Combating Implicit Bias in Education Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4776 To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive grant program to award grants to local educational agencies to address implicit bias in elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 21, 2019 Ms. NORTON (for herself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competi- tive grant program to award grants to local educational agencies to address implicit bias in elementary and sec- ondary schools, 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 ‘‘Combating Implicit 4 Bias in Education Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Education 7 shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to local edu- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4776.IH H4776 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4776 IH cational agencies to provide training to educators, prin- 1 cipals, and other staff of elementary schools and secondary 2 schools on implicit bias, for the purposes of— 3 (1) ending discrimination based on such bias, 4 including— 5 (A) in the administration of exclusionary 6 discipline (including suspensions and expul- 7 sions); 8 (B) in access to gifted and talented pro- 9 grams; and 10 (C) in the apportionment of academic re- 11 sources; 12 (2) improving the school climate and the rela- 13 tionships between students and educators, principals, 14 and other staff of elementary and secondary schools; 15 and 16 (3) improving the academic achievement and at- 17 tainment of students. 18 (b) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency desir- 19 ing to receive a grant under this section shall submit an 20 application to the Secretary as the Secretary shall require. 21 The application shall include a description of how the local 22 educational agency will use the grant to carry out training 23 under subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4776.IH H4776 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4776 IH (c) REPORT.—The Director of the Institute of Edu- 1 cation Sciences shall conduct a periodic review of the effec- 2 tiveness of the grant program established by this Act. 3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 4 purpose of carrying out this Act, there are authorized to 5 be appropriated $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 6 through 2022. 7 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 8 (1) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 9 ACT TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local 10 educational agency’’, ‘‘other staff’’, and ‘‘secondary 11 school’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec- 12 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 14 (2) IMPLICIT BIAS.—The term ‘‘implicit bias’’ 15 means bias with respect to actual or perceived race, 16 religion, sex (including sexual orientation or gender 17 identity), disability, ethnicity, or socioeconomic sta- 18 tus, that results from subconsciously held attitudes, 19 beliefs, or associations. 20 (3) TRAINING.—The term ‘‘training’’ means 21 evidence based, on-going professional development 22 and support. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4776.IH H4776 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS