Federal

Children Have Opportunities in Classrooms Everywhere Act

Source: Congress.gov · 3,129 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill creates a system where certain federal education funds follow eligible students to their schools of choice instead of staying with school districts. Money that would normally go to school districts can instead be deposited into education savings accounts (called 529 accounts) for students who attend private schools or homeschools, or distributed directly to public schools. The bill aims to make federal education funding portable based on where a student enrolls.

Who It Affects

Children from lower-income households (up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level). State education agencies that manage federal funds. Public schools and private schools that receive these funds. Homeschooling families. Parents applying for these education funds.

Key Provisions

- States must allow federal education funding to follow students to public schools, private schools, or homeschools if permitted by state law. Funds come from specific federal education programs including Title I and Titles III through VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (Sec. 2) - Eligible children are those from households earning no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau. (Sec. 2) - Parents must apply by April 30 each year with information including their taxable income, their child's birth date and residence, and school enrollment plans. States must submit applications to the Secretary of Education by May 14. (Sec. 2) - By July 1 each year, state education agencies must either deposit funds into a child's 529 education savings account (if attending private or homeschool) or distribute funds to the public school (if attending public school). (Sec. 2) - Eligible children receive two types of funding: a "concentration distribution" ranging from $50 to $300 based on poverty levels in their school district, plus a "basic distribution" determined by a formula the Secretary establishes. (Sec. 2) - 529 education savings accounts can now be used for elementary and secondary school expenses including tuition, curriculum materials, books, online educational materials, tutoring fees, test fees, dual enrollment fees, and educational therapies for students with disabilities. These expenses apply to public, private, religious schools and homeschools. (Sec. 3) - If money from a federal grant under this bill is used for non-educational purposes, a 100 percent tax penalty applies to the misused grant amount rather than the standard 10 percent penalty. (Sec. 4) - States must notify parents of eligible children about fund availability within 100 days of the law's enactment and annually for 5 years afterward, including notifying families in the federal nutrition assistance program and temporary assistance for needy families program. (Sec. 2)

What Changes

If this law passes, eligible low-income families gain the ability to choose schools and receive funding follows that choice. Federal education money now distributed to school districts based on enrollment would instead follow individual students. Private schools and homeschooling families become eligible to receive federal funds for the first time under these programs. Families can use 529 accounts for more education-related expenses including homeschool curriculum, tutoring, and special education therapies. There is a higher tax penalty if parents misuse grant money for non-educational purposes.

Important Definitions

"Eligible child": A child whose household earned no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level in the most recently completed tax year, as determined by Census Bureau poverty standards. (Sec. 2) "529 education savings plan account": A qualified tuition program as defined by Section 529(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code. (Sec. 2) "Home school": A homeschool as defined by the laws of the state where the child lives. (Sec. 2) "Qualified grant": Any grant given under this bill's education funding provisions. (Sec. 4)

Effective Date

The education savings account expense expansion becomes effective for distributions made after the date the law is signed. The notification requirement must occur within 100 days after the law is signed and annually for 5 years thereafter. The tax penalty increase becomes effective for distributions made after the date the law is signed.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 463 To have education funds follow the student. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2023 Mr. GOOD of Virginia (for himself, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, and Mr. BUR- GESS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To have education funds follow the student. 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 ‘‘Children Have Oppor- 4 tunities in Classrooms Everywhere Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 463 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL FUNDING UNDER THE ELEMENTARY AND 1 SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965 TO 2 FOLLOW THE STUDENT. 3 Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘PART H—FUNDS TO FOLLOW THE STUDENT 7 ‘‘SEC. 8701. FUNDS TO FOLLOW THE STUDENT. 8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(1) 529 EDUCATION SAVINGS PLAN AC- 10 COUNT.—The term ‘529 education savings plan ac- 11 count’ means a qualified tuition program (as defined 12 in section 529(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 13 1986). 14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE CHILD.—The term ‘eligible 15 child’ means a child who is from a household, the 16 taxable income of which for the most recently com- 17 pleted taxable year is not more than 130 percent of 18 an amount equal to the poverty level, as determined 19 by using criteria of poverty established by the Bu- 20 reau of the Census. 21 ‘‘(3) HOME SCHOOL.—The term ‘home school’ 22 means a home school as defined by the laws of the 23 State in which the eligible child resides. 24 ‘‘(b) FUNDS TO FOLLOW THE STUDENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 1 provision of law and to the extent permitted under 2 State law, a State educational agency shall allocate 3 grant funds provided under title I, subparts 2 and 4 3 of part B of title II, and titles III, IV, V, and VI, 5 for the purposes of ensuring that funding under 6 such titles follows children, to the public school the 7 children attend or for the expenses described in sec- 8 tion 529(c)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 9 1986. 10 ‘‘(2) PLAN.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State that car- 12 ries out allocations described in paragraph (1) 13 shall establish a plan that complies with the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(i) The parent of each eligible child 16 in the State who desires access to the 17 funds described in paragraph (1) shall an- 18 nually submit to the State educational 19 agency by not later than April 30, a paper 20 or electronic application form that includes 21 the following: 22 ‘‘(I) The parent’s taxable income 23 based on the Federal tax return of the 24 parent for the prior tax year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(II) The eligible child’s date of 1 birth, place of residence, school dis- 2 trict, and school in which the eligible 3 child will be enrolled for the subse- 4 quent school year. 5 ‘‘(III) If the eligible child will be 6 enrolled in a private school or home 7 school for the subsequent school year, 8 confirmation that the eligible child 9 has a 529 education savings plan ac- 10 count, including the necessary details 11 of such account to enable the State to 12 deposit funds available under this sec- 13 tion into such account. 14 ‘‘(ii) Not later than May 14 of each 15 year, the State educational agency shall 16 submit to the Secretary the application 17 forms for all applicants under clause (i). 18 ‘‘(iii) Not later than July 1 of each 19 year and based on the information sub- 20 mitted under clause (i), the State edu- 21 cational agency shall— 22 ‘‘(I) if the eligible child will be 23 enrolled in a private school or home 24 school for the subsequent school year, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 463 IH deposit the amount equal to the con- 1 centration distribution and basic dis- 2 tribution applicable for the eligible 3 child under subparagraphs (B) and 4 (C) of subsection (c)(2), into the 529 5 education savings plan account of the 6 eligible child; and 7 ‘‘(II) if the eligible child will be 8 enrolled in a public school for the sub- 9 sequent school year, distribute the 10 amount equal to the concentration 11 distribution and basic distribution ap- 12 plicable for the eligible child under 13 subparagraphs (B) and (C) of sub- 14 section (c)(2), to such public school. 15 ‘‘(B) DATA COLLECTION.—Information 16 collected under this section by the State shall 17 be used for the sole purposes of calculating the 18 allocation of funds and distribution of funds 19 under this section. 20 ‘‘(C) DATA PRIVACY PROTECTION.—Infor- 21 mation collected under this section shall be sub- 22 ject to the privacy protections outlined in sec- 23 tion 444 of the General Education Provisions 24 Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; commonly referred to as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 463 IH the ‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy 1 Act of 1974’). 2 ‘‘(c) CALCULATION OF AMOUNTS TO BE DISTRIB- 3 UTED.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts pro- 5 vided to carry out title I, subparts 2 and 3 of part 6 B of title II, and titles III, IV, V, and VI, and based 7 on the information submitted by State educational 8 agencies under subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii), the Sec- 9 retary shall— 10 ‘‘(A) determine the eligibility based on the 11 information provided under subsection 12 (b)(2)(A)(i) and verify that the child for whom 13 the information is submitted is an eligible child; 14 ‘‘(B) determine the income bracket for 15 such eligible child; and 16 ‘‘(C) make grants to State educational 17 agencies in the amount determined under para- 18 graph (2) by not later than 30 days after the 19 date the Secretary receives the information 20 under subsection (b)(2)(A)(ii). 21 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The grant amount 23 provided to a State educational agency shall be 24 equal to the total distribution amount deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 463 IH mined under subparagraphs (B) and (C) for all 1 eligible children in the State. 2 ‘‘(B) CONCENTRATION DISTRIBUTION.