Strength in Diversity Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1661 To establish the Strength in Diversity Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish the Strength in Diversity Program, 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 ‘‘Strength in Diversity 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 The purpose of this Act is to support the develop- 7 ment, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive 8 strategies to address the effects of racial isolation or con- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1661 IS centrated poverty by increasing diversity, including racial 1 diversity and socioeconomic diversity, in covered schools. 2 SEC. 3. RESERVATION FOR NATIONAL AND STATE ACTIVI- 3 TIES. 4 (a) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may re- 5 serve not more than 5 percent of the amounts made avail- 6 able under section 9 for a fiscal year to carry out activities 7 of national significance relating to this Act, which may 8 include— 9 (1) research, development, data collection, mon- 10 itoring, technical assistance, evaluation, or dissemi- 11 nation activities; and 12 (2) the development and maintenance of best 13 practices for recipients of grants under section 4 and 14 other experts in the field of school diversity. 15 (b) STATE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may reserve 16 not more than 10 percent of the amounts made available 17 under section 9 for a fiscal year for planning grants and 18 implementation grants made to State educational agencies 19 under section 4. 20 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 21 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 23 available under section 9 and not reserved under 24 section 3 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall award 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1661 IS grants in accordance with subsection (b) to eligible 1 entities to develop or implement plans to improve di- 2 versity and reduce or eliminate racial or socio- 3 economic isolation in covered schools. 4 (2) TYPES OF GRANTS.—The Secretary may, in 5 any fiscal year, award— 6 (A) planning grants to carry out the activi- 7 ties described in section 6(a); 8 (B) implementation grants to carry out the 9 activities described in section 6(b); or 10 (C) both such planning grants and imple- 11 mentation grants. 12 (b) AWARD BASIS.— 13 (1) CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICA- 14 TIONS.—The Secretary shall award grants under 15 this section on a competitive basis, based on— 16 (A) the quality of the application sub- 17 mitted by an eligible entity under section 5; 18 (B) the likelihood, as determined by the 19 Secretary, that the eligible entity will use the 20 grant to improve student outcomes or outcomes 21 on other performance measures described in 22 section 7; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1661 IS (C) the likelihood that the grant will lead 1 to a meaningful reduction in racial and eco- 2 nomic isolation for children in covered schools. 3 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 4 section, the Secretary shall give priority to the fol- 5 lowing eligible entities: 6 (A) First, to an eligible entity that sub- 7 mitted an application for a grant under the 8 Opening Doors, Expanding Opportunities pro- 9 gram described in the notice published by the 10 Department of Education in the Federal Reg- 11 ister on December 14, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 12 90343 et seq.). 13 (B) Second, to an eligible entity that pro- 14 poses, in an application submitted under section 15 5, to use the grant to support a program that 16 addresses racial isolation. 17 (C) Third, to an eligible entity that pro- 18 poses, in an application submitted under section 19 5, to use the grant to support a program that 20 extends beyond one local educational agency, 21 such as an inter-district or regional program. 22 (D) Fourth, to an eligible entity that dem- 23 onstrates meaningful coordination with local 24 housing agencies to increase access to schools 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1661 IS that have a disproportionately low number of 1 low-income students. 2 (c) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 3 (1) PLANNING GRANT.—A planning grant 4 awarded under this section shall be for a period of 5 not more than 1 year. 6 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—An implemen- 7 tation grant awarded under this section shall be for 8 a period of not more than 3 years, except that the 9 Secretary may extend an implementation grant for 10 an additional 2-year period if the eligible entity re- 11 ceiving the grant demonstrates to the Secretary that 12 the eligible entity is making significant progress, as 13 determined by the Secretary, on the program per- 14 formance measures described in section 7. 15 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS. 16 In order to receive a grant under section 4, an eligible 17 entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 18 time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. 19 Such application shall include— 20 (1) a description of the program for which the 21 eligible entity is seeking a grant, including— 22 (A) how the eligible entity proposes to use 23 the grant to improve the academic and life out- 24 comes of students in racial or socioeconomic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1661 IS isolation in covered schools by supporting inter- 1 ventions that increase diversity for students in 2 such covered schools; 3 (B) in the case of an implementation 4 grant, the implementation grant plan described 5 in section 6(b)(1); and 6 (C) evidence, or if such evidence is not 7 available, a rationale based on current research, 8 regarding how the program will increase diver- 9 sity; 10 (2) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 11 use any of the grant to benefit covered schools that 12 are racially isolated, a description of how the eligible 13 entity will identify and define racial isolation; 14 (3) in the case of an eligible entity proposing to 15 use any portion of the grant to benefit high-poverty 16 covered schools, a description of how the eligible en- 17 tity will identify and define income level and socio- 18 economic status; 19 (4) a description of the plan of the eligible enti- 20 ty for continuing the program after the grant period 21 ends; 22 (5) a description of how the eligible entity will 23 assess, monitor, and evaluate the impact of the ac- 24 tivities funded under the grant on student achieve- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1661 IS ment and student enrollment diversity, and teacher 1 diversity; 2 (6) an assurance that the eligible entity has 3 conducted, or will conduct, robust parent and com- 4 munity