I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1617
To promote youth entrepreneurship education.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 26, 2001
Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. ANDREWS, and Mr. SOUDER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
A BILL
To promote youth entrepreneurship education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. EMPOWERING FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS.
Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 is amended—
(1) by striking the title heading and inserting
the following:
‘‘TITLE V—PROMOTING EQUITY
AND EMPOWERMENT’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new part:
a sense of individual opportunity, enhances their
personal growth, helps them develop an appreciation
of the importance of innovation, helps develop their
problem solving and leadership skills, helps them
learn to manage their finances, and helps them de-
velop the sort of optimistic outlook and self-reliant
attitudes that will benefit them for their entire work-
ing lives.
‘‘(5) Entrepreneurship education integrates in-
struction in economic literacy, including how the
economy functions, the workings of the social secu-
rity system, and the importance of personal savings.
‘‘(6) The entrepreneurs and inventors of tomor-
row are in our schools today. The entrepreneurial
spirit needs to be nurtured at all levels of our Na-
tion’s educational system especially beginning with
students in grades 7 through 12.
‘‘SEC. 5402. STATE GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—In any fiscal year in which the ap-
propriations under section 5408(a) equal or exceed
$50,000,000, the Secretary shall make grants to States
from allocations under subsection (d) to enable them to
carry out entrepreneurship education programs for stu-
dents in grades 7 through 12.
‘‘(b) AGENCY TO RECEIVE GRANT.—A grant award
to a State under subsection (a) shall be made to the State
educational agency.
‘‘(c) STATE PLAN.—
‘‘(1) APPROVED STATE PLAN REQUIRED.—No
State shall receive a grant under subsection (a) un-
less it has submitted to the Secretary a plan, which
the Secretary has approved.
‘‘(2) STATE PLAN CONTENTS.—The State plan
described in paragraph (1) shall include—
‘‘(A) a description of how the State will
use a grant;
‘‘(B) a description of how the programs
supported by a grant will—
‘‘(i) involve the business community;
and
‘‘(ii) be coordinated with other rel-
evant Federal, State, regional, and local
programs; and
‘‘(C) a description of how the State will
evaluate program performance.
‘‘(d) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) ALLOCATION FACTORS.—Except as other-
wise provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall
allocate the amounts made available to carry out
this section pursuant to subsection (a) to each State
according to the relative populations in all the States
of students in grades 7 through 12, as determined
by the Secretary based on the most recent satisfac-
tory data.
‘‘(2) MINIMUM
ALLOCATION.—Subject to the
availability of appropriations and notwithstanding
paragraph (1), a State that has submitted an ap-
proved plan under subsection (c) shall be allocated
an amount not less than $400,000 for a fiscal year.
‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—In any fiscal year an al-
location under this subsection—
‘‘(A) for a State that has not submitted a
plan under subsection (c); or
‘‘(B) for a State whose plan submitted
under subsection (c) has been disapproved by
the Secretary;
shall be reallocated to the remaining States in ac-
cordance with paragraph (1).
‘‘(e) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) REQUIRED
USES.—A grant made to a
State under subsection (a) shall be used—
‘‘(A) to provide funds to local educational
agencies and public schools to carry out entre-
preneurship education programs for students in
grades 7 through 12 based on the concept of
lifelong learning necessary to encourage the en-
trepreneurial spirit; and
‘‘(B) to monitor and evaluate programs
supported under subparagraph (A).
‘‘(2) PERMISSIBLE USE.—A grant made to a
State under subsection (a) may be used for profes-
sional development that helps to prepare teachers
and administrators for entrepreneurial education.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—
A State receiving a grant under subsection (a) may
use not more than 4 percent of the total amount of
the grant in each fiscal year for the administrative
costs of carrying out this section.
‘‘(f) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—Each agency re-
ceiving a grant as described in subsection (b) shall trans-
mit a report to the Secretary with respect to each fiscal
year for which a grant was received. The report shall de-
scribe the programs supported by the grant and the re-
sults of the State’s monitoring and evaluation of such pro-
grams.
‘‘SEC. 5403. DIRECT LOCAL GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘In any fiscal year in which the appropriations under
section 5408(a) are less than $50,000,000, the Secretary
may make grants directly to local educational agencies and
public schools to provide entrepreneurship education to
students in grades 7 through 12.
‘‘SEC. 5404. CLEARINGHOUSE.
‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall make a grant
to or execute a contract with an organization or institution
with substantial experience in the field of entrepreneurship
education to establish, operate, and maintain a national
clearinghouse (in this part referred to as the ‘‘Clearing-
house’’) for instructional materials and information re-
garding exemplary entrepreneurship education programs
and best practices.
‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An organization or institution
desiring to establish, operate, and maintain the Clearing-
house shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and accompanied by such informa-
tion, as the Secretary may reasonably require.
‘‘(c) BASIS AND TERM.—The Secretary shall make
the grant or contract authorized by subsection (a) on a
competitive, merit basis for a term of 5 years.
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—The Clearinghouse shall use
the funds provided under a grant or contract made under
subsection (a)—
‘‘(1) to maintain a repository of instructional
materials and related information regarding entre-
preneurship education programs for secondary
schools, including middle schools, for use by States,
localities, and the general public;
‘‘(2) to disseminate to States, localities, and the
general public, through electronic and other means,
instructional materials and related information re-
garding entrepreneurship education programs for
secondary schools, including middle schools; and
‘‘(3) to the extent that resources allow, to pro-
vide technical assistance to States, localities, and the
general public on the design, establishment, and im-
plementation of entrepreneurship education pro-
grams for secondary schools, including middle
schools.
‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Clearinghouse shall con-
sult with the Small Business Administration with respect
to its activities under subsection (d).
‘‘(f) SUBMISSION TO CLEARINGHOUSE.—Each Fed-
eral agency or department that develops entrepreneurship
education programs or instructional materials for such
programs shall submit to the Clearinghouse information
on the programs and copies of the materials.
‘‘(g) APPLICATION OF COPYRIGHT LAWS.—In car-
rying out this section the Clearinghouse shall ensure com-
pliance with title 17, United States Code.
‘‘SEC. 5405. EVALUATION.
‘‘(a) PERFORMANCE
MEASURES.—The Secretary
shall develop measures to evaluate the performance of pro-
grams assisted under sections 5402 and 5403.
‘‘(b) EVALUATION ACCORDING
TO PERFORMANCE
MEASURES.—Applying the performance measures devel-
oped under subsection (a), the Secretary shall evaluate
programs assisted under sections 5402 and 5403—
‘‘(1) to judge their performance and effective-
ness;
‘‘(2) to identify which of the programs rep-
resent the best practices of entities developing entre-
preneurship education programs for students in
grades 7 through 12; and
‘‘(3) to identify which of the programs can be
replicated and used to provide technical assistance to
States, localities, and the general public.
‘‘SEC. 5406. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.
‘‘For each fiscal year for which there are appropria-
tions under section 5408(a), the Secretary shall transmit
a report to the Congress describing the status of the im-
plementation of this part. The report shall include the re-
sults of the evaluation required by section 5405 and a de-
scription of the programs supported under sections 5402
and 5403.
‘‘SEC. 5407. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this part—
‘‘(1) the term ‘entrepreneurship education’
means 
educational 
activities 
and 
experiences,
planned and supervised by qualified teachers, that
enable students to explore business ownership oppor-
tunities, acquire the skills and knowledge necessary
to start a business, and develop a range of entrepre-
neurial competencies that will help them to explore
and identify their lifelong career goals as business
owners or as competent employees; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘qualified teacher’ means a teach-
er who holds a valid teaching certification or is con-
sidered to be qualified by the State educational
agency in the State in which the teacher works.
‘‘SEC. 5408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—For the purposes of carrying
out this part, there are authorized to be appropriated
$60,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002 through
2006.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION
ON
FUNDS
FOR
CLEARING-
HOUSE.—The Secretary may use not less than 2 percent
and not more than 5 percent of amounts appropriated
under subsection (a) for each fiscal year to carry out sec-
tion 5404.
‘‘(c) LIMITATION
ON
FUNDS
FOR
SECRETARY’S
EVALUATION.—The Secretary may use not more than
$200,000 from the amounts appropriated under sub-
section (a) for each fiscal year to carry out section 5405.
‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Ex-
cept as provided in subsection (b) and as necessary to
carry out section 5405 using amounts described in sub-
section (c), the Secretary shall not use any portion of the
amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for the costs
of administering this part.
‘‘(e) FUNDS FOR GRANTS.—For each fiscal year the
Secretary shall use all amounts appropriated under sub-
section (a), other than the amounts described in sub-
sections (b) and (c), only for grants under section 5402
or 5403.’’.
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