I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1903 To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 with respect to partnership grants for the establishment of rural teaching residency programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 16, 2021 Mr. BOST (for himself and Mr. GOLDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 with respect to partnership grants for the establishment of rural teaching residency programs, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Rural Education In- 4 vestment Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1903.IH H1903 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1903 IH SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT 1 OF RURAL TEACHING RESIDENCY PRO- 2 GRAMS. 3 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 200 of the Higher Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (16) through 6 (23) as paragraphs (17) through (24), respectively; 7 and 8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (15) the fol- 9 lowing new paragraph: 10 ‘‘(16) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY LOCATED 11 IN A RURAL AREA.—The term ‘local educational 12 agency located in a rural area’ means a local edu- 13 cational agency that meets the eligibility require- 14 ments for funding under— 15 ‘‘(A) the Small, Rural School Achievement 16 Program under section 5211(b) of the Elemen- 17 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; or 18 ‘‘(B) the Rural and Low-Income School 19 Program under section 5221(b) of the Elemen- 20 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.’’. 21 (b) GRANT AWARDS.—Section 202(e) of the Higher 22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a(e)) is amended 23 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 24 ‘‘(3) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1903.IH H1903 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1903 IH ‘‘(A) PERCENTAGE OF RURAL LOCAL EDU- 1 CATIONAL AGENCIES.—Before the start of each 2 award year, the Secretary shall determine, 3 based on the number of students in kinder- 4 garten through grade 12 who are served by all 5 local educational agencies, the percentage of 6 students in kindergarten through grade 12 who 7 are served by local educational agencies located 8 in rural areas. 9 ‘‘(B) GRANT RESERVATION FOR RURAL 10 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Beginning 11 with the first award year that begins after the 12 date of enactment of the ‘Rural Education In- 13 vestment Act’, the Secretary shall ensure that, 14 of the total amount awarded for grants under 15 this subsection for an award year, the percent- 16 age of such total amount that is awarded to eli- 17 gible partnerships that are in partnership with 18 a local educational agency located in a rural 19 area shall not be less than the percentage deter- 20 mined by the Secretary under subparagraph (A) 21 for such award year.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1903.IH H1903 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS