[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''.
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