Smaller Class Sizes for Students and Educators Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 579 To provide grants to eligible local educational agencies to help public schools reduce class size in the early elementary grades, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide grants to eligible local educational agencies to help public schools reduce class size in the early elemen- tary grades, 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 ‘‘Smaller Class Sizes 4 for Students and Educators Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 8 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘poverty 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 579 IS line’’ have the meanings given the terms in section 1 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 3 (2) EARLY ELEMENTARY GRADES.—The term 4 ‘‘early elementary grades’’ means kindergarten 5 through grade 3. 6 (3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 7 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 8 a local educational agency— 9 (A) for a school district in which 75 per- 10 cent or more of the population have incomes 11 below the poverty line; and 12 (B) that is within a State, as such term is 13 defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 14 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 15 7801). 16 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 17 the Secretary of Education. 18 (5) TARGETED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘targeted 19 school’’ means a public elementary school in which 20 not less than 75 percent of the students attending 21 the elementary school are from families with incomes 22 below the poverty line. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 579 IS SEC. 3. REDUCING CLASS SIZE IN KINDERGARTEN 1 THROUGH GRADE 3 CLASSROOMS. 2 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 4 able under subsection (g), the Secretary shall award 5 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible local edu- 6 cational agencies to enable the eligible local edu- 7 cational agencies to reduce class sizes in the early el- 8 ementary grades. 9 (2) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant awarded 10 under this section shall be for a period of 5 years. 11 (b) APPLICATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local educational 13 agency that desires a grant under this section shall 14 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 15 in such manner, and containing such information as 16 the Secretary may require. 17 (2) CONTENTS.—The application required 18 under paragraph (1) shall include an evidence-based 19 plan to lower class sizes in the early elementary 20 grades that includes the following: 21 (A) A description of— 22 (i) how the eligible local educational 23 agency will reduce the class size for early 24 elementary grade classes in the targeted 25 schools served by the eligible local edu- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 579 IS cational agency to not more than 18 stu- 1 dents per class, recognizing that class size 2 maximums must be based on type of stu- 3 dents, grade level, subject area, physical 4 facilities, and workload maximums for edu- 5 cators; and 6 (ii) the continuum of small class sizes 7 based on grade level the eligible local edu- 8 cational agency will provide for students in 9 the early elementary grades in targeted 10 schools. 11 (B) A description of how the eligible local 12 educational agency will recruit, hire, and retain 13 individuals, including individuals from popu- 14 lations underrepresented in the teaching profes- 15 sion, as teachers for the early elementary 16 grades. 17 (C) A description of how the eligible local 18 educational agency will provide additional pro- 19 fessional development and training for teachers 20 hired for class size reduction. 21 (D) A description of how the eligible local 22 educational agency will provide time for collabo- 23 ration between teachers at the targeted schools 24 for activities such as analyzing student work, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 579 IS instruction and assessment planning, or cur- 1 riculum and instruction-specific professional de- 2 velopment. 3 (E) A description of how the eligible local 4 educational agency will ensure that any new 5 teachers hired using grant funds are certified to 6 teach in the field of hire, qualified, effective, 7 and able to teach to State standards, as deter- 8 mined by the State for purposes of the Elemen- 9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 10 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 11 (F) In the case of an eligible local edu- 12 cational agency that is using funds available 13 under part A of title II of the Elementary and 14 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 15 6611 et seq.) for class size reduction, informa- 16 tion regarding such use and the extent to which 17 the funds are being used to reduce class size in 18 the early elementary grades in targeted public 19 schools. 20 (G) The average class size, by grade, in 21 the early elementary grades of the public 22 schools served by the eligible local educational 23 agency at the time the application is submitted 24 and during the prior 2 academic years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 579 IS (H) A description of how the eligible local 1 educational agency will determine or define 2 class size. 3 (c) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 4 section, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible local 5 educational agencies with the greatest number of students 6 from families with incomes below the poverty line. 7 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 8 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An eligible 9 local educational agency receiving a grant under this 10 section may use not more than 3 percent of the 11 grant funds for the administrative expenses of the 12 grant. 13 (2) REDUCING CLASS SIZE.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local edu- 15 cational agency shall use not less than 97 per- 16 cent of the grant funds to reduce class sizes in 17 the early elementary grades at targeted schools 18 by— 19 (i) recruiting, training, and hiring 20 qualified teachers, both general education 21 teachers and teachers of special-needs chil- 22 dren, for the early elementary grades at 23 targeted schools; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 579 IS (ii) in the case of an eligible local edu- 1 cational agency for which all targeted 2 schools have class sizes at or less than the 3 levels established by the local educational 4 agency in the plan submitted under sub- 5 section (b)(2), obtaining additional space, 6 or renovating school buildings, to provide 7 more classroom space, except that not 8 more than 15 percent of the funds pro- 9 vided under the grant may be used for this 10 purpose; and 11 (iii) in the case of an eligible local 12 educational agency for which all targeted 13 schools have class sizes at or less than the 14 levels established by the local educational 15 agency in the plan submitted under sub- 16 section (b)(2), providing professional devel- 17 opment for teachers of the early elemen- 18 tary grades at targeted schools, except that 19 not more than 15 percent of the funds pro- 20 vided under the grant may be used for this 21 purpose. 22 (B) HIGHEST NEED.—In carrying out ac- 23 tivities under the grant, the eligible local edu- 24 cational agency shall first prioritize targeted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 579 IS schools that serve the highest percentage of stu- 1 dents from families with incomes below the pov- 2 erty line and then prioritize schools with the 3 highest average class sizes in the early elemen- 4 tary grades. 5 (e) REPORTING.— 6 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS BY ELIGIBLE LOCAL 7 EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Each eligible local edu- 8 cational agency receiving a grant under this section 9 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual 10 report that includes an evaluation of the activities 11 carried out under grant, including an evaluation 12 of— 13 (A) the progress of the eligible local edu- 14 cational agency in reducing class size in the 15 early elementary grades at the targeted schools 16 served by the local educational agency; 17 (B) student academic achievement, which 18 may include locally developed assessments, in 19 the early elementary grades of the targeted 20 schools receiving support through the local edu- 21 cational agency under the grant where pre- and 22 post-assessment data is available; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 579 IS (C) a climate study of teachers in such tar- 1 geted schools that addresses working conditions, 2 job satisfaction, and teacher stress; 3 (D) teacher qualifications for newly hired 4 teachers in such targeted schools for class size 5 reduction; 6 (E) targeted professional development and 7 training provided to newly hired teachers in tar- 8 geted schools for class size reduction; 9 (F) the time added to be used for teachers 10 to collaborate in targeted schools; 11 (G) teacher retention and turnover rates 12 pre- and post-class size reduction efforts; and 13 (H) a description of rates of student dis- 14 cipline problems and in chronic student absen- 15 teeism. 16 (2) ANNUAL REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.— 17 By not later than 30 days after the date by which 18 the reports under paragraph (1) are first due, and 19 annually thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and 20 submit a report to the Committee on Health, Edu- 21 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 22 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 23 Representatives regarding the grants awarded under 24 this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Mar 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 579 IS (f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A local edu- 1 cational agency receiving funds under this section shall 2 use such funds to supplement, and not supplant, any other 3 funds available to the local educational agency for the pur- 4 poses of reducing class size in the early elementary grades. 5 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 7 $2,000,000,000 for the first fiscal year and such sums as 8 are necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:29 Mar 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S579.IS S579 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS