II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2785 

To provide grants to improve after-school interdisciplinary education 

programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2009 

Mrs. LINCOLN (for herself and Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide grants to improve after-school interdisciplinary 

education programs, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘After-School Partnerships Improve Results in Education 

6 (ASPIRE) Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Purpose. 

Sec. 4. Definitions. 


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Sec. 5. National model after-school interdisciplinary education program grants. 

Sec. 6. State grants. 

Sec. 7. Subgrants to eligible entities for after-school interdisciplinary education 

programs. 

Sec. 8. Eligible entity applications. 

Sec. 9. Required uses. 

Sec. 10. Secretarial peer review and approval. 

Sec. 11. National activities. 

Sec. 12. Regulations. 

Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 14. Limitation on authority. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) over 15,000,000 students have no place to 

4 go after school hours, which is associated with high 

5 rates of juvenile crime; 

(2) studies show that almost 1 6 ⁄3 of all public 

7 high school students in the United States fail to 

8 graduate; 

9 (3) high school dropouts— 

10 (A) on average, earn less than high school 

11 graduates; and 

12 (B) are more likely than high school grad13 uates to be unemployed; 

14 (4) high dropout rates have a significant effect 

15 on communities through— 

16 (A) loss of productivity and revenues; and 

17 (B) higher costs associated with incarcer18 ation, health care, and social services; 

19 (5) students consistently cite a lack of interest 

20 in core curriculum and a lack of relevancy to future 


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1 careers as the major reasons for dropping out of 

2 high school; 

3 (6) it is in the best interest of the United 

4 States to ensure students are qualified to compete in 

5 the global economy; 

6 (7)(A) 80 percent of jobs are classified as 

7 skilled jobs; and 

8 (B) only 32 percent of high school graduates 

9 are prepared for college; 

10 (8) Microsoft’s Bill Gates warned that Amer11 ican companies ‘‘face a severe shortfall of scientists 

12 and engineers with expertise to develop the next gen13 eration of breakthroughs’’; 

14 (9) business leaders have stated that a qualified 

15 workforce is important to keeping jobs in the United 

16 States; 

17 (10) Corporate Voices for Working Families 

18 has called for public and private efforts to create 

19 after-school programs in which young people can de20 velop skills for the 21st century; 

21 (11) opportunities for real-world learning and 

22 seeing the connection between school and getting a 

23 good job improve students’ chances of staying in 

24 school; 


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1 (12) students involved in after-school programs 

2 have significantly higher school attendance rates, 

3 score higher on mathematics and writing assess4 ments, and are more likely to graduate from high 

5 school than those who are not involved in such pro6 grams; 

7 (13) reinforcing core curricula by integrating 

8 academic work within alternative course material 

9 can lead to significant improvements in student 

10 achievement and engagement, as shown by the Na11 tional Research Center for Career and Technical 

12 Education; 

13 (14) after-school programs and community 

14 partnerships offer youth opportunities— 

15 (A) to develop social and citizenship skills; 

16 and 

17 (B) to have access to a variety of mentors 

18 and role models from their communities; and 

19 (15) after-school programs can also provide op20 portunities, for youth who have extra time, to experi21 ence the academic enrichment, career exploration, 

22 and skills development the youth need to succeed. 

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

24 The purpose of this Act is to establish and expand 

25 after-school programs and other similar programs— 


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1 (1) to improve middle school and high school 

2 student academic achievement, overall school suc3 cess, and graduation rates by reinforcing core cur4 riculum; 

5 (2) to increase student knowledge of, and inter6 est in, high-demand career opportunities; 

7 (3) to increase student engagement in learning 

8 by— 

9 (A) demonstrating the means by which 

10 academic content relates to career opportuni11 ties; 

12 (B) providing opportunities for civic en13 gagement and service learning; and 

14 (C) providing students with marketable 

15 skills; and 

16 (4) to provide opportunities for students to 

17 broaden curricula, to expose students to learning op18 portunities outside a core curriculum of study, and 

19 to provide opportunities for students to gain credit 

20 toward high school graduation through learning out21 side a traditional classroom. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘local educational 

25 agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 


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1 meanings given the terms in section 9101 of the Ele2 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 7801). 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’— 

6 (A) when used with respect to a grant 

7 awarded under section 5, means a partnership 

8 that includes— 

9 (i) not less than 1— 

10 (I) State educational agency; or 

11 (II) local educational agency 

12 serving a high school or middle school; 

13 and 

14 (ii) not less than 1— 

15 (I) career technical student orga16 nization; 

17 (II) institution of higher edu18 cation or tribal college or university; 

19 (III) nonprofit organization; 

20 (IV) community-based organiza21 tion; 

22 (V) tribal organization; 

23 (VI) business; or 

24 (VII) labor union; and 


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1 (B) when used with respect to a subgrant 

2 awarded under section 7, means a partnership 

3 that includes— 

4 (i) a local educational agency that— 

5 (I) serves a high school or middle 

6 school; and 

7 (II) does not participate in a 

8 partnership that received a grant 

9 under section 5; and 

10 (ii) not less than 1 of the entities de11 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

12 (3) HIGH SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high school’’ 

13 means a secondary school as defined in section 9101 

14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

15 1965. 

16 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

17 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

20 (5) NATIONAL MODEL AFTER-SCHOOL INTER21 DISCIPLINARY EDUCATION PROGRAM.—The term 

22 ‘‘national model after-school interdisciplinary edu23 cation program’’ means a high-quality, multisite, 

24 after-school program that operates in not less than 

25 5 States. 


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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

4 (A) each of the several States of the 

5 United States; 

6 (B) the District of Columbia; 

7 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

8 (D) the United States Virgin Islands; 

9 (E) Guam; 

10 (F) American Samoa; 

11 (G) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

12 Mariana Islands; and 

13 (H) the Republic of Palau. 

14 (8) STRUGGLING STUDENT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘struggling 

16 student’’ means a middle school-aged or high 

17 school-aged student who is not making suffi18 cient progress toward graduating from high 

19 school with a regular diploma in the standard 

20 number of years. 

21 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘struggling 

22 student’’ includes a student who— 

23 (i) has been retained in a grade level; 

24 or 

25 (ii) is a high school student who— 


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1 (I) lacks the necessary credits or 

2 courses, as determined by the local 

3 educational agency or State edu4 cational agency serving the student, to 

5 graduate from high school with a reg6 ular diploma in the standard number 

7 of years; or 

8 (II)(aa) enters a school served by 

9 a local educational agency at grade 9 

10 or higher; and 

11 (bb) is identified by the local 

12 educational agency as— 

13 (AA) being limited English14 proficient; and 

15 (BB) having experienced in16 terrupted formal education. 

17 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MODEL AFTER-SCHOOL INTERDISCIPLI18 NARY EDUCATION PROGRAM GRANTS. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail21 able under section 13(b)(1), the Secretary shall 

22 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti23 ties to enable the eligible entities to establish or ex24 pand, in accordance with section 9, national model 


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1 after-school interdisciplinary education programs 

2 that— 

3 (A) expand the knowledge base for other 

4 after-school interdisciplinary education pro5 grams; and 

6 (B) disseminate information regarding ef7 fective practices to those other programs. 

8 (2) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Each grant 

9 awarded under this section shall be— 

10 (A) for a period of not less than 3 years 

11 and not more than 5 years; and 

12 (B) renewable, based on performance, for a 

13 period of not less than 3 years and not more 

14 than 5 years. 

15 (3) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The total amount of a 

16 grant awarded under this section shall be not less 

17 than $5,000,000 for the period of the grant. 

18 (4) MATCHING FUNDS.—As a condition of re19 ceiving a grant under this section, an eligible entity 

20 shall match the grant amount with private funding 

21 on an equal basis. 

22 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec23 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applications for 

24 assistance under this section that propose to target serv25 ices to— 


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1 (1) a high percentage of students who— 

2 (A) are from low-income families; 

3 (B) are struggling students; or 

4 (C) attend schools located in a rural, 

5 sparsely populated area; and 

6 (2) the families of students described in para7 graph (1). 

8 SEC. 6. STATE GRANTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

10 under section 13(b)(2), the Secretary shall award grants, 

11 from allotments under subsection (b), to States having ap12 plications approved under subsection (c) to enable the 

13 States to award subgrants to eligible entities under section 

14 7. 

15 (b) ALLOTMENTS.— 

16 (1) FORMULA.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

18 subparagraph (B), of the amounts made avail19 able under section 13(b)(2) that remain after 

20 the reservation required under subsection (d), 

21 the Secretary shall allot to each State for each 

22 applicable fiscal year an amount that bears the 

23 same relationship to that remainder as— 

24 (i) the amount the State received 

25 under subpart 2 of part A of title I of the 


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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331 et seq.) for the 

3 preceding fiscal year; bears to 

4 (ii) the amount all States received 

5 under that subpart for the preceding fiscal 

6 year. 

7 (B) EXCEPTION.—No State shall receive 

less than an amount equal to 1 8 ⁄2 of 1 percent 

9 of the total amount made available to all States 

10 under this subsection. 

11 (2) REALLOTMENT OF UNUSED FUNDS.—If a 

12 State does not receive an allotment under this sec13 tion for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot the 

14 amount of the allotment of the State to the remain15 ing States in accordance with this subsection. 

16 (c) STATE APPLICATION AND APPLICATION PROCE17 DURES.— 

18 (1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligi19 ble to receive a grant under this section for any fis20 cal year, a State shall submit to the Secretary, in 

21 such form and manner as the Secretary may require, 

22 an application that— 

23 (A) designates the State educational agen24 cy of the State as the agency responsible for the 


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1 administration and supervision of programs as2 sisted under this section; 

3 (B) describes the means by which the 

4 State educational agency will use funds received 

5 under this section, including funds reserved for 

6 State-level activities; 

7 (C) contains an assurance that the State 

8 educational agency will award subgrants under 

9 section 7 only to eligible entities that propose to 

10 serve— 

11 (i) a high percentage of students 

12 who— 

13 (I) are from low-income families; 

14 (II) are struggling students; or 

15 (III) attend schools located in a 

16 rural, sparsely populated area; and 

17 (ii) the families of students described 

18 in clause (i); 

19 (D) describes the procedures and criteria 

20 the State educational agency will use for review21 ing applications and awarding subgrants under 

22 section 7 to eligible entities on a competitive 

23 basis, which shall include procedures and cri24 teria that take into consideration the likelihood 

25 that a proposed program will help participating 


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1 students meet local content and student aca2 demic achievement standards; 

3 (E) describes the means by which the 

4 State educational agency will ensure that sub5 grants awarded under section 7 are— 

6 (i) of sufficient size and scope to sup7 port high-quality, effective programs that 

8 are consistent with the purpose of this Act; 

9 and 

10 (ii) in amounts that are consistent 

11 with section 7(a)(4); 

12 (F) describes the measures the State edu13 cational agency will take to ensure that relevant 

14 programs implement effective strategies, includ15 ing providing ongoing technical assistance and 

16 training, evaluation, and dissemination of infor17 mation regarding promising practices; 

18 (G) describes the means by which pro19 grams under section 7 will be coordinated with 

20 programs under section 5 and other programs 

21 as appropriate; 

22 (H) contains an assurance that the State 

23 educational agency will— 

24 (i) award subgrants under section 7 

25 for a period of not less than 3 years and 


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1 not more than 5 years that are renewable, 

2 based on performance, for a period of not 

3 less than 3 years and not more than 5 

4 years; and 

5 (ii) require each eligible entity seeking 

6 a subgrant to submit a plan describing the 

7 means by which the program funded 

8 through the subgrant will continue after 

9 funding under this Act is terminated; 

10 (I) contains an assurance that funds made 

11 available to carry out this section will be used 

12 to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, 

13 State, and local public funds expended to pro14 vide programs and activities authorized under 

15 this Act and other similar programs; 

16 (J) contains an assurance that the State 

17 educational agency will require eligible entities 

18 to describe in an application submitted under 

19 section 8 the means by which the transportation 

20 needs of participating students will be ad21 dressed; 

22 (K) contains an assurance that the State 

23 application was developed in consultation and 

24 coordination with— 


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1 (i) appropriate State officials, includ2 ing the chief State school officer and the 

3 State director of career technical edu4 cation; 

5 (ii) other State agencies administering 

6 before- and after-school (or summer 

7 school) programs; and 

8 (iii) representatives of teacher organi9 zations, parents, students, the business 

10 community, community-based organiza11 tions, and labor unions; 

12 (L) describes the results of the needs and 

13 resources assessment of the State for before14 and after-school activities, which shall be based 

15 on the results of ongoing State evaluation ac16 tivities; 

17 (M) describes the means by which the 

18 State educational agency will evaluate the effec19 tiveness of programs and activities carried out 

20 under section 7, which shall include, at a min21 imum— 

22 (i) a description of the performance 

23 indicators and performance measures that 

24 will be used to evaluate programs and ac25 tivities; and 


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1 (ii) public dissemination of the evalua2 tions of programs and activities carried out 

3 under section 7; and 

4 (N) provides for timely public notice of in5 tent to file an application under this subsection 

6 and an assurance that the application will be 

7 available for public review after submission. 

8 (2) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 

10 days after the date of receipt of an application 

11 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ap12 prove or disapprove the application. 

13 (B) DEEMED APPROVAL.—If the Secretary 

14 fails to make a written determination that an 

15 application under paragraph (1) is not in com16 pliance with the requirements of this section by 

17 the date required under subparagraph (A), the 

18 application shall be considered to be approved. 

19 (C) DISAPPROVAL.— 

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

21 not finally disapprove an application under 

22 paragraph (1) until the State is provided 

23 notice and an opportunity for a hearing re24 garding the application in accordance with 

25 clause (ii). 


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1 (ii) NOTICE AND HEARING.—If the 

2 Secretary determines that an application is 

3 not in compliance with the requirements of 

4 this section, in whole or in part, the Sec5 retary shall provide to the State— 

6 (I) a notice of the finding of non7 compliance, including— 

8 (aa) a description of the spe9 cific provisions of the application 

10 that are not in compliance; and 

11 (bb) a request for additional 

12 information (only regarding the 

13 noncompliant provisions) needed 

14 to make the application compli15 ant with the requirements of this 

16 section; and 

17 (II) an opportunity for a hearing 

18 regarding the application. 

19 (D) RESPONSE.— 

20 (i) IN GENERAL.—A State shall re21 spond, in accordance with clause (ii), to a 

22 notice from the Secretary under subpara23 graph (C)(i) by not later than 45 days 

24 after the date of receipt of the notice. 


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1 (ii) CONTENTS.—To respond to a no2 tice under clause (i), a State shall resubmit 

3 to the Secretary the application of the 

4 State, together with such additional infor5 mation as is requested by the Secretary 

6 under subparagraph (C)(ii)(I)(bb). 

7 (iii) APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 approve or disapprove an application re9 submitted under clause (ii) by not later 

10 than the later of— 

11 (I) the date that is 45 days after 

12 the date on which the State resubmits 

13 the application; and 

14 (II) the expiration of the applica15 ble 120-day period described in sub16 paragraph (A). 

17 (E) FAILURE TO RESPOND.—If the State 

18 fails to respond to a notification from the Sec19 retary under subparagraph (C) by the date re20 quired under subparagraph (D)(i), the applica21 tion of the State shall be considered to be dis22 approved. 

23 (d) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts made available 

24 to carry out this section under section 13(b)(2), the Sec25 retary shall reserve not less than 1 percent, but not more 


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1 than 5 percent, for payment to the Bureau of Indian Af2 fairs, to be allotted in accordance with the needs of the 

3 Bureau for assistance under this Act, as determined by 

4 the Secretary, to enable the Bureau to carry out the pur5 pose of this Act. 

6 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

7 (1) SUBGRANTS.—Each State that receives a 

8 grant under this section shall reserve not less than 

9 93 percent of the amount of the grant to award sub10 grants to eligible entities under section 7. 

