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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1902

To establish a computer education program for certain students.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 28, 1993

Ms. LONG (for herself and Mr. MYERS of Indiana) introduced the following

bill which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To establish a computer education program for certain

students.

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 ‘‘Buddy System Com5 puter Education Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

7 It is the purpose of this Act to award demonstration

8 grants to develop and expand public-private partnership

9 programs which extend the learning experience, via com10 puters, beyond the classroom environment in order to—
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1 (1) enhance learning by providing students with

2 the technological tools and guidance necessary to de3 velop skills critical to educational growth and suc4 cess in the workplace, including—

5 (A) mastery of fundamental computer

6 technology and applications;

7 (B) improved written and visual commu8 nication skills;

9 (C) improved critical thinking and problem

10 solving abilities; and

11 (D) improved ability to work in a collabo12 rative, teamwork-driven environment;

13 (2) encourage parental involvement in education

14 and total family use and understanding of computers

15 and telecommunications through at-home applica16 tions; and

17 (3) established foundations for life-long learning

18 through improvement in education skills and student

19 motivation and attitudes.

20 SEC. 3. GRANT AUTHORIZATION.

21 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct

23 a program of awarding a grant to each of 3 States

24 to enable such States to create a computer-based

25 education project in accordance with the require-
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1 ments of section 4 for children—(A) grades 4–6;

2 and or (B) middle or junior high school.

3 (2) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall award

4 grants under this Act on a competitive basis.

5 (3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under

6 this Act, the Secretary shall give preference to appli7 cations—

8 (A) from States that have a demonstrated

9 ability or commitment to computer-based tech10 nology education; and

11 (B) describing projects that serve school

12 districts which serve a large number or percent13 age of economically disadvantaged students.

14 (b) SITE SELECTION AND PROJECT IMPLEMENTA15 TION.—Site selection and implementation of the com16 puter-based education projects assisted under this Act

17 shall take place not later than 9 months after the date

18 of the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 4. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

20 Each State receiving a grant to conduct a computer21 based education project under this Act shall—

22 (1) provide a continuous 4-year computer-based

23 education project to—(A) consecutive groups of 4th,

24 5th, and 6th (if applicable) grade school students

25 during the period commencing with each such
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1 group’s entry into 4th grade and ending the summer

2 following each such group’s completion of elementary

3 school; and or (B) consecutive groups of middle or

4 junior high school students during the period com5 mencing with each such group’s entry into the 1st

6 grade taught at such middle or junior high school

7 and ending the summer following each such groups

8 completion of the last grade taugtht at such middle

9 or junior high school.

10 (2) ensure that each student in each of the

11 classes participating in the project shall participate

12 in the project;

13 (3) conduct such project in not more than 7

14 public schools within the State; and

15 (4) ensure that each student participating in

16 the project shall have access to a computer—

17 (A) at school during the school year; and

18 (B) at home during the school year and

19 summer.

20 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

21 (a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—In order to receive a

22 grant under this Act, the chief State school officer of a

23 State shall submit an application to the Secretary in such

24 form and containing such information as the Secretary

25 may reasonably require. Such application shall include an
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1 assurance from the State educational agency that the

2 State educational agency has made every effort to match

3 on a dollar-for-dollar basis from private or public sources

4 the funds received under this Act, except that no such ap5 plication shall be penalized or denied assistance under this

6 Act on the basis of the failure to provide such matching

7 funds.

8 (b) APPLICATION PERIOD.—States shall be eligible to

9 submit applications for assistance under this Act during

10 a 3-month period determined by the Secretary.

11 SEC. 6. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

12 Grant funds under this Act shall be used to provide

13 hardware and software components to all sites, and train14 ing for classroom teachers as well as parents, administra15 tors and technical personnel.

16 SEC. 7. EVALUATION.

17 The Secretary shall evaluate the demonstration pro18 gram assisted under this Act and shall report to the Con19 gress regarding the overall effectiveness of such program.

20 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

21 For the purpose of this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means

22 each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com23 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Is24 lands, Guam, and American Samoa.
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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000

3 for fiscal year 1994, $7,000,000 for fiscal year 1995,

4 $5,500,000 for fiscal year 1996, and $3,500,000 for fiscal

5 year 1997 to carry out this Act.

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