[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1617 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1617

              To promote youth entrepreneurship education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2001

Mr. Kucinich (for himself, Mr. Andrews, and Mr. Souder) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
              To promote youth entrepreneurship education.

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

SECTION 1. EMPOWERING FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS.

    Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is 
amended--
            (1) by striking the title heading and inserting the 
        following:

           ``TITLE V--PROMOTING EQUITY AND EMPOWERMENT''; and

            (2) by adding at the end the following new part:

               ``PART D--EMPOWERING FUTURE ENTREPRENEURS

``SEC. 5401. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS.

    ``(a) Short Title.--This part may be cited as the ``Future 
Entrepreneurs of America Act''.
    ``(b) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) In order to reach their career goals in our dynamic 
        American economy, young people need to take personal 
        responsibility to obtain the skills, knowledge, constructive 
        attitudes, and experiences that will enable them to function as 
        creative, self-confident participants in the workforce.
            ``(2) Research has found that 61 percent of high school 
        students are interested in starting their own business and 75 
        percent of students believe it is important for the Nation's 
        schools to teach more about entrepreneurship and starting a 
        business.
            ``(3) States have begun to express increased interest in 
        entrepreneurship education. State educational leaders are 
        recognizing that self-employment is a viable career option for 
        young people and are exploring ways to better prepare them to 
        own and operate their own businesses.
            ``(4) As part of a lifelong learning process, 
        entrepreneurship education helps to increase the motivation of 
        young people to learn, helps them develop a sense of individual 
        opportunity, enhances their personal growth, helps them develop 
        an appreciation of the importance of innovation, helps develop 
        their problem solving and leadership skills, helps them learn 
        to manage their finances, and helps them develop the sort of 
        optimistic outlook and self-reliant attitudes that will benefit 
        them for their entire working lives.
            ``(5) Entrepreneurship education integrates instruction in 
        economic literacy, including how the economy functions, the 
        workings of the social security system, and the importance of 
        personal savings.
            ``(6) The entrepreneurs and inventors of tomorrow are in 
        our schools today. The entrepreneurial spirit needs to be 
        nurtured at all levels of our Nation's educational system 
        especially beginning with students in grades 7 through 12.

``SEC. 5402. STATE GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Authority.--In any fiscal year in which the appropriations 
under section 5408(a) equal or exceed $50,000,000, the Secretary shall 
make grants to States from allocations under subsection (d) to enable 
them to carry out entrepreneurship education programs for students in 
grades 7 through 12.
    ``(b) Agency To Receive Grant.--A grant award to a State under 
subsection (a) shall be made to the State educational agency.
    ``(c) State Plan.--
            ``(1) Approved state plan required.--No State shall receive 
        a grant under subsection (a) unless it has submitted to the 
        Secretary a plan, which the Secretary has approved.
            ``(2) State plan contents.--The State plan described in 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of how the State will use a 
                grant;
                    ``(B) a description of how the programs supported 
                by a grant will--
                            ``(i) involve the business community; and
                            ``(ii) be coordinated with other relevant 
                        Federal, State, regional, and local programs; 
                        and
                    ``(C) a description of how the State will evaluate 
                program performance.
    ``(d) Allocation of Funds.--
            ``(1) Allocation factors.--Except as otherwise provided in 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary shall allocate the amounts made 
        available to carry out this section pursuant to subsection (a) 
        to each State according to the relative populations in all the 
        States of students in grades 7 through 12, as determined by the 
        Secretary based on the most recent satisfactory data.
            ``(2) Minimum allocation.--Subject to the availability of 
        appropriations and notwithstanding paragraph (1), a State that 
        has submitted an approved plan under subsection (c) shall be 
        allocated an amount not less than $400,000 for a fiscal year.
            ``(3) Reallocation.--In any fiscal year an allocation under 
        this subsection--
                    ``(A) for a State that has not submitted a plan 
                under subsection (c); or
                    ``(B) for a State whose plan submitted under 
                subsection (c) has been disapproved by the Secretary;
        shall be reallocated to the remaining States in accordance with 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(e) Use of Grant Funds.--
            ``(1) Required uses.--A grant made to a State under 
        subsection (a) shall be used--
                    ``(A) to provide funds to local educational 
                agencies and public schools to carry out 
                entrepreneurship education programs for students 
in grades 7 through 12 based on the concept of lifelong learning 
necessary to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit; and
                    ``(B) to monitor and evaluate programs supported 
                under subparagraph (A).
            ``(2) Permissible use.--A grant made to a State under 
        subsection (a) may be used for professional development that 
        helps to prepare teachers and administrators for 
        entrepreneurial education.
            ``(3) Limitation on administrative costs.--A State 
        receiving a grant under subsection (a) may use not more than 4 
        percent of the total amount of the grant in each fiscal year 
        for the administrative costs of carrying out this section.
    ``(f) Report to the Secretary.--Each agency receiving a grant as 
described in subsection (b) shall transmit a report to the Secretary 
with respect to each fiscal year for which a grant was received. The 
report shall describe the programs supported by the grant and the 
results of the State's monitoring and evaluation of such programs.

