Educating for Democracy Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4928 To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in civics and history, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in 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 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4928 IS and making available to all students innovative, en- 1 gaging curricula and programs in civics and history 2 that prepare them to understand American Govern- 3 ment and engage in American democratic practices 4 as citizens and residents of the United States; 5 (2) to provide resources to institutions of higher 6 education for the purposes of offering effective pro- 7 fessional development opportunities to enable and 8 encourage teachers to deliver instruction that en- 9 gages students in learning civics and history; 10 (3) to provide resources to nonprofit organiza- 11 tions that have developed, or are developing, pro- 12 grams in civic education that incorporate practices 13 that are proven to be effective in engaging students, 14 and to assist in making such curricula and programs 15 more widely available to schools and students, par- 16 ticularly in rural and inner-city urban areas that 17 have traditionally been underserved by civic learning 18 programs; 19 (4) to provide resources to continue and expand 20 research into practices, methods, and approaches 21 that are effective in instructing elementary and sec- 22 ondary school students in civics and history; and 23 (5) to encourage participation in the National 24 Assessment of Educational Progress assessments in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4928 IS civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 12, using a 1 methodology sufficient to provide accurate State- 2 level data on student proficiency in civics and history 3 disaggregated so as to have statistical significance 4 for every State. 5 SEC. 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 7 under section 10 the Secretary of Education is authorized 8 to carry out the civics education grant programs described 9 in sections 4 through 7. 10 (b) APPLICATION.—To be considered for a grant 11 under this Act, an eligible entity shall submit to the Sec- 12 retary of Education an application at such time, in such 13 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 14 may require. 15 (c) GRANT DURATION.—Each grant under this Act 16 shall be awarded for a period of not less than 3 years. 17 (d) PRIORITY.—Except as otherwise provided in this 18 Act, the Secretary shall prioritize the award of grants to 19 eligible entities that demonstrate the greatest potential 20 to— 21 (1) improve knowledge and engagement among 22 students traditionally underserved by comprehensive 23 civic education and American history programs, in- 24 cluding rural and inner-city urban students, English 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4928 IS learners, students who have not completed high 1 school, and other such students; 2 (2) close gaps in civic knowledge and achieve- 3 ment among students of different income levels, ra- 4 cial and ethnic groups, and native languages; 5 (3) improve performance on the National As- 6 sessment of Educational Progress assessments in 7 civics and history among students in grades 4, 8, 8 and 12; 9 (4) integrate evidence-based practices for pro- 10 moting student proficiency and engagement in civics; 11 and 12 (5) provide cost-effective, scalable delivery of 13 programs and services. 14 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES. 15 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 16 cation is authorized to make grants to States, on a com- 17 petitive basis, to support educational programs in civics 18 and history in accordance with this section. 19 (b) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of each grant to 20 a State under this section shall be proportional to the 21 amount received by all local educational agencies in the 22 State under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec- 23 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) 24 for the previous fiscal year relative to the total such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4928 IS amount received by all local educational agencies in every 1 State that receives a grant under this section. 2 (c) STATE RESERVATION.—A State that receives a 3 grant under this section may reserve not more than 5 per- 4 cent of the amount of the grant for— 5 (1) administrative costs of carrying out the 6 State’s responsibilities under this section; and 7 (2) monitoring and evaluating programs and 8 activities supported with the grant. 9 (d) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 10 CIES.—A State that receives a grant under this section 11 shall use not less than 95 percent of the amount of the 12 grant to make subgrants, on a competitive or formula 13 basis, to local educational agencies within the State to as- 14 sist such agencies in carrying out programs to improve 15 the achievement of elementary and secondary school stu- 16 dents in the fields of civics and history. 17 (e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A State shall use 18 a grant under this section only to supplement the level 19 of Federal, State, and local public funds that would, in 20 absence of such grant, be made available for the activities 21 supported by the grant, and not to supplant such funds. 22 (f) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 23 plication required under section 3(b), a State shall include 24 a plan describing how the State intends to use the grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4928 IS under this section. Each State plan shall include, at a min- 1 imum, the following: 2 (1) An explanation of how the State will use the 3 grant to supplement, and not supplant, other public 4 funds provided for educational programs in civics 5 and history. 6 (2) Plans to address civics and history achieve- 7 ment gaps among students of different income lev- 8 els, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and native lan- 9 guages. 