I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3180 

To establish the National Advisory Committee on Rural Education in the 

Department of Education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2009 

Mr. PERRIELLO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish the National Advisory Committee on Rural 

Education in the Department of Education. 

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 ‘‘SCORE (Strength5 ening Community Opportunities through Rural Edu6 cation) Act of 2009’’. 

7 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

8 There is established in the Department of Education 

9 an advisory committee to be known as the ‘‘National AdviVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:41 Jul 12, 2009 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3180.IH H3180

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1 sory Committee on Rural Education’’ (hereinafter in this 

2 Act referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 

3 SEC. 3. FUNCTIONS. 

4 The Advisory Committee shall study the unique chal5 lenges faced by rural public school systems in providing 

6 elementary and secondary education, including whether 

7 and how any of the following factors affect those unique 

8 challenges: 

9 (1) Difficulty in attracting and retaining new 

10 teachers. 

11 (2) Deficient or inadequate school facilities and 

12 infrastructure. 

13 (3) Deficient or inadequate transportation in14 frastructure. 

15 (4) Difficulty in effectively incorporating infor16 mation technology. 

17 (5) Decreasing number of recent postsecondary 

18 graduates returning to rural communities. 

19 (6) Limited and varied levels of funding. 

20 SEC. 4. COMPOSITION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Committee shall be 

22 composed of 21 members who shall serve for the life of 

23 the Advisory Committee. 

24 (b) CHAIR.—The Secretary of Education (hereinafter 

25 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) or the designee 


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1 of the Secretary shall be a member of the Advisory Com2 mittee and shall serve as the chair of the Advisory Com3 mittee. 

4 (c) SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—The Secretary of 

5 Agriculture or the designee of the Secretary of Agriculture 

6 shall be a member of the Advisory Committee. 

7 (d) APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 

8 (1) The chair shall appoint the other 19 mem9 bers in a manner that ensures that the membership 

10 of the Advisory Committee is fairly balanced in 

11 terms of the points of view represented and the 

12 functions to be performed by the Advisory Com13 mittee. 

14 (2) Such members shall be selected from among 

15 experts on rural public school systems. For the pur16 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘‘experts on rural 

17 public school systems’’ means any of the following: 

18 (A) Teachers from such school systems. 

19 (B) Administrators from such school sys20 tems. 

21 (C) Members of school boards for such 

22 school systems. 

23 (D) Other individuals with experience or 

24 qualifications that the Secretary determines rel25 evant. 


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1 (3) Not less than 1 member shall be an indi2 vidual with expertise on incorporating and expanding 

3 the role of information technology in providing edu4 cation in rural public school systems. 

5 (4) Not less than 1 member shall be an indi6 vidual who is not a full-time or permanent part-time 

7 officer or employee of the Federal Government. 

8 (5) The chair shall fill a vacancy on the Advi9 sory Committee in the same manner in which the 

10 original appointment was made. 

11 SEC. 5. BYLAWS AND PROCEDURES. 

12 (a) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee shall meet 

13 at the call of a majority of the members of the Advisory 

14 Committee. 

15 (b) QUORUM.—Eleven members of the Advisory Com16 mittee shall constitute a quorum but a lesser number may 

17 hold hearings. 

18 (c) MEMBERS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED FEDERAL

19 OFFICERS OR EMPLOYEES.—By reason of their service on 

20 the Advisory Committee, members of the Committee shall 

21 not be considered to be officers or employees of the Fed22 eral Government for purposes of any Federal law. 

23 (d) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member may receive 

24 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 


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1 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 

2 Code. 

3 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Committee may, for 

5 the purpose of carrying out this Act, hold hearings, sit 

6 and act at times and places, take testimony, and receive 

7 evidence as the Advisory Committee determines appro8 priate. 

9 (b) MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any member or agent 

10 of the Advisory Committee may, if authorized by the Advi11 sory Committee, take any action that the Advisory Com12 mittee is authorized to take by this section. 

13 (c) MAILS.—The Advisory Committee may use the 

14 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

15 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 

16 United States. 

17 (d) CONTRACTS.—To the extent or in the amounts 

18 provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Advisory 

19 Committee may contract with and compensate government 

20 and private agencies or persons for supplies or services, 

21 without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes. 

22 The Advisory Committee may not enter into a contract 

23 if the terms of the contract extend beyond the date the 

24 Advisory Committee terminates. 


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1 SEC. 7. STAFF. 

2 On request of the Advisory Committee, the Secretary 

3 of Education shall detail, on a reimbursable basis, not 

4 more than 4 personnel of the Department of Education 

5 to the Advisory Committee to assist the Advisory Com6 mittee in carrying out this Act. 

7 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

8 Two times each year, the Advisory Committee shall 

9 submit to the Congress and the President and publish a 

10 report that— 

11 (1) identifies the unique challenges faced by 

12 rural public school systems in providing elementary 

13 and secondary education; and 

14 (2) makes policy recommendations on a na15 tional effort to reform rural education by addressing 

16 or overcoming those challenges. 

17 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

18 The Advisory Committee shall terminate on the date 

19 that is 2 years after the effective date of this Act. 

20 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary, to remain available for the life of the Advisory 

23 Committee, such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

24 this Act. 

Æ 


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