| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 487 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To expand opportunity through greater choice in education, and for other |
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| 6 | 6 | | purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. S |
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| 10 | 10 | | COTTof South Carolina (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the |
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| 11 | 11 | | following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on |
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| 12 | 12 | | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To expand opportunity through greater choice in education, |
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| 15 | 15 | | and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Hope and 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Opportunity for Individuals and Communities through 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Education Act’’ or the ‘‘CHOICE Act’’. 6 |
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| 23 | 23 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 25 | 25 | | TITLE I—IMPROVING THE 1 |
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| 26 | 26 | | SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OPPOR-2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | TUNITY AND RESULTS ACT 3 |
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| 28 | 28 | | SEC. 101. PURPOSE. 4 |
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| 29 | 29 | | The purpose of this title is to amend the Scholarships 5 |
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| 30 | 30 | | for Opportunity and Results Act (Public Law 112–10, 125 6 |
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| 31 | 31 | | Stat. 199) in order to improve provisions concerning op-7 |
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| 32 | 32 | | portunity scholarships available for low-income students in 8 |
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| 33 | 33 | | the District of Columbia. 9 |
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| 34 | 34 | | SEC. 102. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OP-10 |
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| 35 | 35 | | PORTUNITY AND RESULTS ACT. 11 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Section 3013(4) of the Scholarships for Opportunity 12 |
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| 37 | 37 | | and Results Act (sec. 38–1853.13(4), D.C. Official Code) 13 |
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| 38 | 38 | | is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 14 |
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| 39 | 39 | | by inserting ‘‘, is enrolled, or will be enrolled for the next 15 |
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| 40 | 40 | | school year, in a public or private elementary school or 16 |
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| 41 | 41 | | secondary school,’’ after ‘‘District of Columbia’’. 17 |
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| 42 | 42 | | TITLE II—EDUCATION PORT-18 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ABILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS 19 |
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| 44 | 44 | | WITH DISABILITIES 20 |
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| 45 | 45 | | SEC. 201. PURPOSE. 21 |
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| 46 | 46 | | The purpose of this title is to provide options to 22 |
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| 47 | 47 | | States to innovate and improve the education of children 23 |
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| 48 | 48 | | with disabilities by expanding the choices for students and 24 |
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| 50 | 50 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 51 | 51 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 52 | 52 | | parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 1 |
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| 53 | 53 | | Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 2 |
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| 54 | 54 | | SEC. 202. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS-3 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 4 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (a) C |
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| 57 | 57 | | HILDRENENROLLED INPRIVATESCHOOLS BY 5 |
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| 58 | 58 | | T |
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| 59 | 59 | | HEIRPARENTS.—Section 612(a)(10)(A) of the Individ-6 |
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| 60 | 60 | | uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 7 |
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| 61 | 61 | | 1412(a)(10)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-8 |
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| 62 | 62 | | lowing: 9 |
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| 63 | 63 | | ‘‘(viii) P |
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| 64 | 64 | | ARENT OPTION PROGRAM .—If 10 |
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| 65 | 65 | | a State has established a program that 11 |
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| 66 | 66 | | meets the requirements of section 12 |
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| 67 | 67 | | 663(c)(11) (whether statewide or in limited 13 |
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| 68 | 68 | | areas of the State) and that allows a par-14 |
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| 69 | 69 | | ent of a child described in section 15 |
