World Language Advancement and Readiness Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2307 To authorize the Secretary of Defense to make grants to support the study of world languages in elementary schools and secondary schools. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 29, 2019 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Defense to make grants to support the study of world languages in elementary schools and secondary schools. 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 ‘‘World Language Ad- 4 vancement and Readiness Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The national security of the United States 8 continues to depend on language readiness, in par- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2307 IS ticular among the 17 agencies of the intelligence 1 community. 2 (2) The levels of language proficiency required 3 for national security necessitate long sequences of 4 language training for personnel in the intelligence 5 community and the Department of Defense. 6 (3) The future national security and economic 7 well-being of the United States will depend substan- 8 tially on the ability of its citizens to communicate 9 and compete by knowing the languages and cultures 10 of other countries. 11 (4) The Federal Government has an interest in 12 ensuring that the employees of its departments and 13 agencies with national security responsibilities are 14 prepared to meet the challenges of this changing 15 international environment. 16 (5) The Federal Government also has an inter- 17 est in taking actions to alleviate the problem of 18 American students being inadequately prepared to 19 meet the challenges posed by increasing global inter- 20 action among nations. 21 (6) American elementary schools, secondary 22 schools, colleges, and universities must place a new 23 emphasis on improving the teaching of world lan- 24 guages, area studies, counterproliferation studies, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2307 IS and other international fields to help meet those 1 challenges. 2 (7) The United States needs more people to 3 speak languages other than English in order to pro- 4 vide social and legal services for a changing popu- 5 lation. 6 (8) The study of a second language has been 7 linked to improved learning outcomes in other sub- 8 jects, enhanced cognitive ability, and the develop- 9 ment of empathy and effective interpretive skills. 10 The use of a second language has been linked to a 11 delay in certain manifestations of aging. 12 (9) The United States lags behind most nations 13 of the world, including European nations and China, 14 in the percentage of its citizens who have some 15 knowledge of a second language. 16 (10) Native American languages are distinct in 17 political status and history and should therefore re- 18 ceive targeted support to ensure their retention in 19 alignment with the Native American Languages Act 20 (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.). 21 SEC. 3. WORLD LANGUAGE ADVANCEMENT AND READINESS 22 GRANTS. 23 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of De- 24 fense, in consultation with the Director of National Intel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2307 IS ligence and the Secretary of Education, shall carry out 1 a program under which the Secretary of Defense makes 2 grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational agen- 3 cies and local educational agencies to pay the Federal 4 share of the cost of innovative model programs providing 5 for the establishment, improvement, or expansion of world 6 language study for elementary school and secondary school 7 students. 8 (b) DURATION.—Each grant under this Act shall be 9 awarded for a period of 3 years. 10 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL EDU- 11 CATIONAL AGENCIES.— 12 (1) GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 13 CIES.—In awarding a grant under subsection (a) to 14 a State educational agency, the Secretary of Defense 15 shall support programs that promote systemic ap- 16 proaches to improving world language learning in 17 the State. 18 (2) GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 19 CIES.—In awarding a grant under subsection (a) to 20 a local educational agency, the Secretary of Defense 21 shall support programs that— 22 (A) show the promise of being continued 23 beyond the grant period; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2307 IS (B) demonstrate approaches that can be 1 disseminated to and duplicated in other local 2 educational agencies; and 3 (C) may include a professional develop- 4 ment component. 5 (d) FEDERAL SHARE.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 7 graph (2), the Federal share under this Act for each 8 fiscal year shall be 50 percent. 9 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of Defense 10 may determine the Federal share under this Act for 11 any local educational agency that the Secretary de- 12 termines does not have adequate resources to pay 13 the non-Federal share. 14 (e) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 15 (1) EXPANSION OF WORLD LANGUAGES IN ELE- 16 MENTARY SCHOOLS.—Not less than 75 percent of 17 the funds made available to carry out this Act for 18 a fiscal year shall be used for the expansion of world 19 language learning in elementary schools. 20 (2) CRITICAL LANGUAGES.—Not less than 75 21 percent of the funds made available to carry out this 22 Act for a fiscal year shall be used to support instruc- 23 tion in world languages determined by the Secretary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2307 IS of Defense to be critical to the national security in- 1 terests of the United States. 2 (3) RESERVATION.—The Secretary of Defense 3 may reserve not more than 5 percent of funds made 4 available to carry out this Act for a fiscal year to 5 evaluate the efficacy of programs that receive grants 6 under subsection (a). 7 (f) APPLICATIONS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be considered for a grant 9 under subsection (a), a State educational agency or 10 local educational agency shall submit an application 11 to the Secretary of Defense at such time, in such 12 manner, and containing such information and assur- 13 ances as the Secretary may require. 14 (2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary 15 of Defense shall give special consideration to appli- 16 cations describing programs that— 17 (A) include intensive summer world lan- 18 guage programs for professional development of 19 world language teachers; 20 (B) link nonnative English speakers in the 21 community with the schools in order to promote 22 two-way language learning; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2307 IS (C) promote the sequential study of a 1 world language for students, beginning in ele- 2 mentary schools; 3 (D) make effective use of technology, such 4 as computer-assisted instruction, language lab- 5 oratories, or distance learning, to promote 6 world language study; 7 (E) promote innovative activities, such as 8 dual language immersion, partial world lan- 9 guage immersion, or content-based instruction; 10 and 11 (F) are carried out through a consortium 12 comprised of the agency receiving the grant, an 13 elementary school or secondary school, and an 14 institution of higher education (as that term is 15 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)). 17 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 18 In this Act: 19 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 20 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 21 school’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the 22 meanings given the terms in section 8101 of the Ele- 23 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 7801). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2307 IS (2) WORLD LANGUAGE.—The term ‘‘world lan- 1 guage’’ means— 2 (A) any natural language other than 3 English, including— 4 (i) languages determined by the Sec- 5 retary of Defense to be critical to the na- 6 tional security interests of the United 7 States; 8 (ii) classical languages; 9 (iii) American sign language; and 10 (iv) Native American languages; and 11 (B) any language described in subpara- 12 graph (A) that is taught in combination with 13 English as part of a dual language or immer- 14 sion learning program. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2307.IS S2307 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS