zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Partnerships for Wellness Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) participating in the school lunch and breakfast programs for projects that leverage community resources to increase student access to physical activity, nutrition education, and nutritious foods during the regular school calendar. Requires LEA grantees to partner with a community-based organization, a child- and youth-serving organization, an institution of higher education, a health care provider, or another business or community partner in implementing such projects.

Date: 2010-05-27
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Turning Around Low-Performing Public High Schools Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award five-year contracts to nonprofit school district partnership organizations that: (1) have a record of success in improving the secondary school graduation and postsecondary attendance and completion rates of disadvantaged students; and (2) partner with local educational agencies (LEAs) that serve a substantial number or percentage of disadvantaged students to implement comprehensive high school turnaround models that are customized to meet the needs of the LEAs and their schools. Requires such models to include: (1) a college preparatory instructional program; (2) a student support structure that provides students with a caring, safe, and supportive learning environment; (3) a staffing structure that creates strong, long-term connections between students and teachers; (4) standards of professional practice that guide the professional development of school personnel and build their sense of collective responsibility for student and school outcomes; (5) an extended day and extended school year that supports challenging, college-preparatory curricula; (6) an expectation that parents will take an active role in school activities; and (7) the use of multiple mechanisms to assess schools' organizational and program effectiveness. Directs: (1) the Secretary to select an independent entity to conduct a triennial evaluation of the performance of students who attend turnaround schools; and (2) school district partnership organizations to report annually on the implementation of comprehensive high school turnaround models and student achievement in partner schools. Requires copies of such evaluations and reports to be provided to the Secretary and Congress.

Date: 2010-05-28
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Ready to Compete Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to create a new Ready to Learn program authorizing the Secretary of Education to award a grant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide a coordinated Ready to Learn television service by awarding subgrants and contracts to public television stations and producers or distributors of educational programming for the operation of Ready to Learn programs for preschool and elementary school children. Requires such service to include programming that: (1) is aligned with state academic and early learning standards; (2) addresses specific community and school needs, ascertained via ongoing community outreach programs; and (3) is in reading and social and emotional development. Specifies that public broadcasting entities are eligible for Ready to Teach grants to improve teaching in core curriculum areas by using high-tech platforms to deliver integrated educational content and services and teacher training. Requires grantees to direct a significant portion of such services to schools that have failed for two consecutive years to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Alters the Digital Educational Programming Grants program by authorizing competitive five-year (currently, three-year) grants to public television stations that partner with certain other entities to develop, and train teachers in the use of, innovative educational tools and digital content for core curriculum content areas, particularly math, science, and technology. Reauthorizes appropriations for such revamped programs through FY2016. Directs the Secretary to award five-year grants to television public broadcasting entities to develop and operate a national on-demand digital education media service available to teachers, parents, educational entities, and the public at low or no cost. Amends the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to create a Ready to Earn program authorizing the Secretary to award competitive grants to public television stations that partner with states, state workforce investment boards, or institutions of higher education to develop, disseminate, and provide on-line and on-air education and training services for adults.

Date: 2010-05-28
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Lead Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to direct the Secretary of Education to award a competitive grant to a partnership between a nonprofit organization and an institution of higher education (IHE) to establish a school leadership academy that develops and provides evidence-based leadership training to school leaders (turnaround leaders) and their supporting mentors (turnaround mentors) to transform and improve turnaround schools. Defines "turnaround schools" as schools that are subject to corrective action or restructuring under the ESEA or are secondary schools that have a graduation rate below 60%. Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to partnerships between or among a nonprofit organization, IHE, or a nonprofit organization and an IHE, and state or local educational agencies to establish school leadership centers of excellence, after the initial cohort of turnaround leaders and mentors have been trained by the school leadership academy. Directs such centers to: (1) adopt and adapt the leadership training program developed by the school leadership academy so that such program is informed, on an ongoing basis, by evidence regarding effective school leadership and meets the needs of the local educational agencies they serve; and (2) work with the school leadership academy to best train and support program participants. Requires leadership training participants at the academy and the centers of excellence to receive a stipend for participating and agree to serve for at least four years at turnaround schools. Requires the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences to support: (1) research on identifying the skills and conditions necessary for school leaders to improve turnaround schools; and (2) evaluations of this Act's programs and activities.

Date: 2010-06-09
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
School Enhancement of Talented Students Act or School EATS Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to award competitive grants to states, local educational agencies, or school food authorities to reduce the amount of processed food served each day under the school lunch and breakfast programs. Gives grant priority to applicants: (1) in which at least 50% of the students enrolled in schools under their jurisdictions are eligible for free or reduced price meals; and (2) located in states where the adult obesity rate is not less that 30% and the child obesity rate is more than 30%, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Requires grant funds to be used to: (1) procure unprocessed foods; (2) train food service staff to prepare such foods; and (3) purchase the equipment needed to prepare such foods. Requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance to grantees on the procurement of healthy, unprocessed foods. Makes food weight and quantity requirements under the school lunch and breakfast programs inapplicable to food served under this Act's grant program.

Date: 2010-07-14
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Amends title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to reauthorize appropriations under part H (School Dropout Prevention). Establishes a transition-to-success mentoring program under part H of the ESEA requiring the Secretary of Education to award five-year grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) or partnerships between LEAs and community-based nonprofit organizations to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs to assist at-risk students in transitioning from middle to high school. Requires grantees to assign to each at-risk student in his or her middle school a success coach who: (1) creates a plan of success for the student; (2) enters into an agreement with the student's parents regarding their role in implementing such plan; (3) meets with the student at least once a month to assess and assist the student's progress; (4) meets at least quarterly with the student and the student's parents, teachers, or counselors to evaluate the student's progress and revise or establish new goals for the next academic year; and (5) serves as the student's advocate between the student's parents and teachers. Authorizes the use of grant funds to train success coaches and cover the cost of any materials they use under the mentoring program.

Date: 2010-07-15
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Eat Local Foods Act - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to states, by the beginning of each school year (beginning with the 2012-2013 school year), for use in providing school food authorities with local food credits that represent up to 10% of the total value of the commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu thereof) that the authority would be eligible to receive for the school year. Subtracts the value of the food credit from the amount of commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu thereof) that a school food authority would otherwise receive. Requires school food authorities to use their credits to purchase locally or regionally produced agricultural food products to serve in the school lunch program.

Date: 2010-07-21
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Investment in Quality School Leadership Act - Establishes a program of grants to consortia for professional development of superintendents, principals, and prospective superintendents and principals. Directs the Secretary of Education to award such competitive grants to consortia to establish programs that serve a state or region and provide superintendents, principals, and prospective superintendents and principals, particularly those serving, or intending to serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school districts and schools, with ongoing, intensive professional development opportunities to improve their capacity to serve as effective leaders and successfully implement standards-based reforms. Requires a consortium, to be eligible to apply for such a grant, to include at least: (1) one local educational agency (LEA) serving a high concentration of children living in poverty; (2) one institution of higher education; and (3) one organization that does not usually provide educational services, but has the necessary expertise to provide professional development to school administrators. Allows such consortia also to include: (1) one or more additional LEAs; (2) state educational agencies; (3) for-profit organizations with expertise; and (4) public or private nonprofit organizations with expertise. Gives priority for awards to those consortia in which the participating LEA serves the highest concentration of children living in poverty. Sets forth required program activities and additional uses of grant funds. Requires grantees to provide 50% of the project's annual costs, in cash or in kind. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) waive such matching requirement for applicants that serve low-income areas; and (2) reserve certain funds for technical assistance, evaluation, dissemination of information on effective programs, activities to encourage the spread and adoption of successful leadership development centers, and other national activities that support the programs.

Date: 2010-07-27
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
P.E. for the 21st Century Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to local educational agencies and charter schools to improve physical fitness education and curricula in elementary and secondary schools. Requires each grantee to carry out a pilot program for one school year that: (1) makes technology a key component of assessing students' physical fitness and improvement; (2) creates partnerships with local businesses to ensure community support for the program, and their financial and professional assistance; and (3) incorporates physical fitness education (in addition to regular physical fitness education classes) into multiple areas of the curriculum. Limits such grants to one grantee in each state.

Date: 2010-07-29
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Promoting Students Using the Camp Community for Enrichment, Strength, and Success Act or the Promoting SUCCESS Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive matching grants to nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and local educational agencies to carry out summertime learning pilot programs for students during their summers after grades five through nine. Requires such programs to provide students with camp activities geared toward: (1) reducing childhood obesity through increased physical activity and healthy lifestyle choices; (2) strengthening high school graduation rates by reducing summer learning loss and improving academic achievement; and (3) promoting positive youth development. Directs the Secretary to arrange for an independent evaluation of the pilot programs. Requires the Secretary to provide a grant or contract to one or more national nonprofit organizations to collect best practices from among this Act's grantees and provide grantees with training, technical assistance, and professional development.

Date: 2010-07-29
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Green Credit Enhancement Program Act of 2010 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to public entities, private nonprofit entities, or consortia of such entities to demonstrate innovative means of enhancing credit for the financing of charter school acquisition, construction, or renovation. Requires each grantee to place its grant funds in a reserve account for use in facilitating one or more charter schools' access to private-sector capital. Conditions the grant on the grantee's using at least 50% of the grant to fund projects consistent with one of several green building certification programs that include: (1) the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System; (2) the Energy Star program; (3) the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) green building rating program; (4) the Green Building Initiative environmental design and rating system (Green Globes); or (5) any other green building certification program adopted by the state or entity that has authority over the local educational agency. Allows the waiver of such condition in certain circumstances.

Date: 2010-07-30
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states (which currently are authorized) to reserve a portion of their charter school planning and implementation grant to fund efforts by local educational agencies and successful charter schools to disseminate information about their successful charter school programs or assist schools in adopting such programs.

Date: 2010-07-30
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Excellence and Innovation in Language Learning Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to undertake certain national activities at the elementary and secondary school level that include: (1) expanding the collection and dissemination of information on effective foreign language education; (2) encouraging states to adopt nationally recognized standards for foreign language education and effective assessments that are aligned to such standards; and (3) providing scholarships to students and their teachers for study-abroad opportunities. Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to states to improve their elementary and secondary school foreign language programs. Requires each state grantee to use its grant to: (1) develop foreign language and international education policy and programs; (2) appoint a state foreign language and international education advisory council to assist it in doing so; (3) designate a state language and international education coordinator or coordinators; (4) adopt nationally recognized standards for foreign language education and effective assessments that are aligned to such standards; (5) implement in- and pre-service foreign language teacher training programs; (6) provide scholarships and incentives to recruit new teachers and encourage existing teachers to receive training; and (7) provide technical assistance to elementary and secondary schools. Directs the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to partnerships between state or local educational agencies and institutions of higher education to develop and maintain, or improve and expand, model programs that ensure the continuity of student progress in foreign language proficiency from kindergarten through grade 12. Requires each model program to include a research and evaluation component.

Date: 2010-07-30
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
School Safety Enhancements Act of 2010 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to: (1) allow the installation and use of surveillance equipment in schools under the matching grant program for school security; (2) allow the use of grant funds to establish hotlines or tiplines for reporting potentially dangerous students or situations; (3) prohibit the federal matching share of program costs from exceeding 75%; and (4) revise application requirements for school security grants. Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Secretary of Education to establish an interagency task force to develop and promulgate advisory school safety guidelines.

Date: 2010-07-30
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
National Environmental Education Reauthorization Act of 2010 - Reauthorizes appropriations for, and revises, the National Environmental Education Act. Revises the duties of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Education, including by requiring the Office to: (1) develop and support programs to improve the understanding of the benefits of exposure to the natural environment and programs that educate the public on the benefits of reducing dependence on nonrenewable forms of energy promote efforts to prepare citizens for employment in environmentally friendly fields that contribute to healthy communities; and (2) promote research, development, and evaluation of effective approaches to achieving an environmentally literate population. Revises: (1) the Environmental Education and Training Program by expanding the program's functions and activities; (2) the Environmental Education Grants program by expanding its eligibility requirements; (3) environment internships and fellowships by limiting training opportunities to training with EPA staff (currently agency staff); (4) environmental education awards, including by removing requirements that specific awards be given; and (6) the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, including by renaming it as the National Environmental Education Foundation. Authorizes appropriations to the EPA Administrator for FY2010-FY2021 to carry out such Act and revises how funds shall be distributed.

