Choice for Every Child Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4563 To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds follow the child. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 10, 2020 Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To give States the flexibility to have Federal education funds follow the child. 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 ‘‘Choice for Every Child 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TITLE I PORTABILITY. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title I of the Elemen- 7 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 6311 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4563 IS ‘‘SEC. 1128. TITLE I FUNDS FOLLOW THE LOW-INCOME 1 CHILD STATE OPTION. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 3 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION TO LEAS.—Notwithstanding 4 any other provision of law and to the extent per- 5 mitted under State law, a State educational agency 6 may allocate grant funds under this part to the local 7 educational agencies in the State based on the num- 8 ber of eligible children in each local educational 9 agency (including such children who are enrolled in 10 the public schools served by the local educational 11 agency, enrolled in the State-accredited private 12 schools within local educational agency’s geographic 13 jurisdiction, or participating in homeschool in such 14 jurisdiction). 15 ‘‘(2) CHOICE OF DISTRIBUTION.—Each State 16 may choose whether to have local educational agen- 17 cies in the State distribute funds made available for 18 eligible children who are enrolled in State-accredited 19 private schools within each local educational agen- 20 cy’s geographic jurisdiction directly to such schools 21 in accordance with subsection (c)(3)(A) or directly to 22 the parents of such children in accordance with sub- 23 section (c)(3)(B). 24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 1 ‘eligible child’ means a child aged 5 to 17, inclusive, 2 from a family with an income below the poverty level 3 on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data 4 published by the Department of Commerce. 5 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA OF POVERTY.—In determining 6 the families with incomes below the poverty level for 7 the purposes of this section, a State educational 8 agency shall use the criteria of poverty used by the 9 Census Bureau in compiling the most recent decen- 10 nial census, as the criteria have been updated by in- 11 creases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 12 Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 13 tistics. 14 ‘‘(3) AMOUNT PER ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The 15 amount available for each eligible child in the State 16 shall be equal to— 17 ‘‘(A) the total amount available to the 18 State under this section; divided by 19 ‘‘(B) the total number of eligible children 20 in the State. 21 ‘‘(c) STUDENT ENROLLMENT IN PUBLIC AND PRI- 22 VATE SCHOOLS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE CHIL- 24 DREN.—On an annual basis, on a date to be deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4563 IS mined by the State educational agency, each local 1 educational agency that receives grant funding in ac- 2 cordance with subsection (a) shall inform the State 3 educational agency of the number of eligible children 4 enrolled in the public schools served by the local 5 educational agency, enrolled in the State-accredited 6 private schools within local educational agency’s geo- 7 graphic jurisdiction, or participating in homeschool 8 in such jurisdiction. 9 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 10 AGENCIES.—Based on the identification of eligible 11 children in paragraph (1), the State educational 12 agency shall provide to a local educational agency an 13 amount equal to the sum of the amount available for 14 each eligible child in the State multiplied by the 15 number of eligible children identified by the local 16 educational agency under paragraph (1). 17 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.— 18 ‘‘(A) DIRECT DISTRIBUTION TO PRIVATE 19 SCHOOLS.—In the case of a State that chooses 20 to have funds under this section distributed di- 21 rectly to State-accredited private schools within 22 the local educational agency’s geographic juris- 23 diction, the local educational agency that re- 24 ceives funds under paragraph (2) shall dis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4563 IS tribute such funds to the public schools served 1 by the local educational agency and State-ac- 2 credited private schools within the local edu- 3 cational agency’s geographic jurisdiction— 4 ‘‘(i) based on the number of eligible 5 children enrolled in such schools; and 6 ‘‘(ii) in a manner that would, in the 7 absence of such Federal funds, supplement 8 the funds made available from non-Federal 9 resources for the education of pupils par- 10 ticipating in programs under this subpart, 11 and not to supplant such funds. 12 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION TO PARENTS OF PRI- 13 VATE SCHOOL STUDENTS.—In the case of a 14 State that chooses to have funds under this sec- 15 tion distributed directly to parents of children 16 that are enrolled in State-accredited private 17 schools within the local educational agency’s ge- 18 ographic jurisdiction, the local educational 19 agency that receives funds under paragraph (2) 20 shall— 21 ‘‘(i) distribute such funds to the pub- 22 lic schools served by the local educational 23 agency based on the number of eligible 24 children enrolled in such schools; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(ii) distribute the amount available 1 for each eligible child to the parents of 2 each child who is enrolled in a State-ac- 3 credited private school within the local 4 educational agency’s geographic jurisdic- 5 tion for use for qualified educational ex- 6 penses; and 7 ‘‘(iii) distribute funds under para- 8 graph (2) in a manner that would, in the 9 absence of such Federal funds, supplement 10 the funds made available from non-Federal 11 resources for the education of pupils par- 12 ticipating in programs under this subpart, 13 and not to supplant such funds. 14 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION TO PARENTS OF HOME 15 SCHOOL STUDENTS.—Each local educational 16 agency that receives funds under paragraph (2) 17 shall distribute the amount available for each 18 eligible child to the parents of each child who 19 participates in homeschool for use for qualified 20 educational expenses. 21 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 23 ‘qualified educational expenses’ means— 24 ‘‘(A) tuition; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(B) curriculum and curricular materials; 1 ‘‘(C) books or other instructional mate- 2 rials; 3 ‘‘(D) online educational materials; and 4 ‘‘(E) tuition for tutoring or educational 5 classes outside of the home, including at a tu- 6 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc- 7 tor— 8 ‘‘(i) is not related to the student; 9 ‘‘(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 10 State; and 11 ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 12 relevant subject. 13 ‘‘(2) HOMESCHOOL.—Qualified educational ex- 14 penses shall include expenses for the purposes de- 15 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para- 16 graph (1) in connection with a homeschool (whether 17 treated as a homeschool or a private school for pur- 18 poses of applicable State law). 19 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF DIRECT PAYMENTS.—The 20 amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible 21 child under this section shall not be treated as income of 22 the child or his or her parents for purposes of the Internal 23 Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 24 any other Federal program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON-PUBLIC 1 EDUCATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 2 to authorize additional Federal or State control over non- 3 public education providers.’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 5 of contents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary 6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amend- 7 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 1127 the 8 following: 9 ‘‘1128. Title I funds follow the low-income child State option.’’. SEC. 3. FEDERAL FUNDING UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH 10 DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT TO FOLLOW 11 THE CHILD. 12 Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 13 Act (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) is amended by adding at 14 the end the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 620. IDEA FUNDS FOLLOW THE CHILD STATE OPTION. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 17 vision of law and to the extent permitted under State law, 18 a State educational agency may establish a program 19 through which the funds made available under this part 20 are allocated to the local educational agencies in the State 21 based on the number of eligible children within each local 22 educational agency’s geographic jurisdiction. 23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE CHILD.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE CHILD DEFINED.—In this sec- 1 tion, the term ‘eligible child’ means a child with a 2 disability who is eligible to receive special education 3 and related services under this part. 4 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT PER ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The 5 amount available for each eligible child in the State 6 shall be equal to— 7 ‘‘(A) the total amount available to the 8 State under this part; divided by 9 ‘‘(B) the total number of eligible children 10 in the State. 11 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION TO LEAS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE CHIL- 13 DREN.—On an annual basis, on a date to be deter- 14 mined by the State educational agency, each local 15 educational agency that receives grant funding in ac- 16 cordance with subsection (a) shall inform the State 17 educational agency of the number of eligible children 18 within the local educational agency’s geographic ju- 19 risdiction. 20 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL 21 AGENCIES.—Based on the identification of eligible 22 children in paragraph (1), the State educational 23 agency shall provide to a local educational agency an 24 amount equal to the amount available for each eligi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4563 IS ble child in the State multiplied by the number of 1 eligible children identified by the local educational 2 agency under paragraph (1). 3 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Each local 4 educational agency that receives funds under para- 5 graph (2) shall— 6 ‘‘(A) distribute to each public school served 7 by the local educational agency an amount 8 equal to— 9 ‘‘(i) number of eligible children en- 10 rolled in such school; multiplied by 11 ‘‘(ii) the amount available for each eli- 12 gible child in the State; 13 ‘‘(B) distribute to the parents of each eligi- 14 ble child in local educational agency’s geo- 15 graphic jurisdiction who is not enrolled in pub- 16 lic school an amount equal to the amount avail- 17 able for each eligible child in the State for use 18 for qualified educational expenses; and 19 ‘‘(C) distribute the funds under paragraph 20 (2) in a manner that would, in the absence of 21 such Federal funds, supplement the funds made 22 available from non-Federal resources for the 23 education of pupils participating in programs 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4563 IS under this subpart, and not to supplant such 1 funds. 2 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 4 ‘qualified educational expenses’ means— 5 ‘‘(A) tuition; 6 ‘‘(B) curriculum and curricular materials; 7 ‘‘(C) books or other instructional mate- 8 rials; 9 ‘‘(D) online educational materials; and 10 ‘‘(E) tuition for tutoring or educational 11 classes outside of the home, including at a tu- 12 toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc- 13 tor— 14 ‘‘(i) is not related to the student; 15 ‘‘(ii) is licensed as a teacher in any 16 State; and 17 ‘‘(iii) is a subject matter expert in the 18 relevant subject. 19 ‘‘(2) HOMESCHOOL.—Qualified educational ex- 20 penses shall include expenses for the purposes de- 21 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para- 22 graph (1) in connection with a homeschool (whether 23 treated as a homeschool or a private school for pur- 24 poses of applicable State law). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4563.IS S4563 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4563 IS ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS TO PARENTS.—In the case of an eli- 1 gible child who is not enrolled in public school and whose 2 parents receive a direct payment under subsection 3 (c)(3)(B), the State shall be considered to have provided 4 that child with a free appropriate public education, to have 5 provided special education and related services to that 6 child, and to have fulfilled the State’s other obligations 7 under this part with respect to that child. 8 ‘‘(f) TREATMENT OF DIRECT PAYMENTS.—The 9 amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible 10 child under this section shall not be treated as income of 11 the child or his or her parents for purposes of the Internal 12 Revenue Code of 1986 or for determining eligibility for 13 any other Federal program. 14 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON-PUBLIC 15 EDUCATION.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 16 to authorize additional Federal or State control over non- 17 public education providers.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 Sep 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E: [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]