21st Century STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1299 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrep- resented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 2, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields. 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 ‘‘21st Century STEM 4 for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1299 IS SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PREPARE GIRLS AND UNDERREP- 1 RESENTED MINORITIES. 2 Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 3 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by add- 4 ing at the end the following: 5 ‘‘PART G—PREPARING GIRLS AND UNDERREP- 6 RESENTED MINORITIES FOR THE 21ST CEN- 7 TURY 8 ‘‘SEC. 4701. PROGRAM AUTHORITY. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 90 10 days after the date of enactment of the 21st Century 11 STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act, the 12 Secretary shall carry out a program under which the Sec- 13 retary makes grants to qualified local educational agen- 14 cies, on a competitive basis, to pay the costs of carrying 15 out STEM education activities for girls and underrep- 16 resented minorities as described in subsection (c). 17 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 19 grant under this part, a qualified local educational 20 agency shall submit to the Secretary an application 21 at such time, in such form, and containing such in- 22 formation as the Secretary may reasonably require. 23 At minimum, the application shall include a descrip- 24 tion of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1299 IS ‘‘(A) The educational program that will be 1 carried out by the local educational agency 2 using the grant, including the content of the 3 program and the research and models used to 4 design the program. 5 ‘‘(B) How elementary schools and sec- 6 ondary schools served by the agency will col- 7 laborate to fulfill goals of the program. 8 ‘‘(C) How the agency will ensure that there 9 is a comprehensive plan to improve STEM edu- 10 cation for girls and underrepresented minorities 11 in grades kindergarten through grade 12. 12 ‘‘(D) The process that will be used for the 13 recruitment and selection of students for par- 14 ticipation in the program. 15 ‘‘(E) The instructional and motivational 16 activities that will be included as part of the 17 program. 18 ‘‘(F) Any expected collaboration among 19 local, regional, or national institutions and or- 20 ganizations for the purpose of fulfilling the 21 goals of the program. 22 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In selecting among applica- 23 tions, the Secretary shall give priority to qualified 24 local educational agencies that partner or coordinate, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1299 IS to the extent practicable, with local, regional, or na- 1 tional institutions and organizations that have exten- 2 sive experience and expertise in— 3 ‘‘(A) increasing the participation of girls or 4 underrepresented minorities in STEM fields; or 5 ‘‘(B) conducting research on methods to 6 increase such participation. 7 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A qualified local educational 8 agency that receives a grant under this part shall use the 9 grant to carry out a STEM education program for girls 10 and underrepresented minorities from elementary schools 11 and secondary schools served by the agency. The program 12 may include the following activities: 13 ‘‘(1) Preparing girls and underrepresented mi- 14 norities for careers in STEM fields and the advan- 15 tages of pursuing careers in such fields. 16 ‘‘(2) Educating the families of girls and under- 17 represented minorities about the opportunities and 18 advantages of STEM careers. 19 ‘‘(3) Enlisting the help of the families of girls 20 and underrepresented minorities— 21 ‘‘(A) to overcome the obstacles faced by 22 such groups; and 23 ‘‘(B) to encourage their child’s continued 24 interest and involvement in STEM subjects. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1299 IS ‘‘(4) Providing tutoring and mentoring pro- 1 grams in STEM subjects. 2 ‘‘(5) Establishing partnerships and other oppor- 3 tunities that expose girls and underrepresented mi- 4 norities to role models in the STEM fields. 5 ‘‘(6) Enabling girls and underrepresented mi- 6 nority students and their teachers to attend events 7 and academic programs in STEM subjects. 8 ‘‘(7) Providing after school and summer activi- 9 ties designed to encourage interest and develop the 10 skills of girls and underrepresented minorities in 11 STEM subjects. 12 ‘‘(8) Summer programs designed to help girls 13 and underrepresented minorities— 14 ‘‘(A) develop an interest in STEM sub- 15 jects; 16 ‘‘(B) develop skills in such subjects; and 17 ‘‘(C) understand the relevance and signifi- 18 cance of such subjects. 19 ‘‘(9) In accordance with subsection (d), pur- 20 chasing— 21 ‘‘(A) educational instructional materials or 22 software designed to help girls and underrep- 23 resented minorities develop an interest in 24 STEM subjects; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1299 IS ‘‘(B) equipment, instrumentation, or hard- 1 ware for teaching STEM subjects to girls and 2 underrepresented minorities and encouraging 3 their interest in such subjects. 4 ‘‘(10) Field trips to locations, including institu- 5 tions of higher education, to expose girls and under- 6 represented minorities to STEM activities, encour- 7 age their interest in such activities, and acquaint 8 them with careers in STEM fields. 9 ‘‘(11) Providing academic advice and assistance 10 in high school course selection to encourage girls and 11 underrepresented minorities to take advanced 12 courses in STEM subjects. 13 ‘‘(12) Paying up to 50 percent of the cost of an 14 internship in a STEM discipline for girls and under- 15 represented minority students. 16 ‘‘(13) Providing professional development for 17 teachers, school leaders, and specialized instructional 18 support personnel, including with respect to— 19 ‘‘(A) eliminating gender, racial, and other 20 biases in the classroom; 21 ‘‘(B) developing cultural competence; 22 ‘‘(C) sensitivity to gender and racial dif- 23 ferences; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1299 IS ‘‘(D) engaging students in the face of gen- 1 der-based and racial peer pressure and parental 2 expectations; 3 ‘‘(E) creating and maintaining a positive 4 environment; and 5 ‘‘(F) encouraging girls and underrep- 6 resented minorities through academic advice 7 and assistance to pursue advanced classes and 8 careers in STEM fields. 9 ‘‘(14) Such other STEM-related activities as 10 the local educational agency determines to be appro- 11 priate. 12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE.—A qualified local educational 13 agency shall not use more than 15 percent of grant funds 14 under this part for purchases described in subsection 15 (c)(9). 16 ‘‘(e) GRANT DURATION AND AMOUNT.— 17 ‘‘(1) DURATION.—Each grant under this sec- 18 tion shall be made for a period of 4 years. 19 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant 20 under this section shall be $250,000 for each year 21 of the grant period. 22 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—A qualified 23 local educational agency that receives a grant under this 24 section shall use the grant only to supplement, and not 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1299 IS to supplant, other assistance and funds made available 1 from non-Federal sources for the activities supported by 2 the grant. 3 ‘‘(g) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 4 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 5 days after last day of each school year for which a 6 qualified local educational agency receives a grant 7 under this section, the agency shall submit to the 8 Secretary a written report regarding the program 9 carried out using the grant. 10 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 11 paragraph (1) shall include— 12 ‘‘(A) a description of the program and ac- 13 tivities carried out using the grant; 14 ‘‘(B) a description of the curriculum and 15 any partnerships developed using the grant; 16 ‘‘(C) the percentage of time that students 17 who participated in the program spent directly 18 engaged in STEM activities; 19 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the academic 20 progress made by such students during the pro- 21 gram, which shall be based on an evaluation of 22 each student at the beginning of the program 23 and after the student completes the program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1299 IS ‘‘(E) participant data disaggregated and 1 cross tabulated by race and gender; and 2 ‘‘(F) such other information as the Sec- 3 retary may require. 4 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘STEM’ means science, tech- 6 nology, engineering, and mathematics, and is inclu- 7 sive of computer science. 8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘qualified local educational agen- 9 cy’ means a local educational agency or educational 10 service agency that— 11 ‘‘(A) receives funds under part A of title I; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) serves a total student population of 14 which not less than 40 percent are children who 15 are eligible for a free or reduced price lunch 16 under the Richard B. Russell National School 17 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.). 18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘underrepresented minority’ in- 19 cludes an individual who is Black, Latino, Native 20 American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, 21 or a child with a disability. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1299 IS ‘‘SEC. 4702. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 2 this part $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 3 through 2023.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1299.IS S1299 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS