I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6472 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 
a Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee and a Volunteer Parents and 
Families Advisory Committee. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 7, 2016 
Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to establish a Volunteer Teacher Advisory Com-
mittee and a Volunteer Parents and Families Advisory 
Committee. 
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 ‘‘Teachers and Parents 
at the Table Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. VOLUNTEER TEACHER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 1004 (20 U.S.C. 6304) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1005. VOLUNTEER TEACHER ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 
‘‘(1) Expert teachers offer an important re-
source to policymakers as they can bring their exper-
tise and perspective from the classroom to inform 
policy so that positive outcomes for all students will 
be maximized. 
‘‘(2) State Teachers of the Year represent a 
valuable resource with a body of expert knowledge 
and skill about instructional practice, 21st century 
learning, and school functioning that can be infused 
into policymaking to promote better outcomes for 
prekindergarten, elementary, and secondary stu-
dents. 
‘‘(3) State Teachers of the Year have been se-
lected by their communities and States as models of 
their profession and represent every State in the Na-
tion and every discipline and grade level. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish an advisory committee, to be known as the Volunteer 
Teacher Advisory Committee (referred to in this section 
as the ‘Committee’). 
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‘‘(c) DUTY.—The duty of the Committee shall be to 
monitor the effects of this Act, on the ground and in class-
rooms. 
‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The membership of the 
Committee shall consist of 10 teachers employed in 
a public elementary school and 10 teachers employed 
in a public secondary school who— 
‘‘(A) are past or present finalists or State 
Teachers of the Year, or are nominated from 
organizations representing teachers and have 
demonstrated similar evidence of expertise; 
‘‘(B) have experience working with policy 
development; 
‘‘(C) have a demonstrated history of work-
ing as a teacher leader in the policy arena; and 
‘‘(D) have submitted an application to the 
Secretary to serve on the Committee. 
‘‘(2) LIST; APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall 
compile a list of teachers submitting applications 
under paragraph (1)(D). The members of the Com-
mittee shall be appointed as follows: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary shall appoint 4 teach-
ers from the list. 
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‘‘(B) The Majority Leader of the Senate 
shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. 
‘‘(C) The Minority Leader of the Senate 
shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. 
‘‘(D) The Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall appoint 4 teachers from the 
list. 
‘‘(E) The Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives shall appoint 4 teachers from 
the list. 
‘‘(3) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) FINALISTS OR STATE TEACHERS OF 
THE YEAR.—Not less than half of the members 
of the Committee shall be past or present final-
ists or State Teachers of the Year. 
‘‘(B) REPRESENTATION REQUIREMENT.— 
The members of the Committee shall represent 
the diversity of the teaching workforce from 
multiple geographic, grade level, and specialty 
areas. 
‘‘(4) TERM.—Each member of the Committee 
shall serve on the Committee for a 3-year staggered 
term. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall sub-
mit to Congress and the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) on an annual basis, a report on the 
monitoring carried out under subsection (c); 
and 
‘‘(B) on a quarterly basis, updates on such 
monitoring. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min-
imum, the following: 
‘‘(A) The effects of this Act on the teach-
ing profession. 
‘‘(B) The effects of this Act on schools and 
classrooms. 
‘‘(C) The effects of this Act on students, 
families, and communities. 
‘‘(D) Recommendations for strengthening 
policy and policy implementation in order to 
meet the goals of the Act. 
‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The following 
additional requirements shall apply to the Committee: 
‘‘(1) The Committee shall meet in person at 
least once per year for deliberation, with all travel 
expenses paid for by the Secretary. 
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‘‘(2) The Committee shall be available for con-
sultation with officials at the Department and the 
authorizing Committees of Congress regarding the 
impact of this Act on students, families, and the 
teaching profession. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State 
Teacher of the Year’ means any person who has been rec-
ognized as a State Teacher of the Year by the Council 
of Chief State School Officers. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts 
appropriated to, and available at the discretion of, the Sec-
retary for programmatic and administrative expenditures 
for fiscal years 2017 through 2021, a total of $500,000 
shall be used to establish and carry out the functions of 
the Committee established under this section.’’. 
SEC. 3. VOLUNTEER PARENTS AND FAMILIES ADVISORY 
COMMITTEE. 
