[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 736 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 736

 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

                            February 4, 2015

 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 2016 through 2020.
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