``SEC. 5403. DIRECT LOCAL GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``In any fiscal year in which the appropriations under section 
5408(a) are less than $50,000,000, the Secretary may make grants 
directly to local educational agencies and public schools to provide 
entrepreneurship education to students in grades 7 through 12.

``SEC. 5404. CLEARINGHOUSE.

    ``(a) Authority.--The Secretary shall make a grant to or execute a 
contract with an organization or institution with substantial 
experience in the field of entrepreneurship education to establish, 
operate, and maintain a national clearinghouse (in this part referred 
to as the ``Clearinghouse'') for instructional materials and 
information regarding exemplary entrepreneurship education programs and 
best practices.
    ``(b) Application.--An organization or institution desiring to 
establish, operate, and maintain the Clearinghouse shall submit an 
application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
accompanied by such information, as the Secretary may reasonably 
require.
    ``(c) Basis and Term.--The Secretary shall make the grant or 
contract authorized by subsection (a) on a competitive, merit basis for 
a term of 5 years.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--The Clearinghouse shall use the funds provided 
under a grant or contract made under subsection (a)--
            ``(1) to maintain a repository of instructional materials 
        and related information regarding entrepreneurship education 
        programs for secondary schools, including middle schools, for 
        use by States, localities, and the general public;
            ``(2) to disseminate to States, localities, and the general 
        public, through electronic and other means, instructional 
        materials and related information regarding entrepreneurship 
        education programs for secondary schools, including middle 
        schools; and
            ``(3) to the extent that resources allow, to provide 
        technical assistance to States, localities, and the general 
        public on the design, establishment, and implementation of 
        entrepreneurship education programs for secondary schools, 
        including middle schools.
    ``(e) Consultation.--The Clearinghouse shall consult with the Small 
Business Administration with respect to its activities under subsection 
(d).
    ``(f) Submission to Clearinghouse.--Each Federal agency or 
department that develops entrepreneurship education programs or 
instructional materials for such programs shall submit to the 
Clearinghouse information on the programs and copies of the materials.
    ``(g) Application of Copyright Laws.--In carrying out this section 
the Clearinghouse shall ensure compliance with title 17, United States 
Code.

``SEC. 5405. EVALUATION.

    ``(a) Performance Measures.--The Secretary shall develop measures 
to evaluate the performance of programs assisted under sections 5402 
and 5403.
    ``(b) Evaluation According to Performance Measures.--Applying the 
performance measures developed under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall evaluate programs assisted under sections 5402 and 5403--
            ``(1) to judge their performance and effectiveness;
            ``(2) to identify which of the programs represent the best 
        practices of entities developing entrepreneurship education 
        programs for students in grades 7 through 12; and
            ``(3) to identify which of the programs can be replicated 
        and used to provide technical assistance to States, localities, 
        and the general public.

``SEC. 5406. REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.

    ``For each fiscal year for which there are appropriations under 
section 5408(a), the Secretary shall transmit a report to the Congress 
describing the status of the implementation of this part. The report 
shall include the results of the evaluation required by section 5405 
and a description of the programs supported under sections 5402 and 
5403.

``SEC. 5407. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this part--
            ``(1) the term `entrepreneurship education' means 
        educational activities and experiences, planned and supervised 
        by qualified teachers, that enable students to explore business 
        ownership opportunities, acquire the skills and knowledge 
        necessary to start a business, and develop a range of 
        entrepreneurial competencies that will help them to explore and 
        identify their lifelong career goals as business owners or as 
        competent employees; and
            ``(2) the term `qualified teacher' means a teacher who 
        holds a valid teaching certification or is considered to be 
        qualified by the State educational agency in the State in which 
        the teacher works.

``SEC. 5408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) Authorization.--For the purposes of carrying out this part, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2002 through 2006.
    ``(b) Limitation on Funds for Clearinghouse.--The Secretary may use 
not less than 2 percent and not more than 5 percent of amounts 
appropriated under subsection (a) for each fiscal year to carry out 
section 5404.
    ``(c) Limitation on Funds for Secretary's Evaluation.--The 
Secretary may use not more than $200,000 from the amounts appropriated 
under subsection (a) for each fiscal year to carry out section 5405.
    ``(d) Limitation on Administrative Costs.--Except as provided in 
subsection (b) and as necessary to carry out section 5405 using amounts 
described in subsection (c), the Secretary shall not use any portion of 
the amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for the costs of 
administering this part.
    ``(e) Funds for Grants.--For each fiscal year the Secretary shall 
use all amounts appropriated under subsection (a), other than the 
amounts described in subsections (b) and (c), only for grants under 
section 5402 or 5403.''.
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