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| 70 | 70 | | 663(c)(11)(A) to use public funds, or pri-16 |
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| 71 | 71 | | vate funds in accordance with section 17 |
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| 72 | 72 | | 663(c)(11)(B)(ii), to pay some or all of the 18 |
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| 73 | 73 | | costs of attendance at a private school— 19 |
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| 74 | 74 | | ‘‘(I) funds allocated to the State 20 |
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| 75 | 75 | | under section 611 may be used by the 21 |
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| 76 | 76 | | State to supplement such public or 22 |
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| 77 | 77 | | private funds, if the Federal funds are 23 |
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| 78 | 78 | | distributed to parents who make a 24 |
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| 79 | 79 | | genuine independent choice as to the 25 |
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| 81 | 81 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 82 | 82 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 83 | 83 | | appropriate school for their child, ex-1 |
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| 84 | 84 | | cept that in no case shall the amount 2 |
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| 85 | 85 | | of Federal funds provided under this 3 |
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| 86 | 86 | | subclause to a parent of a child with 4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | a disability for a year exceed the total 5 |
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| 88 | 88 | | amount of tuition, fees, and transpor-6 |
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| 89 | 89 | | tation costs for the child for the year; 7 |
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| 90 | 90 | | ‘‘(II) the authorization of a par-8 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ent to exercise this option fulfills the 9 |
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| 92 | 92 | | State’s obligation under paragraph (1) 10 |
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| 93 | 93 | | with respect to the child during the 11 |
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| 94 | 94 | | period in which the child is enrolled in 12 |
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| 95 | 95 | | the selected school; and 13 |
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| 96 | 96 | | ‘‘(III) a selected school accepting 14 |
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| 97 | 97 | | such funds shall not be required to 15 |
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| 98 | 98 | | carry out any of the requirements of 16 |
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| 99 | 99 | | this title with respect to such child.’’. 17 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (b) R |
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| 101 | 101 | | ESEARCH ANDINNOVATIONTOIMPROVESERV-18 |
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| 102 | 102 | | ICES ANDRESULTS FOR CHILDRENWITHDISABIL-19 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ITIES.—Section 663(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities 20 |
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| 104 | 104 | | Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1463(c)) is amended— 21 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 22 |
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| 106 | 106 | | the semicolon; 23 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 24 |
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| 108 | 108 | | the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 25 |
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| 110 | 110 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 111 | 111 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 112 | 112 | | (3) by adding at the end the following: 1 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ‘‘(11) supporting the post-award planning and 2 |
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| 114 | 114 | | design, and the initial implementation (which may 3 |
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| 115 | 115 | | include costs for informing the community, acquiring 4 |
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| 116 | 116 | | necessary equipment and supplies, and other initial 5 |
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| 117 | 117 | | operational costs), during a period of not more than 6 |
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| 118 | 118 | | 3 years, of State programs that allow the parent of 7 |
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| 119 | 119 | | a child with a disability to make a genuine inde-8 |
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| 120 | 120 | | pendent choice of the appropriate public or private 9 |
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| 121 | 121 | | school for their child, if the program— 10 |
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| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(A) requires that the child be a child who 11 |
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| 123 | 123 | | has received an initial evaluation described in 12 |
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| 124 | 124 | | section 614(a) and has been identified as a 13 |
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| 125 | 125 | | child with a disability, in accordance with part 14 |
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| 126 | 126 | | B; 15 |
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| 127 | 127 | | ‘‘(B)(i) permits the parent to receive from 16 |
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| 128 | 128 | | the State funds to be used to pay some or all 17 |
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| 129 | 129 | | of the costs of attendance at the selected school 18 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (which may include tuition, fees, and transpor-19 |
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| 131 | 131 | | tation costs); or 20 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(ii) permits persons to receive a State tax 21 |
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| 133 | 133 | | credit for donations to an entity that provides 22 |
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| 134 | 134 | | funds to parents of eligible students described 23 |
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| 135 | 135 | | in subparagraph (A), to be used by the parents 24 |
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| 136 | 136 | | to pay some or all of the costs of attendance at 25 |
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| 138 | 138 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 139 | 139 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 140 | 140 | | the selected school (which may include tuition, 1 |
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| 141 | 141 | | fees, and transportation costs); 2 |
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| 142 | 142 | | ‘‘(C) prohibits any school that agrees to 3 |
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| 143 | 143 | | participate in the program from discriminating 4 |
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| 144 | 144 | | against eligible students on the basis of race, 5 |
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| 145 | 145 | | color, national origin, or sex, except that— 6 |
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| 146 | 146 | | ‘‘(i) the prohibition of sex discrimina-7 |
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| 147 | 147 | | tion shall not apply to a participating 8 |
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| 148 | 148 | | school that is operated by, supervised by, 9 |
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| 149 | 149 | | controlled by, or connected to a religious 10 |
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| 150 | 150 | | organization to the extent that the applica-11 |
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| 151 | 151 | | tion of such prohibition is inconsistent with 12 |
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| 152 | 152 | | the religious tenets or beliefs of the school; 13 |
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| 153 | 153 | | and 14 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding this subpara-15 |
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| 155 | 155 | | graph or any other provision of law, a par-16 |
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| 156 | 156 | | ent may choose, and a school may offer, a 17 |
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| 157 | 157 | | single-sex school, class, or activity; 18 |
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| 158 | 158 | | ‘‘(D) notwithstanding any other provision 19 |
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| 159 | 159 | | of law, allows any school participating in the 20 |
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| 160 | 160 | | program that is operated by, supervised by, 21 |
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| 161 | 161 | | controlled by, or connected to, a religious orga-22 |
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| 162 | 162 | | nization to exercise its right in matters of em-23 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ployment consistent with title VII of the Civil 24 |
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| 165 | 165 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 166 | 166 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 167 | 167 | | Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), 1 |
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| 168 | 168 | | including the exemptions in that title; 2 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(E) allows a school to participate in the 3 |
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| 170 | 170 | | program without, consistent with the First 4 |
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| 171 | 171 | | Amendment of the Constitution of the United 5 |
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| 172 | 172 | | States— 6 |
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| 173 | 173 | | ‘‘(i) necessitating any change in the 7 |
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| 174 | 174 | | participating school’s teaching mission; 8 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ‘‘(ii) requiring any private partici-9 |
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| 176 | 176 | | pating school to remove religious art, 10 |
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| 177 | 177 | | icons, scriptures, or other symbols; or 11 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ‘‘(iii) precluding any private partici-12 |
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| 179 | 179 | | pating school from retaining religious 13 |
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| 180 | 180 | | terms in its name, selecting its board 14 |
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| 181 | 181 | | members on a religious basis, or including 15 |
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| 182 | 182 | | religious references in its mission state-16 |
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| 183 | 183 | | ments and other chartering or governing 17 |
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| 184 | 184 | | documents; and 18 |
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| 185 | 185 | | ‘‘(F) requires a participating school se-19 |
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| 186 | 186 | | lected for a child with a disability to be— 20 |
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| 187 | 187 | | ‘‘(i) accredited, licensed, or otherwise 21 |
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| 188 | 188 | | operating in accordance with State law; 22 |
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| 189 | 189 | | and 23 |
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| 191 | 191 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 192 | 192 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 193 | 193 | | ‘‘(ii) academically accountable to the 1 |
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| 194 | 194 | | parent for meeting the educational needs 2 |
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| 195 | 195 | | of the student.’’. 3 |
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| 196 | 196 | | TITLE III—MILITARY 4 |
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| 197 | 197 | | SCHOLARSHIPS 5 |
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| 198 | 198 | | SEC. 301. PURPOSE. 6 |
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| 199 | 199 | | The purpose of this title is to ensure high-quality 7 |
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| 200 | 200 | | education for children of military personnel who live on 8 |
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| 201 | 201 | | military installations and thus have less freedom to exer-9 |
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| 202 | 202 | | cise school choice for their children, in order to improve 10 |
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| 203 | 203 | | the ability of the Armed Forces to retain such military 11 |
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| 204 | 204 | | personnel. 12 |
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| 205 | 205 | | SEC. 302. MILITARY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 13 |
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| 206 | 206 | | (a) D |
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| 207 | 207 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 |
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| 208 | 208 | | (1) ESEA |
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| 209 | 209 | | DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘child’’, 15 |
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| 210 | 210 | | ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and ‘‘local 16 |
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| 211 | 211 | | educational agency’’ have the meanings given the 17 |
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| 212 | 212 | | terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec-18 |
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| 213 | 213 | | ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 19 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (2) E |
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| 215 | 215 | | LIGIBLE MILITARY STUDENT .—The term 20 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ‘‘eligible military student’’ means a child who— 21 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (A) is a military dependent student; 22 |
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| 218 | 218 | | (B) lives on a military installation selected 23 |
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| 219 | 219 | | to participate in the program under subsection 24 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (b)(2); and 25 |
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| 223 | 223 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 224 | 224 | | (C) chooses to attend a participating 1 |
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| 225 | 225 | | school, rather than a school otherwise assigned 2 |
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| 226 | 226 | | to the child. 3 |
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| 227 | 227 | | (3) M |
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| 228 | 228 | | ILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENTS .—The 4 |
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| 229 | 229 | | term ‘‘military dependent students’’ has the meaning 5 |
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| 230 | 230 | | given the term in section 572(e) of the National De-6 |
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| 231 | 231 | | fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (20 7 |
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| 232 | 232 | | U.S.C. 7703b(e)). 8 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (4) P |
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| 234 | 234 | | ARTICIPATING SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘par-9 |
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| 235 | 235 | | ticipating school’’ means a public or private elemen-10 |
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| 236 | 236 | | tary school or secondary school that— 11 |
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| 237 | 237 | | (A) accepts scholarship funds provided 12 |
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| 238 | 238 | | under this section on behalf of an eligible mili-13 |
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| 239 | 239 | | tary student for the costs of tuition, fees, or 14 |
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| 240 | 240 | | transportation of the eligible military student; 15 |
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| 241 | 241 | | and 16 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (B) is accredited, licensed, or otherwise op-17 |
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| 243 | 243 | | erating in accordance with State law. 18 |
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| 244 | 244 | | (5) S |
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| 245 | 245 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 19 |
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| 246 | 246 | | the Secretary of Defense. 20 |
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| 247 | 247 | | (b) P |
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| 248 | 248 | | ROGRAMAUTHORIZED.— 21 |
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| 249 | 249 | | (1) I |
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| 250 | 250 | | N GENERAL.—From amounts made avail-22 |
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| 251 | 251 | | able under subsection (g) and beginning for the first 23 |
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| 252 | 252 | | full school year following the date of enactment of 24 |
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| 253 | 253 | | this Act, the Secretary shall carry out a 5-year pilot 25 |
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| 255 | 255 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 256 | 256 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 257 | 257 | | program to award scholarships to enable eligible 1 |
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| 258 | 258 | | military students to attend the public or private ele-2 |
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| 259 | 259 | | mentary schools or secondary schools selected by the 3 |
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| 260 | 260 | | eligible military students’ parents. 4 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (2) S |
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| 262 | 262 | | COPE OF PROGRAM.— 5 |
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| 263 | 263 | | (A) I |
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| 264 | 264 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se-6 |
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| 265 | 265 | | lect not less than 5 military installations to par-7 |
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| 266 | 266 | | ticipate in the pilot program described in para-8 |
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| 267 | 267 | | graph (1). In making such selection, the Sec-9 |
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| 268 | 268 | | retary shall choose military installations where 10 |
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| 269 | 269 | | eligible military students would most benefit 11 |
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| 270 | 270 | | from expanded educational options. 12 |
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| 271 | 271 | | (B) I |
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| 272 | 272 | | NELIGIBILITY.—A military installa-13 |
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| 273 | 273 | | tion that provides, on its premises, education 14 |
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| 274 | 274 | | for all elementary school and secondary school 15 |
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| 275 | 275 | | grade levels through one or more Department 16 |
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| 276 | 276 | | of Defense dependents’ schools shall not be eli-17 |
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| 277 | 277 | | gible for participation in the program. 18 |
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| 278 | 278 | | (3) A |
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| 279 | 279 | | MOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIPS .— 19 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (A) I |
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| 281 | 281 | | N GENERAL.—The annual amount of 20 |
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| 282 | 282 | | each scholarship awarded to an eligible military 21 |
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| 283 | 283 | | student under this section shall not exceed the 22 |
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| 284 | 284 | | lesser of— 23 |
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| 285 | 285 | | (i) the cost of tuition, fees, and trans-24 |
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| 286 | 286 | | portation associated with attending the 25 |
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| 288 | 288 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 |
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| 289 | 289 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 290 | 290 | | participating school selected by the parents 1 |
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| 291 | 291 | | of the student; or 2 |
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| 292 | 292 | | (ii)(I) in the case of an eligible mili-3 |
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| 293 | 293 | | tary student attending elementary school— 4 |
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| 294 | 294 | | (aa) $8,000 for the first full 5 |
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| 295 | 295 | | school year following the date of en-6 |
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| 296 | 296 | | actment of this Act; or 7 |
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| 297 | 297 | | (bb) the amount determined 8 |
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| 298 | 298 | | under subparagraph (B) for each 9 |
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| 299 | 299 | | school year following such first full 10 |
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| 300 | 300 | | school year; or 11 |
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| 301 | 301 | | (II) in the case of an eligible military 12 |
