I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4000 
To allow States to let Federal funds for the education of disadvantaged 
children follow low-income children to the accredited or otherwise State- 
approved public school, private school, or supplemental educational serv-
ices program they attend. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 5, 2014 
Mr. MESSER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Financial Services, Agriculture, Energy and Commerce, and 
Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To allow States to let Federal funds for the education of 
disadvantaged children follow low-income children to the 
accredited or otherwise State-approved public school, pri-
vate school, or supplemental educational services program 
they attend. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scholarships for Kids 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to improve the academic 
achievement of the disadvantaged by encouraging State ef-
forts to expand the educational choices available to low- 
income students. 
SEC. 3. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR KIDS PROGRAM. 
Subpart 2 of part A of title I of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6331 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1128. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR KIDS PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 
child’ means a child residing in a participating 
State who— 
‘‘(i) is not older than 21; 
‘‘(ii) is entitled to a free public edu-
cation through grade 12; and 
‘‘(iii)(I) is from a family with an in-
come below the poverty level on the basis 
of the most recent satisfactory data pub-
lished by the Department of Commerce; or 
‘‘(II) is a child described in subpara-
graph (B). 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CONTINUING ELIGI-
BILITY.—A participating State may elect to 
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serve a child as an eligible child under an ap-
proved program under this section if— 
‘‘(i) such child was an eligible child 
described in subparagraph (A) during the 
previous fiscal year; 
‘‘(ii) such child is from a family with 
an income that is not greater than 200 
percent of the poverty level on the basis of 
the most recent satisfactory data published 
by the Department of Commerce for the 
preceding year; and 
‘‘(iii) the State educational agency has 
determined that the child qualifies for con-
tinuing eligibility, as defined by the partici-
pating State in its declaration of intent 
under subsection (d). 
‘‘(C) CRITERIA
OF
POVERTY.—In deter-
mining if a family has an income below the pov-
erty level for purposes of this section, a State 
shall use the poverty threshold, for the most re-
cently completed calendar year, most recently 
published by the Bureau of the Census. 
‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING
STATE.—The term ‘par-
ticipating State’ means a State whose declaration of 
intent to exercise the State option for a Scholarships 
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for Kids program is approved by the Secretary as 
described in subsection (d). 
‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the several States of the United States, the District 
of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
‘‘(4) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘supplemental educational 
services program’ means a program providing sup-
plemental educational services, as defined in section 
1116(e)(12). 
‘‘(b) SCHOLARSHIPS FOR KIDS PROGRAM AUTHOR-
IZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law and to the extent permitted under 
State law, a participating State may use the funds 
made available under this subpart to carry out a 
Scholarships for Kids program in accordance with 
subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this part or any other law, a participating State car-
rying out a Scholarships for Kids program that 
meets the requirements of this section, and the local 
educational agencies in such State, shall not be re-
quired to meet any other requirements under this 
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Act or any other law, except as provided in para-
graph (3), in order to receive the State’s funds 
under this subpart. 
‘‘(3) ACADEMIC STANDARDS, ACADEMIC ASSESS-
MENTS, 
AND
REPORTING
ON
PERFORMANCE 
DISAGGREGATED BY STUDENT SUBGROUP.—A par-
ticipating State carrying out a Scholarships for Kids 
program that meets the requirements of this section, 
and the local educational agencies within such State, 
shall comply with paragraphs (1), (3), (6), and (7) 
of subsection (b), and subsection (h), of section 
1111, and with the requirements of subpart 2 of 
part E of title IX (except for section 9521). 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) STUDENT GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each participating 
State shall use the funds made available under 
section 1122 and not reserved under paragraph 
(2) or (3) to carry out a Scholarships for Kids 
program, under which the State shall— 
‘‘(i) establish a per-pupil amount for 
the grants under this section, based on the 
number of eligible children in the State, as 
described in subparagraph (B); and 
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‘‘(ii) make a grant available on behalf 
of each eligible child, in the amount deter-
mined under such subparagraph, that the 
parents of the eligible child may use for 
any of the following purposes, as allowed 
by State law: 
‘‘(I) To supplement the budget of 
any public school the eligible child is 
able to attend without fees. 
‘‘(II) To pay for all, or a portion, 
of any fees required to attend another 
public school in the participating 
State. 
‘‘(III) To pay for all, or a por-
tion, of the tuition and fees required 
to attend an accredited or otherwise 
State-approved private school. 
‘‘(IV) To pay for all, or a por-
tion, of the fees required to partici-
pate in a State-approved supplemental 
educational services program. 
‘‘(B) 
CALCULATION
OF
GRANT 
AMOUNTS.—Each participating State shall cal-
culate the amount of the grant to be awarded 
to each eligible child for each fiscal year by di-
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viding the allocation to the participating State 
under this subpart remaining after the partici-
pating State reserves any funds under para-
graph (2) or (3), by the total number of eligible 
children, as determined by the participating 
State. 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—A partici-
pating State may reserve not more than 3 percent 
of its allocation under section 1122 for administra-
tive costs associated with carrying out the partici-
pating State’s duties and functions under this sec-
tion, including— 
‘‘(A) certifying the eligibility of children 
living in the participating State; 
‘‘(B) disseminating information to parents 
of eligible children about public schools, private 
schools, and programs of supplemental edu-
cational services that are available to eligible 
children in the participating State; 
‘‘(C) paying the costs of administering any 
tests required to be administered to eligible 
children participating in the program; and 
‘‘(D) providing subgrants to local edu-
cational agencies in the participating State for 
any of these purposes. 
