[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7063 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7063

 To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools 
and secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and 
  to support programs in international education that supplement core 
           curricula in such schools, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2008

Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California introduced the following bill; which 
          was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To raise achievement in international education in elementary schools 
and secondary schools through grants to improve teacher competency and 
  to support programs in international education that supplement core 
           curricula in such schools, 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 ``U.S. and the World Education Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) A host of growing challenges--international security, 
        global markets, immigration, world health, the environment, and 
        the emerging educational and material aspirations of the 
        world's poorest people--are fundamentally altering the 
        international landscape.
            (2) Rapid technological advances and the information age 
        are shrinking the world, exponentially enlarging access of all 
        peoples to essential knowledge, concepts, and ideas, and 
        connecting Americans to their counterparts across the globe.
            (3) The diversity of American workplaces, schools, and 
        communities increasingly parallels the world's diversity.
            (4) Americans, in the performance of their citizenship 
        roles, are required to make informed judgments about the role 
        of the United States in the world, as well as the impact of 
        other nations and world regions on the United States.
            (5) The place of the United States in the world will depend 
        on whether teachers, citizens, and policymakers of the United 
        States understand how international events shape the lives, 
        politics, economics, and security of the Nation.
            (6) American-based multinational corporations, as well as 
        small businesses, increasingly need employees with knowledge of 
        foreign languages and cultures to market products to customers 
        domestically and around the globe, and to work effectively with 
        foreign employees and partners in other countries.
            (7) It is the primary function of the Nation's schools to 
        prepare America's students to meet the requirements of the 
        workplace and to perform citizenship roles in dynamic and 
        rapidly changing domestic and global communities.
            (8) Recent surveys consistently demonstrate the illiteracy 
        of young Americans in geography, economics, and world history, 
        as well as the low priority university students give to 
        learning about other countries and cultures.
            (9) Only rarely do American high school or university 
        students elect to study geography, world history, international 
        relations, or global issues, or to obtain fluency in a foreign 
        language.
            (10) School curricula and university programs of study are 
        not adequately aligned to new international and global 
        realities.
            (11) State educational agencies and local educational 
        agencies must be encouraged to include international education 
        competency as part of teacher credentialing and licensing.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to raise student achievement in world history and 
        cultures, international and global studies, and foreign 
        languages by increasing the international education competence 
        and literacy of elementary school and secondary school 
        teachers; and
            (2) to support programs that supplement student educational 
        achievement in world history, international and global studies, 
        and foreign languages.

SEC. 3. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AND FOREIGN 
              LANGUAGE EDUCATION.

    Section 205 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 
U.S.C. 3415) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                inserting ``elementary, secondary,'' after 
                ``affecting'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``, national nonprofit educational 
                organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational 
                organizations, State educational agencies, local 
                educational agencies, and other nonprofit 
                organizations;'' after ``agencies''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) assist the Secretary in administering the grant 
        program under section 4 of the U.S. and the World Education 
        Act; and
            ``(5) develop an international education research 
        repository and make available the information contained in such 
        repository to any State educational agency and local 
        educational agency.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Definitions.--As used in this section--
            ``(1) the term `national nonprofit educational 
        organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational 
        organizations' means national nonprofit educational 
        organizations or consortiums of nonprofit educational 
        organizations that have as their primary purpose the 
        improvement of student competency in international education, 
        including foreign language competency, through effective 
        international education instruction, including foreign language 
        instruction, in elementary schools, secondary schools, and 
        institutions of higher education;
            ``(2) the term `institution of higher education' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);
            ``(3) the term `international education research 
        repository' means a research repository containing 
        scientifically valid education research, promising and 
        exemplary practices related to international education, 
        including foreign language education, as well as any other 
        information related to international education that the Deputy 
        Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language 
        Education or Secretary determines would be beneficial for State 
        educational agencies and local educational agencies in--
                    ``(A) the professional development of teachers of 
                international education, including foreign language 
                education;
                    ``(B) the implementation of international education 
                programs, including foreign language programs; and
                    ``(C) improving the international education 
                competency, including foreign language competency, of 
                elementary school and secondary school students; and
            ``(4) the terms `local educational agency', `elementary 
        school', `secondary school', and `State educational agency' 
        have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).''.

SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GRANTS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--From the funds appropriated under section 
6, the Secretary, acting through the Deputy Assistant Secretary, shall 
award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities to promote 
international education instruction in elementary schools and secondary 
schools in accordance with subsection (c) by--
            (1) increasing teacher competency with respect to 
        international education subject matter; and
            (2) implementing supplemental international education 
        services.
    (b) Grant Eligibility.--
            (1) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to 
        the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to 
        eligible entities that--
                    (A) are eligible for assistance under title I of 
                the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 6301 et seq.);
                    (B) offer international education instruction to 
                all teachers and encourage the inclusion of 
                international education in core elementary school and 
                secondary school curricula; and
                    (C) the Secretary determines are most in need of 
                receiving assistance in the area of international 
                education.
    (c) Uses of Funds.--An eligible entity awarded a grant under this 
section shall use--
            (1) 50 percent of such grant funds to develop, to 
        implement, and to strengthen programs to teach international 
        education within core elementary school and secondary school 
        curricula, which shall include programs with respect to 
        international education subject matter that--
                    (A) improve the quality of instruction; and
                    (B) provide professional development and teacher 
                education activities; and
            (2) 50 percent of such grant funds to supplement core 
        classroom subjects through supplemental international education 
        services outside of normal instruction hours, such as--
                    (A) Model United Nations;
                    (B) geography bees; and
                    (C) any other service or program deemed beneficial 
                to the development of student international education 
                competency by the Secretary.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND REPORT.

    (a) Evaluation.--From the funds appropriated under section 6, the 
Secretary shall conduct, through grant or by contract, a biennial 
independent evaluation of the international education programs 
administered by eligible entities under section 4 that--
            (1) quantifies student academic achievement in 
        international education; and
            (2) describes promising and exemplary practices of 
        preparing teachers to teach international education topics and 
        providing international education to students.
    (b) Report.--From the funds appropriated under section 6, the 
Secretary shall prepare, through grant or by contract, and submit to 
each House of Congress, an annual independent report that includes--
            (1) the total amount of grant funds awarded under section 
        4, and the geographic distribution of such awards;
            (2) the results of the evaluation conducted under 
        subsection (a); and
            (3) any other information deemed appropriate by the Deputy 
        Assistant Secretary or the Secretary.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 to carry out 
this Act for fiscal year 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each fiscal year thereafter.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    The following definitions apply to this Act:
            (1) Deputy assistant secretary.--The term ``Deputy 
        Assistant Secretary'' means the Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
        International and Foreign Language Education in the Office of 
        Postsecondary Education of the Department of Education.
            (2) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (3) Eligible entities.--The term eligible entity means--
                    (A) a local educational agency; or
                    (B) a partnership consisting of--
                            (i) a local educational agency; and
                            (ii) a private organization or institution 
                        of higher education that provides such local 
                        educational agency with funding to carry out 
                        the activities described in section 4(c).
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (5) International education.--The term ``international 
        education'' means educational subject matter related to world 
        history, regions, cultures, and geography, as well as foreign 
        languages, contemporary world issues, international relations, 
        international economics, international and non-governmental 
        organizations, and the technology and communication mediums 
        related to such subject matter.
            (6) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).
            (7) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
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