Fab Lab Classroom Modernization Act

To establish a grant program that encourages States to establish subgrant programs that encourage recipients to create, maintain, and improve digital fabrication laboratories, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fab Lab Classroom Modernization Act 2. Grant program (a) In general From the amounts made available pursuant to section 9 section 3 (b) Grant frequency The Secretary may not award more than 1 grant under this Act to a State for a fiscal year. (c) Award amount limit No grant awarded under this Act may exceed $200,000. 3. Application Each State desiring a grant under this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require that shall include— (1) a description of the State’s proposed or existing competitive subgrant program; (2) a description of how the State’s program will comply or does comply with the requirements set forth in section 4 (3) any other information the Secretary may require. 4. Use of funds (a) In general Each State that receives a grant under this Act shall use the funds to— (1) establish a program that complies with the requirements set forth in this section under which the State awards, on a competitive basis, subgrants to eligible entities; or (2) expand an existing competitive subgrant program that complies with such requirements. (b) Limitation; priority (1) Limitation A State that receives a grant under this Act may not use any of such grant to pay any administrative costs associated with carrying out subsection (a) (2) Priority In awarding subgrants under this section, a State shall use not less than 15 percent of the grant received under this Act to award such subgrants to eligible entities in rural areas, except that a State may apply to the Secretary for a waiver of the requirement under this paragraph. (c) Subgrant frequency A State may not award more than 1 subgrant under this section to an eligible entity for a fiscal year. (d) Subgrant amount limits A subgrant may not be awarded under this section in an amount greater than— (1) in the case of an eligible entity described in section 10(1)(A) (2) in the case of an eligible entity described in section 10(1)(B) (e) Use of subgrant (1) In general An eligible entity that receives a subgrant under this section shall use the subgrant for the purposes of— (A) purchasing equipment for use in a digital fabrication laboratory; or (B) providing professional development that relates to the incorporation of the digital fabrication laboratory into curriculum instruction. (2) Limitation An eligible entity that receives a subgrant under this section may not use any of such subgrant to pay any administrative costs associated with carrying out paragraph (1) (f) Application An eligible entity that desires a subgrant under this section shall, at such time and in such manner as the State that awards the subgrant may require, submit an application to such State that includes— (1) an assurance that the eligible entity will adopt a policy that any digital fabrication laboratory equipped using subgrant funds shall be used predominantly for instructional and educational purposes by students enrolled in one of the eligible entity’s elementary or secondary schools; and (2) a description of— (A) how the eligible entity plans to use the subgrant; (B) how ready the eligible entity is to purchase equipment for a digital fabrication laboratory; (C) the eligible entity’s long-term plan for the digital fabrication laboratory; (D) how the eligible entity will incorporate the digital fabrication laboratory into curriculum instruction; (E) how constructing the digital fabrication laboratory aligns with the eligible entity’s academic goals; (F) the extent to which the eligible entity plans to partner with local businesses and other community participants; (G) the eligible entity’s financial need; (H) how, if applicable, the eligible entity has utilized previous subgrant awards; and (I) any other information the State may require. (g) Matching requirement (1) In general Subject to paragraph (2) (2) Waiver option authorized A State awarding a subgrant under this section may waive all or part of the matching requirement described in paragraph (1) (A) result in a serious financial hardship for the eligible entity; or (B) otherwise be inappropriate. (h) Reporting requirement (1) In general At the end of each subgrant period, an eligible entity receiving a subgrant under this section shall submit, to the State that awards the subgrant, a performance report that documents any information that the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (2) Performance report form The performance report described in paragraph (1) 5. Matching requirement Each State that receives a grant under this Act shall provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to the amount of the grant to carry out the activities described in section 3 6. State reports Each State that receives a grant under this Act shall— (1) at the end of the 1-year period that begins on the date the State receives the grant, submit a report to the Secretary containing any information the Secretary determines to be appropriate; and (2) in the case in which the State does not receive a grant for the next fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the grant was received, submit a report to the Secretary containing any information the Secretary determines to be appropriate at the end of a 2-year period that begins on the date the State receives the grant. 7. Evaluation (a) In general The Secretary shall establish an evaluation program to determine the efficacy of the grant program established by this Act that shall commence 18 months after the first grant under this Act is awarded. 8. Sunset The Secretary may not award grants under this Act after the end of the 5-year period that begins on the date the Secretary awards the first grant under this Act. 9. Authorization of appropriations (a) In general There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2019 through 2023 to carry out this Act. (b) Limitation Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) section 1 10. Definitions In this Act: (1) Digital fabrication laboratory The term digital fabrication laboratory (2) Eligible entity The term eligible entity (A) a local educational agency; or (B) a consortium of two or more local educational agencies. (3) ESEA definitions The terms elementary school local educational agency professional development secondary school 20 U.S.C. 7801 (4) Existing competitive subgrant program The term existing competitive subgrant program (5) Secretary The term Secretary (6) State The term State

Summary: Fab Lab Classroom Modernization Act This bill authorizes the Department of Education to award grants for FY2019-FY2023 to states for local educational agencies to purchase digital-fabrication laboratory equipment or to provide professional development related to incorporating a digital-fabrication laboratory into the curriculum. A digital-fabrication laboratory is a high-technology workspace that includes equipment such as three-dimensional printers and laser engravers.