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‘‘(3) TRANSPORTATION
FOR
ELIGIBLE
CHIL-
DREN.—A participating State may reserve not more 
than 2 percent of its allocation under section 1122 
to provide transportation for eligible children to the 
public school, private school, or supplemental edu-
cational services program the eligible children attend 
in accordance with paragraph (1)(A)(ii). 
‘‘(d) STATE DECLARATION OF INTENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out a 
Scholarships for Kids program under this section, a 
State educational agency shall submit a declaration 
of intent to exercise the State option for a Scholar-
ships for Kids program to the Secretary that satis-
fies the requirements of this subsection. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each declaration of intent 
submitted under paragraph (1) shall provide the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) A description of the program to be 
administered under this section, including the 
per-student amount calculated under subsection 
(c)(1)(B) that will follow each eligible child to 
the school or supplemental educational services 
program the eligible child attends. 
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‘‘(B) An assurance that funds made avail-
able under this section will be spent in accord-
ance with the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(C)(i) An assurance that the State will 
provide a parent of each eligible child within the 
State who receives or is offered a grant under 
this section with the option to use grant funds 
for 1 (or more than 1 if the parent so chooses) 
of any of the following, as allowed by State law: 
‘‘(I) To supplement the budget of any 
public school the eligible child is able to at-
tend without fees. 
‘‘(II) To pay for all, or a portion, of 
any fees required to attend another public 
school in the participating State. 
‘‘(III) To pay for all, or a portion, of 
the tuition and fees to attend an accredited 
or otherwise State-approved private school. 
‘‘(IV) To pay for all, or a portion, of 
the fees required to participate in a supple-
mental educational services program. 
‘‘(ii) A description of the procedures the 
State will implement to carry out the require-
ments of clause (i), including any accreditation 
or other method by which the State will approve 
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private schools and providers of supplemental 
educational services programs to accept grant 
funds under this section. 
‘‘(D) An assurance that the State will pub-
lish, in a widely read or distributed medium, an 
annual report that contains— 
‘‘(i) the number of students, schools, 
and providers of programs of supplemental 
educational services that participated in 
the program assisted under this section; 
‘‘(ii) information regarding the aca-
demic progress of students receiving a 
grant under this section in meeting chal-
lenging State student academic achieve-
ment standards under section 1111(b)(1), 
if the State requires that students receiv-
ing a grant participate in the academic as-
sessments 
administered 
under 
section 
1111(b)(3); and 
‘‘(iii) such other information as the 
State may require. 
‘‘(E) A description of how the State will 
define continuing eligibility with respect to chil-
dren who have participated in the State’s Schol-
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arships for Kids program for the preceding 
year, in accordance with subsection (a)(1)(B). 
‘‘(F) An assurance that the State will as-
sist each local educational agency, public school, 
and participating private school affected by the 
State declaration of intent to meet the require-
ments of this section. 
‘‘(G) An assurance that the State will use 
Federal funds awarded as grants to eligible 
children under this section to supplement any 
funds from non-Federal sources that would, in 
the absence of such Federal funds, be made 
available to such students or to the schools or 
programs of supplemental educational services 
the students attend, and not to supplant such 
funds. 
‘‘(H) An assurance that the State will 
comply with the requirements of paragraphs 
(1), (3), (6), and (7) of subsection (b), and sub-
section (h), of section 1111. 
‘‘(I) An assurance that the State will par-
ticipate in biennial State academic assessments 
in grades 4 and 8 in reading and mathematics 
under the National Assessment of Educational 
Progress carried out under section 303(b)(3) of 
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the 
National 
Assessment 
of 
Educational 
Progress Authorization Act if the Secretary 
pays the costs of administering such assess-
ments. 
‘‘(3) REVIEW
AND
APPROVAL
BY
THE
SEC-
RETARY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) establish a process to review the 
declarations of intent received from States 
under this subsection; and 
‘‘(ii) by not later than 30 days after 
the submission of a State declaration of in-
tent, approve the State declaration or, if 
the Secretary clearly demonstrates that the 
State declaration of intent does not meet 
the requirements of this subsection, carry 
out the requirements of paragraph (4). 
‘‘(B) STANDARD
AND
NATURE
OF
RE-
VIEW.—The Secretary shall conduct a good 
faith review of State declarations of intent in 
their totality and in deference to State and local 
judgments, with the goal of promoting parental 
choice. 
‘‘(4) STATE DECLARATION OF INTENT DETER-
MINATION, DEMONSTRATION, AND REVISION.—If the 
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Secretary determines that a State declaration of in-
tent does not meet the requirements of this sub-
section, the Secretary shall, prior to disapproving 
the declaration of intent— 
‘‘(A) immediately notify the State of the 
determination; 
‘‘(B) provide to the State a detailed de-
scription of the specific requirements of this 
subsection that the Secretary determined were 
not met in the declaration of intent; 
‘‘(C) offer the State an opportunity to re-
vise and resubmit its declaration of intent with-
in 30 days of the determination; 
‘‘(D) provide technical assistance, upon re-
quest of the State, in order to assist the State 
in meeting the requirements of this subsection; 
and 
‘‘(E) provide an opportunity for a public 
hearing not later than 30 days after receiving 
from the State a revised declaration of intent, 
with public notice provided not less than 15 
days before the hearing. 
‘‘(5) STATE
DECLARATION
OF
INTENT
DIS-
APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall have the authority 
to disapprove a State declaration of intent if— 
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