[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1854 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1854

 To amend the General Education Act to allow parents access to certain 
                   information about their children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2001

Mr. Tiahrt (for himself, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Smith of 
New Jersey, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Ryun of Kansas, Mr. Barr of 
 Georgia, Mr. English, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Jones of North Carolina, Mr. 
Weldon of Florida, Mr. Tancredo, Mr. Graham, and Mr. Lewis of Kentucky) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the General Education Act to allow parents access to certain 
                   information about their children.

    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 ``Parental Freedom of Information 
Act''.

SEC. 2. INFORMATION ACCESS AND CONSENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 444 of the General Education Provisions 
Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Instructional and Testing Materials.--
            ``(1) In general.--No funds shall be made available under 
        any applicable program to any educational agency or institution 
        that has a policy of denying, or that effectively prevents, the 
        parent of an elementary school or secondary school student 
        served by such agency or at such institution, as the case may 
        be, the right to inspect and review any instructional material 
        used with respect to the educational curriculum of, or testing 
        material that has been administered to, the student. Each 
        educational agency or institution shall establish appropriate 
        procedures for the granting of a request by parents for access 
        to the instructional material or testing material. The granting 
        of each such request shall be made in a reasonable period of 
        time, but shall not exceed 30 days, after the date of the 
        request.
            ``(2) Grievance process.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Any educational agency or 
                institution that receives funding under any applicable 
                program shall establish and maintain procedures in 
                accordance with this paragraph for resolving a dispute 
                under this subsection through mediation or through use 
                of arbitration if the dispute is not resolved through 
                mediation.
                    ``(B) Mediation.--
                            ``(i) Goals of mediation.--The goals of 
                        mediation are a prompt resolution of the 
                        dispute in a written agreement between the 
                        parties.
                            ``(ii) Mediation process.--The mediation 
                        process, at a minimum, shall meet the following 
                        requirements:
                                    ``(I) Be conducted not later than 
                                60 days after a parent's request for 
                                access and review of educational and 
                                testing materials is denied.
                                    ``(II) Not be used to deny or delay 
                                a parent's rights afforded under this 
                                subsection.
                                    ``(III) Be conducted by a qualified 
                                and impartial mediator who is trained 
                                in effective mediation techniques and 
                                is chosen by mutual consent of the 
                                involved parties.
                                    ``(IV) Be scheduled in a timely 
                                manner and be held in a location that 
                                is convenient to the parties to the 
                                dispute.
                            ``(iii) Costs of mediation.--The costs of 
                        mediation shall be paid for by the educational 
                        agency or institution, as the case may be.
                    ``(C) Arbitration.--
                            ``(i) Goal of arbitration.--The goal of 
                        arbitration is a prompt resolution of the 
                        dispute in the event the parties are unable to 
                        reach a written agreement through the mediation 
                        process.
                            ``(ii) Arbitration process.--The 
                        arbitration process, at a minimum, shall meet 
                        the following requirements:
                                    ``(I) Be conducted not later than 
                                60 days after failure to resolve the 
                                dispute through mediation.
                                    ``(II) Be conducted by an 
                                independent arbitrator chosen by mutual 
                                consent of all parties to the dispute.
                                    ``(III) Require the arbitrator to 
                                take testimony and order such equitable 
                                or declaratory relief as appropriate.
                                    ``(IV) Be scheduled in a timely 
                                manner and be held in a location that 
                                is convenient to the parties to the 
                                dispute.
                                    ``(V) Be considered final and 
                                binding upon all parties to the 
                                dispute.
                            ``(iii) Costs of arbitration.--The costs of 
                        arbitration shall be shared equally between all 
                        parties to the dispute.
            ``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Instructional material.--The term 
                `instructional material' means a textbook, audio/visual 
                material, informational material accessible through 
                Internet sites, material in digital or electronic 
                formats, instructional manual, or journal, or any other 
                material supplementary to the educational curriculum of 
                a student.
                    ``(B) Testing material.--The term `testing 
                material' means any test (without responses) after the 
                test is administered to a student during the current 
                school year, and if available, any statistical 
                comparison data regarding the test results with respect 
                to the student's age or grade level. The term does not 
                include a test subject to a copyright or licensing 
                agreement.
    ``(k) Parental Consent.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), no 
        funds shall be made available under any applicable program to 
        an educational agency or institution that, without the prior, 
        written, informed consent of the parent of a student requires 
        the student to undergo medical, psychological, or psychiatric 
        examination, testing, treatment, or immunization (except in the 
        case of a medical emergency).
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to 
        directory information as defined in subsection (a)(5)(A) or to 
        medical, psychological, or psychiatric examinations, testing, 
        treatment, or immunizations of students expressly permitted by 
        State law without written parental consent.
            ``(3) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in paragraph (1) shall 
        be construed as superseding or otherwise affecting informed 
        parental consent requirements under the Individuals with 
        Disabilities Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).
            ``(4) Restriction on seeking information from minors.--
        Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, in 
        conducting a program or activity funded in whole or in part by 
        the Federal Government a person may not, without the consent of 
        at least 1 parent or guardian of a minor or, in the case of an 
        emancipated minor, the prior consent of the minor, require or 
        otherwise seek the response of the minor to a survey or 
        questionnaire whether written or oral which elicits information 
        concerning any of the following:
                            ``(i) Parental political affiliations or 
                        beliefs.
                            ``(ii) Mental or psychological problems.
                            ``(iii) Sexual behavior or attitudes.
                            ``(iv) Illegal, antisocial, or self-
                        incriminating behavior.
                            ``(v) Appraisals of other individuals with 
                        whom the minor has a familial relationship.
                            ``(vi) Relationships that are legally 
                        recognized as privileged, including those with 
                        lawyers, physicians, and members of the clergy.
                            ``(vii) Religious affiliations or 
                        beliefs.''.
    (b) Right of Access.--The third sentence of section 444(a)(1)(A) of 
the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)(1)(A)) is 
amended by striking ``forty-five'' and inserting ``30''.
                                 <all>