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| 302 | 302 | | student attending secondary school— 13 |
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| 303 | 303 | | (aa) $12,000 for the first full 14 |
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| 304 | 304 | | school year following the date of en-15 |
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| 305 | 305 | | actment of this Act; or 16 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (bb) the amount determined 17 |
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| 307 | 307 | | under subparagraph (B) for each 18 |
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| 308 | 308 | | school year following such first full 19 |
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| 309 | 309 | | school year. 20 |
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| 310 | 310 | | (B) A |
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| 311 | 311 | | DJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION .—For 21 |
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| 312 | 312 | | each school year after the first full school year 22 |
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| 313 | 313 | | following the date of enactment of this Act, the 23 |
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| 314 | 314 | | amounts specified in subclauses (I) and (II) of 24 |
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| 315 | 315 | | subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be adjusted to reflect 25 |
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| 317 | 317 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 318 | 318 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 319 | 319 | | changes for the 12-month period ending the 1 |
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| 320 | 320 | | preceding June in the Consumer Price Index 2 |
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| 321 | 321 | | for All Urban Consumers published by the Bu-3 |
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| 322 | 322 | | reau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 4 |
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| 323 | 323 | | Labor. 5 |
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| 324 | 324 | | (4) P |
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| 325 | 325 | | AYMENTS TO PARENTS .—The Secretary 6 |
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| 326 | 326 | | shall make scholarship payments under this section 7 |
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| 327 | 327 | | to the parent of the eligible military student in a 8 |
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| 328 | 328 | | manner that ensures such payments will be used for 9 |
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| 329 | 329 | | the payment of tuition, fees, and transportation ex-10 |
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| 330 | 330 | | penses (if any) in accordance with this section. 11 |
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| 331 | 331 | | (c) S |
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| 332 | 332 | | ELECTION OFSCHOLARSHIPSRECIPIENTS.— 12 |
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| 333 | 333 | | (1) R |
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| 334 | 334 | | ANDOM SELECTION.—If more eligible mili-13 |
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| 335 | 335 | | tary students apply for scholarships under the pro-14 |
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| 336 | 336 | | gram under this section than the Secretary can ac-15 |
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| 337 | 337 | | commodate, the Secretary shall select the scholar-16 |
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| 338 | 338 | | ship recipients through a random selection process 17 |
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| 339 | 339 | | from students who submitted applications by the ap-18 |
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| 340 | 340 | | plication deadline specified by the Secretary. 19 |
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| 341 | 341 | | (2) C |
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| 342 | 342 | | ONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.— 20 |
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| 343 | 343 | | (A) I |
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| 344 | 344 | | N GENERAL.—An individual who is 21 |
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| 345 | 345 | | selected to receive a scholarship under the pro-22 |
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| 346 | 346 | | gram under this section shall continue to re-23 |
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| 347 | 347 | | ceive a scholarship for each year of the program 24 |
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| 348 | 348 | | until the individual— 25 |
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| 350 | 350 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 |
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| 351 | 351 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 352 | 352 | | (i) graduates from secondary school or 1 |
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| 353 | 353 | | elects to no longer participate in the pro-2 |
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| 354 | 354 | | gram; 3 |
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| 355 | 355 | | (ii) exceeds the maximum age for 4 |
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| 356 | 356 | | which the State in which the student lives 5 |
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| 357 | 357 | | provides a free public education; or 6 |
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| 358 | 358 | | (iii) is no longer an eligible military 7 |
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| 359 | 359 | | student. 8 |
