I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 966 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to award grants to prepare individuals 
for the 21st century workplace and to increase America’s global competi-
tiveness, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2015 
Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 
CLAY, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. RANGEL) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
to award grants to prepare individuals for the 21st cen-
tury workplace and to increase America’s global competi-
tiveness, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Ready-to-Compete 
Act’’. 
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TITLE 
I—READY 
TO 
LEARN: 
SCHOOL 
READINESS 
AND 
SUCCESS 
SEC. 101. READY-TO-LEARN GRANTS. 
Subpart 3 of part D of title II of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6775) 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘Subpart 3—Ready-to-Learn 
‘‘SEC. 2431. SHORT TITLE. 
‘‘This subpart may be cited as ‘Ready-to-Learn Act’. 
‘‘SEC. 2432. READY-TO-LEARN INNOVATIVE MULTIPLAT-
FORM EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING AND 
SERVICES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 
award grants to eligible entities to enable such entities— 
‘‘(1) to provide a coordinated Ready-to-Learn 
service described in subsection (c); and 
‘‘(2) to award subgrants or enter into contracts 
or cooperative agreements with an eligible sub-
grantee to enable the eligible subgrantee to operate 
a high-quality Ready-to-Learn program that is a 
part of the coordinated Ready-to-Learn service. 
‘‘(b) READY-TO-LEARN PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 
Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this subpart 
shall operate a Ready-to-Learn program that— 
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‘‘(1) develops, produces, and distributes innova-
tive multiplatform educational programming and 
services for young children and youth (especially 
those young children and youth served under part A 
of title I), and the parents, educators, and caregivers 
of such children in order to help improve early child-
hood development and student achievement in the 
areas of— 
‘‘(A) reading; 
‘‘(B) mathematics; 
‘‘(C) science; 
‘‘(D) health and wellness; 
‘‘(E) social and emotional development; or 
‘‘(F) other academic or developmentally 
appropriate areas; 
‘‘(2) facilitates the development of— 
‘‘(A) innovative multiplatform educational 
programming and services, directly or through 
contracts, with producers of innovative multi-
platform educational programming and services 
for young children and youth; 
‘‘(B) rigorous professional development for 
educators and caregivers that supports effective 
use of Ready-to-Learn innovative multiplatform 
educational programming and services or im-
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proves the effectiveness of teachers in class-
rooms serving young children and youth; 
‘‘(C) support materials and services that 
accompany such innovative multiplatform edu-
cational programming and services and profes-
sional development, including outreach services, 
in order to promote the effective use of such in-
novative multiplatform educational program-
ming and services; and 
‘‘(D) related support resources for parents 
and caregivers that are designed for nationwide 
distribution over public television stations’ dig-
ital broadcasting channels and other high-tech 
delivery platforms; 
‘‘(3) contracts with an entity that owns and op-
erates a television public broadcast station, as de-
fined in section 397(6) of the Communications Act 
of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 397(6))— 
‘‘(A) that demonstrates that the station is 
a member of a strong, local, community-based 
partnership, in order to deliver effective services 
which meet the educational needs of the chil-
dren in the community served by the broadcast 
area; and 
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‘‘(B) so that innovative multiplatform edu-
cational programming and services developed 
under this subpart are disseminated and dis-
tributed to the widest possible audience appro-
priately served by the most appropriate dis-
tribution technologies; or 
‘‘(4) develops and disseminates educational or 
training material, directly related to the television 
programs assisted under this subpart, that is de-
signed— 
‘‘(A) to promote school readiness and suc-
cess for all children, especially children served 
under part A of title I, including English lan-
guage learners; and 
‘‘(B) to promote the effective use of related 
services and related support resources developed 
under paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively, 
among parents, caregivers, teachers, Head 
Start programs, reading and literacy programs 
funded under the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act, family literacy programs, child 
care providers, early childhood educators, public 
and school libraries, museums, State edu-
cational agencies, businesses, institutions of 
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higher education, and after-school, summer, 
and extended day and year programs. 
‘‘(c) COORDINATED READY-TO-LEARN SERVICE.—In 
awarding subgrants and entering into contracts and coop-
erative agreements under this subpart, an eligible entity 
shall provide a coordinated Ready-to-Learn service that— 
‘‘(1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) innovative multiplatform educational 
programming, determined by the eligible entity 
to be of sound content and artistic excellence, 
aligned to— 
‘‘(i) State academic content and aca-
demic achievement standards described 
under section 1111 and State early learn-
ing standards, as appropriate; 
‘‘(ii) rigorous professional develop-
ment for educators and caregivers that 
supports effective use of Ready-to-Learn 
innovative multiplatform educational pro-
gramming and services or improves the ef-
fectiveness of teachers in classrooms serv-
ing young children and youth; and 
‘‘(iii) related services; 
‘‘(B) effective, ongoing community out-
reach programs and ongoing partnerships with 
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local organizations to help ensure that the pro-
gramming— 
‘‘(i) addresses specific community and 
school needs; 
‘‘(ii) addresses needs of caregivers and 
educators; 
‘‘(iii) reaches children served under 
part A of title I; and 
‘‘(iv) engages multiple constituencies 
of children, parents, caregivers, and edu-
cators; 
‘‘(C) academic and developmental tele-
vision programming described in subsection (b) 
(1) in— 
‘‘(i) the topics described in subpara-
graphs (A) and (E) of subsection (b)(1); 
and 
‘‘(ii) not less than 1 other topic de-
scribed in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), 
and (F) of subsection (b)(1); and 
‘‘(D) a rigorous evaluation of the impact of 
the innovative multiplatform educational pro-
gramming and services described in subsection 
(b)(l) on— 
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‘‘(i) school readiness skills of young 
children in various socioeconomic areas, in-
cluding rural and urban areas; 
‘‘(ii) school success of youth in various 
socioeconomic areas, including rural and 
urban areas; 
‘‘(iii) teacher effectiveness; and 
‘‘(iv) community engagement and 
awareness; and 
‘‘(2) may include a comprehensive preschool 
curriculum based upon the Ready-to-Learn pro-
grams. 
‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, MATERIALS, TRAIN-
ING, AND CURRICULA.—The eligible entity shall provide 
eligible subgrantees that receive a subgrant or enter into 
a contract or cooperative agreement under this subpart 
with technical assistance, supporting materials, training, 
and curricula to ensure effective implementation of sub-
section (c). 
‘‘(e) RESERVATION OF FUNDING.—The eligible entity 
shall use such sums as may be necessary from the funds 
received under this subpart to award subgrants to or enter 
into contracts or cooperative agreements with eligible sub-
grantees that are public broadcast stations, as defined in 
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section 397(6) of the Communications Act of 1934, to 
carry out subsection (c)(1)(B) and section 2435(c). 
‘‘(f) AVAILABILITY OF PROGRAMMING AND RELATED 
SERVICES.—In awarding a grant under this subpart, the 
Secretary shall ensure that each eligible entity makes in-
novative multiplatform educational programming and 
services widely available, with support materials available, 
as appropriate, to young children and youth, parents, 
caregivers, teachers, reading and literacy programs funded 
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, fam-
ily literacy programs, child care providers, early childhood 
educators, public and school libraries, museums, State 
educational agencies, businesses, institutions of higher 
education, and afterschool, summer, and extended day and 
year programs in order to increase the effective use of in-
novative multiplatform educational programming and 
services. 
‘‘SEC. 2433. COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES. 
‘‘In carrying out this subpart, an eligible entity 
shall— 
‘‘(1) consult with the Secretary and the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services— 
‘‘(A) to maximize the use of high-quality 
innovative multiplatform educational program-
ming and services by young children and youth, 
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and to make such programming widely available 
to federally funded programs serving such chil-
dren; and 
‘‘(B) to coordinate activities assisted under 
this subpart with Federal programs that have a 
major professional development component for 
educators of young children and youth, includ-
ing programs under the Head Start Act, 21st 
Century Community Learning Centers, title I, 
and the Child Care and Development Block 
Grant Act of 1990; and 
‘‘(2) ensure that all materials acquired or pro-
duced by any eligible subgrantee are determined to 
be of sufficient age-appropriate aesthetic appeal and 
educational effectiveness to warrant national dis-
tribution and support in order to maximize the im-
pact of televised materials and the use of digital con-
tent. 
‘‘SEC. 2434. APPLICATION. 
‘‘To be eligible to receive a grant under this subpart, 
an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an applica-
tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may reasonably require. 
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‘‘SEC. 2435. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS. 
‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—In car-
rying out this subpart, an eligible entity shall prepare and 
submit to the Secretary an annual report that contains 
such information as the Secretary may require. At a min-
imum, the report shall describe the activities undertaken 
with funds received under the grant awarded to the eligible 
entity under this subpart, including each of the following: 
‘‘(1) PROGRAMMING AND RELATED SERVICES; 
TARGET
POPULATION.—The innovative multiplat-
form educational programming and services devel-
oped, directly or indirectly, by the eligible entity, and 
the target population served by the programming 
and services. 
‘‘(2) SUPPORT
OR
TRAINING
AND
PROFES-
SIONAL DEVELOPMENT MATERIALS.—The support or 
training and professional development materials de-
veloped to accompany the innovative multiplatform 
educational programming and services, and the 
method by which the materials were distributed to 
consumers and users of the innovative multiplatform 
educational programming and services. 
‘‘(3) MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION.—The means by 
which innovative multiplatform educational program-
ming and services developed under this subpart were 
distributed, including the technologies that were 
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used to make the innovative multiplatform edu-
cational programming and services available, and the 
geographic distribution achieved through such tech-
nologies. 
‘‘(4) INITIATIVES.—The initiatives undertaken 
by the eligible entity to develop public-private part-
nerships to secure non-Federal support for the devel-
opment, distribution, and broadcast of innovative 
multiplatform educational programming and serv-
ices. 
‘‘(5) IMPACT.—The impact of the innovative 
multiplatform educational programming and services 
on teaching and learning, including the impact on 
improving school readiness skills, reading skills, 
mathematics skills, science skills, and skills in other 
developmentally appropriate content areas. 
‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 
prepare and submit to the relevant committees of Con-
gress an annual report that includes the following: 
‘‘(1) ACTIVITY SUMMARY.—A summary of the 
activities assisted under section 2432. 
‘‘(2) EDUCATION, 
TRAINING, 
AND
PROFES-
SIONAL DEVELOPMENT MATERIALS.—A description 
of the education, training, and professional develop-
ment materials described in section 2432(b)(2)(B) 
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