[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6547 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6547

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
            criminal background checks for school employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 17, 2010

 Mr. George Miller of California (for himself and Mrs. McCarthy of New 
    York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
            criminal background checks for school employees.

    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 at the ``Protecting Students from Sexual and 
Violent Predators Act''.

SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

    Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 9537. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

    ``(a) Background Checks.--Each State that receives funds under this 
Act shall have in effect policies and procedures that--
            ``(1) require that criminal background checks be conducted 
        for school employees that include--
                    ``(A) a search of the State criminal registry or 
                repository in the State in which the school employee 
                resides and each State in which such school employee 
                previously resided;
                    ``(B) a search of State-based child abuse and 
                neglect registries and databases in the State in which 
                the school employee resides and each State in which 
                such school employee previously resided;
                    ``(C) a search of the National Crime Information 
                Center of the Department of Justice;
                    ``(D) a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint 
                check using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint 
                Identification System; and
                    ``(E) a search of the National Sex Offender 
                Registry established under section 19 of the Adam Walsh 
                Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 
                16919);
            ``(2) prohibit the employment of school employees for a 
        position as a school employee if such individual--
                    ``(A) refuses to consent to the criminal background 
                check described in paragraph (1);
                    ``(B) makes a false statement in connection with 
                such criminal background check;
                    ``(C) has been convicted of a felony consisting 
                of--
                            ``(i) homicide;
                            ``(ii) child abuse or neglect;
                            ``(iii) a crime against children, including 
                        child pornography;
                            ``(iv) spousal abuse;
                            ``(v) a crime involving rape or sexual 
                        assault;
                            ``(vi) kidnapping;
                            ``(vii) arson; or
                            ``(viii) physical assault, battery, or a 
                        drug-related offense, committed within the past 
                        5 years; or
                    ``(D) has been convicted of any other crime that is 
                a violent or sexual crime against a minor;
            ``(3) require that a local educational agency or State 
        educational agency that receives information from a criminal 
        background check conducted under this section that an 
        individual who has applied for employment with such agency as a 
        school employee is a sexual predator report to local law 
        enforcement that such individual has so applied;
            ``(4) require that the criminal background checks described 
        in paragraph (1) be periodically repeated; and
            ``(5) provide for a timely process by which a school 
        employee may appeal the results of a criminal background check 
        conducted under this section to challenge the accuracy or 
        completeness of the information produced by such background 
        check and seek appropriate relief for any final employment 
        decision based on materially inaccurate or incomplete 
        information produced by such background check, but that does 
        not permit the school employee to be employed as a school 
        employee during such process.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) School employee.--The term `school employee' means--
                    ``(A) an employee of, or a person seeking 
                employment with, a local educational agency or State 
                educational agency, and who has a job duty that results 
                in exposure to students; or
                    ``(B) an employee of, or a person seeking 
                employment with, a for-profit or nonprofit entity, or 
                local public agency, that has a contract or agreement 
                to provide services with a school, local educational 
                agency, or State educational agency, and whose job 
                duty--
                            ``(i) is to provide such services; and
                            ``(ii) results in exposure to students.
            ``(2) Sexual predator.--The term `sexual predator' means a 
        person 18 years of age or older who has been convicted of, or 
        pled guilty to, a sexual offense against a minor.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is 
amended by adding after the item relating to section 9536 the 
following:

``Sec. 9537. Background checks.''.
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