I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6547 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
criminal background checks for school employees. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 17, 2010 
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself and Mrs. MCCARTHY of New 
York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to require criminal background checks for school 
employees. 
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 at the ‘‘Protecting Students 
from Sexual and Violent Predators Act’’. 
SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 
Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 9537. BACKGROUND CHECKS. 
‘‘(a) BACKGROUND CHECKS.—Each State that re-
ceives funds under this Act shall have in effect policies 
and procedures that— 
‘‘(1) require that criminal background checks 
be conducted for school employees that include— 
‘‘(A) a search of the State criminal reg-
istry or repository in the State in which the 
school employee resides and each State in which 
such school employee previously resided; 
‘‘(B) a search of State-based child abuse 
and neglect registries and databases in the 
State in which the school employee resides and 
each State in which such school employee pre-
viously resided; 
‘‘(C) a search of the National Crime Infor-
mation Center of the Department of Justice; 
‘‘(D) a Federal Bureau of Investigation 
fingerprint check using the Integrated Auto-
mated Fingerprint Identification System; and 
‘‘(E) a search of the National Sex Of-
fender Registry established under section 19 of 
the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 
Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16919); 
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‘‘(2) prohibit the employment of school employ-
ees for a position as a school employee if such indi-
vidual— 
‘‘(A) refuses to consent to the criminal 
background check described in paragraph (1); 
‘‘(B) makes a false statement in connec-
tion with such criminal background check; 
‘‘(C) has been convicted of a felony con-
sisting of— 
‘‘(i) homicide; 
‘‘(ii) child abuse or neglect; 
‘‘(iii) a crime against children, includ-
ing child pornography; 
‘‘(iv) spousal abuse; 
‘‘(v) a crime involving rape or sexual 
assault; 
‘‘(vi) kidnapping; 
‘‘(vii) arson; or 
‘‘(viii) physical assault, battery, or a 
drug-related offense, committed within the 
past 5 years; or 
‘‘(D) has been convicted of any other crime 
that is a violent or sexual crime against a 
minor; 
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‘‘(3) require that a local educational agency or 
State educational agency that receives information 
from a criminal background check conducted under 
this section that an individual who has applied for 
employment with such agency as a school employee 
is a sexual predator report to local law enforcement 
that such individual has so applied; 
‘‘(4) require that the criminal background 
checks described in paragraph (1) be periodically re-
peated; and 
‘‘(5) provide for a timely process by which a 
school employee may appeal the results of a criminal 
background check conducted under this section to 
challenge the accuracy or completeness of the infor-
mation produced by such background check and seek 
appropriate relief for any final employment decision 
based on materially inaccurate or incomplete infor-
mation produced by such background check, but 
that does not permit the school employee to be em-
ployed as a school employee during such process. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) SCHOOL
EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘school 
employee’ means— 
‘‘(A) an employee of, or a person seeking 
employment with, a local educational agency or 
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State educational agency, and who has a job 
duty that results in exposure to students; or 
‘‘(B) an employee of, or a person seeking 
employment with, a for-profit or nonprofit enti-
ty, or local public agency, that has a contract 
or agreement to provide services with a school, 
local educational agency, or State educational 
agency, and whose job duty— 
‘‘(i) is to provide such services; and 
‘‘(ii) results in exposure to students. 
‘‘(2) SEXUAL
PREDATOR.—The term ‘sexual 
predator’ means a person 18 years of age or older 
who has been convicted of, or pled guilty to, a sexual 
offense against a minor.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 
Section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 is amended by adding after the item 
relating to section 9536 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 9537. Background checks.’’. 
Æ 
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