II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 439 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by establishing a program to support the modernization, renovation, or repair 

of career and technical education facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2013 

Mr. REID (for Mr. BEGICH) 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 by establishing a program to support the modernization, renovation, or repair of career and technical 

education facilities, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Career and Technical 

5 Education Facilities Modernization Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Career and technical education teaches aca2 demic subject matter in ways that are relevant and 

3 consistent to the real world. 

4 (2) Vocational education can reflect develop5 mental needs by helping students recognize their in6 terests, aptitudes, and abilities in age- and stage-ap7 propriate ways. 

8 (3) In order for students to be high-performing, 

9 the education facilities used by the students must 

10 also be high-performing. 

11 (4) Many school facilities that offer vocational 

12 or career and technical education are inefficient and 

13 outdated. 

14 SEC. 3. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES. 

15 (a) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILI16 TIES.—Part D of title V of the Elementary and Secondary 

17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241 et seq.) is amend18 ed by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘Subpart 22—Career and Technical Education 

20 Facilities 

21 ‘‘SEC. 5621. DEFINITIONS. 

22 ‘‘In this subpart: 

23 ‘‘(1) CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.— 

24 The term ‘career and technical education’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Carl D. 


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1 Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 

2 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 

3 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com4 munity college’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a junior or community college, as 

6 that term is defined in section 312(f) of the 

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1058(f)); or 

9 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education (as 

10 defined in section 101 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

11 1001)) that awards a significant number of de12 grees and certificates, as determined by the 

13 Secretary, that are not— 

14 ‘‘(i) baccalaureate degrees (or an 

15 equivalent); or 

16 ‘‘(ii) master’s, professional, or other 

17 advanced degrees. 

18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en19 tity’ means a local educational agency, community 

20 college, or other entity determined appropriate by 

21 the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED PROJECT.—The term ‘qualified 

23 project’— 

24 ‘‘(A) means the modernization, renovation, 

25 or repair of a facility that will be used to imVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:37 Mar 04, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S439.IS S439

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1 prove the quality and availability of science, 

2 technology, engineering, mathematics, or career 

3 and technical education instruction to public el4 ementary school or secondary school, or com5 munity college students, and that may in6 clude— 

7 ‘‘(i) improving the energy efficiency of 

8 the facility; 

9 ‘‘(ii) improving the cost-effectiveness 

10 of the facility in delivering quality edu11 cation; 

12 ‘‘(iii) improving student, faculty, and 

13 staff health and safety at the facility; 

14 ‘‘(iv) improving, installing, or upgrad15 ing educational technology infrastructure; 

16 ‘‘(v) retrofitting an existing building 

17 for career and technical education pur18 poses; and 

19 ‘‘(vi) a one-time repair of serviceable 

20 equipment at the facility, or replacement of 

21 equipment at the facility that is at the end 

22 of its serviceable lifespan, that will be used 

23 to further educational outcomes; and 

24 ‘‘(B) does not include new construction or 

25 the payment of routine maintenance costs. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 5622. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILI2 TIES IMPROVEMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts ap4 propriated under section 5401(b), the Secretary shall 

5 carry out a program to improve career and technical edu6 cation facilities by— 

7 ‘‘(1) awarding grants to eligible entities to en8 able the eligible entities to carry out qualified 

9 projects; 

10 ‘‘(2) guaranteeing loans made to eligible entities 

11 for qualified projects; or 

12 ‘‘(3) making payments of interest on bonds, 

13 loans, or other financial instruments (other than a 

14 refinancing) that are issued to eligible entities for 

15 qualified projects. 

16 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

17 receive a grant, loan guarantee, or payment of interest 

18 under this subpart shall submit an application to the Sec19 retary at such a time, in such a manner, and containing 

20 such information as the Secretary may require. The appli21 cation shall include— 

22 ‘‘(1) a detailed description of the qualified 

23 project; 

24 ‘‘(2) in the case of a qualified project described 

25 in section 5621(4)(A)(vi), a description of the edu26 cational outcomes to be furthered by the one-time 


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1 repair of serviceable equipment or replacement of 

2 equipment; 

3 ‘‘(3) an indication as to whether the eligible en4 tity prefers to receive a grant, loan guarantee, or 

5 payment of interest; 

6 ‘‘(4) a description of the need for the qualified 

7 project; 

8 ‘‘(5) a description of how the eligible entity will 

9 ensure that the qualified project will be adequately 

10 maintained; 

11 ‘‘(6) an identification of any public elementary 

12 school or secondary school or community college that 

13 will benefit from the qualified project; 

14 ‘‘(7) a description of how the qualified project 

15 will improve instruction and educational outcomes at 

16 the facility; 

17 ‘‘(8) a description of how the facility supported 

18 by the qualified project will be used for providing 

19 educational services in science, technology, engineer20 ing, mathematics, or career and technical education; 

21 ‘‘(9) a description of how the eligible entity will 

22 ensure that the modernization, renovation, or repair 

23 supported by the qualified project meets Leadership 

24 in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 

25 building rating standards, Energy Star standards, 


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1 Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) 

2 criteria, Green Building Initiative environmental de3 sign and rating standards (Green Globes), or equiva4 lent standards adopted by entities with jurisdiction 

5 over or related to the eligible entity; 

6 ‘‘(10) a description of the fiscal capacity of the 

7 eligible entity; 

8 ‘‘(11) the percentage of students enrolled in the 

9 public elementary school or secondary school or com10 munity college to be served by the qualified project 

11 who are from low-income families; 

12 ‘‘(12) in the case of a qualified project at a fa13 cility that is used by students in a secondary school, 

14 the secondary school graduation rates; and 

15 ‘‘(13) such additional information and assur16 ances as the Secretary may require. 

17 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In making awards under this sub18 part, the Secretary shall use not less than a total of 25 

19 percent of the funds appropriated under section 5401(b) 

20 to eligible entities for qualified projects to benefit— 

21 ‘‘(1) public elementary schools or secondary 

22 schools served by local educational agencies that are 

23 eligible to receive assistance under part B of title VI; 

24 or 


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1 ‘‘(2) community colleges serving a substantial 

2 number of rural students, as determined by the Sec3 retary. 

4 ‘‘(d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

5 available under this subpart shall be used to supplement, 

6 and not supplant, other Federal and State funds available 

7 to carry out the activities supported under this subpart. 

8 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE

9 COSTS.—The Secretary may reserve not more than 3 per10 cent of funds appropriated under section 5401(b) for the 

11 administrative costs of this subpart and to provide tech12 nical assistance to community colleges and local edu13 cational agencies concerning best practices in school facil14 ity renovation, repair, and modernization. 

15 ‘‘(f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 1 

16 year after funds are appropriated to carry out this sub17 part, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall pre18 pare and submit to the appropriate committees of Con19 gress a report on the effect of the qualified projects sup20 ported under this subpart on improving academic achieve21 ment.’’. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

23 5401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the matter preceding paragraph 

2 (1) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap4 propriated to carry out this part (except for subpart 22) 

5 the following amounts:’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR SUBPART 22.—There are 

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out subpart 22 

9 $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and each succeeding fis10 cal year.’’. 

11 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con12 tents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item 

14 relating to section 5619 the following: 

‘‘SUBPART 22—CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FACILITIES

‘‘Sec. 5621. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 5622. Career and technical facilities improvement.’’. 

Æ 


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