I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2769
To improve education for migrant children in elementary and secondary
schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 28, 1993
Mr. FORD of Michigan (for himself and Mr. GOODLING) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
A BILL
To improve education for migrant children in elementary
and secondary schools.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PROGRAMS FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN.
Subpart 1 of part D of chapter 1 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘Subpart 1—Programs for Migrant Children
‘‘SEC. 1201. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
‘‘The purpose of this subpart is—
‘‘(1) to support high quality and comprehensive
educational programs for migrant children to help
reduce the multiple needs that result from repeated
moves;
‘‘(2) to ensure that migrant children are pro-
vided with appropriate educational and supportive
services addressing their special needs in a coordi-
nated and efficient manner; and
‘‘(3) to design programs to help migrant chil-
dren overcome educational disruption, cultural and
language barriers, social isolation, various health-re-
lated problems, and other noninstructional factors
which inhibit their ability to do well in school and
to prepare such children to make a successful transi-
tion to postsecondary education or employment.
‘‘SEC. 1202. GRANTS—ENTITLEMENT AND AMOUNT.
‘‘(a) ENTITLEMENT.—(1) A State educational agency
or a combination of such agencies shall, upon application,
be entitled to receive a grant for any fiscal year under
this subpart to establish or improve, either directly or
through local educational agencies, programs of education
which meet the requirements of section 1203 for migrant
children.
‘‘(2) In the case of any State which receives an alloca-
tion of $1,000,000 or less, the Secretary shall consult with
the State educational agency regarding consortium ar-
rangements with another State, an institution of higher
education, or with a regional education laboratory to de-
liver services in a more effective and efficient manner.
‘‘(3) A State, irrespective of allocation amounts, may
propose a consortium agreement.
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall approve a consortium agree-
ment under paragraphs (2) or (3) if the proposal dem-
onstrates that the agreement may reduce administrative
overhead costs or program function costs for State pro-
grams and make more funds available for direct services
to add substantially to the welfare or educational attain-
ment of children to be served under this subpart.
‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT TO STATES.—(1) Except as
provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), the amount of each
State’s grant will be an amount equal to 40 percent of
the average per pupil expenditure in the State multiplied
by—
‘‘(A) the estimated number of migrant children
who reside in the State full time; and
‘‘(B) the full-time equivalent of the estimated
number of migrant children who reside in the State
part time, as determined by the Secretary in accord-
ance with regulations.
‘‘(2) If the average per pupil expenditure in the State
is less than 80 percent of the average per pupil expendi-
ture in the United States, the amount of a grant under
paragraph (1) shall be 32 percent of the average per pupil
expenditure in the United States for such fiscal year mul-
tiplied by—
‘‘(A) the estimated number of migrant children
who reside in the State full time; and
‘‘(B) the full-time equivalent of the estimated
number of migrant children who reside in the State
part time, as determined by the Secretary in accord-
ance with regulations.
‘‘(3) If the average per pupil expenditure in the State
is more than 120 percent of the average per pupil expendi-
ture in the United States, the amount of the grant under
paragraph (1) shall be 48 percent of the average per pupil
expenditure in the United States multiplied by—
‘‘(A) the estimated number of migrant children
who reside in the State full time; and
‘‘(B) the full-time equivalent of the estimated
number of migrant children who reside in the State
part time, as determined by the Secretary in accord-
ance with regulations.
‘‘(4) The Secretary shall develop a formula for ad-
justing the estimated number of children who reside in a
State in order to reflect the number of migrant children
who are served in summer programs (which may include
intersession programs) in the State and the additional
costs of operating such programs. The formula shall in-
clude an equitable cost factor related to the differences
in costs for different program designs.
‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF GRANT TO PUERTO RICO.—(1) For
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine—
‘‘(A) the average per pupil expenditure of the
State which has the lowest such average;
‘‘(B) the average per pupil expenditure of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
‘‘(C) the percentage that, when multiplied by
the amount described in subparagraph (A), yields
the amount described in subparagraph (B).
‘‘(2) The grant which the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico shall be eligible to receive under this section for a
fiscal year shall be the amount arrived at by multiplying
the number of such migrant children in the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico by the product of—
‘‘(A) the percentage determined under para-
graph (1)(C); and
‘‘(B) 32 percent of the average per pupil ex-
penditure in the United States.
‘‘(d) ERROR RATE.—States may make up to a 5 per-
cent standard error rate when determining the number of
eligible migrants residing within a State.
