Fostering Success in Education Act

Bill: 111-s-2801
Sponsor: Sen. Franken, Al [D-MN]
Introduced: 2009-11-19 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Adoption and foster care
Advisory bodies
Child safety and welfare
Civil actions and liability
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Elementary and secondary education
Intergovernmental relations
Preschool education
School administration
State and local government operations
Transportation costs

Summary:
action_date: 2009-11-19
text: 
Fostering Success in Education Act - Requires each state receiving school improvement funds under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that its foster care children have the right to: (1) continue attending the school they were in when placed in foster care or before a change in such placement (school of origin), unless it is determined to be in the child's best interest to be immediately enrolled in a different school; (2) immediate enrollment in a new school in their school attendance area; (3) well-maintained school records that are available in a timely manner; (4) equal access to the same education and opportunities as other students attending the school or school district; and (5) free transportation to and from their school.
 
Includes preschool children as beneficiaries of such rights, with respect to preschool programs.
 
Requires states to: (1) ensure that their state and local educational agencies (LEAs) and child welfare agencies collaborate in specified activities aimed at satisfying such rights; and (2) maintain a complaint management system, and an effective system for transferring and recovering a foster child's school credits. 
 
Requires an LEA serving a foster child's school of origin to make an expedited decision on whether it is in the foster child's best interest to attend such school or be immediately enrolled in a new school in the child's school attendance area, unless the state decides that the decision is to be made solely by the dependency court or state or local child welfare agency. Requires states to have fair and impartial procedures to resolve school selection disputes promptly.
 
Allows parties who claim that their rights under this Act have been violated to bring a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court.
 
Directs the Secretary of Education to allot grants to states and, through them, competitive subgrants to public agencies, including LEAs and local child welfare agencies, to carry out this Act's requirements. 
 
Requires each state grantee to: (1) implement a Secretary-approved state foster care and education plan for satisfying this Act's requirements; and (2) establish a Stakeholder Council that monitors, and makes recommendations regarding, plan implementation.
 
Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require state child welfare agencies to arrange for, provide, or pay the cost of the transportation necessary for foster children to remain in the school they attended at the time of their placement.
 
Requires state and local child welfare and educational agencies to collaborate in eliminating barriers to the educational stability, enrollment, and success of foster children.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2009-11-19
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S11597-11604)
action_date: 2009-11-19
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11596-11597)
action_date: 2009-11-19
text: Introduced in Senate