[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 269 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 269

   To ensure that immigrant students and their families receive the 
services the students and families need to successfully participate in 
 elementary schools, secondary schools, and communities in the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2001

  Mr. Cleland introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To ensure that immigrant students and their families receive the 
services the students and families need to successfully participate in 
 elementary schools, secondary schools, and communities in the United 
                    States, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Immigrants to New Americans Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In 1997, there were an estimated 25,800,000 foreign-
        born individuals residing in the United States. That number is 
        the largest number of such foreign-born individuals in United 
        States history and represents a 6,000,000, or 30 percent, 
        increase over the 1990 census figure of 19,800,000 of such 
        foreign-born individuals. The Bureau of the Census estimates 
        that the recently arrived immigrant population (including the 
        refugee population) currently residing in the Nation will 
        account for 75 percent of the population growth in the United 
        States over the next 50 years.
            (2) For millions of immigrants settling into the Nation's 
        hamlets, towns, and cities, the dream of ``life, liberty, and 
        the pursuit of happiness'' has become a reality. The wave of 
        immigrants, of various nationalities, who have chosen the 
        United States as their home, has positively influenced the 
        Nation's image and relationship with other nations. The diverse 
        cultural heritage of the Nation's immigrants has helped define 
        the Nation's culture, customs, economy, and communities. By 
        better understanding the people who have immigrated to the 
        Nation, individuals in the United States better understand what 
        it means to be an American.
            (3) There is a critical shortage of teachers with the 
        skills needed to educate immigrant students and their families 
        in nonconcentrated, nontraditional, immigrant communities as 
        well as communities with large immigrant populations. The large 
        influx of immigrant families over the last decade presents a 
        national dilemma: The number of such families with school-age 
        children requiring assistance to successfully participate in 
        elementary schools, secondary schools, and communities in the 
        United States, is increasing without a corresponding increase 
        in the number of teachers with skills to accommodate their 
        needs.
            (4) Immigrants arriving in communities across the Nation 
        generally settle into high-poverty areas, where funding for 
        programs to provide immigrant students and their families with 
        the services the students and families need to successfully 
        participate in elementary schools, secondary schools, and 
        communities in the United States is inadequate.
            (5) The influx of immigrant families settling into many 
        United States communities is often the result of concerted 
        efforts by local employers who value immigrant labor. Those 
        employers realize that helping immigrants to become productive, 
        prosperous members of a community is beneficial for the local 
        businesses involved, the immigrants, and the community. 
        Further, local businesses benefit from the presence of the 
        immigrant families because the families present businesses with 
        a committed and effective workforce and help open up new market 
        opportunities. However, many of the communities into which the 
        immigrants have settled need assistance in order to give 
        immigrant students and their families the services the students 
        and families need to successfully participate in elementary 
        schools, secondary schools, and communities in the United 
        States.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to establish a grant program, within the 
Department of Education, that provides funding to partnerships of local 
educational agencies and community-based organizations for the 
development of model programs to provide immigrant students and their 
families with the services the students and families need to 
successfully participate in elementary schools, secondary schools, and 
communities in the United States.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

            (1) Immigrant.--In this Act, the term ``immigrant'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 101 of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
            (2) Other terms.--Other terms used in this Act have the 
        meanings given the terms in section 14101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

SEC. 5. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Education may award not more than 
10 grants in a fiscal year to eligible partnerships for the design and 
implementation of model programs to--
            (1) assist immigrant students achieve in elementary schools 
        and secondary schools in the United States by offering such 
        educational services as English as a second language classes, 
        literacy programs, programs for introduction to the education 
        system, and civics education; and
            (2) assist parents of immigrant students by offering such 
        services as parent education and literacy development services 
        and by coordinating activities with other entities to provide 
        comprehensive community social services such as health care, 
        job training, child care, and transportation services.
    (b) Eligible Partnerships.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
this Act, a partnership--
            (1) shall include--
                    (A) at least 1 local educational agency; and
                    (B) at least 1 community-based organization; and
            (2) may include another entity such as--
                    (A) an institution of higher education;
                    (B) a local or State government agency;
                    (C) a private sector entity; or
                    (D) another entity with expertise in working with 
                immigrants.
    (c) Duration.--Each grant awarded under this Act shall be awarded 
for a period of not more than 5 years. A partnership may use funds made 
available through the grant for not more than 1 year for planning and 
program design.

SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--Each eligible partnership desiring a grant under 
this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and 
in such manner as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Required Documentation.--Each application submitted by a 
partnership under this section for a proposed program shall include 
documentation that--
            (1) the partnership has the qualified personnel required to 
        develop, administer, and implement the proposed program; and
            (2) the leadership of each participating school has been 
        involved in the development and planning of the program in the 
        school.
    (c) Other Application Contents.--Each application submitted by a 
partnership under this section for a proposed program shall include--
            (1) a list of the organizations entering into the 
        partnership;
            (2) a description of the need for the proposed program, 
        including data on the number of immigrant students, and the 
        number of such students with limited English proficiency in the 
        schools or school districts to be served through the program 
        and the characteristics of the students described in this 
        paragraph, including--
                    (A) the native languages of the students to be 
                served;
                    (B) the proficiency of the students in English and 
                the students' native languages;
                    (C) achievement data for the students in--
                            (i) reading or language arts (in English 
                        and in the students' native languages, if 
                        applicable); and
                            (ii) mathematics; and
                    (D) the previous schooling experiences of the 
                students;
            (3) a description of the goals of the program;
            (4) a description of how the funds made available through 
        the grant will be used to supplement the basic services 
        provided to the immigrant students to be served;
            (5) a description of activities that will be pursued by the 
        partnership through the program, including a description of--
                    (A) how parents, students, and other members of the 
                community, including members of private organizations 
                and nonprofit organizations, will be involved in the 
                design and implementation of the program;
                    (B) how the activities will further the academic 
                achievement of immigrant students served through the 
                program;
                    (C) methods of teacher training and parent 
                education that will be used or developed through the 
                program, including the dissemination of information to 
                immigrant parents, that is easily understandable in the 
                language of the parents, about educational programs and 
                the rights of the parents to participate in educational 
                decisions involving their children; and
                    (D) methods of coordinating comprehensive community 
                social services to assist immigrant families;
            (6) a description of how the partnership will evaluate the 
        progress of the partnership in achieving the goals of the 
        program;
            (7) a description of how the local educational agency will 
        disseminate information on model programs, materials, and other 
        information developed under this Act that the local educational 
        agency determines to be appropriate for use by other local 
        educational agencies in establishing similar programs to 
        facilitate the educational achievement of immigrant students;
            (8) an assurance that the partnership will annually provide 
        to the Secretary such information as may be required to 
        determine the effectiveness of the program; and
            (9) any other information that the Secretary may require.

SEC. 7. SELECTION OF GRANTEES.

    (a) Criteria.--The Secretary, through a peer review process, shall 
select partnerships to receive grants under this Act on the basis of 
the quality of the programs proposed in the applications submitted 
under section 6, taking into consideration such factors as--
            (1) the extent to which the program proposed in such an 
        application effectively addresses differences in language, 
        culture, and customs;
            (2) the quality of the activities proposed by a 
        partnership;
            (3) the extent of parental, student, and community 
        involvement;
            (4) the extent to which the partnership will ensure the 
        coordination of comprehensive community social services with 
        the program;
            (5) the quality of the plan for measuring and assessing 
        success; and
            (6) the likelihood that the goals of the program will be 
        achieved.
    (b) Geographic Distribution of Programs.--The Secretary shall 
approve applications under this Act in a manner that ensures, to the 
extent practicable, that programs assisted under this Act serve 
different areas of the Nation, including urban, suburban, and rural 
areas, with special attention to areas that are experiencing an influx 
of immigrant groups (including refugee groups), and that have limited 
prior experience in serving the immigrant community.

SEC. 8. EVALUATION AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--Each partnership receiving a grant under this Act 
shall--
            (1) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the program 
        assisted under this Act, including an evaluation of the impact 
        of the program on students, teachers, administrators, parents, 
        and others; and
            (2) prepare and submit to the Secretary a report containing 
        the results of the evaluation.
    (b) Evaluation Report Components.--Each evaluation report submitted 
under this section for a program shall include--
            (1) data on the partnership's progress in achieving the 
        goals of the program;
            (2) data showing the extent to which all students served by 
        the program are meeting the State's student performance 
        standards, including--
                    (A) data comparing the students served under this 
                Act with other students, with regard to grade retention 
                and academic achievement in reading and language arts, 
                in English and in the native languages of the students 
                if the program develops native language proficiency, 
                and in mathematics; and
                    (B) a description of how the activities carried out 
                through the program are coordinated and integrated with 
                the overall school program of the school in which the 
                program described in this Act is carried out, and with 
                other Federal, State, or local programs serving limited 
                English proficient students;
            (3) data showing the extent to which families served by the 
        program have been afforded access to comprehensive community 
        social services; and
            (4) such other information as the Secretary may require.

SEC. 9. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS.

    A partnership that receives a grant under this Act may use not more 
than 5 percent of the grant funds received under this Act for 
administrative purposes.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
                                 <all>