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| 360 | 360 | | (B) C |
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| 361 | 361 | | ONTINUED PARTICIPATION FOR MILI -9 |
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| 362 | 362 | | TARY TRANSFERS.— 10 |
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| 363 | 363 | | (i) T |
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| 364 | 364 | | RANSFER TO PRIVATE NON -MILI-11 |
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| 365 | 365 | | TARY HOUSING .—Notwithstanding sub-12 |
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| 366 | 366 | | paragraph (A)(iii), an individual receiving 13 |
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| 367 | 367 | | a scholarship under this section for a 14 |
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| 368 | 368 | | school year who meets the requirements of 15 |
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| 369 | 369 | | subparagraphs (A) and (C) of subsection 16 |
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| 370 | 370 | | (a)(2) and whose family, during such 17 |
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| 371 | 371 | | school year, moves into private non-mili-18 |
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| 372 | 372 | | tary housing that is not considered to be 19 |
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| 373 | 373 | | part of the military installation, shall con-20 |
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| 374 | 374 | | tinue to receive the scholarship for use at 21 |
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| 375 | 375 | | the participating school for the remaining 22 |
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| 376 | 376 | | portion of the school year. 23 |
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| 377 | 377 | | (ii) T |
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| 378 | 378 | | RANSFER TO A DIFFERENT MILI -24 |
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| 379 | 379 | | TARY INSTALLATION .—Notwithstanding 25 |
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| 381 | 381 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 |
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| 382 | 382 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 383 | 383 | | subparagraph (A)(iii), an individual receiv-1 |
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| 384 | 384 | | ing a scholarship under this section for a 2 |
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| 385 | 385 | | school year whose family is transferred to 3 |
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| 386 | 386 | | a different military installation shall no 4 |
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| 387 | 387 | | longer be eligible to receive such scholar-5 |
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| 388 | 388 | | ship beginning on the date of the transfer. 6 |
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| 389 | 389 | | Such individual may apply to participate in 7 |
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| 390 | 390 | | any program offered under this section for 8 |
|---|
| 391 | 391 | | the new military installation for a subse-9 |
|---|
| 392 | 392 | | quent school year, if such individual quali-10 |
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| 393 | 393 | | fies as an eligible military student for such 11 |
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| 394 | 394 | | school year. 12 |
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| 395 | 395 | | (d) N |
|---|
| 396 | 396 | | ONDISCRIMINATION AND OTHERPROVISIONS.— 13 |
|---|
| 397 | 397 | | (1) N |
|---|
| 398 | 398 | | ONDISCRIMINATION.—A participating 14 |
|---|
| 399 | 399 | | school shall not discriminate against program par-15 |
|---|
| 400 | 400 | | ticipants or applicants on the basis of race, color, 16 |
|---|
| 401 | 401 | | national origin, or sex. 17 |
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| 402 | 402 | | (2) A |
|---|
| 403 | 403 | | PPLICABILITY AND SINGLE -SEX SCHOOLS, 18 |
|---|
| 404 | 404 | | CLASSES, OR ACTIVITIES.— 19 |
|---|
| 405 | 405 | | (A) I |
|---|
| 406 | 406 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 20 |
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| 407 | 407 | | other provision of law, the prohibition of sex 21 |
|---|
| 408 | 408 | | discrimination in paragraph (1) shall not apply 22 |
|---|
| 409 | 409 | | to a participating school that is operated by, su-23 |
|---|
| 410 | 410 | | pervised by, controlled by, or connected to a re-24 |
|---|
| 411 | 411 | | ligious organization to the extent that the appli-25 |
|---|
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| 414 | 414 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 415 | 415 | | cation of paragraph (1) is inconsistent with the 1 |
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| 416 | 416 | | religious tenets or beliefs of the school. 2 |
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| 417 | 417 | | (B) S |
|---|
| 418 | 418 | | INGLE-SEX SCHOOLS, CLASSES, OR 3 |
|---|
| 419 | 419 | | ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or 4 |
|---|
| 420 | 420 | | any other provision of law, a parent may 5 |
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| 421 | 421 | | choose, and a participating school may offer, a 6 |
|---|
| 422 | 422 | | single-sex school, class, or activity. 7 |
|---|
| 423 | 423 | | (3) C |
|---|
| 424 | 424 | | HILDREN WITH DISABILITIES .—Nothing 8 |
|---|
| 425 | 425 | | in this section may be construed to alter or modify 9 |
|---|
| 426 | 426 | | the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 10 |
|---|
| 427 | 427 | | U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 11 |
|---|
| 428 | 428 | | (4) R |
|---|
| 429 | 429 | | ULES OF CONDUCT AND OTHER SCHOOL 12 |
|---|
