What This Bill Does
This bill makes changes to the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act, which is a program in Washington, D.C. The bill updates rules for schools that can participate in the program, adds tutoring services for students who need help, and increases funding for the program.
Who It Affects
Students participating in the scholarship program in Washington, D.C., schools that accept scholarship students, the Institute of Education Sciences (a research organization), and eligible entities (organizations) that manage the program.
Key Provisions
• Schools must be fully accredited by an accrediting body with jurisdiction in Washington, D.C., or recognized by the Student and Visitor Exchange English Language Program run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Sec. 2(1)(A))
• Eligible entities can use program funds to pay for tutoring services to help students who need extra academic help, with priority given to students from the lowest-performing schools when funds run out (Sec. 2(1)(C)(iii))
• The Institute of Education Sciences may give assessments to students in the program to evaluate how well it works (Sec. 2(2)(B))
• The program must regularly evaluate whether it helps students make academic progress and achieve educational goals (Sec. 2(3)(A) and (B))
• Evaluations must compare high school graduation rates, college enrollment rates, and college graduation rates of scholarship students to public school students (Sec. 2(3)(D))
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, funding increases from $60,000,000 to $75,000,000 per year starting in fiscal year 2024 and continuing each year after that (Sec. 2(4)(A) and (B)). The program adds tutoring services as an allowed expense (Sec. 2(1)(C)(iii)). The program's evaluation requirements change to measure academic progress and educational outcomes differently than before (Sec. 2(3)).
Important Definitions
None defined in bill text.
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 69
To amend the SOAR Act.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY 25, 2023
Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina,
and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs
A BILL
To amend the SOAR Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘SOAR Permanent Au-
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thorization Act’’.
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE SOAR ACT.
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The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act
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(division C of Public Law 112–10) is amended—
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(1) in section 3007 (sec. 38–1853.07 D.C. Offi-
9
cial Code)—
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(A) in subsection (a)(5)(A)(i), by striking
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subclause (I) and inserting the following:
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‘‘(I) is fully accredited by an ac-
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crediting body with jurisdiction in the
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District of Columbia or that is recog-
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nized by the Student and Visitor Ex-
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change English Language Program
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administered by U.S. Immigration
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and Customs Enforcement; or’’;
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(B) by striking subsection (c) and redesig-
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nating subsection (d) as subsection (c);
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(C) in subsection (b)—
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(i) in the subsection heading, by strik-
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ing ‘‘AND PARENTAL ASSISTANCE’’ and in-
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serting ‘‘, PARENTAL ASSISTANCE, AND
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STUDENT ACADEMIC ASSISTANCE’’;
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(ii) in the matter preceding paragraph
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(1), by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ and insert-
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ing ‘‘$2,200,000’’; and
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(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(3) The expenses of providing tutoring service
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to participating eligible students that need additional
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academic assistance. If there are insufficient funds
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to provide tutoring services to all such students in
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a year, the eligible entity shall give priority in such
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year to students who previously attended an elemen-
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tary school or secondary school identified as one of
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the lowest-performing schools under the District of
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Columbia’s accountability system.’’; and
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(D) in subsection (c), as redesignated by
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subparagraph (B)—
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(i) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking
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‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting
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‘‘subsection (b)’’; and
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(ii) in paragraph (3), by striking
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‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’ and inserting
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‘‘subsection (b)’’;
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(2) in section 3008(h) (sec. 38–1853.08(h)
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D.C. Official Code)—
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(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section
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3009(a)(2)(A)(i)’’
and
inserting
‘‘section
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3009(a)’’;
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(B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert-
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ing the following:
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‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF TESTS.—The Insti-
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tute of Education Sciences may administer assess-
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ments to students participating in the evaluation
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under section 3009(a) for the purpose of conducting
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the evaluation under such section.’’; and
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(C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the na-
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tionally norm-referenced standardized test de-
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scribed in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘a na-
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tionally norm-referenced standardized test’’;
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(3) in section 3009(a) (sec. 38–1853.09(a) D.C.
5
Official Code)—
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(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘an-
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nually’’ and inserting ‘‘regularly’’;
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(B) in paragraph (2)—
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(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking
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clause (i) and inserting the following:
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‘‘(i) is rigorous; and’’; and
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking
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‘‘impact of the program’’ and all that fol-
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lows through the end of the subparagraph
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and inserting ‘‘impact of the program on
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academic progress and educational attain-
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ment.’’;
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(C) in paragraph (3)—
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(i) in the paragraph heading, by strik-
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ing ‘‘ON EDUCATION’’ and inserting ‘‘OF
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EDUCATION’’;
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(ii) in subparagraph (A)—
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(I) by inserting ‘‘the academic
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progress of’’ after ‘‘assess’’; and
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(II) by striking ‘‘in each of
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grades 3’’ and all that follows through
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the end of the subparagraph and in-
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serting ‘‘; and’’;
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(iii) by striking subparagraph (B);
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and
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(iv) by redesignating subparagraph
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(C) as subparagraph (B); and
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(D) in paragraph (4)—
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(i) in subparagraph (A)—
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(I) by striking ‘‘A comparison of
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the academic achievement of partici-
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pating eligible students who use an
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opportunity scholarship on the meas-
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urements
described
in
paragraph
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(3)(B) to the academic achievement’’
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and inserting ‘‘The academic progress
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of participating eligible students who
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use an opportunity scholarship com-
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pared to the academic progress’’; and
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(II) by inserting ‘‘, which may in-
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clude students’’ after ‘‘students with
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similar backgrounds’’;
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(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking
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‘‘increasing the satisfaction of such parents
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and students with their choice’’ and insert-
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ing ‘‘those parents’ and students’ satisfac-
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tion with the program’’;
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(iii) by striking subparagraph (D)
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through (F) and inserting the following:
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‘‘(D) The high school graduation rates,
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college enrollment rates, college persistence
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rates, and college graduation rates of partici-
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pating eligible students who use an opportunity
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scholarship compared with the rates of public
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school students described in subparagraph (A),
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to the extent practicable.
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‘‘(E) The college enrollment rates, college
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persistence rates, and college graduation rates
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of students who participated in the program as
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the result of winning the Opportunity Scholar-
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ship Program lottery compared to the enroll-
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ment, persistence, and graduation rates for stu-
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dents who entered but did not win such lottery
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and who, as a result, served as the control
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group for previous evaluations of the program
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under this division. Nothing in this subpara-
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graph may be construed to waive section
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3004(a)(3)(A)(iii) with respect to any such stu-
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dent.
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‘‘(F) The safety of the schools attended by
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participating eligible students who use an op-
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portunity scholarship compared with the schools
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attended by public school students described in
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subparagraph (A), to the extent practicable.’’;
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and
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(iv) in subparagraph (G), by striking
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‘‘achievement’’ and inserting ‘‘progress’’;
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and
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(4) in section 3014 (sec. 38–1853.14, D.C. Of-
10
ficial Code)—
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(A) in subsection (a), in the matter pre-
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ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$60,000,000
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for fiscal year 2012 and for each fiscal year
14
through fiscal year 2023’’ and inserting
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‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and for each
16
succeeding fiscal year’’; and
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(B)
in
subsection
(b),
by
striking
18
‘‘$60,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000’’.
19
Æ
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