Date: 2010-09-23
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Environmental protection
Charter School Good Governance and Transparency Act - Requires states to provide each charter school in the state that receives funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with a list of licensed, independent auditors that perform governmental audits. Requires states to develop and implement policies requiring such charter schools to: (1) maintain their financial records in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and applicable state and federal requirements; (2) be audited annually by a licensed, independent auditor, with the findings made public and filed with their authorized public chartering agency and state; and (3) address all audit findings and report to their authorized public chartering agency on actions taken to do so. Directs states to: (1) require such chartering agencies to report significant audit findings and the measures schools take to address them; and (2) submit overall summary analyses of the annual audits to the Secretary of Education.

Date: 2010-09-23
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Dieticians in Schools Act of 2010 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to local educational agencies so they can provide for the services of registered dieticians in their schools. Makes charter schools eligible for such grants. Requires the registered dieticians to: (1) teach students about nutrition and healthy eating habits; and (2) assist in planning the meals that are to be served in the school cafeteria to ensure that such meals are nutritious and consistent with healthy eating habits.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act or the SAVE Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require states to allow a student who is attending a public school that does not have a safe climate for academic achievement, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense while on school grounds, at a school event, or on a school bus to transfer to a safe public school within the school district. (Currently, the school must be persistently dangerous and the offense must occur on school grounds.) Requires states to: (1) permit schools to provide counseling and educational services to violent offenders in alternative settings; (2) require schools that know a violent offender is returning to school to notify the victim's parents that the offender is returning; and (3) provide school students, families, and staff with an annual report containing certain school crime statistics. Requires a state's determination that a school is unsafe to: (1) be based on those school crime statistics and certain other school data that the state is to collect; (2) be relayed to local educational agencies (LEAs) so that LEAs can relay such information to parents in a timely manner; and (3) result in ameliorative efforts by unsafe schools. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) make school crime statistics publicly available; and (2) publish a handbook to assist states and LEAs in meeting this Act's school crime, offense, and incident disclosure requirements. Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program to augment the information LEAs must provide to states concerning students with guns to include incidents that do not involve a student's expulsion and school-related off-campus incidents, including those involving non-students. Includes bullying and cyberbullying prevention, and emergency preparedness in the federal activities required under the program. Directs the Secretary to fund schoolwide climate surveys of students, parents, and school personnel for use in creating collaborative plans for school improvement. Gives funding priority to unsafe schools.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Global Learning Early Education Challenge Fund Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), Head Start agencies, and preschools for planning or implementing Global Learning Early Education programs (preschool through grade eight dual-language, developmental bilingual, or second language immersion programs). Gives grant priority to LEAs, Head Start agencies, and preschools in which at least 40% of the students enrolled are limited English proficient. Requires each grantee to partner with one or more of the following entities: (1) a community-based organization; (2) an early childhood organization; (3) an elementary, secondary, or postsecondary school; or (4) an LEA. Requires implementation grant recipients to: (1) provide incentives for the recruitment and retention of bilingual and culturally and linguistically relevant staff for their Global Learning Early Education programs, including high-quality professional development; and (2) involve students' families in the programs. Directs the Secretary to establish a Research Council, composed of individuals with specified educational expertise, to guide research into Global Learning Early Education programs that identifies best practices and evaluates student progress.

Date: 2010-11-18
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require each state receiving funds under that Act to have in effect policies and procedures that: (1) require criminal background checks for school employees, including searches of state criminal registries or repositories, state-based child abuse and neglect registries and databases, the National Crime Information Center of the Department of Justice, the National Sex Offender Registry, and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and (2) prohibit the employment of school employees who refuse to consent to a criminal background check, make false statements in connection with one, or have been convicted of one of a list of felonies or any other crime that is a violent or sexual crime against a child. Lists those felonies as: (1) homicide; (2) child abuse or neglect; (3) crimes against children; (4) spousal abuse; (5) crimes involving rape or sexual assault; (6) kidnapping; (7) arson; and (8) physical assault, battery, or drug-related offenses, committed within the past five years. Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) or state educational agencies (SEAs) to report to local law enforcement any applicants for school employment who are discovered to be sexual predators. Requires periodic repetitions of such criminal background checks. Requires such states to provide for a timely process under which school employees may: (1) appeal the results of a criminal background check to challenge the accuracy or completeness of the information produced; and (2) seek appropriate relief for any final employment decision based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information produced. Requires this appeals process, however, to deny the individual employment as a school employee during the process.

