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year, not including any unfunded liabilities the teacher re-
tirement or pension system has accrued. 
SEC. 805. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE FREE EXERCISE OF 
RELIGION. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) a student, teacher, or school administrator 
retains their rights under the First Amendment, in-
cluding the right to free exercise of religion, during 
the school day or while on elementary and secondary 
school grounds; and 
(2) elementary and secondary schools should ex-
amine their policies to ensure that, in a manner con-
sistent with the Constitution, law, and court deci-
sions, students, teachers, and school administrators 
are able to fully participate in activities on elemen-
tary and secondary school grounds related to their 
religious freedom. 
TITLE IX—SCHOOLS OF THE 
FUTURE ACT 
SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Schools of the Future 
Act’’. 
SEC. 902. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Digital learning technology holds the prom-
ise of transforming rural education by removing bar-
riers of distance and increasing school capacity. 
(2) While many large urban local educational 
agencies are at the forefront of implementing new 
digital learning innovations, it is often harder for 
smaller and more rural local educational agencies to 
access these tools. Smaller local educational agencies 
with less capacity may also find it more difficult to 
provide the training needed to effectively implement 
new digital learning technologies. 
(3) Despite the potential of digital learning in 
rural areas, these advancements risk bypassing rural 
areas without support for their implementation. 
Rather than having schools and local educational 
agencies apply digital learning innovations designed 
for urban environments to rural areas, it is impor-
tant that digital learning technologies be developed 
and implemented in ways that reflect the unique 
needs of rural areas. 
(4) Digital learning is rapidly expanding, and 
new tools for improving teaching and learning are 
being developed every day. A growing demand for 
digital learning tools and products has made rig-
orous evaluation of their effectiveness increasingly 
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important, as this information would allow school 
and local educational agency leaders to make in-
formed choices about how best to use these tools to 
improve student achievement and educational out-
comes. 
(5) High-quality digital learning increases stu-
dent access to courses that may not have been avail-
able to students in rural communities, increasing 
their college and career readiness. 
SEC. 903. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
(a) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—From 
the amounts appropriated to carry out this title, the Sec-
retary of Education is authorized to award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to carry out the 
activities described in section 906. 
(b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant under subsection 
(a) shall be awarded for not less than a 3-year and not 
longer than a 5-year period. 
(c) FISCAL AGENT.—If an eligible partnership re-
ceives a grant under this title, a school partner in the part-
nership shall serve as the fiscal agent for the partnership. 
SEC. 904. APPLICATION. 
An eligible partnership desiring a grant under this 
title shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
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the Secretary may require, which shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(1) A description of the eligible partnership, in-
cluding the name of each of the partners and their 
respective roles and responsibilities. 
(2) A description of the technology-based learn-
ing practice, tool, strategy, or course that the eligi-
ble partnership proposes to develop or implement 
using the grant funds. 
(3) An assurance that all teachers of record 
hold the relevant license and are otherwise qualified 
to implement any technology-based practice, tool, 
strategy, or course using the grant funds. 
(4) An assurance that all students in a class or 
school implementing a practice, tool, strategy or 
course using the grant funds will have access to any 
equipment necessary to participate on a full and eq-
uitable basis. 
(5) An assurance that the proposed uses of 
smartphones, laptops, tablets, or other devices sus-
ceptible to inappropriate use have the informed con-
sent of parents or guardians and are not incon-
sistent with any policies of the local educational 
agency on the use of such devices. 
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(6) Information relevant to the selection criteria 
under section 905(c). 
(7) A description of the evaluation to be under-
taken by the eligible partnership, including— 
(A) how the school partner and the evalua-
tion partner will work together to implement 
the practice, tool, strategy, or course in such a 
way that permits the use of a rigorous, inde-
pendent evaluation design that meets the stand-
ards of the What Works Clearinghouse of the 
Institute of Education Sciences; and 
(B) a description of the evaluation design 
that meets such standards, which will be used 
to measure any significant effects on the out-
comes described in paragraphs (1) through (3) 
of section 907(a). 
(8) An estimate of the number of students to 
be reached through the grant and evidence of its ca-
pacity to reach the proposed number of students 
during the course of the grant. 
(9) Any other information the Secretary may 
require. 
SEC. 905. APPLICATION REVIEW AND AWARD BASIS. 
(a) PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary shall use a peer 
review process to review applications for grants under this 
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title. The Secretary shall appoint individuals to the peer 
review process who have relevant expertise in digital learn-
ing, research and evaluation, standards quality and align-
ment, and rural education. 
(b) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 
title, the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent practicable, 
diversity in the type of activities funded under the grants. 
(c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In evaluating an eligible 
partnership’s application for a grant under this title, the 
Secretary shall consider— 
(1) the need for the proposed technology-based 
learning practice, tool, strategy, or course; 
(2) the quality of the design of the proposed 
practice, tool, strategy, or course; 
(3) the strength of the existing research evi-
dence with respect to such practice, tool, strategy, or 
course; 
(4) the experience of the eligible partnership; 
and 
(5) the quality of the evaluation proposed by 
the eligible partnership. 
(d) DEDICATED FUNDING FOR FRINGE RURAL, DIS-
TANT RURAL, AND REMOTE RURAL SCHOOLS.—Not less 
than 50 percent of the grant funds awarded under this 
title shall be awarded to eligible partnerships that provides 
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assurances that the school partners in the eligible partner-
ship will ensure that each school to be served by the grant 
is designated with a school locale code of Fringe Rural, 
Distant Rural, or Remote Rural, as determined by the 
Secretary. 
SEC. 906. USE OF FUNDS. 
(a) REQUIRED USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership re-
ceiving a grant under this title shall use such funds 
to implement and evaluate the results of technology- 
based learning practices, strategies, tools, or courses, 
including the practices, strategies, tools, or courses 
identified under paragraphs (2) through (6). 
(2) TOOLS AND COURSES DESIGNED TO PER-
SONALIZE
THE
LEARNING
EXPERIENCE.—Tech-
nology-based tools and courses identified under this 
paragraph include the following types of tools and 
courses designed to personalize the learning experi-
ence: 
(A) Technology-based personalized instruc-
tional systems. 
(B) Adaptive software, games, or tools, 
that can be used to personalize learning. 
(C) Computer-based tutoring courses to 
help struggling students. 
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(D) Games, digital tools, and smartphone 
or tablet applications to improve students’ en-
gagement, focus, and time on task. 
(E) Other tools and courses designed to 
personalize the learning experience. 
(3) PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO 
AID AND INFORM INSTRUCTION.—Technology-based 
practices and strategies identified under this para-
graph include the following types of practices and 
strategies designed to aid and inform instruction: 
(A) Adaptive software, games, or tools that 
can be used for the purpose of formative assess-
ment. 
(B) Web resources that provide teachers 
and their students access to instructional and 
curricular materials that are— 
(i) aligned with high-quality stand-
ards; and 
(ii) designed to prepare students for 
college and a career, such as a repository 
of primary historical sources for use in his-
tory and civics courses or examples of de-
velopmentally appropriate science experi-
ments. 
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(C) Online professional development oppor-
tunities, teacher mentoring opportunities, and 
professional learning communities. 
(D) Tools or web resources designed to ad-
dress specific instructional problems. 
(E) Other practices and strategies de-
signed to personalize the learning experience. 
(4) TOOLS, COURSES, AND
STRATEGIES
DE-
SIGNED TO IMPROVE THE ACHIEVEMENT OF STU-
DENTS
WITH
SPECIFIC
EDUCATIONAL
NEEDS.— 
Technology-based tools, courses, and strategies iden-
tified under this paragraph include the following 
types of tools, courses, and strategies designed to 
meet the needs of students with specific educational 
needs: 
(A) Digital tools specifically designed to 
meet the needs of students with a particular 
disability. 
(B) Online courses that give students who 
are not on track to graduate or have already 
dropped out of school the opportunity for accel-
erated credit recovery. 
(C) Language instruction courses, games, 
or software designed to meet the needs of 
English language learners. 
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(D) Other tools, courses, and strategies de-
signed to personalize the learning experience. 
(5) TOOLS, COURSES, AND
STRATEGIES
DE-
SIGNED TO HELP STUDENTS DEVELOP 21ST CEN-
TURY SKILLS.—Technology-based tools, courses, and 
strategies identified under this paragraph include 
peer-to-peer virtual learning opportunities to be used 
for the purposes of project-based learning, deeper 
learning, and collaborative learning, and other tools, 
courses, and strategies designed to help students de-
velop 21st century skills, such as the ability to think 
critically and solve problems, be effective commu-
nicators, collaborate with others, and learn to create 
and innovate. 
(6) TECHNOLOGY-BASED OR ONLINE COURSES 
THAT ALLOW STUDENTS TO TAKE COURSES THAT 
THEY WOULD NOT OTHERWISE HAVE ACCESS TO.— 
Technology-based or online courses identified under 
this paragraph include courses or collections of 
courses approved by the applicable local educational 
agency or State educational agency that provide stu-
dents with access to courses that they would not oth-
erwise have access to, such as the following: 
(A) An online repository of elective 
courses. 
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Calendar No. 147 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 5 
AN ACT 
To support State and local accountability for public 
education, protect State and local authority, in-
form parents of the performance of their chil-
dren’s schools, and for other purposes. 
JULY 13, 2015 
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar 
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