I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1486 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2007 

Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, 

Mr. EHLERS, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. WALBERG, Mr. MARCHANT, Mr. SAM

JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mr. DAVID DAVIS of 

Tennessee, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, and Ms. FOXX) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

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’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

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

3 local efforts to enable students from low-income families 

4 who attend a school identified for restructuring under sec5 tion 1116(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8))— 

7 (1) to attend a private elementary school or sec8 ondary school, or a public elementary school or sec9 ondary school outside the student’s home school dis10 trict, including a public charter school; or 

11 (2) to receive intensive, sustained supplemental 

12 educational services. 

13 SEC. 3. PROMISE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARENTS AND STU14 DENTS. 

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

16 6316(b)(8)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

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

19 end; 

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

21 (iv); and 

22 (C) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(iii) make scholarships available to 

25 students to attend a private elementary or 

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1 secondary school chosen by the student’s 

2 parents; and’’; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub4 paragraph (F); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL

8 CHOICE.—If a local education agency imple9 ments subparagraph (A)(iii), it shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) apply fair and equitable proce11 dures for awarding scholarships under that 

12 subparagraph when the number of appli13 cants exceeds available funding, which 

14 must include giving priority to students 

15 whose schools are in the second or a later 

16 year of restructuring under section 

17 1116(b)(8); 

18 ‘‘(ii) make scholarship payments to 

19 the parents of the students, in a manner 

20 that ensures that those payments are used 

21 only for the payment of tuition, fees, and 

22 necessary transportation expenses, in ac23 cordance with this section; 

24 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the amount a stu25 dent receives under such a scholarship for 

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1 an academic year, together with any funds 

2 the student receives under section 1116(e) 

3 for that academic year— 

4 ‘‘(I) does not exceed $4,000; and 

5 ‘‘(II) does not exceed the costs, 

6 including necessary transportation 

7 and other expenses, to attend the pri8 vate elementary or secondary school; 

9 ‘‘(iv) if a student uses such a scholar10 ship, continue to provide such a scholar11 ship to that student for each academic 

12 year thereafter until the student completes 

13 the grade that is the final grade taught at 

14 the school that the student attended before 

15 using the scholarship; 

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

17 language arts, mathematics, and science 

18 (at the grade levels specified in section 

19 1111(b)(3)(C)) by using the State assess20 ments administered under section 

21 1111(b)(3), and include the student’s 

22 scores on those assessments in its annual 

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

24 in determining whether the school and 

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1 local educational agency made adequate 

2 yearly progress under section 1111; 

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

4 educational agency as a whole, the assess5 ment results for students using the schol6 arships in its annual report cards under 

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

8 would reveal personally identifiable infor9 mation about an individual student. 

10 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE FOR PRIVATE

11 SCHOOLS.—A private elementary or secondary 

12 school that enrolls a student who is using a 

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

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

15 language arts, mathematics, and science 

16 (at the grade levels specified in section 

17 1111(b)(3)(C)) by using either the State 

18 assessments administered under section 

19 1111(b)(3) or nationally normed assess20 ments; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) provide the results of those as22 sessments to the local educational agency 

23 that made the scholarship available. 

24 ‘‘(E) NONDISCRIMINATION.— 

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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local edu2 cational agency or private elementary or 

3 secondary school participating in any pro4 gram under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall not 

5 discriminate against participants or appli6 cants on the basis of race, color, national 

7 origin, religion, or sex. 

8 ‘‘(ii) RELIGIOUS TENETS OR BELIEFS

9 WITH RESPECT TO SEX.—The prohibition 

10 of sex discrimination in clause (i) does not 

11 apply to a participating school that is oper12 ated by, supervised by, controlled by, or 

13 connected to a religious organization to the 

14 extent that the application of that prohibi15 tion is inconsistent with the religious te16 nets or beliefs of the school. 

17 ‘‘(iii) SINGLE-SEX EDUCATION.—Not18 withstanding the prohibition of sex dis19 crimination in clause (i), a participating 

20 school may offer, and a participating par21 ent may choose, a single-sex school, class, 

22 or activity. 

23 ‘‘(iv) NEUTRALITY.—Section 909 of 

24 the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 

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

2 under subparagraph (A)(iii). 

3 ‘‘(v) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.— 

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

5 affect any requirement of the Individuals 

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

7 1400 et seq.). 

8 ‘‘(vi) MATTERS OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

9 Notwithstanding clause (i), a private ele10 mentary or secondary school participating 

11 in any program under subparagraph 

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

13 controlled by, or connected to a religious 

14 organization may exercise its right in mat15 ters of employment consistent with title 

16 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

17 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the ex18 emptions in that title. 

19 ‘‘(vii) FIRST AMENDMENT.—Con20 sistent with the First Amendment to the 

21 Constitution of the United States, a par22 ticipating school shall not, by reason of re23 ceiving funds under a program under sub24 paragraph (A)(iii), be required to— 

25 ‘‘(I) change its teaching mission; 

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

2 scriptures, or other symbols; 

3 ‘‘(III) remove religious terms or 

4 references from its name, mission 

5 statement, or other chartering or gov6 erning documents; or 

7 ‘‘(IV) refrain from using religion 

8 as a basis in selecting its board mem9 bers.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARENTS AND 

11 STUDENTS. 

12 Part B of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

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

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘Subpart 5—Opportunity Scholarships for Parents 

16 and Students 

17 ‘‘SEC. 1261. DEFINITIONS. 

18 ‘‘In this subpart: 

19 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en20 tity’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency; 

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

23 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization or a consor24 tium of nonprofit organizations. 

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

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

3 who— 

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

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

6 ‘‘(i) is eligible to enroll in the begin7 ning grade of the school; 

8 ‘‘(ii) except as provided in subpara9 graph (C), attended the school for the en10 tire school year preceding the identifica11 tion; 

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

13 transfers to the school to attend any grade 

14 beyond the beginning grade of the school, 

15 attends the school for the remainder of the 

16 school year in which the transfer occurs; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) received a scholarship under this 

18 subpart in a preceding school year due to 

19 such identification; or 

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

21 any 1 of clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara22 graph (A). 

23 ‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘low-in24 come family’ means a family whose income does not 

25 exceed 185 percent of the poverty line, except that 

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1 in the case of a student participating in a project 

2 under this subpart for a second or any succeeding 

3 school year the term includes a family whose income 

4 does not exceed 220 percent of the poverty line. 

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

6 means the income official poverty line (as defined by 

7 the Office of Management and Budget, and revised 

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

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

10 9902(2)) applicable to a family of the size involved. 

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

12 provider’ means a nonprofit or for-profit private pro13 vider of supplemental educational services described 

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

15 approved providers maintained by the State edu16 cational agency under section 1116(e)(4)(C). 

17 ‘‘(6) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERV18 ICES.—The term ‘supplemental educational services’ 

19 has the meaning given the term in section 

20 1116(e)(12)(C). 

21 ‘‘SEC. 1262. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

22 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 

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

24 and from amounts appropriated under section 1264 

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

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1 on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to support 

2 projects that provide— 

3 ‘‘(A) scholarships to enable eligible stu4 dents to attend— 

5 ‘‘(i) the private elementary school or 

6 secondary school of their parent’s choice; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(ii) a public elementary school or 

9 secondary school of their parents’ choice 

10 outside of the eligible student’s home 

11 school district, consistent with State law; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(B) eligible students with intensive, sus14 tained supplemental educational services on an 

15 annual basis. 

16 ‘‘(2) SCHOLARSHIP DURATION RULE.—Each eli17 gible entity that receives a grant under this subpart 

18 shall award a scholarship under this subpart only to 

19 an eligible student for— 

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

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

22 year for which the eligible student is eligible to 

23 receive the scholarship with respect to a school 

24 identified for restructuring under section 

25 1116(b)(8); and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible student de2 scribed in section 1261(2)(B), the first school 

3 year taught at the school so identified; and 

4 ‘‘(B) each subsequent school year through 

5 the school year applicable to the final grade 

6 taught at the school so identified. 

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

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

9 than 5 years. 

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

11 subpart, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

12 that— 

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

14 attend a private elementary or secondary school cho15 sen by the student’s parents as authorized under 

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

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

18 educational agency with a large number or percent19 age of schools identified for restructuring under sec20 tion 1116(b)(8); 

21 ‘‘(3) possess the knowledge and capacity to in22 form parents of eligible students, in urban, subur23 ban, and rural areas, about public and private ele24 mentary school and secondary school options; and 

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

2 eligible students under this subpart in order to help 

3 ensure that parents can afford the cost (including 

4 tuition, fees, and necessary transportation expenses) 

5 of the schools the parents choose to have their chil6 dren attend under this subpart. 

7 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

9 grant under this subpart, an eligible entity shall sub10 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

11 such manner, and containing such information as 

12 the Secretary may reasonably require. 

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

14 minimum, include a description of— 

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

16 ‘‘(i) recruiting private schools, local 

17 educational agencies, charter schools, and 

18 private providers to participate in the 

19 project in order to meet eligible student de20 mand for private and public school admis21 sion and supplemental educational services; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that participating 

24 schools that enroll eligible students receiv25 ing scholarships under this subpart, and 

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1 private providers participating in the 

2 project, will meet the applicable require3 ments of the project; 

4 ‘‘(B) each school identified for restruc5 turing that will be served under the project, in6 cluding— 

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

8 ‘‘(ii) such demographic and socio9 economic information as the Secretary may 

10 require; 

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

12 the identified schools and the local educational 

13 agency to identify the parents of eligible stu14 dents (including through contracts or coopera15 tive agreements with the public school or local 

16 educational agency) consistent with the require17 ments of the Family Educational Rights and 

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

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

20 the project in a manner that permits eligible 

21 students to participate in the second and suc22 ceeding school years of the project if the schools 

23 the eligible students attend with scholarship as24 sistance under this subpart are subsequently 

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1 identified for restructuring under section 

2 1116(b)(8); 

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

4 received under this subpart; 

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

6 that if more eligible students seek admission to 

7 the project than the project can accommodate, 

8 the eligible students will be selected through a 

9 random selection process; 

10 ‘‘(G) how the eligible entity will notify par11 ents of eligible students of the expanded choice 

12 opportunities provided under the project and 

13 how the eligible entity will provide parents with 

14 sufficient information to enable the parents to 

15 make an informed decision; 

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

17 that the schools receiving eligible students 

18 under the grant are financially responsible and 

19 will use the grant funds received under this 

20 subpart effectively; 

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

22 between providing scholarships and providing 

23 sustained, intensive supplemental educational 

24 services, including the timing and duration of 

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1 offering the opportunity for parents to deter2 mine which provision the parents prefer; and 

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

4 renewal of support for participating eligible stu5 dents, including continued eligibility. 

6 ‘‘(e) USES OF FUNDS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re8 ceives a grant under this subpart may— 

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

10 the grant funds for administrative expenses, in11 cluding costs associated with recruiting and se12 lecting eligible students, private schools, and 

13 private providers, to participate in the project; 

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

15 funds are received under this subpart, reserve 

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

17 addition to the funds reserved under subpara18 graph (A)), for initial implementation expenses, 

19 including costs associated with outreach, pro20 viding information to parents and school offi21 cials, and other administrative expenses; 

22 ‘‘(C) use the grant funds to provide schol23 arships to eligible students to pay for the cost, 

24 including tuition, fees, and necessary transpor25 tation expenses to attend the private school of 

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1 their parents’ choice or a public elementary 

2 school or secondary school of their parents’ 

3 choice outside of the eligible students’ home 

4 school district (consistent with State law), ex5 cept that the scholarship shall not exceed 

6 $4,000 per student per school year; and 

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

8 including reasonable transportation costs, of 

9 supplemental educational services (including 

10 summer school or after-school programs) pro11 vided by a private provider to eligible students, 

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

13 per student per school year. 

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

15 that receives a grant under this subpart shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) first fund scholarships for eligible 

17 students to attend the private school of their 

18 parents’ choice or a public elementary school or 

19 secondary school of their parents’ choice outside 

20 of the eligible students’ home school district 

21 (consistent with State law); and 

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

23 provide eligible students with access to supple24 mental educational services. 

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1 ‘‘(3) PAYMENT.—Each eligible entity that re2 ceives a grant under this subpart shall make scholar3 ship payments under this subpart to the parent of 

4 the eligible student participating in the project, in a 

5 manner that ensures that the payments will be used 

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

7 transportation expenses, in accordance with this sub8 part. 

9 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION.—A student who receives supple10 mental educational services under this subpart shall not 

11 be eligible to receive other such services under section 

12 1116(e). 

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

14 receiving a grant under this subpart shall prepare and 

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

16 the project assisted under this subpart that contains such 

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

18 the report shall include information on the academic 

19 achievement of students receiving scholarships and supple20 mental educational services under the project. 

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

22 entity that receives a grant under this subpart shall collect 

23 and report such performance information as the Secretary 

24 may require for the national evaluation conducted under 

25 subsection (i). 

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

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

3 Secretary shall reserve such sums as may be necessary to 

4 conduct an independent evaluation, by grant or by con5 tract, of the program carried out under this subpart, 

6 which shall include an assessment of the impact of the 

7 program on student achievement. The Secretary shall re8 port the results of the evaluation to the appropriate com9 mittees of Congress. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 1263. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

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

12 participating in a project under this subpart shall not dis13 criminate against an individual participant in, or an indi14 vidual applicant to participate in, the project on the basis 

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

16 ‘‘(b) RELIGIOUS TENETS OR BELIEFS.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law, the prohibition of sex 

18 discrimination described in subsection (a) shall not apply 

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

20 by, supervised by, controlled by, or connected to, a reli21 gious organization, to the extent that the application of 

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

23 beliefs of the organization. 

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

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1 ticipating school may offer, and a participating parent 

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

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

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

5 subpart. 

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

7 does not affect any requirement of the Individuals with 

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

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

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

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

12 organization may exercise its right in matters of employ13 ment consistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

14 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–1 et seq.), including the exemp15 tions in that title. 

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

17 Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, a 

18 participating school shall not, by reason of receiving funds 

19 under this subpart, be required to— 

20 ‘‘(1) change its teaching mission; 

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

22 other symbols; 

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

24 its name, mission statement, or other chartering or 

25 governing documents; or 

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

2 selecting its board members. 

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

4 Federal law, a scholarship provided under this subpart to 

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

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

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

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

9 supplemental educational services) provided to a parent of 

10 an eligible student under this subpart shall not be treated 

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

12 of Federal tax laws or for purposes of determining eligi13 bility for any other Federal program, other than the pro14 gram carried out under this subpart. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1264. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

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

19 fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 

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