— 3 An eligible child who is from a household, the 4 taxable income of which for the most recently 5 completed taxable year is not more than 100 6 percent of an amount equal to the poverty level, 7 as measured by the most recent Small Area In- 8 come and Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of 9 the Census, shall receive a concentration dis- 10 tribution according to the following: 11 ‘‘(i) If the eligible child resides in an 12 area served by a school district in which 13 not less than 1 percent and not more than 14 9 percent of the elementary school and sec- 15 ondary school students are from a house- 16 hold, the taxable income of which for the 17 most recently completed taxable year is not 18 more than 100 percent of an amount equal 19 to the poverty level, as measured by the 20 most recent Small Area Income and Pov- 21 erty Estimates of the Bureau of the Cen- 22 sus, the eligible child shall receive $50. 23 ‘‘(ii) If the eligible child resides in an 24 area served by a school district in which 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 463 IH not less than 10 percent and not more 1 than 19 percent of the elementary school 2 and secondary school students are from a 3 household, the taxable income of which for 4 the most recently completed taxable year is 5 not more than 100 percent of an amount 6 equal to the poverty level, as measured by 7 the most recent Small Area Income and 8 Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the 9 Census, the eligible child shall receive 10 $100. 11 ‘‘(iii) If the eligible child resides in an 12 area served by a school district in which 13 not less than 20 percent and not more 14 than 29 percent of the elementary school 15 and secondary school students are from a 16 household, the taxable income of which for 17 the most recently completed taxable year is 18 not more than 100 percent of an amount 19 equal to the poverty level, as measured by 20 the most recent Small Area Income and 21 Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the 22 Census, the eligible child shall receive 23 $150. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(iv) If the eligible child resides in an 1 area served by a school district in which 2 not less than 30 percent and not more 3 than 39 percent of the elementary school 4 and secondary school students are from a 5 household, the taxable income of which for 6 the most recently completed taxable year is 7 not more than 100 percent of an amount 8 equal to the poverty level, as measured by 9 the most recent Small Area Income and 10 Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the 11 Census, the eligible child shall receive 12 $200. 13 ‘‘(v) If the eligible child resides in an 14 area served by a school district in which 15 not less than 40 percent and not more 16 than 49 percent of the elementary school 17 and secondary school students are from a 18 household, the taxable income of which for 19 the most recently completed taxable year is 20 not more than 100 percent of an amount 21 equal to the poverty level, as measured by 22 the most recent Small Area Income and 23 Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 463 IH Census, the eligible child shall receive 1 $250. 2 ‘‘(vi) If the eligible child resides in an 3 area served by a school district in which 50 4 percent or more of the elementary school 5 and secondary school students are from a 6 household, the taxable income of which for 7 the most recently completed taxable year is 8 not more than 100 percent of an amount 9 equal to the poverty level, as measured by 10 the most recent Small Area Income and 11 Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of the 12 Census, the eligible child shall receive 13 $300. 14 ‘‘(C) BASIC DISTRIBUTION.—In addition to 15 a concentration distribution under subpara- 16 graph (B), an eligible child shall receive a basic 17 distribution based on the income bracket appli- 18 cable for such eligible child and according to a 19 formula established by the Secretary in which 20 benefits are flat for everyone at or below 100 21 percent of the Federal poverty level and de- 22 crease at an even rate from 100 percent to 130 23 percent of the Federal poverty level. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 1 Not later than 100 days after the date of enactment of 2 the Children Have Opportunities in Classrooms Every- 3 where Act, and annually for each of the 5 years thereafter, 4 each State that carries out allocations described in sub- 5 section (b)(1) shall inform each parent of a child eligible 6 for assistance under the supplemental nutrition assistance 7 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 8 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) or the program of block grants for 9 States for temporary assistance for needy families estab- 10 lished under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 11 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) of the availability of assistance 12 under this section. 13 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN 14 ENROLLED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—The provisions of sec- 15 tion 1117 shall apply to this section. 16 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 17 ‘‘(1) FEDERALLY FUNDED SCHOOL FOOD PRO- 18 GRAMS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 19 to preclude a child eligible for assistance under the 20 free and reduced price school lunch program estab- 21 lished under the Richard B. Russell National School 22 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) from receiving 23 assistance under such program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 463 IH ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION OF CONTROL OVER NON- 1 PUBLIC EDUCATION PROVIDERS.—Nothing in this 2 section shall permit, allow, encourage, or authorize 3 Federal or State control over non-public education 4 providers.’’. 5 SEC. 3. 529 ACCOUNT FUNDING FOR HOMESCHOOL AND AD- 6 DITIONAL ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EX- 7 PENSES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 529(c)(7) of the Internal 9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(7) TREATMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SEC- 11 ONDARY TUITION AND RESOURCES.—Any reference 12 in this section to the term ‘qualified higher edu- 13 cation expense’ shall include a reference to the fol- 14 lowing expenses in connection with enrollment or at- 15 tendance at, or for students enrolled at or attending, 16 an elementary or secondary public, private, or reli- 17 gious school: 18 ‘‘(A) Tuition. 19 ‘‘(B) Curriculum and curricular materials. 20 ‘‘(C) Books or other instructional mate- 21 rials. 22 ‘‘(D) Online educational materials. 23 ‘‘(E) Tuition for tutoring or educational 24 classes outside of the home, including at a tu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:49 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H463.IH H463 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 463 IH toring facility, but only if the tutor or instruc- 1 tor is not related to the student. 2 ‘‘(F) Fees for a nationally standardized 3 norm-referenced achievement test, an advanced 4 placement examination, or any examinations re- 5 lated to college or university admission. 6 ‘‘(G) Fees for dual enr [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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