11 (2) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—Each State that 

12 receives a grant under this section may use not more 

13 than 2 percent of the amount of the grant for— 

14 (A) the administrative costs of carrying 

15 out this section and section 7; 

16 (B) establishing and implementing a peer 

17 review process for subgrant applications sub18 mitted under section 7 (including consultation 

19 with other State agencies responsible for admin20 istering youth development programs and adult 

21 learning activities); and 

22 (C) supervising the awarding of subgrants 

23 to eligible entities under section 7 (including 

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1 sible for administering youth development pro2 grams and adult learning activities). 

3 (3) STATE ACTIVITIES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State that re5 ceives a grant under this section may use not 

6 more than 5 percent of the amount of the grant 

7 for the following activities: 

8 (i) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.— 

9 Monitoring and evaluation of programs 

10 and activities assisted under section 7. 

11 (ii) CAPACITY BUILDING, TRAINING, 

12 AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Providing 

13 capacity building, training, and technical 

14 assistance under section 7. 

15 (iii) COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION.— 

16 Comprehensive evaluation (directly or 

17 through a grant or contract) of the effec18 tiveness of programs and activities under 

19 section 7. 

20 (iv) STATE-LEVEL EFFORTS AND IN21 FRASTRUCTURE.—Supporting State-level 

22 efforts and infrastructure to ensure the 

23 quality and availability of after-school pro24 grams. 


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1 (B) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later 

2 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, and annually thereafter, each State using 

4 grant funds made available under subparagraph 

5 (A) shall submit to the Secretary a report de6 scribing how the grant funds are used. 

7 SEC. 7. SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES FOR AFTER8 SCHOOL INTERDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION 

9 PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) SUBGRANTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives a 

12 grant under section 6, acting through the State edu13 cational agency of the State, shall use the grant 

14 funds to award subgrants to eligible entities to en15 able the eligible entities to establish or expand after16 school interdisciplinary education programs in ac17 cordance with section 9. 

18 (2) DURATION OF AWARDS.—A subgrant 

19 awarded under this section— 

20 (A) may be for a period of not less than 

21 3 years and not more than 5 years; and 

22 (B) shall be renewable, based on perform23 ance, for a period of not less than 3 years and 

24 not more than 5 years. 


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1 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a subgrant 

2 under this section shall be not less than $50,000 per 

3 fiscal year. 

4 (4) PRIORITY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—In awarding subgrants 

6 under this section, a State shall give priority to 

7 applications for assistance under this section 

8 that— 

9 (i) propose to serve— 

10 (I) a high percentage of students 

11 who— 

12 (aa) are from low-income 

13 families; 

14 (bb) are struggling students; 

15 or 

16 (cc) attend schools located 

17 in a rural, sparsely populated 

18 area; and 

19 (II) the families of students de20 scribed in subclause (I); or 

21 (ii) are submitted by an eligible entity 

22 consisting of not less than 1 local edu23 cational agency serving a middle school or 

24 high school that receives funds under part 

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1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 6311 et seq.). 

3 (B) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—To the 

4 maximum extent practicable, a State shall dis5 tribute subgrant funds under this section equi6 tably among geographical areas within the 

7 State, including urban and rural communities. 

8 (b) PERMISSIVE LOCAL MATCH.— 

9 (1) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), a State may require an eligi12 ble entity to match the amount of a subgrant 

13 awarded under this section. 

14 (B) EXCEPTION.—A contribution by an el15 igible entity under subparagraph (A) shall 

16 not— 

17 (i) exceed the amount of the subgrant 

18 awarded to the eligible entity; or 

19 (ii) be derived from other Federal or 

20 State funds. 

21 (2) SLIDING SCALE.—The amount of a con22 tribution by an eligible entity under paragraph (1) 

23 shall be established based on a sliding fee scale that 

24 takes into account— 


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1 (A) the relative poverty of the population 

2 targeted by the eligible entity; and 

3 (B) the ability of the eligible entity to ob4 tain matching funds. 

