[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7219 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7219
To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
partnerships to increase access to specialized instructional support
personnel, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 24, 2022
Ms. Newman (for herself, Ms. Wild, and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible
partnerships to increase access to specialized instructional support
personnel, 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 ``Growing, Recruiting, and Obtaining
Workers in Specialized Instructional Support Personnel Services Act''
or the ``GROW SISPS Act''.
SEC. 2. GROW YOUR OWN PROGRAM GRANT.
(a) Program Authorized.--From the amounts appropriated to carry out
this Act, the Secretary of Education shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to expand, or establish and
implement, A Grow Your Own Program to increase access to specialized
instructional support personnel.
(b) Grant Period; Priority.--
(1) Grant period.--A grant under this section shall be
awarded for a 6-year period.
(2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this Act, the
Secretary shall give priority to eligible partnerships in which
a high-need local educational agency is in the partnership or
that seeks to use the grant to serve a community with a high-
need local educational agency.
(c) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, an eligible partnership shall submit to the Secretary an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require, which shall include the
following with respect to the local educational agency, the consortium
of local educational agencies, or the State educational agency in such
eligible partnership, and disaggregated by the specific occupation:
(1) The number of specialized instructional support
personnel employed as of the date of application.
(2) The number of specialized instructional support
personnel who are so employed and who have an emergency or
temporary credential.
(3) The ratio of specialized instructional support
personnel to students.
(d) Uses of Funds.--
(1) In general.--An eligible partnership that receives a
grant under this section shall use such grant to expand, or
establish and implement, a Grow Your Own Program that meets the
requirements of paragraph (2) to increase, through
respecialization or re-training--
(A) access to specialized instructional support
personnel in the schools served by the local
educational agency or the consortium of local
educational agencies in such eligible partnership, or
the local educational agencies under the jurisdiction
of the State educational agency in such eligible
partnership; or
(B) the diversity of specialized instructional
support personnel in such schools.
(2) Grow your own program requirements.--An eligible
partnership shall ensure that a Grow Your Own Program expanded,
or established and implemented, under paragraph (1) provides
the following to each participant of the program:
(A) The skills needed to complete a relevant degree
or training--
(i) to be credentialed by the State
educational agency, or relevant regulatory
body; or
(ii) in the case of a profession for which
there is no State credential, to meet the
professional standards as articulated by the
relevant national organization for such
profession.
(B) Relevant clinical experience, during the period
in which the participant completes and earns the
credential provided under the program, that is--
(i) connected to the coursework provided
under the program; and
(ii) located in elementary schools or
secondary schools in such community, with
priority given to elementary schools or
secondary schools in the eligible partnership.
(C) A high-quality mentoring program that--
(i) provides mentoring by a fully
credentialed professional of the occupation for
which the participant is pursuing a credential;
and
(ii) continues through the period that is 2
years after the participant receives a
credential under the program.
(D) Supportive services (which may include housing
subsidies, stipends, and tuition assistance and other
financial assistance).
(E) Academic, counseling, and programmatic
supports.
(3) Additional requirements.--In expanding, or establishing
and implementing A Grow Your Own Program under paragraph (1),
an eligible partnership shall carry out each of the following:
(A) Identify the needs for specialized
instructional support personnel in the local
educational agency, the consortium of local educational
agencies, or the State educational agency in the
eligible partnership.
(B) Recruit and incentivize individuals to enter,
and to pursue training to enter, a specialized
instructional support personnel profession that meets
the needs identified in subparagraph (A), especially
for the purpose of serving in high-need local
educational agencies.
(e) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) Reports by eligible partnerships.--Each eligible
partnership that receives a grant under this section shall
submit, for each of the third through sixth years of the grant
period, a report to the Secretary that includes--
(A) the number of participants of the program
funded by such grant who are working in a high-need
local educational agency during such year and the
preceding year, disaggregated by specific occupation;
and
(B) in a year in which the number of such
participants who are working in a high-need local
educational agency decreases from the preceding year by
more than 50 percent, an improvement plan for
increasing such number as soon as practicable.
(2) Reports by the secretary.--Not later than 1 year after
the first grant is awarded under this section, and on an annual
basis thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
report on--
(A) the impact of grants awarded under this section
in increasing specialized instructional support
personnel, and lowering the ratio of specialized
instructional support personnel to students, in the
local educational agencies, the consortium of local
educational agencies, and the State educational
agencies in the eligible partnerships that were awarded
such grants;
(B) best practices for expanding, or establishing
and implementing eligible partnerships and Grow Your
Own Programs that meet the requirements of subsection
(d)(2); and
(C) recommendations for strengthening the eligible
partnerships and Grow Your Own Programs served the
grants awarding under this Act, such as improving
recruitment and retention of participants and
increasing the number of specialized instructional
support personnel in the community, especially in high-
need schools.
(f) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Eligible partnership.--The term ``eligible
partnership'' means a partnership among each of the following:
(A) A school, department, or program of education
(including a graduate level program) within an
institution of higher education that is State-
accredited and is eligible to receive Federal funds
under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), which may include a program that
provides the training or credentials required for
specialized instructional support personnel.
(B) A local educational agency, a consortium of
local educational agencies, or a State educational
agency.
(C) A State-accredited nonprofit educational
organization or professional licensure organization
that provides alternative routes to State certification
or licensure, or credentialing for specialized
instructional support personnel.
(2) ESEA terms.--The terms ``local educational agency'',
``State educational agency'', and ``specialized instructional
support personnel'' have the meanings given such terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) High-need local educational agency.--The term ``high-
need local educational agency'' has the meaning given the term
in section 200 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1021).
(4) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
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