TRUE EQUITY Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 667 To provide for a Federal partnership to ensure educational equity and quality. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2023 Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for a Federal partnership to ensure educational equity and quality. 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 ‘‘Transformational Re- 4 forms and Updates to Ensure Educational Quality and 5 Urgent Investments in Today’s Youth Act of 2023’’ or the 6 ‘‘TRUE EQUITY Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 8 Congress finds the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 667 IS (1) The fate of our Nation and the opportuni- 1 ties it creates for our children and grandchildren to 2 enjoy successful careers and rewarding lives depends 3 on the quality, equal access, and effectiveness of pre- 4 kindergarten through twelfth grade education in 5 every local school district across the country. 6 (2) Our education systems must prepare stu- 7 dents to compete in an interconnected, global econ- 8 omy. 9 (3) Despite the current combinations of Fed- 10 eral, State, and local funding and innovative edu- 11 cational policies, States with historically well re- 12 garded kindergarten through grade 12 education 13 systems may find their students falling behind their 14 peers nationally and internationally. In Maryland, a 15 State with a historically well regarded kindergarten 16 through grade 12 education system, fourth and 17 eighth graders placed in the middle of the pack na- 18 tionally in reading and math scores on the National 19 Assessment of Education Progress. 20 (4) The United States as a whole scored well 21 down the second quartile among students from 72 22 countries on the Programme for International Stu- 23 dent Assessment. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 667 IS (5) Even in States with reading and math 1 scores higher than the national average, there may 2 be significant and persistent racial, ethnic, and in- 3 come disparity gaps between students of color and 4 low-income students compared to their higher in- 5 come and white peers. 6 (6) These same disparities carry into college en- 7 rollment, with fewer students of color and low-in- 8 come students enrolling in college than their higher 9 income and white peers. 10 (7) The novel coronavirus (COVID–19) health 11 pandemic forced the physical closure of schools na- 12 tionwide in March 2020, moving students from the 13 classroom to online learning. The public health ne- 14 cessity to turn to online learning further exacerbated 15 the significant and persistent racial, ethnic, and in- 16 come disparity learning gaps as students struggled 17 to access educational technology devices and the 18 internet. 19 (8) At the start of online learning, Maryland 20 school districts reported that on average, nearly 25 21 percent of Maryland students had not logged into 22 their new online classrooms or picked up paper work 23 packets, falling out of sight and behind their peers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 667 IS (9) Millions of children fell further behind as a 1 result of opportunity gaps that fail to provide stu- 2 dents with ready access to individualized instruction, 3 healthy meals, mental health counseling services, 4 and hands on career training programs. 5 (10) As school systems have returned full time 6 to the in-person learning environment, assessments 7 to determine the effect of COVID–19 have shown 8 that achievement and opportunity gaps have only 9 widened between students of color and low-income 10 students and their higher income and white peers. 11 (11) In order to address these inequities in edu- 12 cation and harm caused by COVID–19, certain 13 States, including Maryland, have researched and en- 14 acted bold, transformative Federal, State, and local 15 funding and policy changes to their pre-kindergarten 16 through twelfth grade education systems, with five 17 main policy areas under the 2021 authorized Blue- 18 print for Maryland’s Future, which includes the fol- 19 lowing focus areas: 20 (A) Investing in high-quality early child- 21 hood education and care through a significant 22 expansion of full day pre-school, to be free for 23 all low-income three- and four-year-olds, so that 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 667 IS all children have the opportunity to begin kin- 1 dergarten ready to learn. 2 (B) Investing in teachers and school lead- 3 ers by elevating the standards and status of the 4 teaching profession, including a performance- 5 based career ladder and salaries comparable to 6 other fields with similar education require- 7 ments. 8 (C) Creating a world-class instructional 9 system with an internationally benchmarked 10 curriculum that enables most students to 11 achieve ‘‘college and career ready’’ status by 12 10th grade and then pursue pathways that in- 13 clude early college, Advanced Placement 14 courses, or a rigorous technical education lead- 15 ing to industry-recognized credentials and high 16 paying jobs. 17 (D) Providing supports to students that 18 need it the most with broad and sustained sup- 19 port for schools serving high concentrations of 20 poverty, with after school and summer academic 21 programs and student access to needed health 22 and social services. 23 (E) Ensuring excellence for all through an 24 accountability-oversight board that has the au- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 667 IS thority to ensure transformative education sys- 1 tem recommendations are successfully imple- 2 mented and produce the desired improvements 3 in student achievement. 4 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 5 It is the sense of Congress that— 6 (1) no matter a child’s ZIP Code, they deserve 7 equal access to a quality, public pre-kindergarten 8 through twelfth grade education; 9 (2) no inequities in student achievement, college 10 enrollment, or Federal, State, and local funding 11 should be tolerated; 12 (3) the Federal Government should live up to 13 its original commitment in 1975 under the Individ- 14 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 15 1400 et seq.) to provide 40 percent of the cost to 16 educate children with disabilities and assist State 17 educational agencies and local educational agencies 18 in providing a free appropriate public education; and 19 (4) the Federal Government should be an active 20 partner with State educational agencies and local 21 educational agencies that are willing to modify poli- 22 cies and commit additional State and local resources 23 to address education inequities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 667 IS SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 3 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 4 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 5 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 6 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Education. 8 (3) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 9 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 10 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 12 TITLE I—EARLY CHILDHOOD 13 EDUCATION 14 SEC. 101. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION GRANT PRO- 15 GRAM. 16 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 18 single grant, on a competitive basis, to an eligible 19 State to enable the State to carry out the authorized 20 activities described in subsection (c). 21 (2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—In this section, the term 22 ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State— 23 (A) that has established a State Oversight 24 Board as described in section 501; and 25 (B) that commits to educational equity. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 667 IS (3) DURATION; RENEWAL.—The grant awarded 1 under this section shall be for a 2-year duration, and 2 may be renewed by the Secretary for not more than 3 4 additional 2-year periods if the State Oversight 4 Board of the State determines that the State has 5 met the educational equity goals of the State, as de- 6 scribed in section 501. 7 (4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—If the Sec- 8 retary does not renew a grant awarded under this 9 section to a State for an additional 2-year period for 10 failure to meet the educational equity goals of the 11 State, the State shall provide, from non-Federal 12 sources, amounts for such 2-year period that are not 13 less than the sum of the grant amount provided by 14 the Secretary and the matching funds provided by 15 the State under subsection (d) for the initial 2-year 16 grant period. 17 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible State that desires to 18 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica- 19 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 20 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 21 require, including providing the State’s educational equity 22 goals and the accountability consequences for the State 23 and local educational agencies in the State if the State 24 Oversight Board determines that the State or a local edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 667 IS cational agency fails to meet the educational equity goals 1 of the State, including the potential withholding of funds, 2 as described in section 501. 3 (c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State that re- 5 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 6 funds to carry out activities authorized under the 7 following provisions: 8 (A) Section 619 and part C of the Individ- 9 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 10 1419 and 1431 et seq.). 11 (B) Paragraphs (1)(B)(i), (5)(A), and 12 (5)(B) of section 640(a) of the Head Start Act 13 (42 U.S.C. 9835(1)(B)(i), (5)(A), and (5)(B)). 14 (C) Section 9212 of the Every Student 15 Succeeds Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 note). 16 (2) SUBGRANTS.—An eligible State that re- 17 ceives a grant under this section may use the grant 18 funds to award subgrants to local educational agen- 19 cies to carry out the activities described in para- 20 graph (1). 21 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH PROGRAMS.—In using 22 grant funds provided under this section or subgrant 23 funds provided under paragraph (2) to carry out the 24 activities described in paragraph (1), the eligible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 667 IS State or local educational agency shall comply with 1 the requirements of the programs under which such 2 activities are authorized. 3 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Each eligible State 4 that receives a grant under this section shall provide, from 5 non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 200 percent of 6 the amount of the grant (which may be provided in cash 7 or in kind) to carry out the activities supported by the 8 grant. 9 (e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible 10 State shall use Federal funds received under this section 11 only to supplement the funds that would, in the absence 12 of such Federal funds, be made available from State and 13 local sources for activities described in subsection (c), and 14 not to supplant such funds. 15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec- 17 tion— 18 (1) $275,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 19 (2) $288,750,000 for fiscal year 2025; 20 (3) $303,187,500 for fiscal year 2026; 21 (4) $318,346,875 for fiscal year 2027; 22 (5) $334,264,219 for fiscal year 2028; 23 (6) $350,977,430 for fiscal year 2029; 24 (7) $368,526,301 for fiscal year 2030; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 667 IS (8) $386,952,616 for fiscal year 2031; 1 (9) $406,300,247 for fiscal year 2032; and 2 (10) $426,615,259 for fiscal year 2033. 3 TITLE II—HIGH-QUALITY AND DI- 4 VERSE TEACHERS AND LEAD- 5 ERS 6 SEC. 201. HIGH-QUALITY AND DIVERSE TEACHERS AND 7 LEADERS GRANT PROGRAM. 8 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award a 10 single grant, on a competitive basis, to an eligible 11 State to enable the State to carry out the authorized 12 activities described in subsection (c). 13 (2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—In this section, the term 14 ‘‘eligible State’’ means a State— 15 (A) that has established a State Oversight 16 Board as described in section 501; and 17 (B) that commits to educational equity. 18 (3) DURATION; RENEWAL.—The grant awarded 19 under this section shall be for a 2-year duration, and 20 may be renewed by the Secretary for not more than 21 4 additional 2-year periods if the State Oversight 22 Board of the State determines that the State has 23 met the educational equity goals of the State, as de- 24 scribed in section 501. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:43 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S667.IS S667 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 667 IS (4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—If the Sec- 1 retary does not renew a grant awarded under this 2 section to a State for an additional 2-year period for 3 failure to meet the educational equity goals of the 4 State, the State shall provide, from non-Federal 5 sources, amounts for such 2-year period that are not 6 less than the sum of the grant amount provided by 7 the Secretary and the matching funds provided by 8 the State under subsection (d) for the initial 2-year 9 grant period. 10 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible State that desires to 11 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica- 12 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 13 accompanied by such information as the Secretar [Text truncated for display. 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