CHOICE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 145 To expand opportunity through greater choice in education, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 16, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. ALEX- ANDER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SASSE, Mrs. BLACKBURN, and Mr. BRAUN) 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 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 145 IS TITLE I—IMPROVING THE 1 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OPPOR- 2 TUNITY AND RESULTS ACT 3 SEC. 101. PURPOSE. 4 The purpose of this title is to amend the Scholarships 5 for Opportunity and Results Act (Public Law 112–10, 125 6 Stat. 199) in order to improve provisions concerning op- 7 portunity scholarships available for low-income students in 8 the District of Columbia. 9 SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OP- 10 PORTUNITY AND RESULTS ACT. 11 Section 3013(3) of division C of the Department of 12 Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 13 2011 (sec. 38–1853.13(3), D.C. Official Code) is amend- 14 ed, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting 15 ‘‘, is enrolled, or will be enrolled for the next school year, 16 in a public or private elementary school or secondary 17 school,’’ after ‘‘District of Columbia’’. 18 TITLE II—EDUCATION PORTA- 19 BILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 20 WITH DISABILITIES 21 SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 22 The purpose of this title is to provide options to 23 States to innovate and improve the education of children 24 with disabilities by expanding the choices for students and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 145 IS parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 1 Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 2 SEC. 202. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS- 3 ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 4 (a) CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY 5 THEIR PARENTS.—Section 612(a)(10)(A) of the Individ- 6 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7 1412(a)(10)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(viii) PARENT OPTION PROGRAM.—If 10 a State has established a program that 11 meets the requirements of section 12 663(c)(11) (whether statewide or in limited 13 areas of the State) and that allows a par- 14 ent of a child described in section 15 663(c)(11)(A) to use public funds, or pri- 16 vate funds in accordance with 17 633(c)(11)(B)(ii), to pay some or all of the 18 costs of attendance at a private school— 19 ‘‘(I) funds allocated to the State 20 under section 611 may be used by the 21 State to supplement such public or 22 private funds, if the Federal funds are 23 distributed to parents who make a 24 genuine independent choice as to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 145 IS appropriate school for their child, ex- 1 cept that in no case shall the amount 2 of Federal funds provided under this 3 subclause to a parent of a child with 4 a disability for a year exceed the total 5 amount of tuition, fees, and transpor- 6 tation costs for the child for the year; 7 ‘‘(II) the authorization of a par- 8 ent to exercise this option fulfills the 9 State’s obligation under paragraph (1) 10 with respect to the child during the 11 period in which the child is enrolled in 12 the selected school; and 13 ‘‘(III) a selected school accepting 14 such funds shall not be required to 15 carry out any of the requirements of 16 this title with respect to such child.’’. 17 (b) RESEARCH AND INNOVATION TO IMPROVE SERV- 18 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL- 19 ITIES.—Section 663(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities 20 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1463(c)) is amended— 21 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 22 the semicolon; 23 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 24 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 145 IS (3) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(11) supporting the post-award planning and 2 design, and the initial implementation (which may 3 include costs for informing the community, acquiring 4 necessary equipment and supplies, and other initial 5 operational costs), during a period of not more than 6 3 years, of State programs that allow the parent of 7 a child with a disability to make a genuine inde- 8 pendent choice of the appropriate public or private 9 school for their child, if the program— 10 ‘‘(A) requires that the child be a child who 11 has received an initial evaluation described in 12 section 614(a) and has been identified as a 13 child with a disability, in accordance with part 14 B; 15 ‘‘(B)(i) permits the parent to receive from 16 the State funds to be used to pay some or all 17 of the costs of attendance at the selected school 18 (which may include tuition, fees, and transpor- 19 tation costs); or 20 ‘‘(ii) permits persons to receive a State tax 21 credit for donations to an entity that provides 22 funds to parents of eligible students described 23 in subparagraph (A), to be used by the parents 24 to pay some or all of the costs of attendance at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 145 IS the selected school (which may include tuition, 1 fees, and transportation costs); 2 ‘‘(C) prohibits any school that agrees to 3 participate in the program from discriminating 4 against eligible students on the basis of race, 5 color, national origin, or sex, except that— 6 ‘‘(i) the prohibition of sex discrimina- 7 tion shall not apply to a participating 8 school that is operated by, supervised by, 9 controlled by, or connected to a religious 10 organization to the extent that the applica- 11 tion of such prohibition is inconsistent with 12 the religious tenets or beliefs of the school; 13 and 14 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding this subpara- 15 graph or any other provision of law, a par- 16 ent may choose, and a school may offer, a 17 single-sex school, class, or activity; 18 ‘‘(D) notwithstanding any other provision 19 of law, allows any school participating in the 20 program that is operated by, supervised by, 21 controlled by, or connected to, a religious orga- 22 nization to exercise its right in matters of em- 23 ployment consistent with title VII of the Civil 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 145 IS Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), 1 including the exemptions in that title; 2 ‘‘(E) allows a school to participate in the 3 program without, consistent with the First 4 Amendment of the Constitution of the United 5 States— 6 ‘‘(i) necessitating any change in the 7 participating school’s teaching mission; 8 ‘‘(ii) requiring any private partici- 9 pating school to remove religious art, 10 icons, scriptures, or other symbols; or 11 ‘‘(iii) precluding any private partici- 12 pating school from retaining religious 13 terms in its name, selecting its board 14 members on a religious basis, or including 15 religious references in its mission state- 16 ments and other chartering or governing 17 documents; and 18 ‘‘(F) requires a participating school se- 19 lected for a child with a disability to be— 20 ‘‘(i) accredited, licensed, or otherwise 21 operating in accordance with State law; 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 145 IS ‘‘(ii) academically accountable to the 1 parent for meeting the educational needs 2 of the student.’’