I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1365
To amend title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 to provide for digital education partnerships.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 3, 2001
Mrs. ROUKEMA (for herself, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. WU, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr.
GILMAN, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. BOEHLERT) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
A BILL
To amend title III of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 to provide for digital education part-
nerships.
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 ‘‘Ready to Learn, Ready
to Teach Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. REVISION OF PART C OF TITLE III.
Part C of title III of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘PART C—READY-TO-LEARN DIGITAL TELEVISION
‘‘SEC. 3301. FINDINGS.
‘‘Congress makes the following findings:
‘‘(1) In 1994, Congress and the Department
collaborated to make a long-term, meaningful and
public investment in the principle that high quality
preschool television programming will help children
be ready to learn by the time the children entered
first grade.
‘‘(2) The Ready to Learn Television Program
through the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and
local public television stations has proven to be an
extremely cost-effective national response to improv-
ing early childhood cognitive development and help-
ing parents, caregivers, and professional child care
providers learn how to use television as a means to
help children learn and develop social skills and val-
ues.
‘‘(3) Independent research shows that parents
who participate in Ready to Learn workshops are
more selective of the programs that they choose for
their children, limit the number of hours of tele-
vision viewing of their children, and use the tele-
vision programs as a catalyst for learning.
‘‘(4) The Ready to Learn (RTL) Television
Program is supporting and creating commercial-free
broadcast programs for young children that are of
the highest possible educational quality.
‘‘(5) Through the Nation’s 350 local public tele-
vision stations, these programs and other program-
ming elements reach tens of millions of children,
their parents, and caregivers without regard to their
economic circumstances, location, or access to cable.
Public television is a partner with Federal policy to
make television an instrument of preschool children’s
education and early development.
‘‘(6) The Ready to Learn Television Program
supports thousands of local workshops organized and
run by local public television stations, child care
service providers, Head Start Centers, Even Start
family literacy centers and schools. These workshops
have trained 630,587 parents and professionals who,
in turn, serve and support over 6,312,000 children
across the Nation.
‘‘(7) The Ready to Learn Television Program
has published and distributed a periodic magazine
entitled ‘PBS Families’ that contains develop-
mentally appropriate material to strengthen reading
skills and enhance family literacy.
‘‘(8) Ready to Learn Television stations also
have distributed millions of age-appropriate books in
their communities. Each station receives a minimum
of 300 books each month for free local distribution.
Some stations are now distributing more than 1,000
books per month. Nationwide, more than 653,494
books have been distributed in low-income and dis-
advantaged neighborhoods free of charge.
‘‘(9) Demand for Ready To Learn Television
Program outreach and training has increased from
10 Public Broadcasting Service stations to 133 sta-
tions in 5 years. This growth has put a strain on
available resources resulting in an inability to meet
the demand for the service and to reach all the chil-
dren who would benefit from the service.
‘‘(10) Federal policy played a crucial role in the
evolution of analog television by funding the tele-
vision program entitled ‘Sesame Street’ in the
1960’s. Federal policy should continue to play an
equally crucial role for children in the digital tele-
vision age.
‘‘SEC. 3302. READY-TO-LEARN.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to
award grants to eligible entities described in section
3303(b) to develop, produce, and distribute educational
and instructional video programming for preschool and el-
ementary school children and their parents in order to fa-
cilitate the achievement of the National Education Goals.
‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY.—In making such grants, the
Secretary shall ensure that eligible entities make program-
ming widely available, with support materials as appro-
priate, to young children, their parents, child care work-
ers, and Head Start providers to increase the effective use
of such programming.
‘‘SEC. 3303. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING.
‘‘(a) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall award grants
under section 3302 to eligible entities to—
‘‘(1) facilitate the development directly, or
through contracts with producers of children and
family educational television programming, of—
‘‘(A) educational programming for pre-
school and elementary school children; and
‘‘(B) accompanying support materials and
services that promote the effective use of such
programming;
‘‘(2) facilitate the development of programming
and digital content especially designed for nation-
wide distribution over public television stations’ dig-
ital broadcasting channels and the Internet, con-
taining Ready to Learn-based children’s program-
ming and resources for parents and caregivers; and
‘‘(3) enable eligible entities to contract with en-
tities (such as public telecommunications entities) so
that programs developed under this section are dis-
seminated and distributed—
(A) to the widest possible audience appro-
priate to be served by the programming; and
(B) by the most appropriate distribution
technologies.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive
a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall be—
‘‘(1) a public telecommunications entity that is
able to demonstrate a capacity for the development
and national distribution of educational and instruc-
tional television programming of high quality for
preschool and elementary school children;
‘‘(2) able to demonstrate a capacity to contract
with the producers of children’s television program-
ming for the purpose of developing educational tele-
vision programming of high quality for preschool
and elementary school children; and
‘‘(3) able to demonstrate a capacity to localize
programming and materials to meet specific State
and local needs and provide educational outreach at
the local level.
‘‘(c) CULTURAL EXPERIENCES.—Programming de-
veloped under this section shall reflect the recognition of
rural/urban cultural and ethnic diversity of the Nation’s
children and the needs of both boys and girls in preparing
young children for success in school.
‘‘SEC. 3304. DUTIES OF SECRETARY.
‘‘The Secretary is authorized—
‘‘(1) to award grants to eligible entities de-
scribed in section 3303(b), local public television sta-
tions, or such public television stations that are part
of a consortium with 1 or more State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, local schools, in-
stitutions of higher education, or community-based
organizations of demonstrated effectiveness, for the
purpose of—
‘‘(A) addressing the learning needs of
young children in limited English proficient
households, and developing appropriate edu-
cational and television programming to foster
the school readiness of such children;
‘‘(B) developing programming and support
materials to increase family literacy skills
among parents to assist parents in teaching
their children and utilizing educational tele-
vision programming to promote school readi-
ness; and
‘‘(C) identifying, supporting, and enhanc-
ing the effective use and outreach of innovative
programs that promote school readiness;
‘‘(D) developing and disseminating edu-
cation and training materials, including—
‘‘(i) interactive programs and pro-
grams adaptable to distance learning tech-
nologies that are designed to enhance
knowledge of children’s social and cognitive
skill development and positive adult-child
interactions;
‘‘(ii) teacher training and professional
development to ensure qualified caregivers;
and
‘‘(iii) support materials to promote
the effective use of materials developed
under subparagraph (B) among parents,
Head Start providers, in-home and center-
based daycare providers, early childhood
development personnel, elementary school
teachers, public libraries, and after-school
program personnel caring for preschool
and elementary school children; and
‘‘(E) distributing books to low-income indi-
viduals to leverage high-quality television pro-
gramming;
‘‘(2) to establish within the Department a clear-
inghouse to compile and provide information, refer-
rals, and model program materials and programming
obtained or developed under this part to parents,
child care providers, and other appropriate individ-
uals or entities to assist such individuals and entities
in accessing programs and projects under this part;
and
‘‘(3) to coordinate activities assisted under this
part with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices in order to—
‘‘(A) maximize the utilization of quality
educational programming by preschool and ele-
mentary school children, and make such pro-
gramming widely available to federally funded
programs serving such populations; and
‘‘(B) provide information to recipients of
funds under Federal programs that have major
training components for early childhood devel-
opment, including programs under the Head
Start Act and Even Start, and State training
activities funded under the Child Care Develop-
ment Block Grant Act of 1990, regarding the
availability and utilization of materials devel-
oped under paragraph (1)(D) to enhance parent
and child care provider skills in early childhood
development and education.
‘‘SEC. 3305. APPLICATIONS.
‘‘Each entity desiring a grant under section 3302 or
3304 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.
‘‘SEC. 3306. REPORTS AND EVALUATION.
‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT TO SECRETARY.—An eligible
entity receiving funds under section 3302 shall prepare
and submit to the Secretary an annual report which con-
tains such information as the Secretary may require. At
a minimum, the report shall describe the program activi-
ties undertaken with funds received under section 3302,
including—
‘‘(1) the programming that has been developed
directly or indirectly by the eligible entity, and the
target population of the programs developed;
‘‘(2) the support materials that have been de-
veloped to accompany the programming, and the
method by which such materials are distributed to
consumers and users of the programming;
‘‘(3) the means by which programming devel-
oped under this section has been distributed, includ-
ing the distance learning technologies that have been
utilized to make programming available and the geo-
graphic distribution achieved through such tech-
nologies; and
‘‘(4) the initiatives undertaken by the eligible
entity to develop public-private partnerships to se-
cure non-Federal support for the development, dis-
tribution, and broadcast of educational and instruc-
tional programming.
‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall
prepare and submit to the relevant committees of Con-
gress a biannual report which includes—
‘‘(1) a summary of activities assisted under sec-
tion 3303(a); and
‘‘(2) a description of the training materials
made available under section 3304(1)(D), the man-
ner in which outreach has been conducted to inform
parents and child care providers of the availability of
such materials, and the manner in which such mate-
rials have been distributed in accordance with such
section.
‘‘SEC. 3307. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
‘‘With respect to the implementation of section 3303,
eligible entities receiving a grant from the Secretary may
use not more than 5 percent of the amounts received
under such section for the normal and customary expenses
of administering the grant.
‘‘SEC. 3308. DEFINITION.
‘‘For the purposes of this part, the term ‘distance
learning’ means the transmission of educational or in-
structional programming to geographically dispersed indi-
viduals and groups via telecommunications.
‘‘SEC. 3309. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated to carry out this part, $50,000,000 for fiscal
year 2002, and such sums as may be necessary for each
of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.
‘‘(b) FUNDING RULE.—Not less than 60 percent of
the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for each
fiscal year shall be used to carry out section 3303.’’.
SEC. 3. REVISION OF PART D OF TITLE III.
Part D of title III of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6951 et seq.) is amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘PART D—THE TEACHERLINE PROGRAM
‘‘SEC. 3401. FINDINGS.
‘‘Congress makes the following findings:
‘‘(1) Since 1995, the Telecommunications Dem-
onstration Project for Mathematics (as established
under this part pursuant to the Improving America’s
Schools Act of 1994) (in this section referred to as
‘MATHLINE’) has allowed the Public Broadcasting
Service to pioneer and refine a new model of teacher
professional development for kindergarten through
grade 12 teachers. MATHLINE uses video modeling
of standards-based lessons, combined with profes-
sionally facilitated online learning communities of
teachers, to help mathematics teachers from elemen-
tary school through secondary school adopt and im-
plement standards-based practices in their class-
rooms. This approach allows teachers to update their
skills on their own schedules through video, while
providing online interaction with peers and master
teachers to reinforce that learning. This integrated,
self-paced approach breaks down the isolation of
classroom teaching while making standards-based
best practices available to all participants.
‘‘(2) MATHLINE was developed specifically to
disseminate the first national voluntary standards
for teaching and learning as developed by the Na-
tional Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
During 3 years of actual deployment, more than
5,800 teachers have participated for at least a full
year in the demonstration. These teachers, in turn,
have taught more than 1,500,000 students cumula-
tively.
‘‘(3) Independent evaluations indicate that
teaching improves and students benefit as a result of
the MATHLINE program.
‘‘(4) The MATHLINE program is ready to be
expanded to reach many more teachers in more sub-
ject areas under the broader title of Teacherline.
The Teacherline Program will link the digitized pub-
lic broadcasting infrastructure with education net-
works by working with the program’s digital mem-
bership, and Federal and State agencies, to expand
and build upon the successful MATHLINE model
and take advantage of greatly expanded access to
the Internet and technology in schools, including
digital television. Tens of thousands of teachers will
have access to the Teacherline Program to advance
their teaching skills and their ability to integrate
technology 
into 
teaching 
and 
learning. 
The
Teacherline Program also will leverage the Public
Broadcasting Service’s historic relationships with
higher education to improve preservice teacher train-
ing.
‘‘(5) The congressionally appointed Web-based
Education Commission recently issued a comprehen-
sive report on Internet learning that called for pow-
erful new Internet resources, especially broadband
access, to be made widely and equitably available
and affordable for all learners.
‘‘(6) The Web-based Education Commission
also called for continuous and relevant training and
support for educators and administrators at all lev-
els.
‘‘(7) The National Research Council recently
issued a report entitled ‘Adding It Up: Helping Chil-
dren Learn Mathematics’ that concluded that profes-
sional development in mathematics needs to be sus-
tained over years in order to be effective.
‘‘(8) Furthermore, the Glenn Commission, ap-
pointed by the Secretary of Education to consider
ways of improving preparation and professional
growth for mathematics and science teachers con-
cluded that teacher training ‘depends upon sus-
tained, high-quality professional development’. The
Commission recommended the establishment of an
ongoing system to improve the quality of mathe-
matics and science teaching in grades K–12.
‘‘(9) Over the past several years tremendous
progress has been made in wiring classrooms, equip-
ping the classrooms with multimedia computers, and
connecting the classrooms to the Internet.
‘‘(10) There is a great need for aggregating
high quality, curriculum-based digital content for
teachers and students to easily access and use in
order to meet State and local standards for student
performance.
‘‘(11) The congressionally appointed Web-based
Education Commission called for the development of
high quality public-private online educational content
that meets the highest standards of educational ex-
cellence.
‘‘(12) Most local public television stations and
State networks provide high-quality video programs,
and teacher professional development, as a part of
their mission to serve local schools. Programs dis-
tributed by public broadcast stations are used by
more classroom teachers than any other because of
their high quality and relevance to the curriculum.
‘‘(13) Digital broadcasting can dramatically in-
crease and improve the types of services public
broadcasting stations can offer kindergarten through
grade 12 schools.
‘‘(14) Digital broadcasting can contribute to the
improvement of schools and student performance as
follows:
‘‘(A) Broadcast of multiple video channels
and data information simultaneously.
‘‘(B) Data can be transmitted along with
the video content enabling students to interact,
access additional information, communicate
with featured experts, and contribute their own
knowledge to the subject.
‘‘(C) Both the video and data can be
stored on servers and made available on de-
mand to teachers and students.
‘‘(15) Interactive digital education content will
be an important component of Federal support for
States in setting high standards and increasing stu-
dent performance.
