[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 163 (Wednesday, November 17, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S14708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. MURRAY:
  S. 1944. A bill to provide national challenge grants for innovation 
in the education of homeless children and youth; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


          stuart mc kinney homeless education improvement act

 Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, today I introduce legislation on 
another topic I will be discussing with Chairman Jeffords as we move 
forward with reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.

  The bill deals with an improvement I hope we can make in the Stuart 
McKinney Homeless Education program. While the McKinney program is 
relatively small, my hope is that we can greatly improve its 
effectiveness by recognizing and funding innovative approaches for 
serving homeless students.
  Chairman Jeffords and others have recognized that keeping a homeless 
child in their school district of origin is vital to their success. 
Children, especially homeless children, need continuity in their lives. 
Yet as a nation, we have not yet focused on funding the innovative 
practices that will show how this can be done and done effectively.
  In addition, there are chronic problems facing homeless children, 
such as the problems of trying to reach out to unaccompanied homeless 
youth, those young people who do not have parents or guardians with 
them in their homeless situation. Homeless preschoolers present another 
whole range of issues that many schools struggle to overcome.
  My legislation will provide $2 million each year in national 
competitive challenge grants for innovation in the education of 
homeless children and youth. We follow this same approach in education 
technology and other areas, and challenge grants are remarkably 
successful in sparking innovation and dissemination of new methods of 
instruction.
  Homeless students face many challenges, and schools face challenges 
in serving them. Creating a small challenge grant for homeless 
education is one necessary step we can take to help schools help these 
students succeed and achieve.
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