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as amended by section 2 
of this Act, is further amended by inserting after section 
1005 (as added by such section 2) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1006. VOLUNTEER PARENTS AND FAMILIES ADVI-
SORY COMMITTEE. 
‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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‘‘(1) Parents and families have a major influ-
ence on their children’s achievement in school and 
throughout life. 
‘‘(2) Parents and family members offer an im-
portant resource to policymakers as they provide a 
unique perspective as consumers of our Nation’s 
public schools. 
‘‘(3) All parents and family members—regard-
less of income, education, or cultural background— 
are involved in their child’s learning and want their 
child to reach their fullest potential. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish an advisory committee, to be known as the Volunteer 
Parents and Families Advisory Committee (referred to in 
this section as the ‘Committee’). 
‘‘(c) DUTIES AND FOCUS.—The duty of the Com-
mittee shall be to monitor the effects of this Act on chil-
dren and families, and review and analyze implementation 
of State and local parent and family engagement policies, 
school-parent compacts, and other family engagement ac-
tivities described in section 1116 and part E of title IV. 
‘‘(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The membership of the 
Committee shall consist of 10 parents or family 
members of children enrolled in a public elementary 
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school and 10 parents or family members of children 
enrolled in a public secondary school who— 
‘‘(A) have a demonstrated history of paren-
tal involvement and family engagement in 
schools; and 
‘‘(B) have submitted an application to the 
Secretary to serve on the Committee. 
‘‘(2) LIST; APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary shall 
compile a list of parents and family members sub-
mitting applications under paragraph (1)(B). The 
members of the Committee shall be appointed as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary shall appoint 4 parents 
or family members from the list. 
‘‘(B) The Majority Leader of the Senate 
shall appoint 4 parents or family members from 
the list. 
‘‘(C) The Minority Leader of the Senate 
shall appoint 4 parents or family members from 
the list. 
‘‘(D) The Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall appoint 4 parents or family 
members from the list. 
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‘‘(E) The Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives shall appoint 4 parents or fam-
ily members from the list. 
‘‘(3) REPRESENTATION REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The members of the 
Committee shall represent multiple geographic 
areas and a diversity of students, and shall in-
clude at least one parent or family member rep-
resenting each of the following student groups: 
‘‘(i) Economically disadvantaged stu-
dents. 
‘‘(ii) Students from major racial and 
ethnic groups. 
‘‘(iii) Children with disabilities. 
‘‘(iv) English learners. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—Consider-
ation should also be given to representation of 
students’ gender identity and migrant status in 
the appointment of members of the Committee. 
‘‘(4) RESEARCH
ADVISORS.—The Secretary 
may appoint not more than 5 research advisors to 
the Committee, such as researchers, practitioners or 
representatives from national nonprofit organiza-
tions with expertise in family engagement in edu-
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cation, to make data-driven recommendations re-
garding family engagement in education metrics. 
‘‘(5) TERM.—Each member of the Committee 
shall serve on the Committee for a 3-year staggered 
term. 
‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall sub-
mit to Congress and the Secretary— 
‘‘(A) on an annual basis, a report and pol-
icy recommendations on the review and analysis 
carried out under subsection (c); and 
‘‘(B) on a quarterly basis, updates on such 
review and analysis. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report sub-
mitted under paragraph (1) shall include, at a min-
imum, the following: 
‘‘(A) The effects of this Act on students, 
families, and communities. 
‘‘(B) The effects of this Act on parental 
involvement and family engagement in edu-
cation, including schools and classrooms. 
‘‘(C) Direction for State education authori-
ties and local education authorities for imple-
menting written family engagement policies 
under section 1116 and part E of title IV. 
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‘‘(D) Recommendations for strengthening 
policy and policy implementation in order to 
meet the goals of the Act. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘family engagement’ means a 
shared responsibility of families and schools for stu-
dent success— 
‘‘(A) in which schools and community- 
based organizations are committed to reaching 
out to engage families in meaningful ways and 
families are committed actively to support their 
children’s learning and development; 
‘‘(B) that is continuous from birth through 
young adulthood; and 
‘‘(C) that reinforces learning that takes 
place in the home, school, and community. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘parental involvement’ means the 
participation of parents or family members in reg-
ular, two-way, and meaningful communication in-
volving student academic learning and other school 
activities, including ensuring— 
‘‘(A) that parents or family members play 
an integral role in assisting their child’s learn-
ing; 
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