10 (3) Plans to improve civics and history achieve- 11 ment among traditionally underserved students, in- 12 cluding rural and urban students and English learn- 13 ers. 14 (4) Plans for making subgrants to local edu- 15 cational agencies as required under subsection (d), 16 including— 17 (A) details of how the State intends to dis- 18 tribute funding to local educational agencies, 19 whether by competition or through a formula- 20 based system; 21 (B) how the State’s approach to distrib- 22 uting funds to local educational agencies will 23 take into account requirements of paragraphs 24 (1) through (3); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4928 IS (C) criteria by which local educational 1 agencies’ applications for funding will be evalu- 2 ated, including how such applications will take 3 into account the requirements of paragraphs 4 (1) through (3); 5 (D) how the State will ensure that local 6 educational agencies will use grant funds to 7 supplement, and not supplant, other public 8 funding for educational programs in civics and 9 history; and 10 (E) how the State will evaluate and hold 11 local educational agencies accountable for im- 12 proved student knowledge and achievement in 13 civics and history. 14 (5) An assurance that the State will participate 15 in the National Assessment of Educational Progress 16 assessments in civics and history in grades 4, 8, and 17 12. 18 (6) In the case of a State applying to renew a 19 grant previously received under this section, an eval- 20 uation of the effectiveness of the activities carried 21 out using the previous grant, which shall be based 22 on the results of the most recent National Assess- 23 ment of Educational Progress assessment in civics 24 and history, to the extent the results of such assess- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4928 IS ment are available at the time of the State’s applica- 1 tion. 2 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 3 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 4 cation is authorized to make grants to qualified nonprofit 5 organizations, on a competitive basis, to assist such orga- 6 nizations in developing or expanding access to evidence- 7 based curricula, instructional models, and other edu- 8 cational programs to enhance student knowledge and 9 achievement in civics and history in elementary schools 10 and secondary schools. 11 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 12 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified nonprofit 13 organization shall include a proposal that demonstrates 14 how the activities proposed to be carried out with the 15 grant under this section will enhance student knowledge 16 and achievement in civics and history in elementary 17 schools and secondary schools. 18 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 19 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 20 qualified nonprofit organizations that propose to use the 21 grant to develop or expand access to curricula, instruc- 22 tional models, and other educational programs that— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4928 IS (1) address the learning needs of traditionally 1 underserved students, including rural and inner-city 2 urban students and English learners; and 3 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices to en- 4 hance student learning and engagement in civics and 5 history. 6 SEC. 6. GRANTS TO INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 8 cation is authorized to make grants to institutions of high- 9 er education, on a competitive basis, to assist such institu- 10 tions in developing and implementing programs to train 11 elementary and secondary school teachers in methods for 12 instructing and engaging students in civics and history. 13 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 14 plication required under section 3(b), an institution of 15 higher education shall include a proposal demonstrating 16 that the institution— 17 (1) has the ability to train elementary and sec- 18 ondary school teachers to provide comprehensive 19 civics education; 20 (2) is familiar with research on practices that 21 are proven to contribute to effective instruction in 22 civics and history and will incorporate such research 23 into the training provided to teachers using the 24 grant; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4928 IS (3) will use the grant to make training in civics 1 education available to elementary and secondary 2 school teachers in the State or geographic region 3 served by the institution. 4 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 5 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to in- 6 stitutions of higher education that propose to use the 7 grant to carry out training programs for teachers that— 8 (1) address the specific needs of teachers work- 9 ing with traditionally underserved students, includ- 10 ing rural and inner-city urban students and English 11 learners; and 12 (2) incorporate evidence-based practices for im- 13 proving the ability of teachers to provide effective in- 14 struction in civics and history. 15 SEC. 7. RESEARCH GRANTS. 16 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu- 17 cation is authorized to make grants, on a competitive 18 basis, to qualified researchers to research and evaluate— 19 (1) elementary and secondary school students’ 20 knowledge of civics and history; and 21 (2) effective instructional practices and educa- 22 tor professional development in the fields of civics 23 and history. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4928 IS (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—As part of the ap- 1 plication required under section 3(b), a qualified re- 2 searcher shall include a description of the project to be 3 funded with the grant under this section. The description 4 of the project shall include a separate section that de- 5 scribes how the project may directly or indirectly affect 6 civics education generally, which may include effects such 7 as— 8 (1) achieving the full participation of women, 9 persons with disabilities, and underrepresented mi- 10 norities in civics and history education; 11 (2) increasing public civic literacy and civic en- 12 gagement; 13 (3) developing a diverse educator workforce; or 14 (4) other such effects. 15 (c) PRIORITY OF AWARDS.—In awarding grants 16 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 17 qualified researchers who propose to carry out activities 18 that will benefit historically underserved communities, in- 19 cluding rural and inner-city urban communities and com- 20 munities of English learners. 21 SEC. 8. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL 22 PROGRESS. 23 Section 303(b) of the Education Sciences Reform Act 24 of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:26 Dec 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4928.IS S4928 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4928 IS (1) in paragraph (2)— 1 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) 2 through (H) as subparagraphs (E) through (I) 3 respectively; [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]