[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 59 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 59

   To establish a program of grants for supplemental assistance for 
elementary and secondary school students of limited English proficiency 
 to ensure that they rapidly develop proficiency in English while not 
               falling behind in their academic studies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 3, 2001

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a program of grants for supplemental assistance for 
elementary and secondary school students of limited English proficiency 
 to ensure that they rapidly develop proficiency in English while not 
               falling behind in their academic studies.

    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 ``Kids Developing Skills for Success 
in the 21st Century Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR LIMITED ENGLISH 
              PROFICIENT STUDENTS.

    (a) In General.--In the case of each State educational agency that 
in accordance with subsection (c) submits to the Secretary an 
application for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make a grant for the 
year to the agency for the uses specified in subsection (b). The grant 
shall consist of the allotment determined for the State under section 
3.
    (b) Uses of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Each State educational agency receiving a 
        grant under this Act shall use the funds provided under the 
        grant to assist local educational agencies in providing 
        supplemental assistance to elementary and secondary school 
        students of limited English proficiency to ensure that they 
        rapidly develop proficiency in English while not falling behind 
        in their academic studies.
            (2) Authorized activities.--Supplemental assistance 
        described in paragraph (1) may, but is not required to, include 
        individualized tutoring by regular school instructional staff 
        or by bilingual tutors hired specifically to provide such 
        tutoring. Such tutoring may take place during school hours, 
        before or after school hours, or on weekends.
    (c) Application.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this Act, a State educational agency shall submit an 
        application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
        containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
        require.
            (2) Contents.--Each application under this subsection shall 
        include a description of how--
                    (A) the State educational agency intends to use the 
                grant funds;
                    (B) the programs supported by the grant will be 
                coordinated with other Federal, State, regional, and 
                local programs; and
                    (C) the State educational agency will evaluate 
                program performance.
    (d) Priority.--In assisting local educational agencies using funds 
provided under this Act, a State educational agency shall give priority 
to local educational agencies that--
            (1) experience a dramatic increase in the number or 
        percentage of elementary and secondary school students of 
        limited English proficiency;
            (2) have a large percentage of elementary and secondary 
        school students of limited English proficiency enrolled;
            (3) have a total student enrollment of less than 10,000; or
            (4) demonstrate a record of success in assisting students 
        of limited English proficiency achieve academic success.

SEC. 3. STATE ALLOCATIONS.

    (a) Allocations.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and 
        (c), of the amount appropriated for each fiscal year for this 
        Act, each State participating in the program assisted under 
        this Act shall receive an allocation equal to the proportion of 
        such State's number of students of limited English proficiency 
        who are enrolled in public elementary or secondary schools 
        under the jurisdiction of each local educational agency 
        described in paragraph (2) within such State, and in nonpublic 
        elementary or secondary schools within the district served by 
        each such local educational agency, relative to the total 
        number of such students so enrolled in all the States 
        participating in the program assisted under this Act.
            (2) Eligible local educational agencies.--The local 
        educational agencies referred to in paragraph (1) are those 
        local educational agencies in which the sum of the number of 
        students of limited English proficiency who are enrolled in 
public elementary or secondary schools under the jurisdiction of such 
agencies, and in nonpublic elementary or secondary schools within the 
districts served by such agencies, during the fiscal year for which the 
payments are to be made under this Act, is equal to--
                    (A) at least 500; or
                    (B) at least 3 percent of the total number of 
                students enrolled in such public or nonpublic schools 
                during such fiscal year;
        whichever number is less.
    (b) Determinations of Number of Students.--
            (1) In general.--Determinations by the Secretary under this 
        section for any period with respect to the number of students 
        of limited English proficiency shall be made on the basis of 
        data or estimates provided to the Secretary by each State 
        educational agency in accordance with criteria established by 
        the Secretary, unless the Secretary determines, after notice 
        and opportunity for a hearing to the affected State educational 
        agency, that such data or estimates are clearly erroneous.
            (2) Special rule.--No such determination with respect to 
        the number of students of limited English proficiency shall 
        operate because of an underestimate or overestimate to deprive 
        any State educational agency of the allocation under this 
        section that such State would otherwise have received had such 
        determination been made on the basis of accurate data.
    (c) Reallocation.--Whenever the Secretary determines that any 
amount of a payment made to a State under this Act for a fiscal year 
will not be used by such State for carrying out the purpose for which 
the payment was made, the Secretary shall make such amount available 
for carrying out such purpose to one or more other States to the extent 
the Secretary determines that such other States will be able to use 
such additional amount for carrying out such purpose. Any amount made 
available to a State from any appropriation for a fiscal year in 
accordance with the preceding sentence shall, for purposes of this Act, 
be regarded as part of such State's payment (as determined under 
subsection (a)) for such year, but shall remain available until the end 
of the succeeding fiscal year.

SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Notification of Amount.--The Secretary, not later than June 1 
of each year, shall notify each State educational agency that has an 
application approved under section 2 of the amount of such agency's 
allocation under section 3 for the succeeding year.
    (b) Services to Children Enrolled in Nonpublic Schools.--
            (1) In general.--No local educational agency may receive 
        any assistance under this Act for any fiscal year unless such 
        agency provides to the Secretary assurances--
                    (A) that to the extent consistent with the number 
                of students of limited English proficiency who are 
                enrolled in the nonpublic elementary or secondary 
                schools within the district served by a local 
                educational agency, such agency, after consultation 
                with appropriate officials of such schools, shall 
                provide for the benefit of such students secular, 
                neutral, and nonideological services, materials, and 
                equipment in accordance with this Act;
                    (B) that the control of funds provided under this 
                Act to any materials, equipment, and property repaired, 
                remodeled, or constructed with those funds shall be in 
                a public agency for the uses and purposes provided in 
                this Act, and a public agency shall administer such 
                funds and property; and
                    (C) that the provision of services pursuant to this 
                paragraph shall be provided by employees of a public 
                agency or through contract by such public agency with a 
                person, association, agency, or corporation who or 
                which, in the provision of such services, is 
                independent of such nonpublic elementary or secondary 
                school and of any religious organization, and such 
                employment or contract shall be under the control and 
                supervision of such public agency, and the funds 
                provided under this paragraph shall not be commingled 
                with State or local funds.
            (2) Waivers.--If by reason of any provision of law a local 
        educational agency is prohibited from providing educational 
        services for children enrolled in elementary and secondary 
        nonpublic schools, as required by paragraph (1), or if the 
        Secretary determines that a local educational agency has 
        substantially failed or is unwilling to provide for the 
        participation on an equitable basis of children enrolled in 
        such schools, the Secretary may waive such requirement and 
        shall arrange for the provision of services, subject to the 
        requirements of this Act, to such children. Such waivers shall 
        be subject to consultation, withholding, notice, and judicial 
        review requirements in accordance with the provisions of title 
        I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the following terms have the following 
meanings:
            (1) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' 
        means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, 
        including a public elementary charter school, that provides 
        elementary education, as determined under State law.
            (2) Limited english proficiency.--The term ``limited 
        English proficiency'', when used with reference to an 
        individual, means an individual--
                    (A) who--
                            (i) was not born in the United States or 
                        whose native language is a language other than 
                        English and comes from an environment where a 
                        language other than English is dominant; or
                            (ii) is a Native American or Alaska Native 
                        or who is a native resident of the outlying 
                        areas and comes from an environment where a 
                        language other than English has had a 
                        significant impact on such individual's level 
                        of English language proficiency; or
                            (iii) is migratory and whose native 
                        language is other than English and comes from 
                        an environment where a language other than 
                        English is dominant; and
                    (B) who has sufficient difficulty speaking, 
                reading, writing, or understanding the English language 
                and whose difficulties may deny such individual the 
                opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms where 
                the language of instruction is English or to 
                participate fully in our society.
            (3) Local educational agency.--(A) The term ``local 
        educational agency'' means a public board of education or other 
        public authority legally constituted within a State for either 
        administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service 
        function for, public elementary or secondary schools in a city, 
        county, township, school district, or other political 
        subdivision of a State, or for such combination of school 
        districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an 
        administrative agency for its public elementary or secondary 
        schools.
            (B) The term includes any other public institution or 
        agency having administrative control and direction of a public 
        elementary or secondary school.
            (C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school 
        funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs but only to the extent 
        that such inclusion makes such school eligible for programs for 
        which specific eligibility is not provided to such school in 
        another provision of law and such school does not have a 
        student population that is smaller than the student population 
        of the local educational agency receiving assistance under this 
        Act with the smallest student population, except that such 
        school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State 
        educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
            (4) Native american and native american language.--The 
        terms ``Native American'' and ``Native American language'' 
        shall have the same meaning given such terms in section 103 of 
        the Native American Languages Act of 1990.
            (5) Native language.--The term ``native language'', when 
        used with reference to an individual of limited English 
        proficiency, means the language normally used by such 
        individual, or in the case of a child or youth, the language 
        normally used by the parents of the child or youth.
            (6) Outlying area.--The term ``outlying area'' means the 
        Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
        Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 
        the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
            (7) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' means 
        a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including 
        a public secondary charter school, that provides secondary 
        education, as determined under State law, except that such term 
        does not include any education beyond grade 12.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (9) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 
        each of the outlying areas.
            (10) State educational agency.--The term ``State 
        educational agency'' means the agency primarily responsible for 
        the State supervision of public elementary and secondary 
        schools.
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