II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 326 

To reauthorize 21st century community learning centers, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2013 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BEGICH, and 

Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To reauthorize 21st century community learning 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘After School for Amer5 ica’s Children Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS. 

7 Section 4201 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7171) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘, such 

2 as reading and mathematics’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (i) by inserting ‘‘service learning, nu5 trition and health education,’’ before ‘‘drug 

6 and’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘and recreation pro8 grams’’ and all that follows through ‘‘char9 acter education programs’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘physical fitness and wellness programs, 

11 and technology education programs’’; and 

12 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) offer families of students served by com15 munity learning centers opportunities for active and 

16 meaningful engagement in their children’s education, 

17 including opportunities for literacy and related edu18 cational development.’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

21 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

22 inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) assists students in meeting State and 

24 local academic achievement standards in core 

25 academic subjects by providing the students 


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1 with academic and enrichment activities and a 

2 broad array of other activities (such as pro3 grams and activities described in subsection 

4 (a)(2)) during nonschool hours or periods when 

5 school is not in session (such as before or after 

6 school or during summer recess) that— 

7 ‘‘(i) reinforce and complement the 

8 regular academic programs of the schools 

9 attended by the students served; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) are targeted to the students’ aca11 demic needs and aligned with the instruc12 tion students receive during the school day; 

13 and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘and opportunities for active and meaning16 ful engagement in their children’s edu17 cation’’ before the period at the end; 

18 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘Indian 

19 tribe or tribal organization (as such terms are 

20 defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter21 mination and Education Act (25 U.S.C. 

22 450b)),’’ after ‘‘community-based organiza23 tion,’’; 

24 (C) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

25 paragraph (6); and 


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1 (D) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(4) EXTERNAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘ex4 ternal organization’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a nonprofit organization with a 

6 record of success in running or working with 

7 after school programs; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of a community where 

9 there is no such organization, a nonprofit orga10 nization in the community that enters into a 

11 formal agreement or partnership with an orga12 nization described in subparagraph (A) to re13 ceive mentoring and guidance. 

14 ‘‘(5) RIGOROUS PEER REVIEW PROCESS.—The 

15 term ‘rigorous peer review process’ means a process 

16 by which— 

17 ‘‘(A) employees of a State educational 

18 agency who are familiar with the 21st century 

19 community learning center program under this 

20 part review all applications that the State re21 ceives for awards under this part for complete22 ness and applicant eligibility; 

23 ‘‘(B) the State educational agency selects 

24 peer reviewers for such applications, who 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) be selected for their expertise in 

2 providing effective academic, enrichment, 

3 youth development, and related services to 

4 children; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) not include any applicant, or rep6 resentative of an applicant, that has sub7 mitted an application under such section 

8 for the current application period; and 

9 ‘‘(C) the peer reviewers described in sub10 paragraph (B) review and rate the applications 

11 to determine the extent to which the applica12 tions meet the requirements under sections 

13 4204(b) and 4205.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES. 

15 Section 4202(c) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7172(c)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘95 percent’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘93 percent’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘rig21 orous’’ before ‘‘peer review’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘supervising the’’ and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) supervising the’’; and 

25 (3) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A), by striking ‘‘3 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘5 

3 percent’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(E) Ensuring that any eligible entity that 

6 receives an award under this part from the 

7 State aligns the activities provided by the after 

8 school program with State academic standards. 

9 ‘‘(F) Ensuring that any such eligible entity 

10 identifies and partners with external organiza11 tions, if available, in the community. 

12 ‘‘(G) Working with teachers, principals, 

13 parents, and other stakeholders to review and 

14 improve State policies and practices to support 

15 the implementation of effective programs. 

16 ‘‘(H) Coordinating funds received under 

17 this program with other Federal and State 

18 funds to implement high-quality programs. 

19 ‘‘(I) Providing a list of prescreened exter20 nal organizations, as described in section 

21 4203(a)(11).’’. 

22 SEC. 4. STATE APPLICATION. 

23 Section 4203 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7173) is amend24 ed— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) by striking paragraph (3) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(3) contains an assurance that the State edu4 cational agency— 

5 ‘‘(A) will make awards under this part to 

6 eligible entities that serve students who pri7 marily attend schools that are eligible for 

8 schoolwide programs under section 1114 and 

9 the families of such students; and 

10 ‘‘(B) will further give priority to eligible 

11 entities that propose in the application to serve 

12 students who are not proficient, as described in 

13 section 4204(i)(1);’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘State 

15 and’’ after ‘‘students meet’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and dis17 semination of promising practices’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘, dissemination of promising practices, and 

19 coordination of professional development for 

20 staff in specific content areas as well as youth 

21 development’’; 

22 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (11) 

23 through (14) as paragraphs (12) through (15), 

24 respectively; 


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1 (E) by inserting after paragraph (10) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(11) describes how the State will prescreen ex4 ternal organizations that could provide assistance in 

5 carrying out the activities under this part, and de6 velop and make available to eligible entities a list of 

7 external organizations that successfully completed 

8 the prescreening process;’’; 

9 (F) in paragraph (12) (as redesignated by 

10 subparagraph (D))— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘provides an assur12 ance’’ and inserting ‘‘provides— 

13 ‘‘(A) an assurance’’; 

14 (ii) by inserting ‘‘statewide after 

15 school networks (where applicable),’’ after 

16 ‘‘or their designees,’’; and 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘and representatives 

18 of teachers’’ and all that follows through 

19 ‘‘organizations;’’ and inserting the fol20 lowing: ‘‘representatives of teachers, local 

21 educational agencies, and community-based 

22 organizations; and 

23 ‘‘(B) a description of any other representa24 tives of teachers, parents, students, or the busi25 ness community that the State has selected to 


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1 assist in the development of the application, if 

2 applicable;’’; and 

3 (G) in paragraph (14) (as redesignated by 

4 subparagraph (D))— 

5 (i) by redesignating subparagraph (B) 

6 as subparagraph (C); and 

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

8 ‘‘; and’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘with 

9 emphasis on alignment with the regular 

10 academic program of the school and the 

11 academic needs of participating students, 

12 including performance indicators and 

13 measures that— 

14 ‘‘(i) are able to track student success 

15 and improvement over time, and 

16 ‘‘(ii) include State assessment results 

17 and other indicators of student success and 

18 improvement, such as improved attendance 

19 during the school day, better classroom 

20 grades, regular (or consistent) program at21 tendance, and on-time advancement to the 

22 next grade level; 

23 ‘‘(B) a description of how data collected 

24 for the purposes of subparagraph (A) will be 

25 collected; and’’; and 


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

2 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not impose a 

3 priority or preference for eligibility for, or applications by, 

4 States or eligible entities that seek to use funds made 

5 available under this part to extend the regular school 

6 day.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. LOCAL COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 Section 4204 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7174) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) in subsections (b), (c), (d), (g), (h), and (i), 

11 by striking ‘‘under this part’’ each place the term 

12 appears and inserting ‘‘under this section’’; and 

13 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by inserting ‘‘, 

15 if applicable’’ after ‘‘home’’; 

16 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

17 as well as overall student success’’ before the 

18 semicolon; 

19 (C) by striking subparagraph (C) and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) a demonstration of how the proposed 

22 program will coordinate Federal, State, and 

23 local programs and make the most effective use 

24 of public resources;’’; 


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1 (D) by striking subparagraph (D) and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(D) an assurance that the proposed pro4 gram was developed, and will be carried out, 

5 in— 

6 ‘‘(i) active collaboration with the 

7 schools the students attend, including the 

8 sharing of relevant student data among the 

9 schools, all participants in the eligible enti10 ty, and any partnering entities described in 

11 subparagraph (H) while complying with 

12 applicable laws relating to privacy and con13 fidentiality; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) in alignment with State and local 

15 content and student academic achievement 

16 standards;’’; 

17 (E) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘pri18 marily target students who’’ and inserting ‘‘tar19 get students who primarily’’; 

20 (F) by striking subparagraph (J) and in21 serting the following: 

22 ‘‘(J) a demonstration that the eligible enti23 ty will use best practices, including research or 

24 evidence-based practices, to provide educational 

25 and related activities that will complement and 


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1 enhance the academic performance, achieve2 ment, and positive youth development of the 

3 students;’’; and 

4 (G) in subparagraph (M)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘senior volunteers’’ and 

6 inserting ‘‘volunteers’’; and 

7 (ii) by striking ‘‘qualified seniors’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘qualified persons’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘rigorous’’ 

10 before ‘‘peer review’’; 

11 (4) in subsection (i)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 

14 inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) proposing to target services to— 

16 ‘‘(i) students who primarily attend 

17 schools that— 

18 ‘‘(I) have been identified as in 

19 need of improvement under section 

20 1116; 

