[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1855 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1855

    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 
authorize a grant program to enhance parental involvement in elementary 
                         and secondary schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 15, 2001

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to 
authorize a grant program to enhance parental involvement in elementary 
                         and secondary schools.

    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 Involvement Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Research indicates that, regardless of economic, 
        ethnic, or cultural background, parental involvement in a 
        child's education is a major factor in determining success in 
        school.
            (2) Parental involvement in a child's education contributes 
        to such positive outcomes as improved grades and test scores, 
        higher expectations for student achievement, better school 
        attendance, improved rates of homework completion and 
        graduation from secondary schools, decreased violence and 
        substance abuse, and higher rates of graduation from and 
        enrollment in postsecondary schools.
            (3) According to the Department of Education study entitled 
        ``Strong Families, Strong Schools'', in elementary schools 
        where parents were actively involved, the average fourth grade 
        reading scores were 17 points above the national average.
            (4) According to the National Commission on Children, more 
        than 70 percent of students ages 10 to 13, and more than 50 
        percent of students ages 14 to 17, would like to talk to their 
        parents more about school and schoolwork.
            (5) Ninety-five percent of parents strongly agree that 
        parental involvement is as important a factor as quality of 
        teachers in ensuring student success in school, and 69 percent 
        of parents believe that in order to improve public schools, 
        more opportunities for parental involvement are necessary.
            (6) Of the 800 parents questioned under the National Parent 
        Teacher Association's 1998 survey of public school parents, 
        more than half stated that low levels of parental involvement 
        and the inability of schools to keep parents informed are 
        serious problems.
            (7) Teachers rank strengthening parental roles in their 
        children's education as an important issue that should receive 
        the highest priority in the formulation of public education 
        policy over the next few years.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new part:

                     ``PART G--PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

``SEC. 1701. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--In accordance with this section, the Secretary 
may make grants to elementary schools or secondary schools to promote 
the involvement of parents in the education of their children.
    ``(b) Use of Funds.--Each school receiving a grant under this 
section may use the proceeds of such grant only--
            ``(1) for educational or outreach materials or resources 
        designed to increase parental involvement in their children's 
        education; or
            ``(2) to pay the salary or benefits of an individual who is 
        an eligible parent liaison as described in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Eligible Parent Liaisons.--For the purposes of this section, 
an individual shall be an eligible parent liaison if the individual is 
employed by the school to be a parent liaison and meets each of the 
following criteria:
            ``(1) The individual holds a degree in social work, 
        counseling, psychology, human resources, or any other field 
        that the school considers relevant to performing the functions 
        described in paragraph (3).
            ``(2) The individual is bilingual or multilingual, if 
        appropriate for the needs of the school.
            ``(3) The individual is responsible for--
                    ``(A) facilitating communication between the 
                school's teachers and the parents of the school's 
                students, especially parents who have limited English 
                proficiency;
                    ``(B) if national or State tests or assessments are 
                conducted at the school, explaining to such parents how 
                such tests or assessments work and what the results 
                mean; and
                    ``(C) if the school provides report cards, 
                explaining to such parents what such report cards mean.
            ``(4) The individual maintains a flexible schedule that 
        allows the individual to perform the functions described in 
        paragraph (3) while accommodating the needs of working parents.
    ``(d) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each school seeking a grant under this 
        section shall submit to the Secretary an application that 
        includes--
                    ``(A) a description of the school's student 
                population, including information on the socioeconomic 
                status and the English-speaking ability of the 
                students;
                    ``(B) a plan describing how the school seeks to 
                increase parental involvement at the school, including 
                information on--
                            ``(i) the number of eligible parent 
                        liaisons the school plans to employ;
                            ``(ii) the activities the school plans to 
                        conduct to increase parental involvement; and
                            ``(iii) the materials or resources that the 
                        school plans to acquire to increase parental 
                        involvement; and
                    ``(C) a description of how the school will evaluate 
                the materials and resources acquired, and the success 
                of the activities carried out, with the grant.
            ``(2) Parental input.--Each application submitted under 
        this paragraph (including the plan described in paragraph 
        (1)(B)) shall be developed with the input of parents of 
        students at the school submitting the application.
    ``(e) Selection Criteria.--In making grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give preference--
            ``(1) to schools that have a large percentage of students 
        whose parents have limited English proficiency; and
            ``(2) to schools at which the involvement of parents in the 
        education of their children has traditionally been low.
    ``(f) Parental Involvement in Hiring Decisions.--As a condition of 
the receipt of funds made available under this section, the Secretary 
shall require that each school receiving such funds involve each of the 
following when making a hiring decision with respect to an eligible 
parent liaison hired with such funds:
            ``(1) The parents of the students at the school.
            ``(2) Any local parent organization active in the affairs 
        of the school.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1002 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h) Parental Involvement.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out part G $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.''.
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