I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8535 
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 
2006 to direct the Secretary of Education to award grants for new 
agricultural education programs in secondary schools. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 6, 2020 
Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LUETKE-
MEYER, and Mr. BRINDISI) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu-
cation Act of 2006 to direct the Secretary of Education 
to award grants for new agricultural education programs 
in secondary schools. 
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 ‘‘Growing Opportunities 
in Agriculture Act’’ or the ‘‘GO Ag Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR NEW AGRICULTURAL EDU-
CATION PROGRAMS. 
Section 114 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech-
nical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2324) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subsection (f), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘(other than subsection 
(g))’’ after ‘‘section’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) GRANT PROGRAM
FOR NEW AGRICULTURAL 
EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 
entities to support the creation of new agricul-
tural education programs in secondary schools. 
‘‘(B) GRANT DURATION.—A grant awarded 
under this subsection may not exceed a 5-year 
grant period. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—To receive a grant 
under this subsection, an eligible entity shall 
submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may require, includ-
ing— 
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tivities carried out under section 124 or 
135; 
‘‘(vi) a description of how each such 
program reflects the needs of regional, 
State, or local employers, as demonstrated 
by the comprehensive needs assessment 
under section 134(c) carried out by the eli-
gible entity; and 
‘‘(vii) an assurance that the eligible 
entity will— 
‘‘(I) provide information to the 
Secretary, as requested, for the eval-
uation under paragraph (4) and any 
evaluations that the Secretary may 
carry out; and 
‘‘(II) make data available to 
third parties for validation, in accord-
ance with applicable data privacy 
laws, including section 444 of the 
General Education Provisions Act (20 
U.S.C. 1232g, commonly known as 
the ‘Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act of 1974’). 
‘‘(B) PROCESS.—The Secretary shall cre-
ate a process for evaluating applications sub-
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mitted under subparagraph (A) and deter-
mining the amount of each grant for successful 
applications, except that in no case may an eli-
gible entity receive a grant exceeding $100,000. 
‘‘(3) USES OF FUNDS.—Each eligible entity re-
ceiving a grant under this subsection shall use such 
grant for the creation of new agricultural education 
programs in secondary schools, which may include— 
‘‘(A) curriculum development and delivery, 
including classroom or laboratory instruction, 
work-based learning, and leadership education 
delivered through career and technical student 
organizations; 
‘‘(B) the purchase of equipment, tech-
nology, and course materials; and 
‘‘(C) other costs the Secretary may deter-
mine to be eligible. 
‘‘(4) EVALUATION
AND
ANNUAL
REPORT.— 
Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this sub-
section shall provide for an independent evaluation 
of the activities carried out using such grant and 
submit to the Secretary an annual report that in-
cludes— 
‘‘(A) a description of how the grant was 
used; 
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‘‘(B) the performance of each program as-
sistance with such grant with respect to, at a 
minimum, the performance indicators described 
under section 113, as applicable, and disaggre-
gated— 
‘‘(i) by subgroups of students de-
scribed in section 1111(c)(2)(B) of the El-
ementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2)(B)); and 
‘‘(ii) by each special population; and 
‘‘(C) a quantitative analysis of the effec-
tiveness of each such program. 
‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $5,000,000, to remain available 
through fiscal year 2025. 
‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) AGRICULTURAL
EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘agricultural education’ means career and 
technical education that is focused on agri-
culture, including classroom or laboratory in-
struction, work-based learning, and leadership 
education delivered through career and tech-
nical student organizations. 
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‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi-
ble entity’ has the meaning given the term ‘eli-
gible recipient’ in section 3(21)(A) of the Carl 
D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act 
of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302(21)(A)). 
‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The term ‘eli-
gible partner’ means— 
‘‘(i) an institution of higher education 
or a consortium of such institutions; or 
‘‘(ii) a community stakeholder rel-
evant to a program to be funded under 
this subsection, including a labor organiza-
tion, a local or regional business or indus-
try, or a local workforce development 
board.’’. 
Æ 
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