21 ‘‘(II) have been identified as in 

22 need of improvement or corrective ac23 tion under paragraph (1) or (7) of 

24 section 1116(b); or 


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1 ‘‘(III) enroll students who scored 

2 below the proficient level on the State 

3 academic assessments under section 

4 1111(b)(3) in reading, language arts, 

5 or mathematics, on the most recent 

6 such assessments for which data are 

7 available; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the families of students described 

9 in clause (i);’’; 

10 (ii) by striking clause (ii) of subpara11 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(ii) other eligible entity; and’’; and 

13 (iii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(C) demonstrating that the activities pro16 posed in the application— 

17 ‘‘(i) are, as of the date of the submis18 sion of the application, not accessible to 

19 students who would be served; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) would expand accessibility to 

21 high-quality services that may be available 

22 in the community.’’; and 

23 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—A State educational agency 

25 may not impose a priority or preference for eligiVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:13 Feb 25, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S326.IS S326

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1 bility for, or applications by, eligible entities that 

2 seek to use funds made available under this part to 

3 extend the regular school day.’’; and 

4 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(j) RENEWABILITY OF AWARDS.—A State edu6 cational agency may renew a grant provided under this 

7 section to an eligible entity, based on the eligible entity’s 

8 performance during the original grant period.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. LOCAL ACTIVITIES. 

10 Section 4205 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7175) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subsection (a)— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

14 (1)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘under this part’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘under section 4204’’; and 

17 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and support student 

18 success’’ after ‘‘academic achievement’’; 

19 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

20 through (12) as paragraphs (7) through (13), 

21 respectively; 

22 (C) by striking paragraphs (1) through (5) 

23 and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) academic enrichment learning programs, 

2 mentoring programs, remedial education activities, 

3 and tutoring services, that are aligned with— 

4 ‘‘(A) State and local content and student 

5 academic achievement standards; and 

6 ‘‘(B) local curricula that are designed to 

7 improve student academic achievement; 

8 ‘‘(2) core academic subject education activities, 

9 including such activities that enable students to be 

10 eligible for credit recovery or attainment; 

11 ‘‘(3) literacy education programs; 

12 ‘‘(4) programs that support a healthy, active 

13 lifestyle, including nutritional education and regular, 

14 structured physical activity programs; 

15 ‘‘(5) art and music education activities; 

16 ‘‘(6) services for individuals with disabilities;’’; 

17 (D) by striking paragraph (8) (as redesig18 nated by subparagraph (B)) and inserting the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(8) cultural programs;’’; 

21 (E) in paragraph (11) (as redesignated by 

22 subparagraph (B)), by inserting ‘‘parenting 

23 skills’’ before ‘‘programs’’; 


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1 (F) in paragraph (12) (as redesignated by 

2 subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

3 semicolon; 

4 (G) in paragraph (13) (as redesignated by 

5 subparagraph (B)), by striking ‘‘, counseling 

6 programs, and character education programs.’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘and counseling programs; and’’; 

8 and 

9 (H) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(14) programs that build skills in science, 

11 technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred 

12 to in this paragraph as ‘STEM’) and that foster in13 novation in learning by supporting non-traditional 

14 STEM education teaching methods.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)— 

16 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

17 ‘‘PRINCIPLES OF’’ and inserting ‘‘MEASURES

18 OF’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

20 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

21 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

22 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

23 the period and inserting a semicolon; and 

24 (iii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(D) ensure that measures of student suc2 cess align with the regular academic program of 

3 the school and the academic needs of partici4 pating students and include performance indica5 tors and measures described in section 

6 4203(a)(14)(A); and 

7 ‘‘(E) collect the data necessary for the 

8 measures of student success described in sub9 paragraph (D).’’; and 

10 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

12 ‘‘and overall student success’’ before the 

13 period at the end; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

15 (I) in clause (i), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

17 (II) in clause (ii), by striking the 

18 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

19 and’’; and 

20 (III) by adding at the end the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(iii) used by the State to determine 

23 whether a grant is eligible to be renewed 

24 under section 4204(j).’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Section 4206 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7176) is amend3 ed to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 4206. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

6 this part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

7 2014 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

8 SEC. 8. TRANSITION. 

9 The recipient of a multiyear grant award under part 

10 B of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7171 et seq.), as such Act was 

12 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this 

13 Act, shall continue to receive funds in accordance with the 

14 terms and conditions of such award. 

Æ 


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