Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB69

Introduced
1/25/23  

Caption

SOAR Permanent Authorization Act This bill modifies and permanently reauthorizes the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results program. This program provides education funding for the District of Columbia, including for private school vouchers, public schools, and public charter schools. In particular, the bill revises (1) the list of accrediting bodies that may accredit participating schools, (2) the manner in which tutoring services provided under the program are funded, and (3) the program's reporting and evaluation requirements.

Impact

The notable changes outlined in SB69 involve the revision of the accrediting bodies eligible to accredit schools participating in the program, ensuring they meet specific standards. Additionally, the bill modifies how tutoring services are financed under the program, enabling a more systematic approach to providing academic assistance. The proposed adjustments aim to improve the monitoring and evaluation components, tracking student progress and program effectiveness more rigorously, especially for students from low-performing schools.

Summary

Senate Bill 69, titled the 'SOAR Permanent Authorization Act', proposes amendments to the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act. The bill seeks to permanently authorize and modify the existing provisions of the SOAR program that provides education funding in the District of Columbia. This includes financial support for a variety of educational institutions such as private schools, public schools, and charter schools. The intention is to enhance educational choices and opportunities for students in the DC area.

Contention

Critics of SB69 may raise concerns about the funding allocation and prioritization of resources within education. There may be debates surrounding the allocation of funds, particularly whether increased financial support for private school vouchers detracts from necessary investments in public education. Aspects of this bill could provoke discussions about equity in educational access and whether the amendments will genuinely enhance educational quality for disadvantaged students, or if they will further entrench existing disparities.

Companion Bills

US HB3663

Identical bill SOAR Permanent Authorization Act

Previously Filed As

US HB66

Native American Education Opportunity Act This bill addresses education savings account programs and charter schools for tribal students. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior, at the request of federally recognized Indian tribes, to provide funds to tribes for tribal-based education savings account programs. Tribes must use these funds to award grants to education savings accounts for students who (1) attended or will be eligible to attend a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE); or (2) will not be attending a school operated by the BIE, receiving an education savings account from another tribe, or attending public elementary or secondary school while participating in the program. Funds may be used for items and activities such as costs of attendance at private schools, private tutoring and online learning programs, textbooks, educational software, or examination fees. The Government Accountability Office must review the implementation of these education savings account programs, including any factors impacting increased participation in such programs. Additionally, the bill authorizes the BIE to approve and fund charter schools at any school that it operates or funds.

US HB322

Educational Opportunity and Success Act of 2023 This bill reauthorizes through FY2029 and otherwise revises TRIO programs. (These outreach and student-services programs identify and provide services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.) Among other revisions to the programs, the bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from rejecting TRIO grant applications based on certain errors; requires ED to provide additional technical assistance to interested grant applicants; revises the outcome criteria for measuring the quality and effectiveness of the programs, including those programs specifically designed for veterans; allows program administrators to use a student's most recent Free Application for Federal Student Aid to determine TRIO program eligibility; and increases the maximum stipend for students participating in the Upward Bound Program or the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program.

US SB56

Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunity Act This bill allows individual and corporate taxpayers a tax credit for cash contributions to certain scholarship-granting and workforce training organizations. It imposes a cap of $10 billion on the sum of contributions that qualify for a tax credit under this bill. The bill requires the Department of Education, in coordination with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, to establish, host, and maintain a web portal that (1) lists all eligible scholarship-granting and workforce training organizations; (2) enables contributions to such organizations; (3) provides information about the benefits of this bill; and (4) enables a state to submit and update information about its programs and educational organizations, including information on student eligibility and allowable educational expenses.

US HB1271

This bill provides specified funds to the 1890 Scholarships Program for FY2025 and each succeeding year for student scholarships. This National Institute of Food and Agriculture program provides grants to 1890 Institutions (i.e., historically Black colleges and universities that belong to the U.S. land-grant university system) for students who intend to pursue a career in the food and agricultural sciences.The bill also permanently reauthorizes the 1890 Scholarships Program.Further, the bill specifies that student scholarships include scholarships for programs leading to a bachelor or graduate degree. 

