I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2184 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to foster 
community involvement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2013 
Mr. LOEBSACK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to foster community involvement, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Working to Encourage 
Community Action and Responsibility in Education Act’’ 
or the ‘‘WE CARE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The long-term health of the Nation’s de-
mocracy, as well as our economy, is dependent upon 
the strength of our young people. 
(2) The challenge of educating the Nation’s stu-
dents cannot be met by schools alone. Cross-sector 
community engagement, including schools, commu-
nity-based organizations, businesses, parents, faith- 
based organizations, local government, students and 
others must all work together to ensure that stu-
dents receive the support they need to be successful. 
(3) Schools that have strong relationships with 
their communities have improved academic achieve-
ment and develop stronger families, schools and 
communities. 
(4) National Academy of Sciences studies show 
that ensuring that a child has adequate nurturing 
influences, including those provided by community 
programs, results in improved academic, social and 
civic outcomes. 
(5) In order for students to be successful in 
school, their academic and non-academic needs must 
be met. In a study that analyzed the impact of hav-
ing five key resources in children’s lives: Caring 
adults, safe places, a healthy start, an effective edu-
cation, and opportunities to help others, students 
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with four or five of these resources were twice as 
likely as their peers with zero or one resource to get 
A’s in school, 40 percent more likely to volunteer, 
and twice as likely to avoid violence. 
(6) The services provided by community-based 
organizations are invaluable in strengthening the 
Nation’s young people. Research shows that such 
services keep students in school, promote their aca-
demic achievement, reduce pregnancy, reduce delin-
quent behavior, and promote civic engagement. 
(7) Research shows that effective dropout pre-
vention programs meet students’ needs inside and 
outside the classroom. One such program dem-
onstrated that 82 percent of students improved their 
attendance, 86 percent had fewer behavior incidents, 
89 percent improved their academic performance, 
and 85 percent of eligible seniors graduated from 
high school. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC-
ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 
(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—Section 1001 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6301) is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (11) to read as fol-
lows: 
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‘‘(11) coordinating services under all parts of 
this title with each other, with services under all 
other titles of this Act, with other education services, 
and with other public and private agencies in the 
community providing services to children and 
youth;’’; 
(2) in paragraph (12) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(13) promoting stronger enhanced partner-
ships between schools and their communities that 
can contribute to student success and greater family 
and community involvement in creating the condi-
tions for learning for their children.’’. 
(b) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT.—Section 1003 of that 
Act (20 U.S.C. 6303) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) demonstrate a commitment to coordinating 
with stakeholders in the community, including local 
government, community-based service providers and 
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other non-profit organizations, and businesses, to 
address the academic and non-academic factors im-
pacting student achievement.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (g)(6)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ 
at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B) by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) a commitment to coordinating with a 
stakeholders in the community, including local 
government, community-based service providers 
and other non-profit organizations, and busi-
nesses, to address the academic and non-aca-
demic factors impacting student achievement.’’. 
(c) STATE PLANS.—Section 1111 of that Act (20 
U.S.C. 6311) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1) by inserting ‘‘students,’’ 
before ‘‘and parents’’; 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (9) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(9) FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENT ACHIEVE-
MENT.—Each State plan shall include— 
‘‘(A) an assessment of the nonacademic 
factors influencing student achievement; 
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‘‘(B) a description of public and private or-
ganizations and agencies within the State that 
are working to impact the factors identified 
under subparagraph (A), including but not lim-
ited to State departments of health and human 
services, State agencies administering juvenile 
justice programs, State housing agencies, State 
agencies administering national and community 
service and service-learning programs, and non-
profit youth development and community-based 
organizations and other entities as appropriate; 
‘‘(C) a strategy for coordination and col-
laboration with these organizations and agen-
cies to provide needed services to children, 
youth and families that are integrated with 
services offered by specialized instructional sup-
port personnel in the school and local edu-
cational agency homeless liaisons, designated 
pursuant to section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, will 
result in improved academic performance; and 
‘‘(D) an assurance that the State edu-
cational agency will assist local educational 
agencies within the State that are identified 
under section 1116 in developing and imple-
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menting such strategies for coordination and 
collaboration.’’; 
(3) in subsection (c), by striking paragraph (4) 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(4) the State educational agency will work 
with other public and private organizations and 
agencies, including educational service agencies or 
other local consortia, and institutions, including but 
not limited to State departments of health and 
human services, State housing agencies, State agen-
cies administering juvenile justice programs, State 
agencies administering national and community serv-
