[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1551 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                S. 1551

 To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 31 (legislative day, July 21), 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged children, 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 ``Excellence through Choice to Elevate 
Learning Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to assist States to--
                    (A) give children from low-income families the same 
                choices among all elementary and secondary schools and 
                other academic programs as children from wealthier 
                families already have;
                    (B) improve schools and other academic programs by 
                giving parents in low-income families increased 
                consumer power to choose the schools and programs that 
                the parents determine best fit the needs of their 
                children; and
                    (C) more fully engage parents in their children's 
                schooling; and
            (2) to demonstrate, through a 3-year national grant 
        program, the effects of a voucher program that gives parents in 
        low-income families--
                    (A) choice among public, private, and religious 
                schools for their children; and
                    (B) access to the same academic options as parents 
                in wealthy families have for their children.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act (other than section 11) $1,800,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2004 through 2007.
    (b) Evaluation.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out section 11 $17,000,000 for fiscal years 2005 through 2008.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to States, from 
allotments made under section 5 to enable the States to carry out 
educational choice programs that provide scholarships, in accordance 
with this Act.
    (b) Limit on Federal Administrative Expenditures.--The Secretary 
may reserve not more than $1,000,000 of the amounts appropriated under 
section 3(a) for a fiscal year to pay for the costs of administering 
this Act.

SEC. 5. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.

    (a) Allotments.--The Secretary shall make the allotments to States 
in accordance with a formula specified in regulations issued in 
accordance with subsection (b). The formula shall provide that the 
Secretary shall allot to each State an amount that bears the same 
relationship to the amounts appropriated under section 3(a) for a 
fiscal year (other than funds reserved under section 4(b)) as the 
number of covered children in the State bears to the number of covered 
children in all such States.
    (b) Formula.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations specifying the formula 
referred to in subsection (a).
    (c) Limit on State Administrative Expenditures.--The State may 
reserve not more than 1 percent of the funds made available through the 
State allotment to pay for the costs of administering this Act.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``covered child'' means 
a child who is enrolled in a public school (including a charter school) 
that is an elementary school or secondary school.

SEC. 6. ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS.

    (a) Eligibility.--
            (1) In general.--Schools identified by a State under 
        paragraph (2) shall be considered to be eligible schools under 
        this Act.
            (2) Determination.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        the Secretary issues regulations under section 5(b), each State 
        shall identify the public elementary schools and secondary 
        schools in the State that are at or below the 25th percentile 
        for academic performance of schools in the State.
    (b) Performance.--The State shall determine the academic 
performance of a school under this section based on such criteria as 
the State may consider to be appropriate.

SEC. 7. SCHOLARSHIPS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Scholarship awards.--With funds awarded under this Act, 
        each State awarded a grant under this Act shall provide 
        scholarships to the parents of eligible children, in accordance 
        with subsections (b) and (c). The State shall ensure that the 
        scholarships may be redeemed for elementary or secondary 
        education for the children at any of a broad variety of public 
        and private schools, including religious schools, in the State.
            (2) Scholarship amount.--The amount of each scholarship 
        shall be $2000 per year.
            (3) Tax exemption.--Scholarships awarded under this Act 
        shall not be considered income of the parents for Federal 
        income tax purposes or for determining eligibility for any 
        other Federal program.
    (b) Eligible Children.--To be eligible to receive a scholarship 
under this Act, a child shall be--
            (1) a child who is enrolled in a public elementary school 
        or secondary school that is an eligible school; and
            (2) a member of a family with a family income that is not 
        more than 200 percent of the poverty line.
    (c) Award Rules.--
            (1) Priority.--In providing scholarships under this Act, 
        the State shall provide scholarships for eligible children 
        through a lottery system administered for all eligible schools 
in the State by the State educational agency.
            (2) Continuing eligibility.--Each State receiving a grant 
        under this Act to carry out an educational choice program shall 
        provide a scholarship in each year of the program to each child 
        who received a scholarship during the previous year of the 
        program, unless--
                    (A) the child no longer resides in the area served 
                by an eligible school;
                    (B) the child no longer attends school;
                    (C) the child's family income exceeds, by 20 
                percent or more, 200 percent of the poverty line; or
                    (D) the child is expelled or convicted of a felony, 
                including felonious drug possession, possession of a 
                weapon on school grounds, or a violent act against an 
                other student or a member of the school's faculty.

SEC. 8. USES OF FUNDS.

    Any scholarship awarded under this Act for a year shall be used--
            (1) first, for--
                    (A) the payment of tuition and fees at the school 
                selected by the parents of the child for whom the 
                scholarship was provided; and
                    (B) the reasonable costs of the child's 
                transportation to the school, if the school is not the 
                school to which the child would be assigned in the 
                absence of a program under this Act;
            (2) second, if the parents so choose, to obtain 
        supplementary academic services for the child, at a cost of not 
        more than $500, from any provider chosen by the parents, that 
        the State determines is capable of providing such services and 
        has an appropriate refund policy; and
            (3) finally, for educational programs that help the 
        eligible child achieve high levels of academic excellence in 
        the school attended by the eligible child, if the eligible 
        child chooses to attend a public school.

SEC. 9. STATE REQUIREMENT.

    A State that receives a grant under this Act shall allow lawfully 
operating public and private elementary schools and secondary schools, 
including religious schools, if any, serving the area involved to 
participate in the program.

SEC. 10. EFFECT OF PROGRAMS.

    (a) Title I.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a 
local educational agency in the State would, in the absence of an 
educational choice program that is funded under this Act, provide 
services to a participating eligible child under part A of title I of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 
seq.), the State shall ensure the provision of such services to such 
child.
    (b) Individuals With Disabilities.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to affect the requirements of part B of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.).
    (c) Aid.--
            (1) In general.--Scholarships under this Act shall be 
        considered to aid families, not institutions. For purposes of 
        determining Federal assistance under Federal law, a parent's 
        expenditure of scholarship funds under this Act at a school or 
        for supplementary academic services shall not constitute 
        Federal financial aid or assistance to that school or to the 
        provider of supplementary academic services.
            (2) Supplementary academic services.--
                    (A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a 
                school or provider of supplementary academic services 
                that receives scholarship funds under this Act shall, 
                as a condition of participation under this Act, comply 
                with the provisions of title VI of the Civil Rights Act 
                of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and section 504 of 
                the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794).
                    (B) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate 
                regulations to implement the provisions of subparagraph 
                (A), taking into account the purposes of this Act and 
                the nature, variety, and missions of schools and 
                providers that may participate in providing services to 
                children under this Act.
    (d) Other Federal Funds.--No Federal, State, or local agency may, 
in any year, take into account Federal funds provided to a State or to 
the parents of any child under this Act in determining whether to 
provide any other funds from Federal, State, or local resources, or in 
determining the amount of such assistance, to such State or to a school 
attended by such child.
    (e) No Discretion.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
authorize the Secretary to exercise any direction, supervision, or 
control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or 
personnel of any educational institution or school participating in a 
program under this Act.

SEC. 11. EVALUATION.

    The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct an 
evaluation of the program authorized by this Act. Such evaluation 
shall, at a minimum--
            (1) assess the implementation of educational choice 
        programs assisted under this Act and their effect on 
        participants, schools, and communities in the school districts 
        served, including parental involvement in, and satisfaction 
        with, the program and their children's education;
            (2) compare the educational achievement of participating 
        eligible children with the educational achievement of similar 
        non-participating children before, during, and after the 
        program; and
            (3) compare--
                    (A) the educational achievement of eligible 
                children who use scholarships to attend schools other 
                than the schools the children would attend in the 
                absence of the program; with
                    (B) the educational achievement of children who 
                attend the schools the children would attend in the 
                absence of the program.

SEC. 12. ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to 
enforce the provisions of this Act.
    (b) Private Cause.--No provision or requirement of this Act shall 
be enforced through a private cause of action.

SEC. 13. FUNDING.

    The Committee on Finance and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the House of Representatives shall identify wasteful 
spending (including loopholes to revenue raising tax provisions) by the 
Federal Government as a means of providing funding for this Act. Not 
later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
committees referred to in the preceding sentence shall jointly prepare 
and submit to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the 
Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, a report 
concerning the spending (and loopholes) identified under such sentence.

SEC. 14. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Charter school.--The term ``charter school'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 5210 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i).
            (2) Elementary school; local educational agency; parent; 
        secondary school; state educational agency.--The terms 
        ``elementary school'', ``local educational agency'', 
        ``parent'', ``secondary school'', and ``State educational 
        agency'' have the meanings given the terms in section 9101 of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).
            (3) Poverty line.--The term ``poverty line'' means the 
        poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and 
        Budget, and revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) 
        of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) 
        applicable to a family of the size involved.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States.
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