I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 969 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to expand 
access to school-wide arts and music programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2023 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. LEE of 
California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. ROSS, Ms. OCASIO-COR-
TEZ, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. CICILLINE) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to expand access to school-wide arts and music 
programs, 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 ‘‘Guarantee Access to 
Arts and Music Education Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘GAAME 
Act of 2023’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:19 Mar 07, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H969.IH
H969
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. SCHOOL-WIDE ACCESS TO ARTS EDUCATION. 
Section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(7)(A)(iii)— 
(A) in subclauses (IV) and (V), by striking 
‘‘; and’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(VI) sequential, standards-based 
arts education taught by certified arts 
educators (as defined by the State) 
and community arts providers to meet 
the challenging State academic stand-
ards; and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF ARTS.—For purposes of sub-
section (b)(7)(A)(iii)(VI), the term ‘arts’ means dance, 
media arts, theater, and visual arts.’’. 
SEC. 3. SCHOOL-WIDE ACCESS TO MUSIC EDUCATION. 
Section 1114(b)(7)(A)(iii) of the Elementary and 
Secondary 
Education 
Act 
of 
1965 
(20 
U.S.C. 
6314(b)(7)(A)(iii)), as amended by section (2), is further 
amended by inserting after subclause (VI) the following: 
‘‘(VII) 
sequential, 
standards- 
based music education that is aligned 
to challenging State academic stand-
ards and is taught by certified music 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:19 Mar 07, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H969.IH
H969
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
educators (as defined by the State); 
and’’. 
SEC. 4. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS FOR ARTS EDU-
CATION. 
Section 1115 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘well- 
rounded education;’’ inserting the following: ‘‘well 
rounded education, such as— 
‘‘(i) programmatic assistance for stu-
dents to participate in arts programs that 
address their academic needs (including 
support for certified arts educators (as de-
fined by the State), arts educator profes-
sional development, supplies, and other ex-
penses associated with instruction in the 
arts); and’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF ARTS.—For purposes of sub-
section (b)(2)(A)(i), the term ‘arts’ means dance, media 
arts, theater, and visual arts.’’. 
SEC. 5. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS FOR MUSIC EDU-
CATION. 
Section 1115(b)(2)(A) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315(b)(2)(A)), 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:19 Mar 07, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H969.IH
H969
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) programmatic assistance for stu-
dents to participate in music programs 
that address their academic needs (includ-
ing support for certified music educators, 
music educator professional development, 
instruments, sheet music, music tech-
nology, and other expenses associated with 
music instruction);’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:19 Mar 07, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H969.IH
H969
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS