II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 342 

To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across America. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across 

America. 

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 Class5 room Innovation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend9 ment to a section or other provision, the reference shall 

10 be considered to be made to a section or other provision 


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1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

3 SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING STATE AND LOCAL BLENDED 

4 LEARNING PROJECTS. 

5 (a) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Section 2112(b) (20 

6 U.S.C. 6612(b)) is amended by inserting at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(13) In the case of a State that will carry out 

9 a program to award grants under section 2121(b), 

10 a description of the program, which shall include— 

11 ‘‘(A) the criteria the State will use to 

12 award grants under such section to eligible enti13 ties to carry out blended learning projects; 

14 ‘‘(B) the State policies and procedures to 

15 be waived by the State, consistent with Federal 

16 law, for such eligible entities to carry out such 

17 projects, which may include waivers with re18 spect to— 

19 ‘‘(i) restrictions on class sizes; 

20 ‘‘(ii) restrictions on licensing or 

21 credentialing of personnel supervising stu22 dent work in such projects; 

23 ‘‘(iii) restrictions on the use of State 

24 funding for instructional materials for the 

25 purchase of digital instructional resources; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) restrictions on advancing stu2 dents based on demonstrated mastery of 

3 learning outcomes, rather than seat-time 

4 requirements; and 

5 ‘‘(v) restrictions on secondary school 

6 students in the State enrolling in online 

7 coursework; 

8 ‘‘(C) how the State will inform eligible en9 tities of the availability of the waivers described 

10 in subparagraph (B); and 

11 ‘‘(D) how the State will provide the non12 Federal match required under section 

13 2121(b)(2)(D).’’. 

14 (b) RESERVATION OF SUBGRANT FUNDS FOR

15 BLENDED LEARNING.—Section 2121 of the Elementary 

16 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6621) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION FOR BLENDED LEARNING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of this part, a State that receives a grant 

21 under subpart 1 may reserve not more than 5 per22 cent of the amount reserved to carry out this part 

23 under section 2113(a)(1) to make grants to local 

24 educational agencies to enable the agencies to carry 


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1 out blended learning projects described in paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 ‘‘(2) BLENDED LEARNING PROJECTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State edu6 cational agency may use the funds de7 scribed in paragraph (1) to carry out a 

8 program to award grants on a competitive 

9 basis to eligible entities in the State to 

10 carry out blended learning projects de11 scribed in this paragraph. 

12 ‘‘(ii) RESERVATION FOR RURAL

13 AREAS.—In awarding grants under this 

14 paragraph, a State educational agency 

15 shall reserve 5 percent of the funds avail16 able to carry out this paragraph for eligible 

17 entities that will serve rural areas. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity de19 siring to receive a grant under this paragraph 

20 shall submit an application to the State edu21 cational agency at such time and in such man22 ner as the agency may require, and which de23 scribes— 

24 ‘‘(i) the blended learning project to be 

25 carried out by the eligible entity, including 


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1 the design of the instructional model to be 

2 carried out by the eligible entity and how 

3 such eligible entity will use funds provided 

4 under this paragraph to carry out the 

5 project; 

6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible entity 

7 described in subclause (I) or (III) of sub8 paragraph (E)(iii), the schools that will 

9 participate in the project; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the expected impact on student 

11 academic achievement; 

12 ‘‘(iv) how the eligible entity will en13 sure sufficient information technology is 

14 available to carry out the project; 

15 ‘‘(v) how the eligible entity will ensure 

16 sufficient digital instructional resources are 

17 available to students participating in the 

18 project; 

19 ‘‘(vi) the ongoing professional develop20 ment to be provided for teachers, school 

21 leaders, and other personnel carrying out 

22 the project; 

23 ‘‘(vii) the State policies and proce24 dures for which the eligible entity requests 

25 waivers from the State to carry out the 


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1 project, which may include requests for the 

2 waivers described in section 

3 2112(b)(13)(B); 

4 ‘‘(viii) as appropriate, how the eligible 

5 entity will use the blended learning project 

6 to improve instruction and access to the 

7 curriculum for diverse groups of students, 

8 including students with disabilities and 

9 students who are limited English pro10 ficient; 

11 ‘‘(ix) how the eligible entity will evalu12 ate the project in terms of student aca13 demic achievement and publicly report the 

14 results of such evaluation; and 

15 ‘‘(x) how the eligible entity will sus16 tain the project beyond the grant period. 

17 ‘‘(C) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

18 receiving a grant under this paragraph shall use 

19 such grant to carry out a blended learning 

20 project, which shall include at least 1 of the fol21 lowing activities: 

22 ‘‘(i) Planning activities, which may in23 clude development of new instructional 

24 models (including blended learning tech25 nology software and platforms), the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Feb 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S342.IS S342

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1 chase of digital instructional resources, ini2 tial professional development activities, and 

3 one-time information technology purchases, 

4 except that such expenditures may not in5 clude expenditures related to significant 

6 construction or renovation of facilities. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Ongoing professional develop8 ment for teachers, school leaders, or other 

9 personnel involved in the project that is de10 signed to support the implementation and 

11 academic success of the project. 

12 ‘‘(D) NON-FEDERAL MATCH.—A State 

13 educational agency that carries out a grant pro14 gram under this paragraph shall provide non15 Federal matching funds equal to not less than 

16 10 percent of the grant funds awarded by the 

17 State educational agency to eligible entities 

18 under this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(i) BLENDED LEARNING PROJECT.— 

21 The term ‘blended learning project’ means 

22 a formal education program— 

23 ‘‘(I) that includes an element of 

24 online learning, and instructional time 


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1 in a supervised location away from 

2 home; 

3 ‘‘(II) that includes an element of 

4 student control over time, path, or 

5 pace; and 

6 ‘‘(III) in which the elements are 

7 connected to provide an integrated 

8 learning experience. 

9 ‘‘(ii) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term 

10 ‘charter school’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 5210. 

12 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term 

13 ‘eligible entity’ means a— 

14 ‘‘(I) local educational agency; 

15 ‘‘(II) charter school; or 

16 ‘‘(III) consortium of the entities 

17 described in subclause (I) or (II), 

18 which may be in partnership with a 

19 for-profit or nonprofit entity.’’. 

Æ 


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