| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1660 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To award grants to States to establish or improve, and carry out, Seal |
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| 6 | 6 | | of Biliteracy programs to recognize high-level student proficiency in |
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| 7 | 7 | | speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language, |
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| 8 | 8 | | and early language programs. |
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| 9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 10 | 10 | | FEBRUARY27, 2025 |
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| 11 | 11 | | Ms. B |
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| 12 | 12 | | ROWNLEY(for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. CHU, Ms. |
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| 13 | 13 | | S |
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| 14 | 14 | | TANSBURY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. ROSS, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. |
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| 15 | 15 | | T |
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| 16 | 16 | | HANEDAR, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. |
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| 17 | 17 | | J |
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| 18 | 18 | | OHNSONof Georgia, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. BARRAGA´N, and Mr. CARBAJAL) |
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| 19 | 19 | | introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on |
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| 20 | 20 | | Education and Workforce |
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| 21 | 21 | | A BILL |
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| 22 | 22 | | To award grants to States to establish or improve, and |
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| 23 | 23 | | carry out, Seal of Biliteracy programs to recognize high- |
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| 24 | 24 | | level student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writ- |
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| 25 | 25 | | ing in both English and a second language, and early |
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| 26 | 26 | | language programs. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Biliteracy Education 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Seal and Teaching Act’’ or the ‘‘BEST Act’’. 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 35 | 35 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Congress finds the following: 2 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (1) The people of the United States celebrate 3 |
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| 38 | 38 | | cultural and linguistic diversity and seek to prepare 4 |
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| 39 | 39 | | students with skills to succeed in the 21st century. 5 |
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| 40 | 40 | | (2) It is fitting to commend the dedication of 6 |
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| 41 | 41 | | students who have achieved proficiency in multiple 7 |
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| 42 | 42 | | languages and to encourage their peers to follow in 8 |
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| 43 | 43 | | their footsteps. 9 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (3) The congressionally requested Commission 10 |
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| 45 | 45 | | on Language Learning, in its 2017 report ‘‘Amer-11 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ica’s Languages: Investing in Language Education 12 |
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| 47 | 47 | | for the 21st Century’’, notes the pressing national 13 |
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| 48 | 48 | | need for more people of the United States who are 14 |
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| 49 | 49 | | proficient in 2 or more languages for national secu-15 |
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| 50 | 50 | | rity, economic growth, and the fulfillment of the po-16 |
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| 51 | 51 | | tential of all people of the United States. 17 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (4) The Commission on Language Learning 18 |
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| 53 | 53 | | also notes the extensive cognitive, educational, and 19 |
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| 54 | 54 | | employment benefits deriving from biliteracy. 20 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (5) Biliteracy in general correlates with higher 21 |
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| 56 | 56 | | graduation rates, higher grade point averages, high-22 |
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| 57 | 57 | | er rates of matriculation into higher education, and 23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | higher earnings for all students, regardless of back-24 |
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| 59 | 59 | | ground. 25 |
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| 62 | 62 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 63 | 63 | | (6) The study of America’s languages in ele-1 |
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| 64 | 64 | | mentary and secondary schools should be encouraged 2 |
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| 65 | 65 | | because it contributes to a student’s cognitive devel-3 |
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| 66 | 66 | | opment and to the national economy and security. 4 |
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| 67 | 67 | | (7) Recognition of student achievement in lan-5 |
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| 68 | 68 | | guage proficiency will enable institutions of higher 6 |
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| 69 | 69 | | education and employers to readily recognize and ac-7 |
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| 70 | 70 | | knowledge the valuable expertise of bilingual stu-8 |
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| 71 | 71 | | dents in academia and the workplace. 9 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (8) States such as Utah, Arizona, Washington, 10 |
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| 73 | 73 | | and New Mexico have developed innovative testing 11 |
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| 74 | 74 | | methods for languages, including Native American 12 |
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| 75 | 75 | | languages, where no formal proficiency test currently 13 |
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| 76 | 76 | | exists. 14 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (9) The use of proficiency in a government-rec-15 |