‘‘(e) BYPASS PROVISION.—If the Secretary deter-
mines that a State is unable or unwilling to conduct edu-
cational programs for migrant children, that it would re-
sult in more efficient and economic administration, or that
it would add substantially to the welfare or educational
attainment of such children, the Secretary may make spe-
cial arrangements with other public or nonprofit private
agencies to carry out the purposes of this section in 1 or
more States, and for this purpose the Secretary may use
all or part of the total of grants available for any such
State under this subpart.
‘‘SEC. 1203. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
‘‘The Secretary shall approve an application submit-
ted under section 1202(a) which—
‘‘(1) provides the opportunity for migrant chil-
dren to meet challenging content standards and per-
formance standards if such standards have been
adopted;
‘‘(2) provides for educational continuity through
the timely transfer of pertinent school records, in-
cluding information on health, when children move
from one school to another;
‘‘(3) contains an agreement to record the mi-
grant status of such children and their average daily
attendance on State student collection data;
‘‘(4) specifies goals and measurable outcomes in
a comprehensive plan which, at a minimum, de-
scribes—
‘‘(A)(i) advocacy and outreach activities for
migrant children and their families, including a
description of education, health, nutrition, and
other supportive social services to be provided
directly or through cooperative agreements with
other service providers;
‘‘(ii) coordination efforts with other Fed-
eral instructional and supportive programs, in-
cluding early childhood programs, the basic
grant program under this chapter, the bilingual
education programs established under title VII,
and regular local school programs;
‘‘(B) ongoing professional development
programs, including mentoring programs for
teachers and other program personnel;
‘‘(C) parent involvement programs (as de-
fined under section 1016), and when feasible,
the establishment of instructional programs
such as use of the model developed under the
Even Start Family Literacy Programs that pro-
mote adult literacy and train parents to support
the educational growth of their children;
‘‘(D) the integration of information tech-
nology into educational programs; and
‘‘(E) programs to manage the transition
from school to work or to a postsecondary edu-
cation for high school students;
‘‘(5) includes assurances that programs will be
administered and carried out in a manner consistent
with the basic objectives of section 1011 (other than
subsection (b)), sections 1012, 1014, and 1018, and
subpart 2 of part F; and
‘‘(6) gives priority to migrant children whose
educational needs are greatest and whose education
has been interrupted during the regular school year.
‘‘SEC. 1204. COORDINATION OF MIGRANT EDUCATION AC-
TIVITIES.
‘‘(a) ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.—(1) After consulta-
tion with the States, the Secretary is authorized to make
grants to, and enter into contracts with, State educational
agencies for activities to improve the interstate and intra-
state coordination (including the use of technology) among
State and local educational agencies of the educational
programs available for migrant children. No State edu-
cational agency may receive a grant under this subpart
for more than 5 years.
‘‘(2) Grants or contracts shall also be made under
this subpart to State educational agencies to develop and
establish a national program of credit exchange and ac-
crual for migrant children so that such children will be
better able to meet graduation requirements and receive
high school diplomas.
‘‘(b) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.—From the amounts
made available for this subpart, the Secretary shall reserve
not more than $1,500,000 to award, on a competitive
basis, not more than 15 grants in the amount of $100,000
each to State educational agencies with approved consor-
tium agreements described under section 1202(a)(4). Not
less than 10 of such grants shall be awarded to States
which receive allocations of less than $1,000,000 if such
States have approved agreements.
‘‘(c) CONTINUATION OF SERVICES.—(1) Subject to
paragraph (2), a child who is no longer a migrant child
may continue to receive services for one additional school
year only if comparable services are not available through
other programs.
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) a child who ceases to be a migrant child
during a school term shall be eligible for services
until the end of such term; and
‘‘(B) secondary school students who were eligi-
ble for services in secondary school may continue to
be served through credit accrual programs until
graduation.
‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE AND REPORTING.—(1) Not later
than October 1, 1994, the Secretary shall begin to work
with States to provide model information forms or other
assistance to help ensure the timely transfer of students’
educational and health records.
‘‘(2) Not later than October 1, 1995, the Secretary
shall submit a report to the Congress regarding the effec-
tiveness of methods used by States to transfer records.
‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subpart, the
term ‘migrant child’ means a child, aged 3 to 21, inclusive,
who is or whose parent or guardian is a migrant agricul-
tural worker, migrant fisherman, or migrant dairy worker
and who has moved within the past 24 months—
‘‘(1) from one school district to another to ob-
tain temporary or seasonal employment in agri-
culture, fishing, or dairy work; or
‘‘(2) has moved from one administrative area to
another, in a State that is comprised of a single