[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 342

  To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across America.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 3, 2015

 Mr. Hatch (for himself and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To promote the use of blended learning in classrooms across America.

    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 ``21st Century Classroom Innovation 
Act''.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section or other 
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or 
other provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.).

SEC. 3. ENCOURAGING STATE AND LOCAL BLENDED LEARNING PROJECTS.

    (a) State Applications.--Section 2112(b) (20 U.S.C. 6612(b)) is 
amended by inserting at the end the following:
            ``(13) In the case of a State that will carry out a program 
        to award grants under section 2121(b), a description of the 
        program, which shall include--
                    ``(A) the criteria the State will use to award 
                grants under such section to eligible entities to carry 
                out blended learning projects;
                    ``(B) the State policies and procedures to be 
                waived by the State, consistent with Federal law, for 
                such eligible entities to carry out such projects, 
                which may include waivers with respect to--
                            ``(i) restrictions on class sizes;
                            ``(ii) restrictions on licensing or 
                        credentialing of personnel supervising student 
                        work in such projects;
                            ``(iii) restrictions on the use of State 
                        funding for instructional materials for the 
                        purchase of digital instructional resources;
                            ``(iv) restrictions on advancing students 
                        based on demonstrated mastery of learning 
                        outcomes, rather than seat-time requirements; 
                        and
                            ``(v) restrictions on secondary school 
                        students in the State enrolling in online 
                        coursework;
                    ``(C) how the State will inform eligible entities 
                of the availability of the waivers described in 
                subparagraph (B); and
                    ``(D) how the State will provide the non-Federal 
                match required under section 2121(b)(2)(D).''.
    (b) Reservation of Subgrant Funds for Blended Learning.--Section 
2121 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6621) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Reservation for Blended Learning.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this part, a State that receives a grant under subpart 1 may 
        reserve not more than 5 percent of the amount reserved to carry 
        out this part under section 2113(a)(1) to make grants to local 
        educational agencies to enable the agencies to carry out 
        blended learning projects described in paragraph (2).
            ``(2) Blended learning projects.--
                    ``(A) In general.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The State educational 
                        agency may use the funds described in paragraph 
                        (1) to carry out a program to award grants on a 
                        competitive basis to eligible entities in the 
                        State to carry out blended learning projects 
                        described in this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Reservation for rural areas.--In 
                        awarding grants under this paragraph, a State 
                        educational agency shall reserve 5 percent of 
                        the funds available to carry out this paragraph 
                        for eligible entities that will serve rural 
                        areas.
                    ``(B) Application.--An eligible entity desiring to 
                receive a grant under this paragraph shall submit an 
                application to the State educational agency at such 
                time and in such manner as the agency may require, and 
                which describes--
                            ``(i) the blended learning project to be 
                        carried out by the eligible entity, including 
                        the design of the instructional model to be 
                        carried out by the eligible entity and how such 
                        eligible entity will use funds provided under 
                        this paragraph to carry out the project;
                            ``(ii) in the case of an eligible entity 
                        described in subclause (I) or (III) of 
                        subparagraph (E)(iii), the schools that will 
                        participate in the project;
                            ``(iii) the expected impact on student 
                        academic achievement;
                            ``(iv) how the eligible entity will ensure 
                        sufficient information technology is available 
                        to carry out the project;
                            ``(v) how the eligible entity will ensure 
                        sufficient digital instructional resources are 
                        available to students participating in the 
                        project;
                            ``(vi) the ongoing professional development 
                        to be provided for teachers, school leaders, 
                        and other personnel carrying out the project;
                            ``(vii) the State policies and procedures 
                        for which the eligible entity requests waivers 
                        from the State to carry out the project, which 
                        may include requests for the waivers described 
                        in section 2112(b)(13)(B);
                            ``(viii) as appropriate, how the eligible 
                        entity will use the blended learning project to 
                        improve instruction and access to the 
                        curriculum for diverse groups of students, 
                        including students with disabilities and 
                        students who are limited English proficient;
                            ``(ix) how the eligible entity will 
                        evaluate the project in terms of student 
                        academic achievement and publicly report the 
                        results of such evaluation; and
                            ``(x) how the eligible entity will sustain 
                        the project beyond the grant period.
                    ``(C) Uses of funds.--An eligible entity receiving 
                a grant under this paragraph shall use such grant to 
                carry out a blended learning project, which shall 
                include at least 1 of the following activities:
                            ``(i) Planning activities, which may 
                        include development of new instructional models 
                        (including blended learning technology software 
                        and platforms), the purchase of digital 
                        instructional resources, initial professional 
                        development activities, and one-time 
                        information technology purchases, except that 
                        such expenditures may not include expenditures 
                        related to significant construction or 
                        renovation of facilities.
                            ``(ii) Ongoing professional development for 
                        teachers, school leaders, or other personnel 
                        involved in the project that is designed to 
                        support the implementation and academic success 
                        of the project.
                    ``(D) Non-federal match.--A State educational 
                agency that carries out a grant program under this 
                paragraph shall provide non-Federal matching funds 
                equal to not less than 10 percent of the grant funds 
                awarded by the State educational agency to eligible 
                entities under this paragraph.
                    ``(E) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Blended learning project.--The term 
                        `blended learning project' means a formal 
                        education program--
                                    ``(I) that includes an element of 
                                online learning, and instructional time 
                                in a supervised location away from 
                                home;
                                    ``(II) that includes an element of 
                                student control over time, path, or 
                                pace; and
                                    ``(III) in which the elements are 
                                connected to provide an integrated 
                                learning experience.
                            ``(ii) Charter school.--The term `charter 
                        school' has the meaning given the term in 
                        section 5210.
                            ``(iii) Eligible entity.--The term 
                        `eligible entity' means a--
                                    ``(I) local educational agency;
                                    ``(II) charter school; or
                                    ``(III) consortium of the entities 
                                described in subclause (I) or (II), 
                                which may be in partnership with a for-
                                profit or nonprofit entity.''.
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