Educating for Democracy Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8295 To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in American civics and history, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. COLE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. THOMP- SON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in American civics and history, 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 ‘‘Educating for Democ- 4 racy Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 (1) to support local educational agencies, ele- 8 mentary schools, and secondary schools in selecting 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8295 IH and making available to all students innovative, en- 1 gaging curricula and programs in American civics 2 and history that prepare them to understand Amer- 3 ican Government and engage in American demo- 4 cratic practices as citizens and residents of the 5 United States; 6 (2) to provide resources to institutions of higher 7 education for the purposes of offering effective pro- 8 fessional development opportunities to enable and 9 encourage teachers to deliver instruction that en- 10 gages students in learning American civics and his- 11 tory; 12 (3) to provide resources to nonprofit organiza- 13 tions that have developed, or are developing, pro- 14 grams in civic education that incorporate practices 15 that are proven to be effective in engaging students, 16 and to assist in making such curricula and programs 17 more widely available to schools and students, par- 18 ticularly in rural and inner-city urban areas that 19 have traditionally been underserved by civic learning 20 programs; 21 (4) to provide resources to continue and expand 22 research into practices, methods, and approaches 23 that are effective in instructing elementary and sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:33 Oct 06, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8295 IH ondary school students in American civics and his- 1 tory; and 2 (5) to encourage participation in the National 3 Assessment of Educational Progress assessments in 4 American civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 12, 5 using a methodology sufficient to provide accurate 6 State-level data on student proficiency in American 7 civics and history disaggregated so as to have statis- 8 tical significance for every State. 9 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 11 under section 9 the Secretary of Education is authorized 12 to carry out the civics education grant programs described 13 in sections 4 through 7. 14 (b) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a grant 15 under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec- 16 retary of Education an application at such time, in such 17 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 18 may require. 19 (c) GRANT DURATION.—Each grant under this Act 20 shall be awarded for a period of not less than three years. 21 (d) PRIORITY.—Except as otherwise provided in this 22 Act, the Secretary shall prioritize the award of grants to 23 eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest potential 24 to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8295 IH (1) improve knowledge and engagement among 1 students traditionally underserved by comprehensive 2 civic education and American history programs, in- 3 cluding rural and inner-city urban students, English 4 language learners, students who have not completed 5 high school, and other such students; 6 (2) close gaps in civic knowledge and achieve- 7 ment among students of different income levels, ra- 8 cial and ethnic groups, and native languages; 9 (3) improve performance on the National As- 10 sessment of Educational Progress assessments in 11 American civics and history among students in 12 grades 4, 8, and 12; 13 (4) integrate evidence-based practices for pro- 14 moting student proficiency and engagement in civics; 15 and 16 (5) provide cost-effective, scalable delivery of 17 programs and services. 18 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES. 19 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 20 cation is authorized to make grants to States, on a com- 21 petitive basis, to support educational programs in Amer- 22 ican civics and history in accordance with this section. 23 (b) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant to 24 a State under this section shall be proportional to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8295 IH amount received by all local educational agencies in the 1 State under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec- 2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) 3 for the previous fiscal year relative to the total such 4 amount received by all local educational agencies in every 5 State that receives a grant under this section. 6 (c) STATE RESERVATION.—A State that receives a 7 grant under this section may reserve not more than five 8 percent of the amount of the grant for— 9 (1) administrative costs of carrying out the 10 State’s responsibilities under this section; and 11 (2) monitoring and evaluating programs and 12 activities supported with the grant. 13 (d) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 14 CIES.—A State that receives a grant under this section 15 shall use not less than 95 percent of the amount of the 16 grant to make subgrants, on a competitive or formula 17 basis, to local educational agencies within the State to as- 18 sist such agencies in carrying out programs to improve 19 the achievement of elementary and secondary school stu- 20 dents in the fields of American civics and history. 21 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State shall use 22 a grant under this section only to supplement the level 23 of Federal, State, and local public funds that would, in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8295 IH absence of such grant, be made available for the activities 1 supported by the grant, and not to supplant such funds. 2 (f) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 3 plication required under section 3(b), a State shall include 4 a plan describing how the State intends to use the grant 5 under this section. Each State plan shall include, at a min- 6 imum, the following: 7 (1) An explanation of how the State will use the 8 grant to supplement, and not supplant, other public 9 funds provided for educational programs in Amer- 10 ican civics and history. 11 (2) Plans to address civics and history achieve- 12 ment gaps among students of different income lev- 13 els, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and native lan- 14 guages. 