Date: 2010-12-17
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Education Opportunity Act of 2009 - Expresses the sense of Congress that it should pass, and the President should sign into law, legislation that expands educational opportunities for all Americans by enhancing: (1) access to high-quality early childhood education, child care, and after school and extended learning services; (2) secondary and post-secondary graduation rates; (3) educational innovation, standards, and assessments; (4) the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers by high-need schools; (5) mathematics and science instruction; and (6) federal grant aid and tax incentives to make higher education more affordable.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise the process for blocking the access of military recruiters or institutions of higher education (IHEs) to secondary school student information. Requires ESEA-assisted local educational agencies (LEAs) to notify each secondary school student's parent of the option to submit a written request to the LEA that the student's name, address, and telephone listing not be released to military recruiters or IHEs without the parent's prior written consent. Prohibits LEAs from providing military recruiters or IHEs access to such information once they have received such consent request, unless the student's parent provides written consent to such access. Gives students the rights accorded to their parents when they reach age 18. Requires the Secretary of Defense to notify the Governor of the LEA's state and the Secretary of Education when an LEA denies access to military recruiters. Requires the Secretary of Education, upon receiving such notice, to determine whether: (1) the LEA has failed to comply substantially with the requirement to provide military recruiters with access to students and student information unless the parents have filed a prior consent request under this Act; and (2) the imposition of a penalty or remedy against the LEA is warranted.

Date: 2009-01-06
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Early Education Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to at least ten states to establish early education programs providing children with at least a half-day of schooling each week day during the academic year preceding kindergarten. Requires each program to: (1) be carried out by one or more local educational agencies (LEAs), chosen by the state; (2) be available to all children served by the LEA or LEAs carrying out the program; and (3) involve only licensed or certified instructors.

Date: 2009-01-12
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Title I Education Funding Integrity Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require local educational agencies (LEAs) to use only for direct or indirect instructional services any funds received under the program established to ensure that students make adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward state academic performance standards. Limits to 10% the portion of such funds that LEAs may use for indirect instructional services. Sets forth the types of direct and indirect instructional services for which such funds may be used.

Date: 2009-01-14
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2009 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and make available to local educational agencies, schools, early childhood education programs, and other interested entities voluntary guidelines to develop plans for individuals to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools and early childhood education programs. Directs that such guidelines address: (1) parental obligation to provide the documentation of their child's allergies; (2) the creation of an individual food allergy management plan for each such child; (3) communication between schools or programs and emergency medical services; (4) reduction of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents; (5) food allergy management training; and (6) administration of epinephrine. Allows the Secretary to award matching grants to assist local educational agencies in implementing such food allergy and anaphylaxis management guidelines.

Date: 2009-02-23
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Health
Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive, renewable, five-year grants to partnerships between low-income local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools offering graduate programs in school counseling, social work, or psychology to increase the number of program graduates employed by low-income LEAs. Defines "low-income LEAs" as those that: (1) serve students at least 20% of which are from low-income families; (2) have ratios of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists to students that fall at least 10% below specified target ratios; and (3) have been identified as needing improvement or corrective action or include at least one school identified as needing improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Allows the use of grant funds to: (1) provide program graduate students with field training at partnership LEA schools; (2) contribute to program graduates' salaries at such schools for up to three years after they graduate; (3) increase the number of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists per student, and from underrepresented backgrounds, in such schools; (4) enhance the capacity of partnership graduate schools to train such professionals; (5) develop course work designed to facilitate such graduates' service to low-income LEAs and at-risk students; and (6) provide tuition credits to such graduate students and student loan forgiveness to program graduates employed as school counselors, social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs for at least five consecutive years. Directs the Secretary to establish a program providing student loan forgiveness to non-participants in this Act's grant program who have been employed for at least five consecutive years as school counselors, social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs. Requires the Secretary to identify a formula for future use in designating regions as eligible for benefit programs because of having a shortage of such school personnel.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Fitness Integrated with Teaching Kids Act or the FIT Kids Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require annual state and local educational agency report cards to include specified information on school health and physical education programs. Includes the promotion of healthy, active lifestyles by students within ESEA grant programs that support school counseling, smaller learning communities, community learning centers, and parental involvement in their childrens' education. Revises the professional development program for teachers and principals to include training for physical and health education teachers, and training on improving students' health habits and participation in physical activities. Directs the Secretary of Education to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study that: (1) assesses the effect health and physical education have on students' ability to learn; and (2) makes recommendations for improving, and measuring improvements to, their health and physical education in schools.

Date: 2009-03-18
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a geography education grant program under title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement). Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award a grant to a national nonprofit educational organization or consortium, with 75% to be used for matching subgrants to institutions of higher education associated with state geographic alliances, nonprofit educational organizations, or state or local educational agencies. Requires program participants to use their grants and subgrants to enhance the geographic literacy of students in kindergarten through grade 12 by supporting specified activities, including: (1) educational research; (2) teacher training; (3) the development of effective teaching tools and learning materials; (4) the application of rigorous academic standards and assessment techniques; (5) comparative studies of world cultures, economies, and environments; and (6) the exchange of information regarding the state of geographic literacy and strategies for its improvement.

Date: 2009-03-31
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Prepare All Kids Act of 2009 - Creates a part I (High Quality Prekindergarten Programs) under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Implements such part by requiring the Secretary of Education to establish a Prekindergarten Incentive Fund from which matching grants shall be awarded to states and, through them, subgrants to qualified prekindergarten providers to establish, expand, or enhance voluntary high quality full-day prekindergarten programs serving children ages three through five. Directs state grantees to set aside: (1) at least 15% of their grant for quality early childhood development programs for children ages zero through three; and (2) at least 10% of their grant to extend the hours of early childhood programs to create extended day and year programs. Requires prekindergarten subgrantees to: (1) maintain a maximum class size of 20 children, with at least 1 prekindergarten teacher per classroom; and (2) ensure that the ratio of children to prekindergarten teachers and teacher aides does not exceed 10 to 1.

Date: 2009-04-21
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Starting Early Starting Right Act - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations to carry out the Child Care and Development Block Grant program for FY2011-FY2014. Requires the state plan under the Act to certify that the state has in effect: (1) licensing requirements applicable to child care providers within the state that include one annual announced and one annual unannounced visit to each site at which the provider provides child care services; and (2) licensing or registration requirements pertaining to training. Requires the state plan to: (1) demonstrate the manner in which the state will meet the specific child care needs of low-income and working families and how it is implementing practices and procedures to help ensure that children receive continuous care from the same provider; (2) provide information demonstrating that the state is ensuring that payment rates for the provision of child care services for which assistance is provided are equal to or exceed the 75th percentile of the current market rate for all types of child care; and (3) describe efforts to address the need for child care for special populations. Increases from 4% to 15% the maximum amount of child care and development block grant funds that a state may use for specified activities designed to improve the quality of child care. Provides for minimum funding set-asides for: (1) extension of full-day care; and (2) high-quality care for infants and toddlers.

Date: 2009-05-07
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Families
School And Family Education about the Internet Act of 2009 or the SAFE Internet Act - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to eligible entities to carry out an age-appropriate, research-based Internet safety education program and other activities relating to Internet safety. Defines "eligible entity" as: (1) a local educational agency, a nonprofit organization, or a partnership between a state educational agency and one or more local educational agencies; or (2) a consortium of elementary schools or secondary schools collaborating with such an entity. Requires the Director, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) enter into contracts with one or more private companies, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations to complete a study on Internet safety; and (2) provide technical assistance to recipients of such grants.