. 3 TITLE III—MILITARY 4 SCHOLARSHIPS 5 SEC. 301. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this title is to ensure high-quality 7 education for children of military personnel who live on 8 military installations and thus have less freedom to exer- 9 cise school choice for their children, in order to improve 10 the ability of the Armed Forces to retain such military 11 personnel. 12 SEC. 302. MILITARY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child’’, 15 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘local 16 educational agency’’ have the meanings given the 17 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 18 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 19 (2) ELIGIBLE MILITARY STUDENT.—The term 20 ‘‘eligible military student’’ means a child who— 21 (A) is a military dependent student; 22 (B) lives on a military installation selected 23 to participate in the program under subsection 24 (b)(2); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 145 IS (C) chooses to attend a participating 1 school, rather than a school otherwise assigned 2 to the child. 3 (3) MILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—The 4 term ‘‘military dependent students’’ has the meaning 5 given the term in section 572(e) of the National De- 6 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (20 7 U.S.C. 7703b(e)). 8 (4) PARTICIPATING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘par- 9 ticipating school’’ means a public or private elemen- 10 tary school or secondary school that— 11 (A) accepts scholarship funds provided 12 under this section on behalf of an eligible mili- 13 tary student for the costs of tuition, fees, or 14 transportation of the eligible military student; 15 and 16 (B) is accredited, licensed, or otherwise op- 17 erating in accordance with State law. 18 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 the Secretary of Defense. 20 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 22 able under subsection (g) and beginning for the first 23 full school year following the date of enactment of 24 this Act, the Secretary shall carry out a 5-year pilot 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 145 IS program to award scholarships to enable eligible 1 military students to attend the public or private ele- 2 mentary schools or secondary schools selected by the 3 eligible military students’ parents. 4 (2) SCOPE OF PROGRAM.— 5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se- 6 lect not less than 5 military installations to par- 7 ticipate in the pilot program described in para- 8 graph (1). In making such selection, the Sec- 9 retary shall choose military installations where 10 eligible military students would most benefit 11 from expanded educational options. 12 (B) INELIGIBILITY.—A military installa- 13 tion that provides, on its premises, education 14 for all elementary school and secondary school 15 grade levels through one or more Department 16 of Defense dependents’ schools shall not be eli- 17 gible for participation in the program. 18 (3) AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The annual amount of 20 each scholarship awarded to an eligible military 21 student under this section shall not exceed the 22 lesser of— 23 (i) the cost of tuition, fees, and trans- 24 portation associated with attending the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 145 IS participating school selected by the parents 1 of the student; or 2 (ii)(I) in the case of an eligible mili- 3 tary student attending elementary school— 4 (aa) $8,000 for the first full 5 school year following the date of en- 6 actment of this Act; or 7 (bb) the amount determined 8 under subparagraph (B) for each 9 school year following such first full 10 school year; or 11 (II) in the case of an eligible military 12 student attending secondary school— 13 (aa) $12,000 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. 20 (B) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—For 21 each school year after the first full school year 22 following the date of enactment of this Act, the 23 amounts specified in subclauses (I) and (II) of 24 subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be adjusted to reflect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 145 IS changes for the 12-month period ending the 1 preceding June in the Consumer Price Index 2 for All Urban Consumers published by the Bu- 3 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 4 Labor. 5 (4) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—The Secretary 6 shall make scholarship payments under this section 7 to the parent of the eligible military student in a 8 manner that ensures such payments will be used for 9 the payment of tuition, fees, and transportation ex- 10 penses (if any) in accordance with this section. 11 (c) SELECTION OF SCHOLARSHIPS RECIPIENTS.— 12 (1) RANDOM SELECTION.—If more eligible mili- 13 tary students apply for scholarships under the pro- 14 gram under this section than the Secretary can ac- 15 commodate, the Secretary shall select the scholar- 16 ship recipients through a random selection process 17 from students who submitted applications by the ap- 18 plication deadline specified by the Secretary. 19 (2) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who is 21 selected to receive a scholarship under the pro- 22 gram under this section shall continue to re- 23 ceive a scholarship for each year of the program 24 until the individual— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jan 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S145.IS S145 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 145 IS (i) graduates from secondary school or 1 elects to no longer participate in the pro- 2 gram; 3 (ii) exceeds the maximum age for 4 which the State in which the student lives 5 provides a free public education; or 6 (iii) i [Text truncated for display. 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