CHOICE Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 74 To expand opportunity through greater choice in education, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. SASSE, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To expand opportunity through greater choice in education, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Hope and 4 Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through 5 Education Act’’ or the ‘‘CHOICE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 74 IS TITLE I—EDUCATION PORTABIL- 1 ITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH 2 DISABILITIES 3 SEC. 101. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this title is to provide options to 5 States to innovate and improve the education of children 6 with disabilities by expanding the choices for students and 7 parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 8 Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 9 SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS- 10 ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 11 (a) CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY 12 THEIR PARENTS.—Section 612(a)(10)(A) of the Individ- 13 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 14 1412(a)(10)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 15 lowing: 16 ‘‘(viii) PARENT OPTION PROGRAM.—If 17 a State has established a program that 18 meets the requirements of section 19 663(c)(11) (whether statewide or in limited 20 areas of the State) and that allows a par- 21 ent of a child described in section 22 663(c)(11)(A) to use public funds, or pri- 23 vate funds in accordance with 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 74 IS 633(c)(11)(B)(ii), to pay some or all of the 1 costs of attendance at a private school— 2 ‘‘(I) funds allocated to the State 3 under section 611 may be used by the 4 State to supplement such public or 5 private funds, if the Federal funds are 6 distributed to parents who make a 7 genuine independent choice as to the 8 appropriate school for their child, ex- 9 cept that in no case shall the amount 10 of Federal funds provided under this 11 subclause to a parent of a child with 12 a disability for a year exceed the total 13 amount of tuition, fees, and transpor- 14 tation costs for the child for the year; 15 ‘‘(II) the authorization of a par- 16 ent to exercise this option fulfills the 17 State’s obligation under paragraph (1) 18 with respect to the child during the 19 period in which the child is enrolled in 20 the selected school; and 21 ‘‘(III) a selected school accepting 22 such funds shall not be required to 23 carry out any of the requirements of 24 this title with respect to such child.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 74 IS (b) RESEARCH AND INNOVATION TO IMPROVE SERV- 1 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL- 2 ITIES.—Section 663(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities 3 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1463(c)) is amended— 4 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 5 the semicolon; 6 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 7 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(11) supporting the post-award planning and 10 design, and the initial implementation (which may 11 include costs for informing the community, acquiring 12 necessary equipment and supplies, and other initial 13 operational costs), during a period of not more than 14 3 years, of State programs that allow the parent of 15 a child with a disability to make a genuine inde- 16 pendent choice of the appropriate public or private 17 school for their child, if the program— 18 ‘‘(A) requires that the child be a child who 19 has received an initial evaluation described in 20 section 614(a) and has been identified as a 21 child with a disability, in accordance with part 22 B; 23 ‘‘(B)(i) permits the parent to receive from 24 the State funds to be used to pay some or all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 74 IS of the costs of attendance at the selected school 1 (which may include tuition, fees, and transpor- 2 tation costs); or 3 ‘‘(ii) permits persons to receive a State tax 4 credit for donations to an entity that provides 5 funds to parents of eligible students described 6 in subparagraph (A), to be used by the parents 7 to pay some or all of the costs of attendance at 8 the selected school (which may include tuition, 9 fees, and transportation costs); 10 ‘‘(C) prohibits any school that agrees to 11 participate in the program from discriminating 12 against eligible students on the basis of race, 13 color, national origin, or sex, except that— 14 ‘‘(i) the prohibition of sex discrimina- 15 tion shall not apply to a participating 16 school that is operated by, supervised by, 17 controlled by, or connected to a religious 18 organization to the extent that the applica- 19 tion of such prohibition is inconsistent with 20 the religious tenets or beliefs of the school; 21 and 22 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding this subpara- 23 graph or any other provision of law, a par- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 74 IS ent may choose, and a school may offer, a 1 single-sex school, class, or activity; 2 ‘‘(D) notwithstanding any other provision 3 of law, allows any school participating in the 4 program that is operated by, supervised by, 5 controlled by, or connected to, a religious orga- 6 nization to exercise its right in matters of em- 7 ployment consistent with title VII of the Civil 8 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), 9 including the exemptions in that title; 10 ‘‘(E) allows a school to participate in the 11 program without, consistent with the First 12 Amendment of the Constitution of the United 13 States— 14 ‘‘(i) necessitating any change in the 15 participating school’s teaching mission; 16 ‘‘(ii) requiring any private partici- 17 pating school to remove religious art, 18 icons, scriptures, or other symbols; or 19 ‘‘(iii) precluding any private partici- 20 pating school from retaining religious 21 terms in its name, selecting its board 22 members on a religious basis, or including 23 religious references in its mission state- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 74 IS ments and other chartering or governing 1 documents; and 2 ‘‘(F) requires a participating school se- 3 lected for a child with a disability to be— 4 ‘‘(i) accredited, licensed, or otherwise 5 operating in accordance with State law; 6 and 7 ‘‘(ii) academically accountable to the 8 parent for meeting the educational needs 9 of the student.’’. 10 TITLE II—MILITARY 11 SCHOLARSHIPS 12 SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 13 The purpose of this title is to ensure high-quality 14 education for children of military personnel who live on 15 military installations and thus have less freedom to exer- 16 cise school choice for their children, in order to improve 17 the ability of the Armed Forces to retain such military 18 personnel. 19 SEC. 202. MILITARY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child’’, 22 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘local 23 educational agency’’ have the meanings given the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 74 IS terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 1 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 2 (2) ELIGIBLE MILITARY STUDENT.—The term 3 ‘‘eligible military student’’ means a child who— 4 (A) is a military dependent student; 5 (B) lives on a military installation selected 6 to participate in the program under subsection 7 (b)(2); and 8 (C) chooses to attend a participating 9 school, rather than a school otherwise assigned 10 to the child. 11 (3) MILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—The 12 term ‘‘military dependent students’’ has the meaning 13 given the term in section 572(e) of the National De- 14 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (20 15 U.S.C. 7703b(e)). 16 (4) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘par- 17 ticipating school’’ means a public or private elemen- 18 tary school or secondary school that— 19 (A) accepts scholarship funds provided 20 under this section on behalf of an eligible mili- 21 tary student for the costs of tuition, fees, or 22 transportation of the eligible military student; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 74 IS (B) is accredited, licensed, or otherwise op- 1 erating in accordance with State law. 2 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Defense. 4 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 6 able under subsection (g) and beginning for the first 7 full school year following the date of enactment of 8 this Act, the Secretary shall carry out a 5-year pilot 9 program to award scholarships to enable eligible 10 military students to attend the public or private ele- 11 mentary schools or secondary schools selected by the 12 eligible military students’ parents. 13 (2) SCOPE OF PROGRAM.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se- 15 lect not less than 5 military installations to par- 16 ticipate in the pilot program described in para- 17 graph (1). In making such selection, the Sec- 18 retary shall choose military installations where 19 eligible military students would most benefit 20 from expanded educational options. 21 (B) INELIGIBILITY.—A military installa- 22 tion that provides, on its premises, education 23 for all elementary school and secondary school 24 grade levels through one or more Department 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 74 IS of Defense dependents’ schools shall not be eli- 1 gible for participation in the program. 2 (3) AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The annual amount of 4 each scholarship awarded to an eligible military 5 student under this section shall not exceed the 6 lesser of— 7 (i) the cost of tuition, fees, and trans- 8 portation associated with attending the 9 participating school selected by the parents 10 of the student; or 11 (ii)(I) in the case of an eligible mili- 12 tary student attending elementary school— 13 (aa) $8,000 for the first full 14 school year following the date of en- 15 actment of this Act; or 16 (bb) the amount determined 17 under subparagraph (B) for each 18 school year following such first full 19 school year; or 20 (II) in the case of an eligible military 21 student attending secondary school— 22 (aa) $12,000 for the first full 23 school year following the date of en- 24 actment of this Act; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 74 IS (bb) the amount determined 1 under subparagraph (B) for each 2 school year following such first full 3 school year. 4 (B) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—For 5 each school year after the first full school year 6 following the date of enactment of this Act, the 7 amounts specified in subclauses (I) and (II) of 8 subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be adjusted to reflect 9 changes for the 12-month period ending the 10 preceding June in the Consumer Price Index 11 for All Urban Consumers published by the Bu- 12 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 13 Labor. 14 (4) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—The Secretary 15 shall make scholarship payments under this section 16 to the parent of the eligible military student in a 17 manner that ensures such payments will be used for 18 the payment of tuition, fees, and transportation ex- 19 penses (if any) in accordance with this section. 20 (c) SELECTION OF SCHOLARSHIPS RECIPIENTS.— 21 (1) RANDOM SELECTION.—If more eligible mili- 22 tary students apply for scholarships under the pro- 23 gram under this section than the Secretary can ac- 24 commodate, the Secretary shall select the scholar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 74 IS ship recipients through a random selection process 1 from students who submitted applications by the ap- 2 plication deadline specified by the Secretary. 3 (2) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is 5 selected to receive a scholarship under the pro- 6 gram under this section shall continue to re- 7 ceive a scholarship for each year of the program 8 until the individual— 9 (i) graduates from secondary school or 10 elects to no longer participate in the pro- 11 gram; 12 (ii) exceeds the maximum age for 13 which the State in which the student lives 14 provides a free public education; or 15 (iii) is no longer an eligible military 16 student. 17 (B) CONTINUED PARTICIPATION FOR MILI- 18 TARY TRANSFERS.— 19 (i) TRANSFER TO PRIVATE NON-MILI- 20 TARY HOUSING.—Notwithstanding sub- 21 paragraph (A)(iii), an individual receiving 22 a scholarship under this section for a 23 school year who meets the requirements of 24 subparagraphs (A) and (C) of subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:29 Feb 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S74.IS S74 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 74 IS (a)(2) and whose family, during such 1 school year, moves into private non-mili- 2 tary housing that is not considered to be 3 part of the military installation, shall con- 4 tinue to receive the scholarship for use at 5 the participating school for the remaining 6 portion of the school year. 7 (ii) TRANSFER TO A DIFFERENT MILI- 8 TARY INSTALLATION.—Notwithstanding 9 subparagraph (A)(iii), an individual receiv- 10 ing a scholarship under this section for a 11 school year whose family is transferred to 12 a different military installation shall no 1 [Text truncated for display. 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