Date: 2009-05-14
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Rural Education Achievement Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - Amends part B (Rural Education Initiative) of title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise the Small, Rural School Achievement program, which gives rural local educational agencies (LEAs) federal formula grants and greater flexibility in the use of state educational funds. Limits eligibility to LEAs whose schools are all designated with a school locale code of Fringe Rural, Distant Rural, or Remote Rural, unless located in an area the state defines as rural. Raises federal grant limits when funds available to implement the program equal or exceed $100 million. Alters LEA eligibility for federal funds under the Rural and Low-Income School program by requiring that: (1) at least 40% of the children ages 5 through 17 that LEAs serve be eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act; and (2) all of their schools be designated with a school locale code of Distant Town, Remote Town, Fringe Rural, Distant Rural, or Remote Rural.

Date: 2009-05-14
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
School Building Fairness Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to direct the Secretary of Education to allocate funds to states for competitive matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for school repair, renovation, and construction. Reserves 1% of the grant funds for assistance to outlying areas and Indian schools. Requires each state, in awarding such grants to LEAs, to consider: (1) the percentage of poor children each LEA serves; (2) the condition of their public schools or need for additional schools; (3) the extent to which they will comply with certain green building standards; (4) their fiscal capacity to cover repairs, renovations, and construction without such a grant; and (5) the likelihood that they will maintain repaired, renovated, or newly constructed schools in good condition. Requires each state to award high-need and rural LEAs, in the aggregate, at least the same proportion of this Act's LEA funds for the state that they received of total LEA school improvement funds for the state under part A of Title I of the ESEA. Directs each state to reserve a portion of their allocation for a state-level database of public school facility inventory, condition, design, and utilization. Requires the National Center for Education Statistics to study and report to Congress on the condition of public elementary and secondary schools, including an analysis of trends in spending for their repair, renovation, and construction. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a clearinghouse of information on the best educational practices from nursery school through higher education, and the latest research regarding the construction, improvement, and maintenance of safe, healthy, and high-performance public schools.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Safe Routes to School Program Reauthorization Act - Amends the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) to reauthorize appropriations for FY2010-FY2014 for the safe routes to school program. Revises program requirements to specify children kindergarten through 12th grade as the ones to be benefited by the program. Revises apportionments to replace the current specific dollar amounts with formulae. Includes projects for other nonmotorized modes of transportation besides walking and bicycling as noninfrastructure-related projects. Authorizes states to set-aside up to 10% of apportioned funds for infrastructure improvements that create safe routes to bus stops located outside of the vicinity of schools. Requires any state that receives an apportionment of funds to form a multidisciplinary state advisory committee. Prescribes requirements for the treatment of noninfrastructure and infrastructure projects. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) develop and implement a comprehensive plan for evaluating the effectiveness of safe routes to school; and (2) establish a working group of federal agencies, states, and stakeholders to examine the issue of school siting.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to extend, through the 2012-2013 school year, the Philadelphia universal feeding pilot program, which allows certain high-poverty schools in Philadelphia to be reimbursed for free and reduced price meals under the School Lunch program on the basis of school-wide demographic surveys of family income, rather than individual applications.

Date: 2009-06-04
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Investment in After-School Programs Act of 2009 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to award grants to local educational agencies, educational service agencies, community-based organizations, or other entities to improve, expand, or establish rural after-school programs that provide students with a broad array of activities when school is not in session that improve their academic performance and promote their positive development. Requires eligible programs to be implemented in active collaboration with the schools the students attend and take place in safe and easily accessible facilities. Gives priority to applicants that are partnerships between eligible entities or propose to serve students a majority of whom are eligible for free or reduced price meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs.

Date: 2009-06-17
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education
Enhancing Child Health with Automatic School Meal Enrollment Act of 2009 - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make performance awards to states that demonstrate outstanding performance or show substantial improvement in directly certifying children whose families are eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 as eligible for free meals under the school lunch and breakfast programs. (Direct certification eliminates the need for such families to submit applications for participation in the school lunch and breakfast programs.) Requires each state that directly certifies less than 95% of their children who are eligible for direct certification to implement a direct certification improvement plan that is approved by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary of Education to report to Congress on how statewide databases used to track compliance with the requirements of the school improvement program under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 can be used for the purposes of direct certification.

Date: 2009-06-18
Topic: Education (Elementary & Secondary)
Subject: Education