II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3682 

To establish the America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2006 

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. GREGG, and Mr. SANTORUM) 

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

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish the America’s Opportunity Scholarships for Kids 

Program. 

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 ‘‘America’s Opportunity 

5 Scholarships for Kids Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to support local efforts 

8 to enable students from low-income families who attend 

9 a school identified for restructuring under section 


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1 1116(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8))— 

3 (1) to attend a private elementary school or sec4 ondary school, or a public elementary school or sec5 ondary school outside the student’s home school dis6 trict, including a public charter school; or 

7 (2) to receive intensive, sustained supplemental 

8 educational services. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU12 CATIONAL AGENCY; SECONDARY SCHOOL; SEC13 RETARY; STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms 

14 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, 

15 ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘State edu16 cational agency’’ have the meanings given the terms 

17 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ 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 (3) 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) of the 

6 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

7 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8))— 

8 (i) is eligible to enroll in the beginning 

9 grade of the school; 

10 (ii) except as provided in subpara11 graph (C), attended the school for the en12 tire school year preceding the identifica13 tion; 

14 (iii) in the case of a student who 

15 transfers to the school to attend any grade 

16 beyond the beginning grade of the school, 

17 attends the school for the remainder of the 

18 school year in which the transfer occurs; or 

19 (iv) received a scholarship under this 

20 Act in a preceding school year due to such 

21 identification; or 

22 (B) is a sibling of a student described in 

23 any 1 of clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara24 graph (A). 


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1 (4) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘‘low-in2 come family’’ means a family whose income does not 

3 exceed 185 percent of the poverty line, except that 

4 in the case of a student participating in a project 

5 under this Act for a second or any succeeding school 

6 year the term includes a family whose income does 

7 not exceed 220 percent of the poverty line. 

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

9 means the income official poverty line (as defined by 

10 the Office of Management and Budget, and revised 

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

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

13 9902(2)) applicable to a family of the size involved. 

14 (6) PRIVATE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘private 

15 provider’’ means a nonprofit or for-profit private 

16 provider of supplemental educational services de17 scribed in section 1116(e)(1) of the Elementary and 

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 6316(e)(1)) that is on the updated list of approved 

20 providers maintained by the State educational agen21 cy under section 1116(e)(4)(C) of such Act (20 

22 U.S.C. 6316(e)(4)(C)). 

23 (7) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES.— 

24 The term ‘‘supplemental educational services’’ has 

25 the meaning given the term in section 


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1 1116(e)(12)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(e)(12)(C)). 

3 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

6 and from amounts appropriated under section 6 for 

7 a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 

8 competitive basis, to eligible entities to support 

9 projects that provide— 

10 (A) scholarships to enable eligible students 

11 to attend— 

12 (i) the private elementary school or 

13 secondary school of their parent’s choice; 

14 or 

15 (ii) a public elementary school or sec16 ondary school of their parents’ choice out17 side of the eligible student’s home school 

18 district, consistent with State law; or 

19 (B) eligible students with intensive, sus20 tained supplemental educational services on an 

21 annual basis. 

22 (2) SCHOLARSHIP DURATION RULE.—Each eli23 gible entity that receives a grant under this Act shall 

24 only award a scholarship under this Act to an eligi25 ble student for— 


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1 (A)(i) in the case of an eligible student de2 scribed in section 3(3)(A), the first school year 

3 for which the eligible student is eligible to re4 ceive the scholarship with respect to a school 

5 identified for restructuring under section 

6 1116(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965; and 

8 (ii) in the case of an eligible student de9 scribed in section 3(3)(B), the first school year 

10 taught at the school so identified; and 

11 (B) each subsequent school year through 

12 the school year applicable to the final grade 

13 taught at the school so identified. 

14 (b) DURATION OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may 

15 award grants under this Act for a period of not more than 

16 5 years. 

17 (c) PRIORITIES.—In awarding grants under this Act, 

18 the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that— 

19 (1) propose to serve eligible students in a local 

20 educational agency with a large number or percent21 age of schools identified for restructuring under sec22 tion 1116(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8)); 

24 (2) possess the knowledge and capacity to in25 form parents of eligible students, in urban, suburVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:15 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3682.IS S3682

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1 ban, and rural areas, about public and private ele2 mentary school and secondary school options; and 

3 (3) will augment the scholarships provided to 

4 eligible students under this Act in order to help en5 sure that parents can afford the cost (including tui6 tion, fees, and necessary transportation expenses) of 

7 the schools the parents choose to have their children 

8 attend under this Act. 

9 (d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered for a grant 

11 under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit an ap12 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man13 ner, and containing such information as the Sec14 retary may reasonably require. 

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

16 minimum, include a description of— 

17 (A) the eligible entity’s plan for— 

18 (i) recruiting private schools, local 

19 educational agencies, charter schools, and 

20 private providers, to participate in the 

21 project in order to meet eligible student de22 mand for private and public school admis23 sion and supplemental educational services; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) ensuring that participating schools 

2 that enroll eligible students receiving schol3 arships under this Act, and private pro4 viders participating in the project, will 

5 meet the applicable requirements of the 

6 project; 

7 (B) each school identified for restructuring 

8 that will be served under the project, includ9 ing— 

10 (i) the name of each such school; and 

11 (ii) such demographic and socio12 economic information as the Secretary may 

13 require; 

14 (C) how the eligible entity will work with 

15 the identified schools and the local educational 

16 agency to identify the parents of eligible stu17 dents (including through contracts or coopera18 tive agreements with the public school or local 

19 educational agency) consistent with the require20 ments of the Family Educational Rights and 

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

22 (D) how the eligible entity will structure 

23 the project in a manner that permits eligible 

24 students to participate in the second and suc25 ceeding school years of the project if the schools 


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1 the eligible students attend with scholarship as2 sistance under this Act are subsequently identi3 fied for restructuring under section 1116(b)(8) 

4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(8)); 

6 (E) how the eligible entity will use funds 

7 received under this Act; 

8 (F) how the eligible entity will ensure that 

9 if more eligible students seek admission to the 

10 project than the project can accommodate, the 

11 eligible students will be selected through a ran12 dom selection process; 

13 (G) how the eligible entity will notify par14 ents of eligible students of the expanded choice 

15 opportunities provided under the project and 

16 how the eligible entity will provide parents with 

17 sufficient information to enable the parents to 

18 make an informed decision; 

19 (H) how the eligible entity will ensure that 

20 the schools receiving eligible students under the 

21 grant are financially responsible and will use 

22 the grant funds received under this Act effec23 tively; 

24 (I) how the eligible entity will prioritize be25 tween providing scholarships and providing susVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:15 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3682.IS S3682

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1 tained, intensive supplemental educational serv2 ices, including the timing and duration of offer3 ing the opportunity for parents to determine 

4 which provision the parents prefer; and 

5 (J) how the eligible entity will address the 

6 renewal of support for participating eligible stu7 dents, including continued eligibility. 

8 (e) USES OF FUNDS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re10 ceives a grant under this Act may— 

11 (A) reserve not more than 5 percent of the 

12 grant funds for administrative expenses, includ13 ing costs associated with recruiting and select14 ing eligible students, private schools, and pri15 vate providers, to participate in the project; 

16 (B) only for the first year for which grant 

17 funds are received under this Act, reserve not 

18 more than 5 percent of the grant funds (in ad19 dition to the funds reserved under subpara20 graph (A)), for initial implementation expenses, 

21 including costs associated with outreach, pro22 viding information to parents and school offi23 cials, and other administrative expenses; 

24 (C) use the grant funds to provide scholar25 ships to eligible students to pay for the cost, inVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:15 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3682.IS S3682

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1 cluding tuition, fees, and necessary transpor2 tation expenses, to attend the private school of 

3 their parents’ choice or a public elementary 

4 school or secondary school of their parents’ 

5 choice outside of the eligible students’ home 

6 school district (consistent with State law), ex7 cept that the scholarship shall not exceed 

8 $4,000 per student per school year; and 

9 (D) use the grant funds to pay the costs, 

10 including reasonable transportation costs, of 

11 supplemental educational services (including 

12 summer school or after-school programs) pro13 vided by a private provider to eligible students, 

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

15 per student, per school year. 

16 (2) FUNDING ORDER.—Each eligible entity that 

17 receives a grant under this Act shall— 

18 (A) first fund scholarships for eligible stu19 dents to attend the private school of their par20 ents’ choice or a public elementary school or 

21 secondary school of their parents’ choice outside 

22 of the eligible students’ home school district 

23 (consistent with State law); and 


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1 (B) use any remaining grant funds to pro2 vide eligible students with access to supple3 mental educational services. 

4 (3) PAYMENT.—Each eligible entity that re5 ceives a grant under this Act shall make scholarship 

6 payments under this Act to the parent of the eligible 

7 student participating in the project, in a manner 

8 that ensures that the payments will be used only for 

9 the payment of tuition, fees, and necessary transpor10 tation expenses, in accordance with this Act. 

11 (f) PROHIBITION.—A student who receives supple12 mental educational services under this Act shall not be eli13 gible to receive other such services under section 1116(e) 

14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

15 (20 U.S.C. 6316(e)). 

16 (g) PROJECT PERFORMANCE.—Each eligible entity 

17 receiving a grant under this Act shall prepare and submit 

18 to the Secretary a final report on the results of the project 

19 assisted under this Act that contains such information as 

20 the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the report shall 

21 include information on the academic achievement of stu22 dents receiving scholarships and supplemental educational 

23 services under the project. 

24 (h) PERFORMANCE INFORMATION.—Each eligible en25 tity that receives a grant under this Act shall collect and 


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1 report such performance information as the Secretary may 

2 require for the national evaluation conducted under sub3 section (i). 

4 (i) NATIONAL EVALUATION.—From the amount 

5 made available for any fiscal year under section 6, the Sec6 retary shall reserve such sums as may be necessary to con7 duct an independent evaluation, by grant or by contract, 

8 of the program carried out under this Act, which shall in9 clude an assessment of the impact of the program on stu10 dent achievement. The Secretary shall report the results 

11 of the evaluation to the appropriate committees of Con12 gress. 

13 SEC. 5. NONDISCRIMINATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity or a school par15 ticipating in a project under this Act shall not discriminate 

16 against an individual participant in, or an individual appli17 cant to participate in, the project on the basis of race, 

18 color, religion, sex, or national origin. 

19 (b) APPLICABILITY AND SINGLE-SEX SCHOOLS, 

20 CLASSES, OR ACTIVITIES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

22 provision of law, the prohibition of sex discrimina23 tion described in subsection (a) shall not apply to a 

24 school described in subsection (a) that is operated 

25 by, supervised by, controlled by, or connected to, a 


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1 religious organization, to the extent that the applica2 tion of subsection (a) is inconsistent with the reli3 gious tenets or beliefs of the organization. 

4 (2) PARENTAL CHOICE.—Notwithstanding sub5 section (a) or any other provision of law, a parent 

6 may choose to enroll a child in, and a school may 

7 offer, a single-sex school, class, or activity under a 

8 project funded under this Act. 

9 (3) NEUTRALITY.—Section 909 of the Edu10 cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1688) shall 

11 apply to this Act. 

12 (c) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—Nothing in this 

13 Act may be construed to alter or modify the requirements 

14 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

15 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 

16 (d) RELIGIOUSLY AFFILIATED SCHOOLS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

18 provision of law, a school described in subsection (a) 

19 that is operated by, supervised by, controlled by, or 

20 connected to, a religious organization may exercise, 

21 in matters of employment, the school’s rights con22 sistent with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

23 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), including the exemptions 

24 in that title. 


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1 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, if a school described in subsection 

3 (a) receives funds made available under this Act for 

4 an eligible student as a result of a choice made by 

5 the student’s parent, the receipt of the funds shall 

6 not, consistent with the first amendment of the Con7 stitution— 

8 (A) necessitate any change in the school’s 

9 teaching mission; 

10 (B) require the school to remove any reli11 gious art, icon, scripture, or other symbol; or 

12 (C) preclude the school from retaining a 

13 religious term in its name, selecting its board 

14 members on a religious basis, or including a re15 ligious reference in its mission statement or an16 other chartering or governing document. 

17 (e) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

18 Federal law, a scholarship provided under this Act to a 

19 student shall be considered to be assistance to the parent 

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

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

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

23 supplemental educational services) provided to a parent of 

24 an eligible student under this Act shall not be treated as 

25 income of a parent of the eligible student for purposes of 


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1 Federal tax laws or for purposes of determining eligibility 

2 for any other Federal program, other than the program 

3 carried out under this Act. 

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this Act $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums 

7 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

8 years. 

Æ 


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