II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1299 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Ms. 

ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies 

to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to 

pursue studies and careers in STEM fields. 

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 ‘‘21st Century STEM 

5 for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PREPARE GIRLS AND UNDERREP2 RESENTED MINORITIES. 

3 Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

4 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART G—PREPARING GIRLS AND UNDERREP7 RESENTED MINORITIES FOR THE 21ST CEN8 TURY 

9 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PROGRAM AUTHORITY. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 90 

11 days after the date of enactment of the 21st Century 

12 STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act, the 

13 Secretary shall carry out a program under which the Sec14 retary makes grants to qualified local educational agen15 cies, on a competitive basis, to pay the costs of carrying 

16 out STEM education activities for girls and underrep17 resented minorities as described in subsection (c). 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

20 grant under this part, a qualified local educational 

21 agency shall submit to the Secretary an application 

22 at such time, in such form, and containing such in23 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

24 At minimum, the application shall include a descrip25 tion of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The educational program that will be 

2 carried out by the local educational agency 

3 using the grant, including the content of the 

4 program and the research and models used to 

5 design the program. 

6 ‘‘(B) How elementary schools and sec7 ondary schools served by the agency will col8 laborate to fulfill goals of the program. 

9 ‘‘(C) How the agency will ensure that there 

10 is a comprehensive plan to improve STEM edu11 cation for girls and underrepresented minorities 

12 in grades kindergarten through grade 12. 

13 ‘‘(D) The process that will be used for the 

14 recruitment and selection of students for par15 ticipation in the program. 

16 ‘‘(E) The instructional and motivational 

17 activities that will be included as part of the 

18 program. 

19 ‘‘(F) Any expected collaboration among 

20 local, regional, or national institutions and or21 ganizations for the purpose of fulfilling the 

22 goals of the program. 

23 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In selecting among applica24 tions, the Secretary shall give priority to qualified 

25 local educational agencies that partner or coordinate, 


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1 to the extent practicable, with local, regional, or na2 tional institutions and organizations that have exten3 sive experience and expertise in— 

4 ‘‘(A) increasing the participation of girls or 

5 underrepresented minorities in STEM fields; or 

6 ‘‘(B) conducting research on methods to 

7 increase such participation. 

8 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A qualified local educational 

9 agency that receives a grant under this part shall use the 

10 grant to carry out a STEM education program for girls 

11 and underrepresented minorities from elementary schools 

12 and secondary schools served by the agency. The program 

13 may include the following activities: 

14 ‘‘(1) Preparing girls and underrepresented mi15 norities for careers in STEM fields and the advan16 tages of pursuing careers in such fields. 

17 ‘‘(2) Educating the families of girls and under18 represented minorities about the opportunities and 

19 advantages of STEM careers. 

20 ‘‘(3) Enlisting the help of the families of girls 

21 and underrepresented minorities— 

22 ‘‘(A) to overcome the obstacles faced by 

23 such groups; and 

24 ‘‘(B) to encourage their child’s continued 

25 interest and involvement in STEM subjects. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Providing tutoring and mentoring pro2 grams in STEM subjects. 

3 ‘‘(5) Establishing partnerships and other oppor4 tunities that expose girls and underrepresented mi5 norities to role models in the STEM fields. 

6 ‘‘(6) Enabling girls and underrepresented mi7 nority students and their teachers to attend events 

8 and academic programs in STEM subjects. 

9 ‘‘(7) Providing after school and summer activi10 ties designed to encourage interest and develop the 

11 skills of girls and underrepresented minorities in 

12 STEM subjects. 

13 ‘‘(8) Summer programs designed to help girls 

14 and underrepresented minorities— 

15 ‘‘(A) develop an interest in STEM sub16 jects; 

17 ‘‘(B) develop skills in such subjects; and 

18 ‘‘(C) understand the relevance and signifi19 cance of such subjects. 

20 ‘‘(9) In accordance with subsection (d), pur21 chasing— 

22 ‘‘(A) educational instructional materials or 

23 software designed to help girls and underrep24 resented minorities develop an interest in 

25 STEM subjects; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) equipment, instrumentation, or hard2 ware for teaching STEM subjects to girls and 

3 underrepresented minorities and encouraging 

4 their interest in such subjects. 

5 ‘‘(10) Field trips to locations, including institu6 tions of higher education, to expose girls and under7 represented minorities to STEM activities, encour8 age their interest in such activities, and acquaint 

9 them with careers in STEM fields. 

10 ‘‘(11) Providing academic advice and assistance 

11 in high school course selection to encourage girls and 

12 underrepresented minorities to take advanced 

13 courses in STEM subjects. 

14 ‘‘(12) Paying up to 50 percent of the cost of an 

15 internship in a STEM discipline for girls and under16 represented minority students. 

17 ‘‘(13) Providing professional development for 

18 teachers, school leaders, and specialized instructional 

19 support personnel, including with respect to— 

20 ‘‘(A) eliminating gender, racial, and other 

21 biases in the classroom; 

22 ‘‘(B) developing cultural competence; 

23 ‘‘(C) sensitivity to gender and racial dif24 ferences; 


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1 ‘‘(D) engaging students in the face of gen2 der-based and racial peer pressure and parental 

3 expectations; 

4 ‘‘(E) creating and maintaining a positive 

5 environment; and 

6 ‘‘(F) encouraging girls and underrep7 resented minorities through academic advice 

8 and assistance to pursue advanced classes and 

9 careers in STEM fields. 

10 ‘‘(14) Such other STEM-related activities as 

11 the local educational agency determines to be appro12 priate. 

13 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE.—A qualified local educational 

14 agency shall not use more than 15 percent of grant funds 

15 under this part for purchases described in subsection 

16 (c)(9). 

17 ‘‘(e) GRANT DURATION AND AMOUNT.— 

18 ‘‘(1) DURATION.—Each grant under this sec19 tion shall be made for a period of 4 years. 

20 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant 

21 under this section shall be $250,000 for each year 

22 of the grant period. 

23 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A qualified 

24 local educational agency that receives a grant under this 

25 section shall use the grant only to supplement, and not 


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1 to supplant, other assistance and funds made available 

2 from non-Federal sources for the activities supported by 

3 the grant. 

4 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 

6 days after last day of each school year for which a 

7 qualified local educational agency receives a grant 

8 under this section, the agency shall submit to the 

9 Secretary a written report regarding the program 

10 carried out using the grant. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

12 paragraph (1) shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) a description of the program and ac14 tivities carried out using the grant; 

15 ‘‘(B) a description of the curriculum and 

16 any partnerships developed using the grant; 

17 ‘‘(C) the percentage of time that students 

18 who participated in the program spent directly 

19 engaged in STEM activities; 

20 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the academic 

21 progress made by such students during the pro22 gram, which shall be based on an evaluation of 

23 each student at the beginning of the program 

24 and after the student completes the program; 


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1 ‘‘(E) participant data disaggregated and 

2 cross tabulated by race and gender; and 

3 ‘‘(F) such other information as the Sec4 retary may require. 

5 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘STEM’ means science, tech7 nology, engineering, and mathematics, and is inclu8 sive of computer science. 

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified local educational agen10 cy’ means a local educational agency or educational 

11 service agency that— 

12 ‘‘(A) receives funds under part A of title I; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) serves a total student population of 

15 which not less than 40 percent are children who 

16 are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch 

17 under the Richard B. Russell National School 

18 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 

19 ‘‘(3) The term ‘underrepresented minority’ in20 cludes an individual who is Black, Latino, Native 

21 American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 

22 or a child with a disability. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 4702. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 this part $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

4 through 2023.’’. 

Æ 


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