| 430 | 430 | | POLICIES.—A participating school, including the 13 |
|---|
| 431 | 431 | | schools described in subsection (e), may require eli-14 |
|---|
| 432 | 432 | | gible students to abide by any rules of conduct and 15 |
|---|
| 433 | 433 | | other requirements applicable to all other students 16 |
|---|
| 434 | 434 | | at the school. 17 |
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| 435 | 435 | | (e) R |
|---|
| 436 | 436 | | ELIGIOUSLYAFFILIATEDSCHOOLS.— 18 |
|---|
| 437 | 437 | | (1) I |
|---|
| 438 | 438 | | N GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 19 |
|---|
| 439 | 439 | | provision of law, a participating school that is oper-20 |
|---|
| 440 | 440 | | ated by, supervised by, controlled by, or connected 21 |
|---|
| 441 | 441 | | to, a religious organization may exercise its right in 22 |
|---|
| 442 | 442 | | matters of employment consistent with title VII of 23 |
|---|
| 443 | 443 | | the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 24 |
|---|
| 444 | 444 | | seq.), including the exemptions in that title. 25 |
|---|
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| 447 | 447 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 448 | 448 | | (2) MAINTENANCE OF PURPOSE .—Notwith-1 |
|---|
| 449 | 449 | | standing any other provision of law, funds made 2 |
|---|
| 450 | 450 | | available under this title to eligible military students 3 |
|---|
| 451 | 451 | | that are received by a participating school, as a re-4 |
|---|
| 452 | 452 | | sult of their parents’ choice, shall not, consistent 5 |
|---|
| 453 | 453 | | with the First Amendment of the Constitution of the 6 |
|---|
| 454 | 454 | | United States— 7 |
|---|
| 455 | 455 | | (A) necessitate any change in the partici-8 |
|---|
| 456 | 456 | | pating school’s teaching mission; 9 |
|---|
| 457 | 457 | | (B) require any private participating 10 |
|---|
| 458 | 458 | | school to remove religious art, icons, scriptures, 11 |
|---|
| 459 | 459 | | or other symbols; or 12 |
|---|
| 460 | 460 | | (C) preclude any private participating 13 |
|---|
| 461 | 461 | | school from retaining religious terms in its 14 |
|---|
| 462 | 462 | | name, selecting its board members on a reli-15 |
|---|
| 463 | 463 | | gious basis, or including religious references in 16 |
|---|
| 464 | 464 | | its mission statements and other chartering or 17 |
|---|
| 465 | 465 | | governing documents. 18 |
|---|
| 466 | 466 | | (f) R |
|---|
| 467 | 467 | | EPORTS.— 19 |
|---|
| 468 | 468 | | (1) A |
|---|
| 469 | 469 | | NNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than July 30 20 |
|---|
| 470 | 470 | | of the year following the year of the date of enact-21 |
|---|
| 471 | 471 | | ment of this Act, and each subsequent year through 22 |
|---|
| 472 | 472 | | the year in which the final report is submitted under 23 |
|---|
| 473 | 473 | | paragraph (2), the Secretary shall prepare and sub-24 |
|---|
| 474 | 474 | | mit to Congress an interim report on the scholar-25 |
|---|
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| 477 | 477 | | •S 487 IS |
|---|
| 478 | 478 | | ships awarded under the pilot program under this 1 |
|---|
| 479 | 479 | | section that includes the content described in para-2 |
|---|
| 480 | 480 | | graph (3) for the applicable school year of the re-3 |
|---|
| 481 | 481 | | port. 4 |
|---|
| 482 | 482 | | (2) F |
|---|
| 483 | 483 | | INAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 5 |
|---|
| 484 | 484 | | after the end of the pilot program under this section, 6 |
|---|
| 485 | 485 | | the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 7 |
|---|
| 486 | 486 | | a report on the scholarships awarded under the pro-8 |
|---|
| 487 | 487 | | gram that includes the content described in para-9 |
|---|
| 488 | 488 | | graph (3) for each school year of the program. 10 |
|---|
| 489 | 489 | | (3) C |
|---|
| 490 | 490 | | ONTENT.—Each annual report under 11 |
|---|
| 491 | 491 | | paragraph (1) and the final report under paragraph 12 |
|---|
| 492 | 492 | | (2) shall contain— 13 |
|---|
| 493 | 493 | | (A) the number of applicants for scholar-14 |
|---|
| 494 | 494 | | ships under this section; 15 |
|---|
| 495 | 495 | | (B) the number, and the average dollar 16 |
|---|
| 496 | 496 | | amount, of scholarships awarded; 17 |
|---|
| 497 | 497 | | (C) the number of participating schools; 18 |
|---|
| 498 | 498 | | (D) the number of elementary school stu-19 |
|---|
| 499 | 499 | | dents receiving scholarships under this section 20 |
|---|
| 500 | 500 | | and the number of secondary school students 21 |
|---|
| 501 | 501 | | receiving such scholarships; and 22 |
|---|
| 502 | 502 | | (E) the results of a survey, conducted by 23 |
|---|
| 503 | 503 | | the Secretary, regarding parental satisfaction 24 |
|---|
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| 506 | 506 | | •S 487 IS |
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| 507 | 507 | | with the scholarship program under this sec-1 |
|---|
| 508 | 508 | | tion. 2 |
|---|
| 509 | 509 | | (g) A |
|---|
| 510 | 510 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 |
|---|
| 511 | 511 | | are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 |
|---|
| 512 | 512 | | $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 5 |
|---|
| 513 | 513 | | (h) O |
|---|
| 514 | 514 | | FFSET INDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONSALA-6 |
|---|
| 515 | 515 | | RIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 7 |
|---|
| 516 | 516 | | fiscal year 2025 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, 8 |
|---|
| 517 | 517 | | the Secretary of Education shall return to the Treasury 9 |
|---|
| 518 | 518 | | $10,000,000 of the amounts made available to the Sec-10 |
|---|
| 519 | 519 | | retary for salaries and expenses of the Department of 11 |
|---|
| 520 | 520 | | Education for such year. 12 |
|---|
| 521 | 521 | | Æ |
|---|
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