Strength in Diversity Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1418 To establish the Strength in Diversity Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 9, 2019 Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish the Strength in Diversity Program, 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 ‘‘Strength in Diversity 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to support the develop- 7 ment, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive 8 strategies to address the effects of racial isolation or con- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1418 IS centrated poverty by increasing diversity, including racial 1 and socioeconomic diversity, in covered schools. 2 SEC. 3. RESERVATION FOR NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 3 The Secretary may reserve not more than 5 percent 4 of the amounts made available under section 10 for a fis- 5 cal year to carry out activities of national significance re- 6 lating to this Act, which may include— 7 (1) research, development, data collection, mon- 8 itoring, technical assistance, evaluation, or dissemi- 9 nation activities; and 10 (2) the development and maintenance of best 11 practices for recipients of grants under section 4 and 12 other experts in the field of school diversity. 13 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 16 available under section 10 and not reserved under 17 section 3 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award 18 grants in accordance with subsection (b) to eligible 19 entities to develop or implement plans to improve di- 20 versity and reduce or eliminate racial or socio- 21 economic isolation in covered schools. 22 (2) TYPES OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may, in 23 any fiscal year, award under paragraph (1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1418 IS (A) planning grants to carry out the activi- 1 ties described in section 6(a); 2 (B) implementation grants to carry out the 3 activities described in section 6(b); or 4 (C) both such planning grants and imple- 5 mentation grants. 6 (b) AWARD BASIS.— 7 (1) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICA- 8 TIONS.—The Secretary shall award grants under 9 this section on a competitive basis, based on— 10 (A) the quality of the application sub- 11 mitted by an eligible entity under section 5; and 12 (B) the likelihood, as determined by the 13 Secretary, that the eligible entity will use the 14 grant to improve student outcomes or outcomes 15 on other performance measures described in 16 section 7. 17 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 18 section, the Secretary shall give priority to the fol- 19 lowing eligible entities: 20 (A) First, to an eligible entity that pro- 21 poses, in an application submitted under section 22 5, to use the grant to support a program that 23 addresses racial isolation by increasing diver- 24 sity. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1418 IS (B) Second, to an eligible entity that pro- 1 poses, in an application submitted under section 2 5, to use the grant to support a program that 3 extends beyond one local educational agency, 4 such as an inter-district or regional program. 5 (c) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 6 (1) PLANNING GRANT.—A planning grant 7 awarded under this section shall be for a period of 8 not more than 1 year. 9 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—An implemen- 10 tation grant awarded under this section shall be for 11 a period of not more than 3 years, except that the 12 Secretary may extend an implementation grant for 13 an additional 2-year period if the eligible entity re- 14 ceiving the grant demonstrates to the Secretary that 15 the eligible entity is making significant progress, as 16 determined by the Secretary, on the program per- 17 formance measures described in section 7. 18 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 19 In order to receive a grant under section 4, an eligible 20 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 21 time, in such manner, and containing such information as 22 the Secretary may require, including— 23 (1) a description of the program for which the 24 eligible entity is seeking a grant, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1418 IS (A) how the eligible entity proposes to use 1 the grant to improve the academic and life out- 2 comes of students in racial or socioeconomic 3 isolation in covered schools by supporting inter- 4 ventions that increase diversity in such covered 5 schools; 6 (B) in the case of an implementation 7 grant, the implementation grant plan described 8 in section 6(b)(1); and 9 (C) evidence, or if such evidence is not 10 available, a rationale based on current research, 11 regarding how the program will increase diver- 12 sity; 13 (2) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 14 use any of the grant to benefit covered schools that 15 are racially isolated, a description of how the eligible 16 entity will identify and define racial isolation; 17 (3) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 18 use any portion of the grant to benefit high-poverty 19 covered schools, a description of how the eligible en- 20 tity will identify and define income level and socio- 21 economic status; 22 (4) a description of the plan of the eligible enti- 23 ty for continuing the program after the grant period 24 ends; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1418 IS (5) a description of how the eligible entity will 1 assess, monitor, and evaluate the impact of the ac- 2 tivities funded under the grant on student achieve- 3 ment and student enrollment diversity; 4 (6) an assurance that the eligible entity has 5 conducted, or will conduct, robust parent and com- 6 munity engagement, while planning for and imple- 7 menting the program, such as through— 8 (A) consultation with appropriate officials 9 from Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations ap- 10 proved by the Tribes located in the area served 11 by the eligible entity; 12 (B) consultation with other community en- 13 tities, including local housing or transportation 14 authorities; 15 (C) public hearings or other open forums 16 to inform the development of any formal strat- 17 egy to increase diversity; and 18 (D) outreach, in a language that parents 19 can understand, and consultation with families 20 in the targeted district or region that is de- 21 signed to ensure participation in the planning 22 and development of any formal strategy to in- 23 crease diversity; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1418 IS (7) an estimate of the number of students that 1 the eligible entity plans to serve under the program 2 and the number of students to be served through ad- 3 ditional expansion of the program after the grant 4 period ends; 5 (8) an assurance that the eligible entity will— 6 (A) cooperate with the Secretary in evalu- 7 ating the program, including any evaluation 8 that might require data and information from 9 multiple recipients of grants under section 4; 10 and 11 (B) implement best practices developed 12 under section 3(2); 13 (9) an assurance that, to the extent possible, 14 the eligible entity has considered the potential impli- 15 cations of the grant activities on the demographics 16 and student enrollment of nearby covered schools 17 not included in the activities of the grant; and 18 (10) in the case of an eligible entity applying 19 for an implementation grant, a description of how 20 the eligible entity will— 21 (A) implement, replicate, or expand a 22 strategy based on a strong or moderate level of 23 evidence (as described in subclause (I) or (II) 24 of section 8101(21)(A)(i) of the Elementary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1418 IS and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 1 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)(i))); or 2 (B) test a promising strategy to increase 3 diversity in covered schools. 4 SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 5 (a) PLANNING GRANTS.—Each eligible entity that re- 6 ceives a planning grant under section 4 shall use the grant 7 to support students in covered schools through the fol- 8 lowing activities: 9 (1) Completing a comprehensive assessment of, 10 with respect to the geographic area served by such 11 eligible entity— 12 (A) the educational outcomes and racial 13 and socioeconomic stratification of children at- 14 tending covered schools; and 15 (B) an analysis of the location and capac- 16 ity of program and school facilities and the ade- 17 quacy of local or regional transportation infra- 18 structure. 19 (2) Developing and implementing a robust fam- 20 ily and community engagement plan, including, 21 where feasible, public hearings or other open forums 22 that would precede and inform the development of a 23 formal strategy to improve diversity in covered 24 schools. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1418 IS (3) Developing options, including timelines and 1 cost estimates, for improving diversity in covered 2 schools, such as weighted lotteries, revised feeder 3 patterns, school boundary redesign, or regional co- 4 ordination. 5 (4) Developing an implementation plan based 6 on community preferences among the options devel- 7 oped under paragraph (3). 8 (5) Building the capacity to collect and analyze 9 data that provide information for transparency, con- 10 tinuous improvement, and evaluation. 11 (6) Implementing best practices developed 12 under section 3(2). 13 (b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 14 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT PLAN.—Each eli- 15 gible entity that receives an implementation grant 16 under section 4 shall implement a high-quality plan 17 to support students at covered schools that in- 18 cludes— 19 (A) a comprehensive set of strategies de- 20 signed to improve academic outcomes for all 21 students, particularly students of color and low- 22 income students, by increasing diversity in cov- 23 ered schools; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1418 IS (B) evidence of strong family and commu- 1 nity support for such strategies, including evi- 2 dence that the eligible entity has engaged in 3 meaningful family and community outreach ac- 4 tivities; 5 (C) goals to increase diversity in covered 6 schools over the course of the grant period; 7 (D) collection and analysis of data to pro- 8 vide transparency and support continuous im- 9 provement throughout the grant period; and 10 (E) a rigorous method of evaluation of the 11 effectiveness of the program. 12 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT ACTIVITIES.— 13 Each eligible entity that receives an implementation 14 grant under section 4 may use the grant to carry 15 out one or more of the following activities: 16 (A) Recruiting, hiring, or training addi- 17 tional teachers, administrators, and other in- 18 structional and support staff in new, expanded, 19 or restructured covered schools, or other profes- 20 sional development activities for staff and ad- 21 ministrators. 22 (B) Investing in specialized academic pro- 23 grams or facilities designed to encourage inter- 24 district school attendance patterns. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1418 IS (C) Developing or initiating a transpor- 1 tation plan for bringing students to and from 2 covered schools, if such transportation is sus- 3 tainable beyond the grant period and does not 4 represent a significant portion of the grant re- 5 ceived by an eligible entity under section 4. 6 SEC. 7. PERFORMANCE MEASURES. 7 The Secretary shall establish performance measures 8 for the programs and activities carried out through a 9 grant under section 4. These measures, at a minimum, 10 shall track the progress of each eligible entity in— 11 (1) improving academic and other develop- 12 mental or noncognitive outcomes for each subgroup 13 described in section 1111(b)(2)(B)(xi) of the Ele- 14 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 15 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(B)(xi)) that is served by the eligi- 16 ble entity on measures, including, as applicable, 17 by— 18 (A) increasing school readiness; 19 (B) increasing student achievement and 20 decreasing achievement gaps; 21 (C) increasing high school graduation 22 rates; 23 (D) increasing readiness for postsecondary 24 education and careers; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1418 IS (E) any other indicator the Secretary or el- 1 igible entity may identify; and 2 (2) increasing diversity and decreasing racial or 3 socioeconomic isolation in covered schools. 4 SEC. 8. ANNUAL REPORTS. 5 An eligible entity that receives a grant under section 6 4 shall submit to the Secretary, at such time and in such 7 manner as the Secretary may require, an annual report 8 that includes— 9 (1) information on the progress of the eligible 10 entity with respect to the performance measures de- 11 scribed in section 7; and 12 (2) the data supporting such progress. 13 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 14 In this Act: 15 (1) COVERED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘covered 16 school’’ means— 17 (A) a publicly funded early childhood edu- 18 cation program; 19 (B) a public elementary school; or 20 (C) a public secondary school. 21 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 22 ty’’ means a local educational agency, a consortium 23 of such agencies, an educational service agency, or 24 regional educational agency, that at the time of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:27 May 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1418.IS S1418 kjohnson on DSK79 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]