5 (3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—A State that re6 quires an eligible entity to match funds under this 

7 subsection shall permit the eligible entity to provide 

8 all or any portion of those funds in the form of in9 kind contributions. 

10 (4) CONSIDERATION.—Notwithstanding any 

11 other provision of this subsection, a State shall not 

12 take into consideration the ability of an eligible enti13 ty to provide sufficient matching funds under this 

14 subsection in selecting eligible entities to receive sub15 grants under this section. 

16 SEC. 8. ELIGIBLE ENTITY APPLICATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

18 under section 5 or a subgrant under section 7, an eligible 

19 entity shall submit to the Secretary or the State, as appli20 cable, an application in such form and manner as the Sec21 retary or State, as applicable, may require. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application described in sub23 section (a) shall include— 


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1 (1) a description of the programs and activities 

2 to be funded using the grant or subgrant, includ3 ing— 

4 (A) an assurance that the programs and 

5 activities will take place in a safe and easily ac6 cessible facility; 

7 (B) a description of how students partici8 pating in the programs and activities will travel 

9 safely to and from the location of the programs; 

10 and 

11 (C) a description of how the eligible entity 

12 will disseminate information regarding the pro13 grams and activities (including the locations of 

14 the programs and activities) to the community 

15 in a manner that is understandable and acces16 sible; 

17 (2) a description of how the programs and ac18 tivities are expected to meet the purpose of this Act; 

19 (3) an identification of Federal, State, and local 

20 programs that will be combined or coordinated with 

21 the proposed programs and activities to make the 

22 most effective use of public resources; 

23 (4) an assurance that the proposed programs 

24 and activities were developed, and will be carried 


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1 out, in active collaboration with schools attended by 

2 the students to be served by the eligible entity; 

3 (5) a description of the means by which the 

4 programs and activities will meet the principles of 

5 effectiveness described in section 9(b); 

6 (6) an assurance that the programs and activi7 ties will primarily target students from low-income 

8 families or struggling students and the families of 

9 those students; 

10 (7) an assurance that funds provided pursuant 

11 to this Act will— 

12 (A) be used to increase the level of State, 

13 local, and other non-Federal funds that would, 

14 in the absence of funds under this Act, be made 

15 available for programs and activities authorized 

16 under this Act; and 

17 (B) in no case supplant any Federal, 

18 State, local, or non-Federal funds; 

19 (8) a description of a preliminary plan for the 

20 means by which the proposed programs and activi21 ties will continue after funding under this Act is ter22 minated; 

23 (9) an assurance that— 


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1 (A) the affected community will be given 

2 notice of an intent to submit an application 

3 under this Act; and 

4 (B) the application and any applicable 

5 waiver request will be available for public review 

6 after submission of the application; and 

7 (10) such other information and assurances as 

8 the Secretary or the State, as applicable, may rea9 sonably require. 

10 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR SUBGRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

11 (1) APPROVAL OF CERTAIN APPLICATIONS.—A 

12 State may approve an application for a subgrant 

13 under section 7, for a program to be located in a fa14 cility other than a high school, only if the program 

15 will be at least as available and accessible to the stu16 dents to be served as if the program were located in 

17 the high school. 

18 (2) PEER REVIEW.—In reviewing applications 

19 for a subgrant under section 7, a State shall use a 

20 peer review process or other method of ensuring the 

21 quality of applications, in accordance with section 

22 6(c)(1)(D). 

23 SEC. 9. REQUIRED USES. 

24 (a) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re2 ceives a grant under section 5 or a subgrant under 

3 section 7 shall use the grant or subgrant funds, as 

4 applicable, to establish or expand after-school pro5 grams and activities that meet the purpose of this 

6 Act, including— 

7 (A) not less than 1— 

8 (i) mathematics and science education 

9 activity; 

10 (ii) language arts, writing, and read11 ing activity; or 

12 (iii) history, geography, or social stud13 ies activity; and 

14 (B) not less than 1— 

15 (i) career technical education activity; 

16 (ii) business and entrepreneurial edu17 cation program; 

18 (iii) health and wellness activity; 

19 (iv) environmental and conservation 

20 activity; or 

21 (v) arts and music education activity. 

