[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 8, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4875-S4876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 2159. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 2089 submitted by Mr. Alexander (for himself and Mrs.
Murray) to the bill S. 1177, to reauthorize the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 to ensure that every child achieves;
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
After section 4005, insert the following:
SEC. 4006. FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
Title IV (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.), as amended by sections
4001, 4004, and 4005, is further amended by adding at the end
the following:
``PART E--FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS
``SEC. 4501. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this part are the following:
``(1) To provide financial support to organizations to
provide technical assistance and training to State and local
educational agencies in the implementation and enhancement of
systemic and effective family engagement policies, programs,
and activities that lead to improvements in student
development and academic achievement.
``(2) To assist State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, community-based organizations, schools,
and educators in strengthening partnerships among parents,
teachers, school leaders, administrators, and other school
personnel in meeting the educational needs of children and
fostering greater parental engagement.
``(3) To support State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, schools, educators, and parents in
developing and strengthening the relationship between parents
and their children's school in order to further the
developmental progress of children.
``(4) To coordinate activities funded under this subpart
with parent involvement initiatives funded under section 1115
and other provisions of this Act.
``(5) To assist the Secretary, State educational agencies,
and local educational agencies in the coordination and
integration of Federal, State, and local services and
programs to engage families in education.
``SEC. 4502. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.
``(a) Statewide Family Engagement Centers.--From the amount
appropriated under section 4506, the Secretary is authorized
to award grants for each fiscal year to statewide
organizations (or consortia of such organizations), to
establish Statewide Family Engagement Centers that provide
comprehensive training and technical assistance to State
educational agencies, local educational agencies, schools
identified by State educational agencies and local
educational agencies, organizations that support family-
school partnerships, and other organizations that carry out,
or carry out directly, parent education and family engagement
in education programs.
``(b) Minimum Award.--In awarding grants under this
section, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable,
ensure that a grant is awarded for a Statewide Family
Engagement Center in an amount not less than $500,000.
``SEC. 4503. APPLICATIONS.
``(a) Submissions.--Each statewide organization, or a
consortium of such organizations, that desires a grant under
this subpart shall submit an application to the Secretary at
such time, in such manner, and including the information
described in subsection (b).
``(b) Contents.--Each application submitted under
subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following:
``(1) A description of the applicant's approach to family
engagement in education.
``(2) A description of the support that the Statewide
Family Engagement Center that will be operated by the
applicant will have from the State educational agency and any
partner organization outlining the commitment to work with
the center.
``(3) A description of the applicant's plan for building a
statewide infrastructure for family engagement in education,
that includes--
``(A) management and governance;
``(B) statewide leadership; or
``(C) systemic services for family engagement in education.
``(4) A description of the applicant's demonstrated
experience in providing training, information, and support to
State educational agencies, local educational agencies,
schools, educators, parents, and organizations on family
engagement in education policies and practices that are
effective for parents (including low-income parents) and
families, English learners, minorities, parents of students
with disabilities, parents of homeless students, foster
parents and students, and parents of migratory students,
including evaluation results, reporting, or other data
exhibiting such demonstrated experience.
``(5) A description of the steps the applicant will take to
target services to low-income students and parents.
``(6) An assurance that the applicant will--
``(A) establish a special advisory committee, the
membership of which includes--
``(i) parents, who shall constitute a majority of the
members of the special advisory committee;
``(ii) representatives of education professionals with
expertise in improving services for disadvantaged children;
``(iii) representatives of local elementary schools and
secondary schools, including students;
``(iv) representatives of the business community; and
``(v) representatives of State educational agencies and
local educational agencies;
``(B) use not less than 65 percent of the funds received
under this part in each fiscal year to serve local
educational agencies, schools, and community-based
organizations that serve high concentrations of disadvantaged
students, including English learners, minorities, parents of
students with disabilities, parents of homeless students,
foster parents and students, and parents of migratory
students;
``(C) operate a Statewide Family Engagement Center of
sufficient size, scope, and quality to ensure that the Center
is adequate to serve the State educational agency, local
educational agencies, and community-based organizations;
``(D) ensure that the Statewide Family Engagement Center
will retain staff with the requisite training and experience
to serve parents in the State;
``(E) serve urban, suburban, and rural local educational
agencies and schools;
``(F) work with--
``(i) other Statewide Family Engagement Centers assisted
under this subpart; and
``(ii) parent training and information centers and
community parent resource centers assisted under sections 671
and 672 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;
``(G) use not less than 30 percent of the funds received
under this part for each fiscal year to establish or expand
technical assistance for evidence-based parent education
programs;
``(H) provide assistance to State educational agencies and
local educational agencies and community-based organizations
that support family members in supporting student academic
achievement;
``(I) work with State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, schools, educators, and parents to
determine parental needs and the best means for delivery of
services to address such needs;
``(J) conduct sufficient outreach to assist parents,
including parents who the applicant may have a difficult time
engaging with a school or local educational agency; and
[[Page S4876]]
``(K) conduct outreach to low-income students and parents,
including low-income students and parents who are not
proficient in English.
``SEC. 4504. USES OF FUNDS.
``(a) In General.--Grantees shall use grant funds received
under this part, based on the needs determined under section
4503, to provide training and technical assistance to State
educational agencies, local educational agencies, and
organizations that support family-school partnerships, and
activities, services, and training for local educational
agencies, school leaders, educators, and parents--
``(1) to assist parents in participating effectively in
their children's education and to help their children meet
State standards, such as assisting parents--
``(A) to engage in activities that will improve student
academic achievement, including understanding how they can
support learning in the classroom with activities at home and
in afterschool and extracurricular programs;
``(B) to communicate effectively with their children,
teachers, school leaders, counselors, administrators, and
other school personnel;
``(C) to become active participants in the development,
implementation, and review of school-parent compacts, family
engagement in education policies, and school planning and
improvement;
``(D) to participate in the design and provision of
assistance to students who are not making academic progress;
``(E) to participate in State and local decisionmaking;
``(F) to train other parents; and
``(G) to help the parents learn and use technology applied
in their children's education;
``(2) to develop and implement, in partnership with the
State educational agency, statewide family engagement in
education policy and systemic initiatives that will provide
for a continuum of services to remove barriers for family
engagement in education and support school reform efforts;
and
``(3) to develop and implement parental involvement
policies under this Act.
``(b) Matching Funds for Grant Renewal.--For each fiscal
year after the first fiscal year for which an organization or
consortium receives assistance under this section, the
organization or consortium shall demonstrate in the
application that a portion of the services provided by the
organization or consortium is supported through non-Federal
contributions, which may be in cash or in-kind.
``(c) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall reserve
not more than 2 percent of the funds appropriated under
section 4506 to carry out this part to provide technical
assistance, by competitive grant or contract, for the
establishment, development, and coordination of Statewide
Family Engagement Centers.
``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall
be construed to prohibit a Statewide Family Engagement Center
from--
``(1) having its employees or agents meet with a parent at
a site that is not on school grounds; or
``(2) working with another agency that serves children.
``(e) Parental Rights.--Notwithstanding any other provision
of this section--
``(1) no person (including a parent who educates a child at
home, a public school parent, or a private school parent)
shall be required to participate in any program of parent
education or developmental screening under this section; and
``(2) no program or center assisted under this section
shall take any action that infringes in any manner on the
right of parents to direct the education of their children.
``SEC. 4505. FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN INDIAN SCHOOLS.
``The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the
Secretary of Education, shall establish, or enter into
contracts and cooperative agreements with local tribes,
tribal organizations, or Indian nonprofit parent
organizations to establish and operate Family Engagement
Centers.
``SEC. 4506. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
part such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016
through 2021.''.
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