ice and service-learning programs, and nonprofit 
youth development and community-based organiza-
tions and other entities as appropriate, to provide 
technical assistance to local educational agencies and 
schools, technical assistance that will help them ad-
dress the factors identified under (b)(9), including 
technical assistance in providing professional devel-
opment under section 1119, technical assistance 
under section 1117, and technical assistance relating 
to parental involvement under section 1118;’’; 
(4) in subsection (d)— 
(A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
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(B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period 
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) involve community-based organizations and 
other entities that have relationships with parents 
and can facilitate and support their involvement in 
the education of their children.’’; 
(5) in subsection (h)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) in clause (vii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (viii) by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; 
and 
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(ix) school attendance rates; 
‘‘(x) average class size in each grade; 
‘‘(xi) academic achievement and gains 
in English proficiency of limited English 
proficient students; 
‘‘(xii) the incidence of school violence, 
drug abuse, alcohol abuse, student suspen-
sions, and student expulsions; 
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‘‘(xiii) the extent and type of parental 
involvement in the schools; 
‘‘(xiv) the extent and type of commu-
nity involvement in schools, including part-
nerships between schools and public and 
private agencies and organizations, as well 
as services provided to children, youth and 
families resulting from these partnerships, 
and if possible, improvements in student 
academic achievement and other non-aca-
demic outcomes resulting from such part-
nerships; 
‘‘(xv) the percentage of students com-
pleting advanced placement courses, and 
the rate of passing of advanced placement 
tests; 
‘‘(xvi) other non-academic outcomes, 
including outcomes resulting from partner-
ships between schools and other entities, 
which may include social, emotional, phys-
ical, civic, and vocational outcomes; and 
‘‘(xvii) a clear and concise description 
of the State’s accountability system, in-
cluding a description of the criteria by 
which the State evaluates school perform-
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ance, and the criteria that the State has 
established, 
consistent 
with 
subsection 
(b)(2) of this section, to determine the sta-
tus of schools regarding school improve-
ment, 
corrective 
action, 
and 
restruc-
turing.’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (D) by striking ‘‘Such 
information may include’’ and all that follows 
through the period at the end; and 
(6) in subsection (h)(2)(B)(i)— 
(A) in each of subclauses (I) and (II), by 
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(III) minimum information on 
student attendance rates, truancy 
rates, incidence of school violence, al-
cohol abuse, students suspension, and 
student expulsions; and 
‘‘(IV) the extent and type of 
community and parents involvement 
in the education of their children; 
and’’. 
(d) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS.—Section 
1112(b)(1) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(B) an assessment of the non-academic 
factors influencing student achievement and a 
description of the other indicators that will be 
used in addition to the academic indicators de-
scribed in section 1111 for the uses described 
in such section, including but not limited to the 
indicators listed in section 1111(h)(1)(B);’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (P) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(3) in subparagraph (Q)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘where appropriate,’’; and 
(B) by striking the period at the end; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(R) a description of how the local edu-
cational agency will coordinate and collaborate 
with the State educational agency, other public 
and private State agencies, and local public and 
private organizations and agencies, including 
but not limited to local departments of health 
and human services, local housing agencies, 
local departments of youth services, local agen-
cies administering juvenile justice programs and 
facilities, local agencies and organizations ad-
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ministering national and community service and 
service-learning programs, local law enforce-
ment agencies, and local nonprofit youth devel-
opment and community-based organizations, 
and other entities as appropriate to provide 
services to children youth and families that are 
integrated with services from specialized in-
structional support personnel and local edu-
cational agency homeless liaisons, designated 
pursuant to section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, in 
order to address the nonacademic factors iden-
tified under subparagraph (B), with an empha-
sis on addressing the needs of schools in school 
improvement, corrective action or restructuring 
under this section in order to address major 
factors that have significantly affected student 
achievement at the school; and 
‘‘(S) ensure that the results from the aca-
demic assessments required under section 
1111(b)(3) will be provided to parents and 
teachers as soon as is practicably possible after 
the test is taken, in an understandable and uni-
form format and provided in a language that 
the parents and the public can understand.’’. 
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(e) SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.—Section 1114 of that 
Act (20 U.S.C. 6314) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A) by inserting ‘‘, as 
well as the non-academic needs of students that 
impact academic success, including social, emo-
tional, physical and civic needs’’ before the pe-
riod at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (B)(iii)(I)— 
(i) in each of items (bb) and (cc) by 
striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(dd) health, mental health, 
housing, and social services, fam-
ily support, youth development 
and other activities offered by 
specialized instructional support 
personnel, 
educational 
agency 
homeless liaisons, designated pur-
suant to section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) 
of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Assistance Act, public and pri-
vate agencies and community- 
based organizations and coordi-
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