[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1097 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1097
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to
make grants to the parents of students served by local educational
agencies that will not provide in-person instruction in a manner
consistent with school year 2019-2020, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 18, 2021
Mr. Bishop of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Owens, Mr. Norman, Ms.
Herrell, Mr. Harris, Mr. Steube, and Mr. Cawthorn) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a grant program to
make grants to the parents of students served by local educational
agencies that will not provide in-person instruction in a manner
consistent with school year 2019-2020, and for other purposes.
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 ``Creating Hope and Opportunity
through Increased Choice in Education Act'' or the ``CHOICE Act''.
SEC. 2. OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a grant program (to
be known as the ``Opportunity Grant Program'') to make grants to
parents of eligible students for the purposes described in subsection
(d).
(b) Application.--
(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this section, a parent of an eligible student shall submit to
the Secretary an application demonstrating--
(A) the household income of such eligible student;
and
(B) with respect to school year 2020-2021, that the
local educational agency serving such eligible student
has not provided in-person instruction in a manner
consistent with school year 2019-2020.
(2) Other requirements.--The Secretary shall accept
applications under paragraph (1) on an annual rolling basis and
make such application available as a standardized form in
electronic and written format.
(c) Amount of Grants.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, each parent of an eligible student who the Secretary
determines qualifies for a grant under this section shall receive a
grant under this section in an amount that--
(1) in the case of an eligible student with a household
income less than or equal to 100 percent of the reduced price
lunch rate income, is equal to 100 percent of the per-pupil
funding with respect to the local educational agency serving
such eligible student, as determined by the Secretary;
(2) in the case of an eligible student with a household
income greater than 100 percent but less than or equal to 150
percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 90
percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local
educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined
by the Secretary;
(3) in the case of an eligible student with a household
income greater than 150 percent but less than or equal to 200
percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 80
percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local
educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined
by the Secretary; and
(4) in the case of an eligible student with a household
income greater than 200 percent but less than or equal to 250
percent of the reduced price lunch rate income, is equal to 70
percent of the per-pupil funding with respect to the local
educational agency serving such eligible student, as determined
by the Secretary.
(d) Use of Funds.--Any amounts made available to a parent under
this section may be used--
(1) with respect to an eligible student, to pay the tuition
and fees for a private elementary school or a private secondary
school;
(2) for private tutoring (including through a learning pod
or microschool);
(3) for the home school expenses of such eligible student;
(4) to purchase educational materials, including
instruction materials and textbooks for such eligible student;
(5) for purchasing electronic devices to facilitate the
education of such eligible student; or
(6) for such other purposes as the Secretary determines
appropriate.
(e) Rules of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed--
(1) to impact any aspect of private, religious, or home
education providers;
(2) to exclude private, religious, or home education
providers from receiving funds pursuant to a grant under this
section; or
(3) to require a qualified educational service provider to
alter any creed, practice, admissions policy, or curriculum in
order to receive funds pursuant to a grant under this section.
(f) Funding.--From any amounts appropriated for section 18003 of
division B of the CARES Act on or after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall, notwithstanding any other provision of title
XVIII of division B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136), use 10
percent of such amounts to carry out this section and award opportunity
grants to parents with approved applications in accordance with this
section.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible student.--The term ``eligible student'' means
a student--
(A) served by a local educational agency that, with
respect to school year 2020-2021, will not provide in-
person instruction in a manner consistent with school
year 2019-2020; and
(B) from a household with a household income that
is less than 200 percent of the reduced price lunch
rate income.
(2) ESEA terms.--The terms ``local educational agency'',
``parent'', and ``Secretary'' have the meanings given such
terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) Household income.--The term ``household income'' has
the meaning given such term in section 36B(d)(2) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 36B(d)(2)).
(4) Reduced price lunch rate income.--The term ``reduced
price lunch rate income'' means 185 percent of the applicable
family size income levels contained in the nonfarm income
poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and
Budget, as adjusted annually in accordance with subparagraph
(B) of section 9(b)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)(1)).
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