Title: Choice for Every Child Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Choice for Every Child Act
This bill allows certain federal funds for elementary and secondary education to follow low-income students and students with disabilities to the school that they attend (i.e., public, private, or home school). These funds may be used for educational and instructional materials, tutoring, and tuition.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4563 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4563

 To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds follow 
                               the child.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 2020

 Mrs. Loeffler introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds follow 
                               the child.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Choice for Every Child Act''.

SEC. 2. TITLE I PORTABILITY.

    (a) In General.--Part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 1128. TITLE I FUNDS FOLLOW THE LOW-INCOME CHILD STATE OPTION.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Allocation to leas.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law and to the extent permitted under State law, a 
        State educational agency may allocate grant funds under this 
        part to the local educational agencies in the State based on 
        the number of eligible children in each local educational 
        agency (including such children who are enrolled in the public 
        schools served by the local educational agency, enrolled in the 
        State-accredited private schools within local educational 
        agency's geographic jurisdiction, or participating in 
        homeschool in such jurisdiction).
            ``(2) Choice of distribution.--Each State may choose 
        whether to have local educational agencies in the State 
        distribute funds made available for eligible children who are 
        enrolled in State-accredited private schools within each local 
        educational agency's geographic jurisdiction directly to such 
        schools in accordance with subsection (c)(3)(A) or directly to 
        the parents of such children in accordance with subsection 
        (c)(3)(B).
    ``(b) Eligible Child.--
            ``(1) Definition.--In this section, the term `eligible 
        child' means a child aged 5 to 17, inclusive, from a family 
        with an income below the poverty level on the basis of the most 
        recent satisfactory data published by the Department of 
        Commerce.
            ``(2) Criteria of poverty.--In determining the families 
        with incomes below the poverty level for the purposes of this 
        section, a State educational agency shall use the criteria of 
        poverty used by the Census Bureau in compiling the most recent 
        decennial census, as the criteria have been updated by 
        increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, 
        published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
            ``(3) Amount per eligible child.--The amount available for 
        each eligible child in the State shall be equal to--
                    ``(A) the total amount available to the State under 
                this section; divided by
                    ``(B) the total number of eligible children in the 
                State.
    ``(c) Student Enrollment in Public and Private Schools.--
            ``(1) Identification of eligible children.--On an annual 
        basis, on a date to be determined by the State educational 
        agency, each local educational agency that receives grant 
        funding in accordance with subsection (a) shall inform the 
        State educational agency of the number of eligible children 
        enrolled in the public schools served by the local educational 
        agency, enrolled in the State-accredited private schools within 
        local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction, or 
        participating in homeschool in such jurisdiction.
            ``(2) Allocation to local educational agencies.--Based on 
        the identification of eligible children in paragraph (1), the 
        State educational agency shall provide to a local educational 
        agency an amount equal to the sum of the amount available for 
        each eligible child in the State multiplied by the number of 
        eligible children identified by the local educational agency 
        under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Distribution.--
                    ``(A) Direct distribution to private schools.--In 
                the case of a State that chooses to have funds under 
                this section distributed directly to State-accredited 
                private schools within the local educational agency's 
                geographic jurisdiction, the local educational agency 
                that receives funds under paragraph (2) shall 
                distribute such funds to the public schools served by 
                the local educational agency and State-accredited 
                private schools within the local educational agency's 
                geographic jurisdiction--
                            ``(i) based on the number of eligible 
                        children enrolled in such schools; and
                            ``(ii) in a manner that would, in the 
                        absence of such Federal funds, supplement the 
                        funds made available from non-Federal resources 
                        for the education of pupils participating in 
                        programs under this subpart, and not to 
                        supplant such funds.
                    ``(B) Distribution to parents of private school 
                students.--In the case of a State that chooses to have 
                funds under this section distributed directly to 
                parents of children that are enrolled in State-
                accredited private schools within the local educational 
                agency's geographic jurisdiction, the local educational 
                agency that receives funds under paragraph (2) shall--
                            ``(i) distribute such funds to the public 
                        schools served by the local educational agency 
                        based on the number of eligible children 
                        enrolled in such schools;
                            ``(ii) distribute the amount available for 
                        each eligible child to the parents of each 
                        child who is enrolled in a State-accredited 
                        private school within the local educational 
                        agency's geographic jurisdiction for use for 
                        qualified educational expenses; and
                            ``(iii) distribute funds under paragraph 
                        (2) in a manner that would, in the absence of 
                        such Federal funds, supplement the funds made 
                        available from non-Federal resources for the 
                        education of pupils participating in programs 
                        under this subpart, and not to supplant such 
                        funds.
                    ``(C) Distribution to parents of home school 
                students.--Each local educational agency that receives 
                funds under paragraph (2) shall distribute the amount 
                available for each eligible child to the parents of 
                each child who participates in homeschool for use for 
                qualified educational expenses.
    ``(d) Qualified Educational Expenses.--
            ``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `qualified 
        educational expenses' means--
                    ``(A) tuition;
                    ``(B) curriculum and curricular materials;
                    ``(C) books or other instructional materials;
                    ``(D) online educational materials; and
                    ``(E) tuition for tutoring or educational classes 
                outside of the home, including at a tutoring facility, 
                but only if the tutor or instructor--
                            ``(i) is not related to the student;
                            ``(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 
                        State; and
                            ``(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 
                        relevant subject.
            ``(2) Homeschool.--Qualified educational expenses shall 
        include expenses for the purposes described in subparagraphs 
        (A) through (E) of paragraph (1) in connection with a 
        homeschool (whether treated as a homeschool or a private school 
        for purposes of applicable State law).
    ``(e) Treatment of Direct Payments.--The amount of any direct 
payment to parents of an eligible child under this section shall not be 
treated as income of the child or his or her parents for purposes of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 
any other Federal program.
    ``(f) Prohibition of Control Over Non-Public Education.--Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to authorize additional Federal or 
State control over non-public education providers.''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents in section 
2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
1127 the following:

``1128. Title I funds follow the low-income child State option.''.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL FUNDING UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES 
              EDUCATION ACT TO FOLLOW THE CHILD.

    Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 620. IDEA FUNDS FOLLOW THE CHILD STATE OPTION.

    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law and 
to the extent permitted under State law, a State educational agency may 
establish a program through which the funds made available under this 
part are allocated to the local educational agencies in the State based 
on the number of eligible children within each local educational 
agency's geographic jurisdiction.
    ``(b) Eligible Child.--
            ``(1) Eligible child defined.--In this section, the term 
        `eligible child' means a child with a disability who is 
        eligible to receive special education and related services 
        under this part.
            ``(2) Amount per eligible child.--The amount available for 
        each eligible child in the State shall be equal to--
                    ``(A) the total amount available to the State under 
                this part; divided by
                    ``(B) the total number of eligible children in the 
                State.
    ``(c) Allocation to LEAs.--
            ``(1) Identification of eligible children.--On an annual 
        basis, on a date to be determined by the State educational 
        agency, each local educational agency that receives grant 
        funding in accordance with subsection (a) shall inform the 
        State educational agency of the number of eligible children 
        within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction.
            ``(2) Allocation to local educational agencies.--Based on 
        the identification of eligible children in paragraph (1), the 
        State educational agency shall provide to a local educational 
        agency an amount equal to the amount available for each 
        eligible child in the State multiplied by the number of 
        eligible children identified by the local educational agency 
        under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Distribution of funds.--Each local educational agency 
        that receives funds under paragraph (2) shall--
                    ``(A) distribute to each public school served by 
                the local educational agency an amount equal to--
                            ``(i) number of eligible children enrolled 
                        in such school; multiplied by
                            ``(ii) the amount available for each 
                        eligible child in the State;
                    ``(B) distribute to the parents of each eligible 
                child in local educational agency's geographic 
                jurisdiction who is not enrolled in public school an 
                amount equal to the amount available for each eligible 
                child in the State for use for qualified educational 
                expenses; and
                    ``(C) distribute the funds under paragraph (2) in a 
                manner that would, in the absence of such Federal 
                funds, supplement the funds made available from non-
                Federal resources for the education of pupils 
                participating in programs under this subpart, and not 
                to supplant such funds.
    ``(d) Qualified Educational Expenses.--
            ``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `qualified 
        educational expenses' means--
                    ``(A) tuition;
                    ``(B) curriculum and curricular materials;
                    ``(C) books or other instructional materials;
                    ``(D) online educational materials; and
                    ``(E) tuition for tutoring or educational classes 
                outside of the home, including at a tutoring facility, 
                but only if the tutor or instructor--
                            ``(i) is not related to the student;
                            ``(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 
                        State; and
                            ``(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 
                        relevant subject.
            ``(2) Homeschool.--Qualified educational expenses shall 
        include expenses for the purposes described in subparagraphs 
        (A) through (E) of paragraph (1) in connection with a 
        homeschool (whether treated as a homeschool or a private school 
        for purposes of applicable State law).
    ``(e) Payments to Parents.--In the case of an eligible child who is 
not enrolled in public school and whose parents receive a direct 
payment under subsection (c)(3)(B), the State shall be considered to 
have provided that child with a free appropriate public education, to 
have provided special education and related services to that child, and 
to have fulfilled the State's other obligations under this part with 
respect to that child.
    ``(f) Treatment of Direct Payments.--The amount of any direct 
payment to parents of an eligible child under this section shall not be 
treated as income of the child or his or her parents for purposes of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 
any other Federal program.
    ``(g) Prohibition of Control Over Non-Public Education.--Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to authorize additional Federal or 
State control over non-public education providers.''.
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