‘‘SEC. 3402. PROJECT AUTHORIZED.
‘‘(a) The Secretary is authorized to make grants to
a nonprofit telecommunications entity, or partnership of
such entities, for the purpose of carrying out a national
telecommunications-based program to improve teaching in
core curriculum areas. The program shall be designed to
assist elementary school and secondary school teachers in
preparing all students for achieving State and local con-
tent standards in core curriculum areas.
‘‘(b) The Secretary is also authorized to award grants
to eligible entities described in section 3404(b) to develop,
produce, and distribute innovative educational and in-
structional video programming that is designed for use by
kindergarten through grade 12 schools and based on State
and local standards. In making the grants, the Secretary
shall ensure that eligible entities enter into multiyear con-
tent development collaborative arrangements with State
educational agencies, local educational agencies, institu-
tions of higher education, businesses, or other agencies
and organizations.
‘‘SEC. 3403. APPLICATION REQUIRED.
‘‘(a) Each nonprofit telecommunications entity, or
partnership of such entities, desiring a grant under section
3402(a) shall submit an application to the Secretary. Each
such application shall—
‘‘(1) demonstrate that the applicant will use the
public broadcasting infrastructure and school digital
networks, where available, to deliver video and data
in an integrated service to train teachers in the use
of standards-based curricula materials and learning
technologies;
‘‘(2) ensure that the project for which assist-
ance is sought will be conducted in cooperation with
appropriate State educational agencies, local edu-
cational agencies, national, State or local nonprofit
public telecommunications entities, and national edu-
cation professional associations that have developed
content standards in the subject areas;
‘‘(3) ensure that a significant portion of the
benefits available for elementary schools and sec-
ondary schools from the project for which assistance
is sought will be available to schools of local edu-
cational agencies which have a high percentage of
children counted for the purpose of part A of title
I; and
‘‘(4) contain such additional assurances as the
Secretary may reasonably require.
‘‘(b) In approving applications under section 3402(a),
the Secretary shall ensure that the program authorized by
section 3402(a) is conducted at elementary school and sec-
ondary school sites across the Nation.
‘‘(c) Each eligible entity desiring a grant under sec-
tion 3402(b) shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such
information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
‘‘SEC. 3404. REPORTS AND EVALUATION.
‘‘An eligible entity receiving funds under section
3402(a) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an an-
nual report which contains such information as the Sec-
retary may require. At a minimum, the report shall de-
scribe the program activities undertaken with funds re-
ceived under section 3402(a), including—
‘‘(1) the core curriculum areas for which pro-
gram activities have been undertaken and the num-
ber of teachers using the program in each core cur-
riculum area; and
‘‘(2) the States in which teachers using the pro-
gram are located.
‘‘SEC. 3405. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING.
‘‘(a) AWARDS.—The Secretary shall award grants
under section 3402(b) to eligible entities to—
‘‘(1) facilitate the development of educational
programming that shall—
‘‘(A) include student assessment tools to
give feedback on student performance;
‘‘(B) include built-in teacher utilization
and support components to ensure that teachers
understand and can easily use the content of
the programming with group instruction or for
individual student use;
‘‘(C) be created for, or adaptable to, State
and local content standards; and
‘‘(D) be capable of distribution through
digital broadcasting and school digital networks.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive
a grant under section 3402(b), an entity shall be a local
public telecommunications entity as defined by section
397(12) of the Communications Act of 1934 that is able
to demonstrate a capacity for the development and dis-
tribution of educational and instructional television pro-
gramming of high quality.
‘‘(c) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—Grants under section
3402(b) shall be awarded on a competitive basis as deter-
mined by the Secretary.
‘‘(d) DURATION.—Each grant under section 3402(b)
shall be awarded for a period of 3 years in order to allow
time for the creation of a substantial body of significant
content.
‘‘SEC. 3406. MATCHING REQUIREMENT.
‘‘Each eligible entity desiring a grant under section
3402(b) shall contribute to the activities assisted under
section 3402(b) non-Federal matching funds equal to not
less than 100 percent of the amount of the grant. Match-
ing funds may include funds provided for the transition
to digital broadcasting, as well as in-kind contributions.
‘‘SEC. 3407. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
‘‘With respect to the implementation of section
3402(b), entities receiving a grant from the Secretary may
use not more than 5 percent of the amounts received
under the grant for the normal and customary expenses
of administering the grant.
‘‘SEC. 3408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this part, $45,000,000 for the fiscal year 2002, and such
sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding
fiscal years. However, for any fiscal year in which appro-
priations for section 3402 exceeds the amount appro-
priated under such section for the preceding fiscal year,
the Secretary shall only award the amount of such excess
minus at least $500,000 to applicants under section
3402(b).’’.
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