[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 209 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 209
To authorize the appropriation of funds to be used to recruit, hire,
and train 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals in order to improve
educational achievement for children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 4, 2013
Mr. Serrano introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the appropriation of funds to be used to recruit, hire,
and train 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals in order to improve
educational achievement for children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Paraprofessionals are not substitutes for certified
teachers.
(2) Small class size is fundamental to all learning, but
particularly in the early grades.
(3) Putting more adults in the classroom helps to increase
the attention paid to each student and to improve discipline.
(4) Expanding the availability of entry-level classroom
jobs that include opportunities for training and professional
development should encourage more adults to enter teacher
training and careers in education.
SEC. 2. FUNDS FOR RECRUITING, HIRING, AND TRAINING PARAPROFESSIONALS.
(a) State Allocations.--From the amount appropriated to carry out
this Act for each fiscal year, the Secretary of Education--
(1) shall make available 1 percent of such amount to the
Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs) and the outlying areas for activities under this Act;
and
(2) shall allocate the remainder by providing each State
the same percentage of that remainder as it received of the
funds allocated to States under section 306(a)(2) of the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education,
and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, as enacted by
section 1(a)(1) of Public Law 106-554.
(b) Local Agency Allocations.--Each State that receives funds under
this Act shall distribute 100 percent of such funds to local
educational agencies, of which--
(1) 80 percent of such amount shall be allocated to local
educational agencies in proportion to the number of children,
aged 5 to 17, who reside in the school district served by a
local educational agency from families with incomes below 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 for the most recent
fiscal year for which satisfactory data are available compared
to the number of such individuals who reside in the school
districts served by all the local educational agencies in the
State for that fiscal year; and
(2) 20 percent of such amount shall be allocated to local
educational agencies in accordance with the relative
enrollments of children, aged 5 to 17, in public and private
nonprofit elementary and secondary schools within the
boundaries of such agencies.
(c) Uses of Funds.--
(1) Purpose.--The basic purpose and intent of this Act is
to decrease the ratio of students to personnel in public
elementary and secondary school classrooms by assisting local
educational agencies in the recruitment, hiring, and training
of 100,000 new classroom paraprofessionals. Each local
educational agency that receives funds under this Act shall use
such funds to carry out effective approaches to achieving such
ratio reductions in order to improve educational achievement
for both regular and special needs children, with particular
consideration given to making such reductions in the early
elementary grades.
(2) Recruitment, hiring, and training.--
(A) In general.--Each local educational agency that
receives funds under this Act--
(i) may use up to 100 percent of the funds
under this Act for recruiting (including
through the use of signing bonuses and other
financial incentives), hiring, and training
paraprofessionals to assist teachers, including
teachers employed in bilingual education,
special education, and migrant education; and
(ii) may use up to 25 percent of the funds
under this Act--
(I) for providing professional
development (which may include such
activities as those described in
section 2210 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as in
effect on the day before the date of
the enactment of the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110;
115 Stat. 1425)), opportunities for
paraprofessionals to attend multi-week
institutes, such as those made
available during the summer months,
that provide intensive professional
development in partnership with local
educational agencies, and initiatives
that promote retention and mentoring),
to paraprofessionals, including
paraprofessionals who assist teachers
employed in bilingual education,
special education, and migrant
education; or
(II) to provide assistance to new
and existing paraprofessionals to
ensure that such individuals are highly
qualified consistent with the
requirements of subsections (c) and (d)
of section 1119 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6319).
(B) Special rule.--In the case of a local
educational agency that has already reduced the ratio
of students to instructional personnel in grades
kindergarten through 3 to 18 or less (or has already
reduced such ratio to a State or local goal that was in
effect on the day before the enactment of the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,
2001 (Public Law 106-554; 114 Stat. 2763), if that
State or local educational agency goal is 20 or less)
may use 100 percent of the funds received under this
Act--
(i) to make further student-to-personnel
ratio reductions in grades kindergarten through
3;
(ii) to reduce the student-to-personnel
ratio in other grades;
(iii) to carry out activities to improve
paraprofessional quality, including
professional development; or
(iv) to assist paraprofessionals to obtain
the education necessary to become licensed and
certified teachers.
(3) Supplement, not supplant.--Each local educational
agency that receives funds under this Act shall use such funds
only to supplement, and not to supplant, State and local funds
that, in the absence of funds under this Act, would otherwise
be spent for activities under this Act.
(4) Limitation.--No funds made available under this Act may
be used to increase the salaries or provide benefits, other
than participation in professional development, education, or
enrichment programs, to paraprofessionals who are not hired
under this Act.
(d) Reporting.--
(1) In general.--Each State receiving funds under this Act
shall submit to the Secretary on a biennial basis a report
containing data on the use of funds, the types of services
furnished, and the students served under this Act.
(2) Reports to parents.--Each State and local educational
agency receiving funds under this Act shall publicly report to
parents on its progress in decreasing the ratio of students to
personnel in elementary and secondary school classrooms by
recruiting, hiring, and training paraprofessionals and on the
impact such activities have had, if any, on increasing student
academic achievement.
(3) Disclosure of qualifications.--Each school receiving
funds under this Act shall provide to parents, upon request,
the qualifications of each member of their child's classroom
instructional staff.
(e) Administrative Costs.--A local educational agency that receives
funds under this Act may use not more than 2 percent of such funds for
local administrative costs.
(f) Application.--Each local educational agency that desires to
receive funds under this Act shall include in the application required
under section 5133 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7215b) a description of the agency's program to reduce
the ratio of students to personnel in elementary and secondary school
classrooms by recruiting, hiring, and training paraprofessionals.
(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``paraprofessional'' means an individual who
is employed in a public elementary or secondary school under
the supervision of a certified or licensed teacher, including
individuals employed in bilingual education, special education,
and migrant education.
(2) The term ``local educational agency'' has the meaning
given to that term in section 9101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Education.
(4) The term ``State'' is defined as that term is used in
section 306(a)(2) of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, 2001, as enacted by section 1(a)(1) of Public Law 106-554.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this Act, there
is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2014 through 2018.
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