22 (2) ACTIVITY AND PROGRAM TIMES.—In addi23 tion to after school, the activities and programs de24 scribed in paragraph (1) may take place before 

25 school or at any other time during which school is 


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1 not in session, including on weekends and during va2 cation and summer recess periods. 

3 (b) PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVENESS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each program and activity 

5 established or expanded under this Act shall meet 

6 principles of effectiveness that are based on— 

7 (A) an assessment of objective data re8 garding the need for the programs and activi9 ties described in subsection (a), including activi10 ties in the schools and communities; 

11 (B) an established set of performance 

12 measures, including academic, social, and be13 havioral measures, aimed at ensuring opportu14 nities for high-quality academic enrichment and 

15 positive youth development; and 

16 (C) if appropriate, scientifically based re17 search that provides evidence that the programs 

18 or activities will help students improve academic 

19 achievement, deepen student engagement in 

20 learning, and promote positive youth develop21 ment. 

22 (2) PERIODIC EVALUATION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each program and ac24 tivity established or expanded under this Act 

25 shall be subject to periodic evaluation to assess 


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1 the progress made by the program or activity 

2 toward achieving the goal of providing high3 quality opportunities for academic enrichment 

4 and positive youth development. 

5 (B) USE OF RESULTS.—The results of 

6 evaluations under subparagraph (A) shall be— 

7 (i) used— 

8 (I) to refine, improve, and 

9 strengthen each program or activity 

10 so evaluated; and 

11 (II) to refine the applicable per12 formance measures; and 

13 (ii) made available to the public— 

14 (I) on request; and 

15 (II) by public notice. 

16 SEC. 10. SECRETARIAL PEER REVIEW AND APPROVAL. 

17 The Secretary shall establish— 

18 (1) a peer-review process to assist in the review 

19 and approval of grant applications submitted under 

20 section 5 and State applications submitted under 

21 section 6; and 

22 (2) appoint to serve the peer-review process in23 dividuals who are educators and experts in edu24 cational standards, assessments, accountability, high 

25 school improvement, youth development, dropout 


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1 prevention, and other educational needs of high 

2 school students. 

3 SEC. 11. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—From amounts made 

5 available under section 13(b)(3), the Secretary shall carry 

6 out national activities (directly or through grants or con7 tracts), such as— 

8 (1) providing technical assistance as described 

9 in subsection (b), to States or eligible entities car10 rying out programs or activities under this Act; or 

11 (2) conducting a national evaluation of the ef12 fectiveness of programs and activities under this 

13 Act. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

15 provide, pursuant to subsection (a), technical assistance 

16 to States and eligible entities carrying out programs and 

17 activities under this Act, such as— 

18 (1) conducting outreach to ensure widespread 

19 knowledge of the availability of those programs and 

20 activities; 

21 (2) annually convening participating States, eli22 gible entities, and organizations providing support to 

23 those States or eligible entities, to provide training 

24 and education regarding best practices; 


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1 (3) disseminating information regarding best 

2 practices and successful program models for serving 

3 high school youth; and 

4 (4) providing capacity building and training to 

5 ensure high-quality programming. 

6 SEC. 12. REGULATIONS. 

7 The Secretary shall promulgate such regulations as 

8 the Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this 

9 Act. 

10 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

13 sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal 

14 year 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter. 

15 (b) ALLOCATIONS.—Of the amounts appropriated 

16 pursuant to subsection (b) for each fiscal year, the Sec17 retary shall allocate for the fiscal year— 

18 (1) 40 percent for grants under section 5; 

19 (2) 50 percent for grants under section 6; and 

20 (3) 10 percent for national activities under sec21 tion 11. 

22 SEC. 14. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY. 

23 Any new spending authority or new authority to enter 

24 into contracts provided by this Act, and under which the 

25 United States is obligated to make outlays, shall be effecVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:33 Nov 17, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2785.IS S2785

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1 tive only to the extent, and in such amounts, as are pro2 vided in advance in appropriations Acts. 

Æ 


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