[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1439 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1439

  To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into a partnership 
with a qualified local educational agency to conduct a model school-to-
                 work program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2005

   Mr. Rush (for himself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Kilpatrick of 
Michigan, Mr. Towns, Ms. Norton, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Owens, Mr. 
 Hinojosa, Mr. Payne, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Lewis of 
    Georgia, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Fattah, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Ms. 
  Woolsey, Mr. Kucinich, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. 
  Lipinski, Mr. Costello, Mr. Wexler, and Mr. Andrews) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into a partnership 
with a qualified local educational agency to conduct a model school-to-
                 work program, 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 ``Vocational Opportunities and 
Instruction through Cooperative Education Act of 2005'' or the ``VOICE 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. MODEL SCHOOL-TO-WORK PROGRAM.

    (a) Partnership.--The Secretary of Education may enter into a 
partnership with a qualified local educational agency to conduct a 
model school-to-work program described in subsection (b) for the 
purpose of determining whether such a program should be incorporated 
into public secondary schools on a nationwide basis.
    (b) Model School-to-Work Program.--
            (1) In general.--The model school-to-work program under 
        this section shall provide course credits to secondary school 
        students who participate in work-based learning experiences in 
        the public or private sector.
            (2) Student eligibility.--To participate in the model 
        school-to-work program under this section, a student--
                    (A) must have no criminal background;
                    (B) must have a grade point average of 2.0 or 
                higher; and
                    (C) must have a record of school attendance that is 
                deemed satisfactory by the qualified local educational 
                agency.
            (3) Minimum wage.--The model school-to-work program under 
        this section shall ensure that students are paid at least the 
        minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
        U.S.C. 201 et seq.) for work performed in connection with such 
        program.
            (4) Maximum hours.--The model school-to-work program under 
        this section shall not require, or provide course credits for, 
        any work experience in excess of a total of 20 hours for any 
        week.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit a report to the 
Congress on the results of the model school-to-work program under this 
section, including recommendations on whether such a program should be 
incorporated into public secondary schools on a nationwide basis.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The term ``qualified local educational agency'' means a 
        local educational agency that--
                    (A) is located in a Midwestern urban district; and
                    (B) serves at least 400,000 students, of whom at 
                least 70 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price 
                lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School 
                Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
            (2) The terms ``local educational agency'' and ``secondary 
        school'' have the meanings give to those terms in section 9101 
        of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7801).
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