US SB487

Creating Hope and Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through Education Act or the CHOICE ActThis bill expands school choice programs for elementary and secondary school students.The bill specifies that a student in the District of Columbia must, in order to qualify for an opportunity scholarship, be currently enrolled, or be enrolled for the next school year, in a public or private elementary or secondary school.The bill also authorizes the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to support the design and implementation of state programs that allow the parent of a child with a disability to choose the appropriate public or private school for their child. It also outlines the requirements for program eligibility.Further, if the state has established a program that allows parents to use public or private funds to assist with the cost of their child attending a private school, then the state may supplement those funds with federal special education funds.Additionally, the Department of Defense must carry out a five-year pilot program to award scholarships to enable military dependent students who live on military installations to attend the public or private elementary or secondary schools their parents choose.The bill also requires ED to return to the Treasury specified amounts made available for salaries and expenses.

US SB65

Mentoring to Succeed Act of 2023 This bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to high-need local educational agencies, high-need schools, and local governments to establish, expand, or support school-based mentoring programs that assist at-risk students in developing cognitive skills and promoting social-emotional learning to prepare them for success in high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce. Additionally, the bill directs the Institute of Education Sciences to conduct a study to identify successful school-based mentoring programs and evaluate the effectiveness of the grant program established by this bill.

US HB202

States' Education Reclamation Act of 2023 This bill abolishes the Department of Education (ED) and repeals any program for which it has administrative responsibility. The Department of the Treasury shall provide grants to states, for FY2023-FY2031, for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education purposes permitted by state law. The level of funding is set at the amount provided to states for federal elementary and secondary education programs and the amount provided for federal postsecondary education programs, respectively, for FY2023, minus the funding provided for education programs that the bill transfers to other federal agencies. States must contract for an annual audit of their expenditures or transfers of grant funds. Program administrative responsibility and delegation of authority are transferred as follows: ED's job training programs to the Department of Labor, each special education grant program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ED's Indian education programs to the Department of the Interior, each Impact Aid program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to the Department of Defense, the Federal Pell Grant program and each federal student loan program to Treasury, and programs under the jurisdiction of the Institute of Education Sciences or the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to HHS.

US HB84

Native American Education Opportunity Act This bill addresses education savings account programs and charter schools for tribal students. Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Education and the Department of the Interior, at the request of federally recognized Indian tribes, to provide funds to tribes for tribal-based education savings account programs. Tribes must use these funds to award grants to education savings accounts for students who (1) attended or will be eligible to attend a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE); or (2) will not be attending a school operated by the BIE, receiving an education savings account from another tribe, or attending public elementary or secondary school while participating in the program. Funds may be used for items and activities such as costs of attendance at private schools, private tutoring and online learning programs, textbooks, educational software, or examination fees. The Government Accountability Office must review the implementation of these education savings account programs, including any factors impacting increased participation in such programs. Additionally, the bill authorizes the BIE to approve and fund charter schools at any school that it operates or funds.

US SB5593

A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to expand the Magnet Schools Assistance Program.

US HB5

Parents Bill of Rights Act This bill establishes various rights of parents and guardians regarding the elementary or secondary school education of their children. Local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools must comply with the requirements of the bill in order to receive federal education funds. Specifically, the bill requires schools to notify parents and guardians of their rights regarding the education of their children. These rights include the right to review the curriculum of their child's school; know if the state alters its challenging academic standards; meet with each teacher of their child at least twice each school year; review the budget, including all revenues and expenditures, of their child's school; review a list of the books and other reading materials in the library of their child's school; address the school board of the LEA; receive information about violent activity in their child's school; and receive information about any plans to eliminate gifted and talented programs in the child's school. Additionally, the bill directs each LEA to post on a publicly accessible website (or otherwise widely disseminate to the public) the curriculum for each elementary and secondary school grade level. The LEA must also include in its annual report card the overall budget of the LEA and the budget for each elementary and secondary school. The bill also provides for additional family educational and privacy rights, including by prohibiting schools from selling student information for commercial or financial gain.

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