engagement, while planning for and imple- 5 menting the program, such as through— 6 (A) consultation with appropriate officials 7 from Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations ap- 8 proved by the Tribes located in the area served 9 by the eligible entity; 10 (B) consultation with other community en- 11 tities, including local housing or transportation 12 authorities; 13 (C) public hearings or other open forums 14 to inform the development of any formal strat- 15 egy to increase diversity; and 16 (D) outreach to parents and students, in a 17 language that parents and students can under- 18 stand, and consultation with students and fami- 19 lies in the targeted district or region that is de- 20 signed to ensure participation in the planning 21 and development of any formal strategy to in- 22 crease diversity; 23 (7) an estimate of the number of students that 24 the eligible entity plans to serve under the program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1661 IS and the number of students to be served through ad- 1 ditional expansion of the program after the grant 2 period ends; 3 (8) an assurance that the eligible entity will— 4 (A) cooperate with the Secretary in evalu- 5 ating the program, including any evaluation 6 that might require data and information from 7 multiple recipients of grants under section 4; 8 and 9 (B) engage in the best practices developed 10 under section 3(a)(2); 11 (9) an assurance that, to the extent possible, 12 the eligible entity has considered the potential impli- 13 cations of the grant activities on the demographics 14 and student enrollment of nearby covered schools 15 not included in the activities of the grant; 16 (10) in the case of an eligible entity applying 17 for an implementation grant, a description of how 18 the eligible entity will— 19 (A) implement, replicate, or expand a 20 strategy based on a strong or moderate level of 21 evidence (as described in subclause (I) or (II) 22 of section 8101(21)(A)(i) of the Elementary 23 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)(i))); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1661 IS (B) test a promising strategy to increase 1 diversity in covered schools; 2 (11) in the case of an application by a consor- 3 tium of local educational agencies, a specification of 4 which agency is the lead applicant, and how the 5 grant funds will be divided among the school dis- 6 tricts served by such consortium; and 7 (12) in the case of an application by a State 8 educational agency, a demonstration that the agency 9 has procedures in place— 10 (A) to assess and prevent the redrawing of 11 school district lines in a manner that increases 12 racial or socioeconomic isolation; 13 (B) to assess the segregation impacts of 14 new school construction proposals and to 15 prioritize school construction funding that will 16 foreseeably increase racial and economic inte- 17 gration; and 18 (C) to include progress toward reduction of 19 racial and economic isolation as a factor in its 20 State plan under section 1111 of the Elemen- 21 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 22 U.S.C. 6311). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1661 IS SEC. 6. USES OF FUNDS. 1 (a) PLANNING GRANTS.—Each eligible entity that re- 2 ceives a planning grant under section 4 shall use the grant 3 to support students in covered schools through the fol- 4 lowing activities: 5 (1) Completing a comprehensive assessment of, 6 with respect to the geographic area served by such 7 eligible entity— 8 (A) the educational outcomes and racial 9 and socioeconomic stratification of children at- 10 tending covered schools; 11 (B) an analysis of the location and capac- 12 ity of program and school facilities and the ade- 13 quacy of local or regional transportation infra- 14 structure; and 15 (C) teacher diversity in covered schools, 16 and plans for expanding teacher diversity. 17 (2) Developing and implementing a robust fam- 18 ily, student, and community engagement plan, in- 19 cluding, where feasible, public hearings or other 20 open forums that would precede and inform the de- 21 velopment of a formal strategy to improve diversity 22 in covered schools. 23 (3) Developing options, including timelines and 24 cost estimates, for improving diversity in covered 25 schools, such as weighted lotteries, revised feeder 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1661 IS patterns, school boundary redesign, or regional co- 1 ordination. 2 (4) Developing an implementation plan based 3 on community preferences among the options devel- 4 oped under paragraph (3). 5 (5) Building the capacity to collect and analyze 6 data that provide information for transparency, con- 7 tinuous improvement, and evaluation. 8 (6) Developing an implementation plan to com- 9 ply with a court-ordered school desegregation plan. 10 (7) Engaging in best practices developed under 11 section 3(a)(2). 12 (8) If applicable, developing an implementation 13 plan to replace entrance exams or other competitive 14 application procedures with methods of student as- 15 signment to promote racial and socioeconomic diver- 16 sity. 17 (b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 18 (1) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT PLAN.—Each eli- 19 gible entity that receives an implementation grant 20 under section 4 shall implement a high-quality plan 21 to support students in covered schools that in- 22 cludes— 23 (A) a comprehensive set of strategies de- 24 signed to improve academic outcomes for all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:52 Jun 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1661.IS S1661 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1661 IS students, particularly students of color and low- 1 income students, by increasing diversity in cov- 2 ered schools; 3 (B) evidence of strong family and commu- 4 nity support for such strategies, including evi- 5 dence that the eligible entity has engaged in 6 meaningful family and community outreach ac- 7 tivities; 8 (C) goals to increase diversity, including 9 teacher diversity, in covered schools over the 10 course of the grant period; 11 (D) collection and analysis of data to pro- 12 vide transparency and support continuous im- 13 provement throughout the grant period; and 14 (E) a rigorous method of evaluation of the 15 effectiveness of the program. 16 (2) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT ACTIVITIES.— 17 Each eligible entity that receives an implementation 18 grant under section 4 may use the grant to carry 19 out one or more of the following activities: 20 (A) Recruiting, hiring, or training addi- 21 tional teachers, administrators, school coun- 22 selors, and other instructional and support staff 23 i [Text truncated for display. 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