii), it shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) apply fair and equitable proce9 dures for awarding scholarships under that 

10 subparagraph when the number of appli11 cants exceeds available funding, which 

12 must include giving priority to students 

13 whose schools are in the second or a later 

14 year of restructuring under section 

15 1116(b)(8); 

16 ‘‘(ii) make scholarship payments to 

17 the parents of the students, in a manner 

18 that ensures that those payments are used 

19 only for the payment of tuition, fees, and 

20 necessary transportation expenses, in ac21 cordance with this section; 

22 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the amount a stu23 dent receives under such a scholarship for 

24 an academic year, together with any funds 


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1 the student receives under section 1116(e) 

2 for that academic year— 

3 ‘‘(I) does not exceed $4,000; and 

4 ‘‘(II) does not exceed the costs, 

5 including necessary transportation 

6 and other expenses, to attend the pri7 vate elementary or secondary school; 

8 ‘‘(iv) if a student uses such a scholar9 ship, continue to provide such a scholar10 ship to that student for each academic 

11 year thereafter until the student completes 

12 the grade that is the final grade taught at 

13 the school that the student attended before 

14 using the scholarship; 

15 ‘‘(v) assess that student in reading or 

16 language arts, mathematics, and science 

17 (at the grade levels specified in section 

18 1111(b)(3)(C)) by using the State assess19 ments administered under section 

20 1111(b)(3), and include the student’s 

21 scores on those assessments in its annual 

22 report cards under section 1111(h)(2) and 

23 in determining whether the school and 

24 local educational agency made adequate 

25 yearly progress under section 1111; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) separately display, for the local 

2 educational agency as a whole, the assess3 ment results for students using the schol4 arships in its annual report cards under 

5 section 1111(h)(2), except where doing so 

6 would reveal personally identifiable infor7 mation about an individual student. 

8 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE FOR PRIVATE

9 SCHOOLS.—A private elementary or secondary 

10 school that enrolls a student who is using a 

11 scholarship under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) assess that student in reading or 

13 language arts, mathematics, and science 

14 (at the grade levels specified in section 

15 1111(b)(3)(C)) by using either the State 

16 assessments administered under section 

17 1111(b)(3) or nationally normed assess18 ments; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) provide the results of those as20 sessments to the local educational agency 

21 that made the scholarship available. 

22 ‘‘(E) NONDISCRIMINATION.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local edu24 cational agency or private elementary or 

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1 gram under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall not 

2 discriminate against participants or appli3 cants on the basis of race, color, national 

4 origin, religion, or sex. 

5 ‘‘(ii) RELIGIOUS TENETS OR BELIEFS

6 WITH RESPECT TO SEX.—The prohibition 

7 of sex discrimination in clause (i) does not 

8 apply to a participating school that is oper9 ated by, supervised by, controlled by, or 

10 connected to a religious organization to the 

11 extent that the application of that prohibi12 tion is inconsistent with the religious te13 nets or beliefs of the school. 

14 ‘‘(iii) SINGLE-SEX EDUCATION.—Not15 withstanding the prohibition of sex dis16 crimination in clause (i), a participating 

17 school may offer, and a participating par18 ent may choose, a single-sex school, class, 

19 or activity. 

20 ‘‘(iv) NEUTRALITY.—Section 909 of 

21 the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1688) shall apply to a program 

23 under subparagraph (A)(iii). 

24 ‘‘(v) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.— 

25 Subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) do not 


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1 affect any requirement of the Individuals 

2 with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

3 1400 et seq.). 

4 ‘‘(vi) MATTERS OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

5 Notwithstanding clause (i), a private ele6 mentary or secondary school participating 

7 in any program under subparagraph 

8 (A)(iii) that is operated by, supervised by, 

9 controlled by, or connected to a religious 

10 organization may exercise its right in mat11 ters of employment consistent with title 

12 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the ex14 emptions in that title. 

