Support Our Schools Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1410 To provide emergency relief for schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 26, 2021 Mr. FITZPATRICK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide emergency relief for schools, 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 ‘‘Support Our Schools 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EMER- 6 GENCY RELIEF FUND. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts otherwise 8 available, there is appropriated to the Department of Edu- 9 cation for fiscal year 2021, out of any money in the Treas- 10 ury not otherwise appropriated, $128,554,800,000, to re- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1410 IH main available through September 30, 2023, for providing 1 grants to States in accordance with the same terms and 2 conditions that apply to the Elementary and Secondary 3 School Emergency Relief Fund of the Education Stabiliza- 4 tion Fund for funding appropriated for fiscal year 2021, 5 except that— 6 (1) a State that receives a grant under this sec- 7 tion shall use— 8 (A) not less than 90 percent of such grant 9 for subgrants to local educational agencies; and 10 (B) not less than 5 percent of such grant 11 to carry out, directly or through grants or con- 12 tracts, activities to address learning loss by sup- 13 porting the implementation of evidence-based 14 interventions, such as summer learning, ex- 15 tended day comprehensive afterschool pro- 16 grams, or extended school year programs, and 17 ensure such interventions respond to students’ 18 academic, social, and emotional needs and ad- 19 dress the disproportionate impact of the 20 coronavirus on the student populations de- 21 scribed in section 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii) of the Ele- 22 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 23 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)(ii)); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1410 IH (2) each local educational agency that receives 1 funds from a subgrant under paragraph (1)(A) 2 shall— 3 (A) reserve not less than 20 percent of 4 such funds to address learning loss through the 5 implementation of evidence-based interventions, 6 such as summer learning, extended day com- 7 prehensive afterschool programs, or extended 8 school year programs, and ensure such inter- 9 ventions respond to students’ academic, social, 10 and emotional needs and address the dispropor- 11 tionate impact of the coronavirus on the stu- 12 dent populations described in section 13 1111(h)(1)(C)(ii) of the Elementary and Sec- 14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 15 6311(h)(1)(C)(ii)); and 16 (B) using funds reserved under subpara- 17 graph (A), provide equitable services in the 18 same manner as provided under section 1117 of 19 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 20 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6320) to students and 21 teachers in non-public schools, as determined in 22 consultation with representatives of non-public 23 schools. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1410 IH (b) PUBLIC CONTROL OF FUNDS.—Control of funds 1 provided under subsection (a)(2)(B), and title to mate- 2 rials, equipment, and property purchased with such funds, 3 shall be in a public agency, and a public agency shall ad- 4 minister such funds, materials, equipment, and property 5 and shall provide such services (or may contract for the 6 provision of such services with a public or private entity). 7 SEC. 3. HIGHER EDUCATION EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND. 8 In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is 9 appropriated to the Department of Education for fiscal 10 year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 11 appropriated, $39,584,570,000, to remain available 12 through September 30, 2023, for making allocations to in- 13 stitutions of higher education in accordance with the same 14 terms and conditions that apply to the Higher Education 15 Emergency Relief Fund of the Education Stabilization 16 Fund for funding appropriated for fiscal year 2021, except 17 that— 18 (1) 91 percent of such funds shall be allocated 19 to each institution of higher education as defined in 20 section 101 or section 102(c) of the Higher Edu- 21 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002(c)), and 22 shall be apportioned using the same formula used to 23 apportion funds to each such institution under such 24 Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1410 IH (2) 1 percent of such funds shall be allocated 1 to institutions of higher education as defined in sec- 2 tion 102(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3 (20 U.S.C. 1002(b)), and shall be apportioned using 4 the same formula used to apportion funds to each 5 such institution under such Higher Education Emer- 6 gency Relief Fund; 7 (3) an institution shall solely determine which 8 students receive emergency financial aid grants 9 under this section; 10 (4) an institution receiving an allocation— 11 (A) under paragraph (1) shall use not less 12 than 50 percent of such allocation to provide 13 emergency financial aid grants to students; and 14 (B) under paragraph (2) shall use 100 per- 15 cent of such allocation to provide emergency fi- 16 nancial aid grants to students; 17 (5) an institution receiving an allocation under 18 paragraph (1) shall use a portion of such allocation 19 to— 20 (A) implement evidence-based practices to 21 monitor and suppress coronavirus in accordance 22 with public health guidelines; and 23 (B) conduct direct outreach to financial 24 aid applicants about the opportunity to receive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1410 IH a financial aid adjustment due to the recent un- 1 employment of a family member or independent 2 student, or other circumstances, described in 3 section 479A of the Higher Education Act of 4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087tt); 5 (6) notwithstanding paragraph (4)(A) or para- 6 graph (5), an institution receiving an allocation 7 under paragraph (1) a portion of which is appor- 8 tioned according to a relative share (based on full- 9 time equivalent enrollment or total number) of stu- 10 dents who were Pell grant recipients and who were 11 exclusively enrolled in distance education courses 12 prior to the qualifying emergency shall use 100 per- 13 cent of such portion to provide emergency financial 14 aid grants to students; and 15 (7) institutions required to remit payment to 16 the Internal Revenue Service for the excise tax based 17 on investment income of private colleges and univer- 18 sities under section 4968 of the Internal Revenue 19 Code of 1986 for tax year 2019 shall not be subject 20 to restrictions related to the amount of allocations or 21 uses of funds applicable to such institutions under 22 such Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1410 IH SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT AND MAINTENANCE OF 1 EQUITY. 2 (a) STATE MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving 4 funds under section 2, a State shall maintain sup- 5 port for elementary and secondary education, and 6 for higher education (which shall include State fund- 7 ing to institutions of higher education and State 8 need-based financial aid, and shall not include sup- 9 port for capital projects or for research and develop- 10 ment or tuition and fees paid by students), in each 11 of fiscal years 2022 and 2023 at least at the propor- 12 tional levels of such State’s support for elementary 13 and secondary education and for higher education 14 relative to such State’s overall spending, averaged 15 over fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019. 16 (2) WAIVER.—For the purpose of relieving fis- 17 cal burdens incurred by States in preventing, pre- 18 paring for, and responding to the coronavirus, the 19 Secretary of Education may waive any maintenance 20 of effort requirements associated with the Education 21 Stabilization Fund. 22 (b) STATE MAINTENANCE OF EQUITY.— 23 (1) HIGH-POVERTY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 24 CIES.—As a condition of receiving funds under sec- 25 tion 2, a State educational agency shall not, in fiscal 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1410 IH year 2022 or 2023, reduce State funding (calculated 1 on a per-pupil basis) for any high-poverty local edu- 2 cational agency in the State by an amount that ex- 3 ceeds the overall per-pupil reduction in State funds, 4 if any, across all local educational agencies in such 5 State in such fiscal year. 6 (2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES WITH 7 HIGHEST SHARE OF ECONOMICALLY DISADVAN- 8 TAGED STUDENT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), 9 as a condition of receiving funds under section 2, a 10 State educational agency shall not, in fiscal year 11 2022 or 2023, reduce State funding for any local 12 educational agency that is part of the 20 percent of 13 local educational agencies in the State with the high- 14 est percentage of economically disadvantaged stu- 15 dents (based on the percentages of economically dis- 16 advantaged students served by all local educational 17 agencies in the State on the basis of the most recent 18 satisfactory data available from the Department of 19 Commerce) below the level of funding provided to 20 such local educational agencies in fiscal year 2019. 21 (c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY MAINTENANCE OF 22 EQUITY FOR HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS.—As a condition 23 of receiving funds under section 2, a local educational 24 agency shall not, in fiscal year 2022 or 2023— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1410 IH (1) reduce per-pupil funding (from combined 1 State and local funding) for any high-poverty school 2 served by such local educational agency by an 3 amount that exceeds— 4 (A) the total reduction in local educational 5 agency funding (from combined State and local 6 funding) for all schools served by the local edu- 7 cational agency in such fiscal year (if any); di- 8 vided by 9 (B) the number of children enrolled in all 10 schools served by the local educational agency 11 in such fiscal year; or 12 (2) reduce per-pupil, full-time equivalent staff 13 in any high-poverty school by an amount that ex- 14 ceeds— 15 (A) the total reduction in full-time equiva- 16 lent staff in all schools served by such local 17 educational agency in such fiscal year (if any); 18 divided by 19 (B) the number of children enrolled in all 20 schools served by the local educational agency 21 in such fiscal year. 22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 (1) The term ‘‘high-poverty local educational 24 agency’’ means, with respect to a local educational 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1410 IH agency in a State, a local educational agency that 1 serves a higher percentage of economically disadvan- 2 taged students than the local educational agency 3 that serves the median percentage of economically 4 disadvantaged students, based on the percentages of 5 economically disadvantaged students served by all 6 local educational agencies in such State, on the basis 7 of the most recent satisfactory data available from 8 the Department of Commerce. 9 (2) The term ‘‘high-poverty school’’ means, with 10 respect to a school served by a local educational 11 agency, a school that serves a higher percentage of 12 economically disadvantaged students, as determined 13 by any of the measures of poverty in section 1113 14 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6313) than the school that serves 16 the median percentage of economically disadvan- 17 taged students based on the percentages of economi- 18 cally disadvantaged students— 19 (A) at all schools served by such local edu- 20 cational agency; or 21 (B) at all schools within each grade-span 22 of such local educational agency. 23 (3) The term ‘‘overall per-pupil reduction in 24 State funds’’ means, with respect to a fiscal year— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1410 IH (A) the amount of any reduction in the 1 total amount of State funds provided to all local 2 educational agencies in the State in such fiscal 3 year compared to the total amount of such 4 funds provided to all local educational agencies 5 in the State in the previous fiscal year; divided 6 by 7 (B) the aggregate number of children en- 8 rolled in all schools served by all local edu- 9 cational agencies in the State in the fiscal year 10 for which the determination is being made. 11 SEC. 5. OUTLYING AREAS. 12 In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is 13 appropriated to the Department of Education for fiscal 14 year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 15 appropriated, $850,000,000, to remain available through 16 September 30, 2023, for the Secretary of Education to 17 allocate awards to the outlying areas on the basis of their 18 respective needs, as determined by the Secretary, to be 19 allocated not more than 30 calendar days after the date 20 of enactment of this Act. 21 SEC. 6. BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION. 22 In addition to amounts otherwise available, there is 23 appropriated to the Department of Education for fiscal 24 year 2021, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Apr 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1410.IH H1410 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1410 IH appropriated, $850,000,000, to remain available until ex- 1 pended, for the Secretary of Education to allocate to the 2 Secretary of the Interior for awards, which awards shall 3 be determined and funds for such awards a [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]