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| 78 | 78 | | ognized official Native American language as the 16 |
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| 79 | 79 | | base language for a Seal of Biliteracy, with pro-17 |
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| 80 | 80 | | ficiency in any additional partner language dem-18 |
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| 81 | 81 | | onstrated through tested proficiency, has been suc-19 |
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| 82 | 82 | | cessfully demonstrated in Hawaii. 20 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (10) Students in every State and every school 21 |
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| 84 | 84 | | should be able to benefit from a Seal of Biliteracy 22 |
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| 85 | 85 | | program. 23 |
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| 86 | 86 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 24 |
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| 87 | 87 | | In this Act: 25 |
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| 90 | 90 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 91 | 91 | | (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elemen-1 |
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| 92 | 92 | | tary school’’, ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local educational 2 |
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| 93 | 93 | | agency’’, ‘‘middle grades’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 3 |
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| 94 | 94 | | ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec-4 |
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| 95 | 95 | | tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-5 |
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| 96 | 96 | | cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 6 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (2) C |
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| 98 | 98 | | LASSICAL LANGUAGE .—The term ‘‘clas-7 |
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| 99 | 99 | | sical language’’— 8 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (A) means— 9 |
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| 101 | 101 | | (i) a language that is no longer spo-10 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ken; or 11 |
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| 103 | 103 | | (ii) a language— 12 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (I) the spoken varieties of which 13 |
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| 105 | 105 | | diverge further away from the clas-14 |
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| 106 | 106 | | sical language over time; and 15 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (II) that possesses an inde-16 |
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| 108 | 108 | | pendent literary tradition and a large 17 |
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| 109 | 109 | | body of ancient written literature; and 18 |
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| 110 | 110 | | (B) includes Greek, Latin, Chinese, Arabic, 19 |
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| 111 | 111 | | and Sanskrit. 20 |
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| 112 | 112 | | (3) N |
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| 113 | 113 | | ATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE .—The term 21 |
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| 114 | 114 | | ‘‘Native American language’’ has the meaning given 22 |
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| 115 | 115 | | the term in section 103 of the Native American Lan-23 |
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| 116 | 116 | | guages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902). 24 |
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| 119 | 119 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 120 | 120 | | (4) SEAL OF BILITERACY PROGRAM .—The term 1 |
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| 121 | 121 | | ‘‘Seal of Biliteracy program’’ means any program 2 |
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| 122 | 122 | | described in section 4(a) that is established or im-3 |
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| 123 | 123 | | proved, and carried out, with funds received under 4 |
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| 124 | 124 | | this Act. 5 |
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| 125 | 125 | | (5) S |
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| 126 | 126 | | ECOND LANGUAGE .—The term ‘‘second 6 |
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| 127 | 127 | | language’’— 7 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (A) means any language other than— 8 |
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| 129 | 129 | | (i) English; or 9 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (ii) in a case where the provisions of 10 |
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| 131 | 131 | | paragraph (2) of section 4(a) apply, the 11 |
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| 132 | 132 | | Native American language of proficiency 12 |
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| 133 | 133 | | described in such paragraph; and 13 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (B) includes Braille, American Sign Lan-14 |
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| 135 | 135 | | guage, or a classical language. 15 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (6) S |
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| 137 | 137 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 |
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| 138 | 138 | | the Secretary of Education. 17 |
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| 139 | 139 | | SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR STATE SEAL OF BILITERACY PRO-18 |
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| 140 | 140 | | GRAMS. 19 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (a) E |
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| 142 | 142 | | STABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 20 |
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| 143 | 143 | | (1) I |
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| 144 | 144 | | N GENERAL.—From amounts made avail-21 |
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| 145 | 145 | | able under subsection (f), the Secretary shall award 22 |
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| 146 | 146 | | grants, on a competitive basis, to States to enable 23 |
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| 147 | 147 | | the States to establish or improve, and carry out, 24 |
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| 148 | 148 | | Seal of Biliteracy programs and early language pro-25 |
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| 151 | 151 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 152 | 152 | | grams that lead to a Seal of Biliteracy to recognize 1 |
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| 153 | 153 | | student proficiency in both English and a second 2 |
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| 154 | 154 | | language, which— 3 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (A) shall be demonstrated through pro-4 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ficiency in speaking and writing in both lan-5 |
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| 157 | 157 | | guages; and 6 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (B) may also be demonstrated through 7 |
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| 159 | 159 | | reading and listening in both languages. 8 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (2) I |
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| 161 | 161 | | NCLUSION OF NATIVE AMERICAN LAN -9 |
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| 162 | 162 | | GUAGES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), each Seal 10 |
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| 163 | 163 | | of Biliteracy program shall contain provisions allow-11 |
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| 164 | 164 | | ing the use of Native American languages, including 12 |
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| 165 | 165 | | allowing speakers of any Native American language 13 |
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| 166 | 166 | | recognized as official by any American government, 14 |
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| 167 | 167 | | including any Tribal government, to use equivalent 15 |
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| 168 | 168 | | proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in the 16 |
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| 169 | 169 | | Native American language in lieu of proficiency in 17 |
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| 170 | 170 | | speaking, reading, and writing in English. 18 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (3) D |
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| 172 | 172 | | URATION.—A grant awarded under this 19 |
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| 173 | 173 | | section shall be for a period of 2 years, and may be 20 |
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| 174 | 174 | | renewed at the discretion of the Secretary. 21 |
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| 175 | 175 | | (4) R |
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| 176 | 176 | | ENEWAL.—At the end of a grant term, a 22 |
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| 177 | 177 | | State that receives a grant under this section may 23 |
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| 178 | 178 | | reapply for a grant under this section. 24 |
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| 181 | 181 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 182 | 182 | | (5) LIMITATIONS.—A State shall not receive 1 |
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| 183 | 183 | | more than 1 grant under this section at any time. 2 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (6) R |
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| 185 | 185 | | ETURN OF UNSPENT GRANT FUNDS .— 3 |
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| 186 | 186 | | Each State that receives a grant under this section 4 |
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| 187 | 187 | | shall return any unspent grant funds not later than 5 |
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| 188 | 188 | | 6 months after the date on which the term for the 6 |
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| 189 | 189 | | grant ends. 7 |
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| 190 | 190 | | (b) G |
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| 191 | 191 | | RANTPROGRAM.—A State that desires a grant 8 |
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| 192 | 192 | | under this section shall submit an application to the Sec-9 |
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| 193 | 193 | | retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 10 |
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| 194 | 194 | | information and assurances as the Secretary may require, 11 |
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| 195 | 195 | | including— 12 |
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| 196 | 196 | | (1) a description of the criteria a student must 13 |
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| 197 | 197 | | meet to demonstrate proficiency for the State Seal 14 |
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| 198 | 198 | | of Biliteracy in both languages, which— 15 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (A) shall include proficiency criteria for the 16 |
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| 200 | 200 | | 2 productive skills of speaking and writing; and 17 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (B) may include proficiency criteria for the 18 |
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| 202 | 202 | | skills of reading and listening; 19 |
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| 203 | 203 | | (2) a detailed description of the State’s plan— 20 |
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| 204 | 204 | | (A) to ensure that English learners and 21 |
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| 205 | 205 | | former English learners are included in the 22 |
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| 206 | 206 | | State Seal of Biliteracy program; 23 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (B) to ensure equitable access to the State 24 |
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| 208 | 208 | | Seal of Biliteracy program for students with 25 |
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| 211 | 211 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 212 | 212 | | identified disabilities, including vision and hear-1 |
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| 213 | 213 | | ing impairments and cognitive or learning dis-2 |
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| 214 | 214 | | abilities, that preclude demonstration of lan-3 |
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| 215 | 215 | | guage proficiency in one of the skills identified 4 |
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| 216 | 216 | | in paragraph (1); 5 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (C) to ensure that— 6 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (i) all languages, including Native 7 |
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| 219 | 219 | | American languages and American Sign 8 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Language, can be tested for the State Seal 9 |
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| 221 | 221 | | of Biliteracy program; and 10 |
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| 222 | 222 | | (ii) Native American language speak-11 |