15 ‘‘(vii) FIRST AMENDMENT.—Con16 sistent with the First Amendment to the 

17 Constitution of the United States, a par18 ticipating school shall not, by reason of re19 ceiving funds under a program under sub20 paragraph (A)(iii), be required to— 

21 ‘‘(I) change its teaching mission; 

22 ‘‘(II) remove religious art, icons, 

23 scriptures, or other symbols; 

24 ‘‘(III) remove religious terms or 

25 references from its name, mission 


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1 statement, or other chartering or gov2 erning documents; or 

3 ‘‘(IV) refrain from using religion 

4 as a basis in selecting its board mem5 bers.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARENTS AND 

7 STUDENTS. 

8 Part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

9 Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘Subpart 5—Opportunity Scholarships for Parents 

12 and Students 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1261. DEFINITIONS. 

14 ‘‘In this subpart: 

15 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency; 

18 ‘‘(B) a State educational agency; or 

19 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization or a consor20 tium of nonprofit organizations. 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

22 student’ means a student from a low-income family 

23 who— 

24 ‘‘(A) with respect to a school identified for 

25 restructuring under section 1116(b)(8)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is eligible to enroll in the begin2 ning grade of the school; 

3 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subpara4 graph (C), attended the school for the en5 tire school year preceding the identifica6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a student who 

8 transfers to the school to attend any grade 

9 beyond the beginning grade of the school, 

10 attends the school for the remainder of the 

11 school year in which the transfer occurs; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) received a scholarship under this 

13 subpart in a preceding school year due to 

14 such identification; or 

15 ‘‘(B) is a sibling of a student described in 

16 any 1 of clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara17 graph (A). 

18 ‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘low-in19 come family’ means a family whose income does not 

20 exceed 185 percent of the poverty line, except that 

21 in the case of a student participating in a project 

22 under this subpart for a second or any succeeding 

23 school year the term includes a family whose income 

24 does not exceed 220 percent of the poverty line. 


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1 ‘‘(4) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 

2 means the income official poverty line (as defined by 

3 the Office of Management and Budget, and revised 

4 annually in accordance with section 673(2) of the 

5 Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 9902(2)) applicable to a family of the size involved. 

7 ‘‘(5) PRIVATE PROVIDER.—The term ‘private 

8 provider’ means a nonprofit or for-profit private pro9 vider of supplemental educational services described 

10 in section 1116(e)(1) that is on the updated list of 

11 approved providers maintained by the State edu12 cational agency under section 1116(e)(4)(C). 

13 ‘‘(6) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERV14 ICES.—The term ‘supplemental educational services’ 

15 has the meaning given the term in section 

16 1116(e)(12)(C). 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1262. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

20 and from amounts appropriated under section 1264 

21 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants, 

22 on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to support 

23 projects that provide— 

24 ‘‘(A) scholarships to enable eligible stu25 dents to attend— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the private elementary school or 

2 secondary school of their parent’s choice; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(ii) a public elementary school or 

5 secondary school of their parents’ choice 

6 outside of the eligible student’s home 

7 school district, consistent with State law; 

8 or 

9 ‘‘(B) eligible students with intensive, sus10 tained supplemental educational services on an 

11 annual basis. 

12 ‘‘(2) SCHOLARSHIP DURATION RULE.—Each eli13 gible entity that receives a grant under this subpart 

14 shall award a scholarship under this subpart only to 

15 an eligible student for— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) in the case of an eligible student 

17 described in section 1261(2)(A), the first school 

18 year for which the eligible student is eligible to 

19 receive the scholarship with respect to a school 

20 identified for restructuring under section 

21 1116(b)(8); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible student de23 scribed in section 1261(2)(B), the first school 

24 year taught at the school so identified; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) each subsequent school year through 

2 the school year applicable to the final grade 

3 taught at the school so identified. 

4 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

5 award grants under this subpart for a period of not more 

6 than 5 years. 

7 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this 

8 subpart, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(1) make scholarships available to students to 

11 attend a private elementary or secondary school cho12 sen by the student’s parents as authorized under 

13 section 1116(b)(8)(A)(iii); 

14 ‘‘(2) propose to serve eligible students in a local 

15 educational agency with a large number or percent16 age of schools identified for restructuring under sec17 tion 1116(b)(8); 

18 ‘‘(3) possess the knowledge and capacity to in19 form parents of eligible students, in urban, subur20 ban, and rural areas, about public and private ele21 mentary school and secondary school options; and 

22 ‘‘(4) will augment the scholarships provided to 

23 eligible students under this subpart in order to help 

24 ensure that parents can afford the cost (including 

25 tuition, fees, and necessary transportation expenses) 


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1 of the schools the parents choose to have their chil2 dren attend under this subpart. 

3 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered for a 

5 grant under this subpart, an eligible entity shall sub6 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

7 such manner, and containing such information as 

8 the Secretary may reasonably require. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The application shall, at a 

10 minimum, include a description of— 

11 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity’s plan for— 

12 ‘‘(i) recruiting private schools, local 

13 educational agencies, charter schools, and 

14 private providers to participate in the 

15 project in order to meet eligible student de16 mand for private and public school admis17 sion and supplemental educational services; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that participating 

20 schools that enroll eligible students receiv21 ing scholarships under this subpart, and 

22 private providers participating in the 

23 project, will meet the applicable require24 ments of the project; 


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1 ‘‘(B) each school identified for restruc2 turing that will be served under the project, in3 cluding— 

4 ‘‘(i) the name of each such school; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) such demographic and socio6 economic information as the Secretary may 

7 require; 

8 ‘‘(C) how the eligible entity will work with 

9 the identified schools and the local educational 

10 agency to identify the parents of eligible stu11 dents (including through contracts or coopera12 tive agreements with the public school or local 

13 educational agency) consistent with the require14 ments of the Family Educational Rights and 

15 Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g); 

16 ‘‘(D) how the eligible entity will structure 

17 the project in a manner that permits eligible 

18 students to participate in the second and suc19 ceeding school years of the project if the schools 

20 the eligible students attend with scholarship as21 sistance under this subpart are subsequently 

22 identified for restructuring under section 

23 1116(b)(8); 

24 ‘‘(E) how the eligible entity will use funds 

25 received under this subpart; 


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1 ‘‘(F) how the eligible entity will ensure 

2 that if more eligible students seek admission to 

3 the project than the project can accommodate, 

4 the eligible students will be selected through a 

5 random selection process; 

6 ‘‘(G) how the eligible entity will notify par7 ents of eligible students of the expanded choice 

8 opportunities provided under the project and 

9 how the eligible entity will provide parents with 

10 sufficient information to enable the parents to 

11 make an informed decision; 

12 ‘‘(H) how the eligible entity will ensure 

13 that the schools receiving eligible students 

14 under the grant are financially responsible and 

15 will use the grant funds received under this 

16 subpart effectively; 

17 ‘‘(I) how the eligible entity will prioritize 

18 between providing scholarships and providing 

19 sustained, intensive supplemental educational 

20 services, including the timing and duration of 

21 offering the opportunity for parents to deter22 mine which provision the parents prefer; and 

23 ‘‘(J) how the eligible entity will address the 

24 renewal of support for participating eligible stu25 dents, including continued eligibility. 


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1 ‘‘(e) USES OF FUNDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re3 ceives a grant under this subpart may— 

4 ‘‘(A) reserve not more than 5 percent of 

5 the grant funds for administrative expenses, in6 cluding costs associated with recruiting and se7 lecting eligible students, private schools, and 

8 private providers, to participate in the project; 

9 ‘‘(B) only for the first year for which grant 

10 funds are received under this subpart, reserve 

11 not more than 5 percent of the grant funds (in 

12 addition to the funds reserved under subpara13 graph (A)), for initial implementation expenses, 

14 including costs associated with outreach, pro15 viding information to parents and school offi16 cials, and other administrative expenses; 

17 ‘‘(C) use the grant funds to provide schol18 arships to eligible students to pay for the cost, 

19 including tuition, fees, and necessary transpor20 tation expenses to attend the private school of 

21 their parents’ choice or a public elementary 

22 school or secondary school of their parents’ 

23 choice outside of the eligible students’ home 

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1 cept that the scholarship shall not exceed 

2 $4,000 per student per school year; and 

3 ‘‘(D) use the grant funds to pay the costs, 

4 including reasonable transportation costs, of 

5 supplemental educational services (including 

6 summer school or after-school programs) pro7 vided by a private provider to eligible students, 

8 except that the costs shall not exceed $3,000 

9 per student per school year. 

10 ‘‘(2) FUNDING ORDER.—Each eligible entity 

11 that receives a grant under this subpart shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) first fund scholarships for eligible 

13 students to attend the private school of their 

14 parents’ choice or a public elementary school or 

15 secondary school of their parents’ choice outside 

16 of the eligible students’ home school district 

17 (consistent with State law); and 

18 ‘‘(B) use any remaining grant funds to 

19 provide eligible students with access to supple20 mental educational services. 

21 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT.—Each eligible entity that re22 ceives a grant under this subpart shall make scholar23 ship payments under this subpart to the parent of 

24 the eligible student participating in the project, in a 

25 manner that ensures that the payments will be used 


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1 only for the payment of tuition, fees, and necessary 

2 transportation expenses, in accordance with this sub3 part. 

4 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION.—A student who receives supple5 mental educational services under this subpart shall not 

6 be eligible to receive other such services under section 

7 1116(e). 

8 ‘‘(g) PROJECT PERFORMANCE.—Each eligible entity 

9 receiving a grant under this subpart shall prepare and 

10 submit to the Secretary a final report on the results of 

11 the project assisted under this subpart that contains such 

12 information as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, 

13 the report shall include information on the academic 

14 achievement of students receiving scholarships and supple15 mental educational services under the project. 

16 ‘‘(h) PERFORMANCE INFORMATION.—Each eligible 

17 entity that receives a grant under this subpart shall collect 

18 and report such performance information as the Secretary 

19 may require for the national evaluation conducted under 

20 subsection (i). 

21 ‘‘(i) NATIONAL EVALUATION.—From the amount 

22 made available for any fiscal year under section 1264, the 

23 Secretary shall reserve such sums as may be necessary to 

24 conduct an independent evaluation, by grant or by con25 tract, of the program carried out under this subpart, 


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1 which shall include an assessment of the impact of the 

2 program on student achievement. The Secretary shall re3 port the results of the evaluation to the appropriate com4 mittees of Congress. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1263. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity or a school 

7 participating in a project under this subpart shall not dis8 criminate against an individual participant in, or an indi9 vidual applicant to participate in, the project on the basis 

10 of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 

11 ‘‘(b) RELIGIOUS TENETS OR BELIEFS.—Notwith12 standing any other provision of law, the prohibition of sex 

13 discrimination described in subsection (a) shall not apply 

14 to a school described in subsection (a) that is operated 

15 by, supervised by, controlled by, or connected to, a reli16 gious organization, to the extent that the application of 

17 subsection (a) is inconsistent with the religious tenets or 

18 beliefs of the organization. 

19 ‘‘(c) SINGLE-SEX EDUCATION.—Notwithstanding the 

20 prohibition of sex discrimination in subsection (a), a par21 ticipating school may offer, and a participating parent 

22 may choose, a single-sex school, class, or activity. 

23 ‘‘(d) NEUTRALITY.—Section 909 of the Education 

24 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) shall apply to this 

25 subpart. 


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1 ‘‘(e) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—This subpart 

2 does not affect any requirement of the Individuals with 

3 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 

4 ‘‘(f) MATTERS OF EMPLOYMENT.—Notwithstanding 

5 subsection (a), a participating school that is operated by, 

6 supervised by, controlled by, or connected to a religious 

7 organization may exercise its right in matters of employ8 ment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

9 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the exemp10 tions in that title. 

11 ‘‘(g) FIRST AMENDMENT.—Consistent with the First 

12 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a 

13 participating school shall not, by reason of receiving funds 

14 under this subpart, be required to— 

15 ‘‘(1) change its teaching mission; 

16 ‘‘(2) remove religious art, icons, scriptures, or 

17 other symbols; 

18 ‘‘(3) remove religious terms or references from 

19 its name, mission statement, or other chartering or 

20 governing documents; or 

21 ‘‘(4) refrain from using religion as a basis in 

22 selecting its board members. 

23 ‘‘(h) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

24 Federal law, a scholarship provided under this subpart to 

25 a student shall be considered to be assistance to the parent 


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1 of the student and shall not be considered to be assistance 

2 to the school that enrolls the student. The amount of any 

3 scholarship (or other form of support for the provision of 

4 supplemental educational services) provided to a parent of 

5 an eligible student under this subpart shall not be treated 

6 as income of a parent of the eligible student for purposes 

7 of Federal tax laws or for purposes of determining eligi8 bility for any other Federal program, other than the pro9 gram carried out under this subpart. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 1264. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this subpart $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such 

13 sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding 

14 fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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