[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4349 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4349

 To provide grants to local educational agencies to provide financial 
 assistance to elementary and secondary schools for obtaining computer 
       software for bilingual education, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2000

   Mr. Baca introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide grants to local educational agencies to provide financial 
 assistance to elementary and secondary schools for obtaining computer 
       software for bilingual education, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Bilingual Education and 
Technological Advancement Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR BILINGUAL EDUCATION.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary of Education may award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to local educational agencies to provide financial 
assistance to elementary and secondary schools for obtaining computer 
software for bilingual education.
    (b) Preference.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall give preference to local educational agencies that 
serve an elementary or secondary school in which--
            (1) a majority of the students are from families with 
        incomes below the poverty line, as defined by the Office of 
        Management and Budget and in effect under section 673(2) of the 
        Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)); or
            (2) there is a high concentration of students with low 
        levels of English proficiency.
    (c) Eligible Schools.--A grant under this section may be used to 
provide financial assistance only to an elementary or secondary school 
that meets the criteria of paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b).
    (d) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an annual 
        study of the effectiveness of the grant program under this 
        section.
            (2) Report.--By the end of each fiscal year for which 
        appropriations to carry out this Act are available, the 
        Secretary shall transmit to the Congress a report that includes 
        the following:
                    (A) Findings on the effectiveness of this grant 
                program, including the effectiveness of the computer 
                software.
                    (B) Recommendations for improving this grant 
                program.
    (e) Application.--To seek a grant under subsection (a), a local 
educational agency shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary for grants under this section $80,000,000 
for fiscal years 2001 through 2005.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR COMPUTERS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary of Education may award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to local educational agencies to provide financial 
assistance to elementary and secondary schools for obtaining computers.
    (b) Mandatory Grants.--The Secretary shall award a grant under 
subsection (a) to any local educational agency that--
            (1) submits an application under subsection (c); and
            (2) serves elementary or secondary schools in which, 
        cumulatively, a majority of the students are from families with 
        incomes below the poverty line, as defined by the Office of 
        Management and Budget and in effect under section 673(2) of the 
        Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)).
    (c) Eligible Schools.--A grant under this section may be used to 
provide financial assistance only to an elementary or secondary school 
in which--
            (1) a majority of students are from families with incomes 
        below the poverty line, as defined by the Office of Management 
        and Budget and in effect under section 673(2) of the Community 
        Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)); or
            (2) there are fewer computers than the greater of--
                    (A) 6 computers; or
                    (B) a number of computers for that type school 
                established by the Secretary by a regulation under this 
                paragraph.
    (d) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, a local 
educational agency shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary for grants under this section 
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.

SEC. 4. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM 
              GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretaries may make grants to eligible partnerships to pay the Federal 
share of the cost of establishing and carrying out--
            (1) information technology training programs for former 
        participants in information technology training programs who 
        have not received information technology certification, 
        minorities, women, older individuals, veterans, Native 
        Americans, and dislocated workers; and
            (2) bilingual education programs.
    (b) Partnerships.--To be an eligible partnership under subsection 
(a), a partnership shall consist of--
            (1) an institution of higher education; and
            (2) a private organization, such as a certified commercial 
        information technology training provider or an information 
        technology trade or professional association.
    (c) Application.--To seek a grant under subsection (a), an eligible 
partnership shall submit an application to the Secretaries at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the 
Secretaries may require.
    (d) Federal Share.--
            (1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost described in 
        subsection (a) shall be 50 percent.
            (2) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of the cost 
        shall be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated by the 
        Secretaries, and may include plant, equipment, or services.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretaries to carry out this section $100,000,000 
for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary for each 
subsequent fiscal year.

SEC. 5. BONUS GRANTS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATION.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, the 
Secretary of Education may make grants to local educational agencies to 
assist such agencies in awarding bonuses to teachers who achieve 
information technology certification.
    (b) Limitation on Amount.--The amount of a grant to a local 
educational agency under subsection (a) shall not exceed the product 
determined by multiplying $5,000 by the number of teachers described 
pursuant to subsection (c)(2) in the application for the grant.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To seek a grant under this section, a 
        local educational agency shall submit an application to the 
        Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Contents.--The application shall include information 
        describing the number of teachers employed by the local 
        educational agency who--
                    (A) have achieved information technology 
                certification, including such certification for 
                integrating information technology into the classroom 
                or a curriculum; and
                    (B) have not previously received a bonus under this 
                section.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Education to carry out this section 
$120,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.

SEC. 6. SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TEACHER TRAINING.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary of Education may award grants, on a 
competitive basis, to institutions of higher education to provide 
scholarships to any eligible student.
    (b) Eligible Students.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``eligible student'' means a student who--
            (1) is preparing to enter the teaching workforce; and
            (2) meets the criteria established under subsection (c).
    (c) Criteria.--For purposes of subsection (b)(2), the Secretary 
shall establish criteria that require a student to obtain both 
technological and bilingual education.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $100,000,000 
for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 
4 succeeding fiscal years.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Certified commercial information technology training 
        provider.--The term ``certified commercial information 
        technology training provider'' means a private sector provider 
        of educational products and services utilized for training in 
        information technology that is certified by 1 or more software 
        publishers or hardware manufacturers (the products of which are 
        the subject of the training) with respect to--
                    (A) the curriculum that is used for the training; 
                or
                    (B) the technical knowledge of the instructors of 
                such provider.
            (2) Dislocated worker.--The term ``dislocated worker'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Workforce 
        Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801).
            (3) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
            (4) Information technology certification.--The term 
        ``information technology certification'' means certification in 
        information technology, in accordance with such standards as--
                    (A)(i) the Computing Technology Industry 
                Association or the Information Technology Training 
                Association may issue, after consultation with chief 
                education officers of States, State boards, entities 
                that certify or license teachers, and other entities 
                affected by the standards; or
                    (ii) a State board or entity that certifies or 
                licenses teachers may issue, after consultation with 
                chief education officers of States, and other entities 
                affected by the standards; and
                    (B) the Secretaries may approve.
            (5) Information technology training program.--The term 
        ``information technology training program'' means a program for 
        the training of--
                    (A) computer programmers, systems analysts, and 
                computer scientists or engineers (as such occupations 
                are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics); and
                    (B) persons for such other occupations as are 
                determined to be appropriate by the Secretaries, after 
                consultation with a working group broadly solicited by 
                the Secretaries and open to all interested information 
                technology entities and trade and professional 
                associations.
            (6) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1002).
            (7) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (8) Native American.--The term ``Native American'' means an 
        Indian or a Native Hawaiian, as defined in section 166(b) of 
        the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2911(b)).
            (9) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
            (10) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Labor, acting 
        jointly.
            (11) Veteran.--The term ``veteran'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 101 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 
        (29 U.S.C. 2801).
                                 <all>