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| 223 | 223 | | ers and learners are included in the State 12 |
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| 224 | 224 | | Seal of Biliteracy program, including stu-13 |
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| 225 | 225 | | dents at tribally controlled schools and at 14 |
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| 226 | 226 | | schools funded by the Bureau of Indian 15 |
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| 227 | 227 | | Education; and 16 |
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| 228 | 228 | | (D) to reach elementary school and middle 17 |
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| 229 | 229 | | grades students (including eligible students de-18 |
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| 230 | 230 | | scribed in subsection (c)(2), heritage language 19 |
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| 231 | 231 | | learners, and English learners), their parents, 20 |
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| 232 | 232 | | and schools with information regarding the 21 |
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| 233 | 233 | | State Seal of Biliteracy program; 22 |
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| 234 | 234 | | (3) an assurance that a student who meets the 23 |
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| 235 | 235 | | requirements under paragraph (1) and subsection 24 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (c) receives— 25 |
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| 239 | 239 | | •HR 1660 IH |
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| 240 | 240 | | (A) a permanent seal or other marker on 1 |
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| 241 | 241 | | the student’s secondary school diploma or its 2 |
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| 242 | 242 | | equivalent; or 3 |
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| 243 | 243 | | (B) documentation of proficiency on the 4 |
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| 244 | 244 | | student’s official academic transcript; and 5 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (4) an assurance that a student is not charged 6 |
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| 246 | 246 | | a fee for providing information under subsection 7 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (c)(1). 8 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (c) S |
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| 249 | 249 | | TUDENTPARTICIPATION IN A SEAL OF 9 |
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| 250 | 250 | | B |
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| 251 | 251 | | ILITERACYPROGRAM.— 10 |
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| 252 | 252 | | (1) I |
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| 253 | 253 | | N GENERAL.—To participate in a Seal of 11 |
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| 254 | 254 | | Biliteracy program, a student shall provide informa-12 |
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| 255 | 255 | | tion to the State that serves the student at such 13 |
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| 256 | 256 | | time, in such manner, and including such informa-14 |
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| 257 | 257 | | tion and assurances as the State may require, in-15 |
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| 258 | 258 | | cluding an assurance that the student has met the 16 |
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| 259 | 259 | | criteria established by the State under subsection 17 |
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| 260 | 260 | | (b)(1). 18 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (2) S |
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| 262 | 262 | | TUDENT ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPA -19 |
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| 263 | 263 | | TION.—A student who gained proficiency in a second 20 |
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| 264 | 264 | | language outside of school may apply to the State of 21 |
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| 265 | 265 | | the student’s residence under paragraph (1) to par-22 |
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| 266 | 266 | | ticipate in a Seal of Biliteracy program. 23 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (d) U |
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| 268 | 268 | | SE OFFUNDS.—Grant funds made available 24 |
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| 269 | 269 | | under this section shall be used for— 25 |
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| 273 | 273 | | (1) the administrative costs of establishing or 1 |
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| 274 | 274 | | improving, and carrying out, a Seal of Biliteracy 2 |
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| 275 | 275 | | program that meets the requirements of subsection 3 |
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| 276 | 276 | | (b); 4 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (2) public outreach and education about the 5 |
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| 278 | 278 | | Seal of Biliteracy program; and 6 |
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| 279 | 279 | | (3) subgrants to local educational agencies for 7 |
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| 280 | 280 | | language educator professional development, public 8 |
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| 281 | 281 | | outreach, and subsidizing baseline and final Seal of 9 |
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| 282 | 282 | | Biliteracy testing for low-income students. 10 |
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| 283 | 283 | | (e) R |
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| 284 | 284 | | EPORT.—Not later than 18 months after receiv-11 |
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| 285 | 285 | | ing a grant under this section, a State shall issue a report 12 |
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| 286 | 286 | | to the Secretary describing the implementation of the Seal 13 |
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| 287 | 287 | | of Biliteracy program for which the State received the 14 |
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| 288 | 288 | | grant. 15 |
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| 289 | 289 | | (f) A |
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| 290 | 290 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 16 |
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| 291 | 291 | | are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 17 |
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| 292 | 292 | | $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 18 |
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| 293 | 293 | | Æ |
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