15 (3) Plans to improve civics and history achieve- 16 ment among traditionally underserved students, in- 17 cluding rural and urban students and English learn- 18 ers. 19 (4) Plans for making subgrants to local edu- 20 cational agencies as required under subsection (d), 21 including— 22 (A) details of how the State intends to dis- 23 tribute funding to local educational agencies, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8295 IH whether by competition or through a formula- 1 based system; 2 (B) how the State’s approach to distrib- 3 uting funds to local educational agencies will 4 take into account requirements of paragraphs 5 (1) through (3); 6 (C) criteria by which local education agen- 7 cies’ applications for funding will be evaluated, 8 including how such applications will take into 9 account the requirements of paragraphs (1) 10 through (3); 11 (D) how the State will ensure that local 12 educational agencies will use grant funds to 13 supplement, and not supplant, other public 14 funding for educational programs in American 15 civics and history; and 16 (E) how the State will evaluate and hold 17 local educational agencies accountable for im- 18 proved student knowledge and achievement in 19 American civics and history. 20 (5) An assurance that the State will participate 21 in the National Assessment of Educational Progress 22 assessments in American civics and history in grades 23 4, 8, and 12. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8295 IH (6) In the case of a State applying to renew a 1 grant previously received under this section, an eval- 2 uation of the effectiveness of the activities carried 3 out using the previous grant, which shall be based 4 on the results of the most recent National Assess- 5 ment of Educational Progress assessment in Amer- 6 ican civics and history, to the extent the results of 7 such assessment are available at the time of the 8 State’s application. 9 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 10 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 11 cation is authorized to make grants to qualified nonprofit 12 organizations, on a competitive basis, to assist such orga- 13 nizations in developing or expanding access to evidence- 14 based curricula, instructional models, and other edu- 15 cational programs to enhance student knowledge and 16 achievement in American civics and history in elementary 17 schools and secondary schools. 18 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 19 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified nonprofit 20 organization shall include a proposal that demonstrates 21 how the activities proposed to be carried out with the 22 grant under this section will enhance student knowledge 23 and achievement in American civics and history in elemen- 24 tary schools and secondary schools. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8295 IH (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 1 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 2 qualified nonprofit organizations that propose to use the 3 grant to develop or expand access to curricula, instruc- 4 tional models, and other educational programs that— 5 (1) address the learning needs of traditionally 6 underserved students, including rural and inner-city 7 urban students and English learners; and 8 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices to en- 9 hance student learning and engagement in civics and 10 history. 11 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 12 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 13 cation is authorized to make grants to institutions of high- 14 er education, on a competitive basis, to assist such institu- 15 tions in developing and implementing programs to train 16 elementary and secondary school teachers in methods for 17 instructing and engaging students in American civics and 18 history. 19 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 20 plication required under section 3(b), an institution of 21 higher education shall include a proposal demonstrating 22 that the institution— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8295 IH (1) has the ability to train elementary and sec- 1 ondary school teachers to provide comprehensive 2 civics education; 3 (2) is familiar with research on practices that 4 are proven to contribute to effective instruction in 5 civics and history and will incorporate such research 6 into the training provided to teachers using the 7 grant; and 8 (3) will use the grant to make training in civics 9 education available to elementary and secondary 10 school teachers in the State or geographic region 11 served by the institution. 12 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 13 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to in- 14 stitutions of higher education that propose to use the 15 grant to carry out training programs for teachers that— 16 (1) address the specific needs of teachers work- 17 ing with traditionally underserved students, includ- 18 ing rural and inner-city urban students and English 19 learners; and 20 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices for im- 21 proving the ability of teachers to provide effective in- 22 struction in civics and history. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8295 IH SEC. 7. RESEARCH GRANTS. 1 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 2 cation is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 3 basis, to qualified researchers to research and evaluate— 4 (1) elementary and secondary school students’ 5 knowledge of American civics and history; and 6 (2) effective instructional practices and educa- 7 tor professional development in the fields of Amer- 8 ican civics and history. 9 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 10 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified re- 11 searcher shall include a description of the project to be 12 funded with the grant under this section. The description 13 of the project shall include a separate section that de- 14 scribes how the project may directly or indirectly affect 15 civics education generally, which may include effects such 16 as— 17 (1) achieving the full participation of women, 18 persons with disabilities, and underrepresented mi- 19 norities in American civics and history education; 20 (2) increasing public civic literacy and civic en- 21 gagement; 22 (3) developing a diverse educator workforce; or 23 (4) other such effects. 24 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 25 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8295.IH H8295 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8295 IH qualified researchers who propose to carry out activities 1 that will benefit historically underserved communities, in- 2 cluding rural and inner-city urban communities and com- 3 munities of English learners. 4 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 5 PROGRESS. 6 Section 30 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]