Top Legislation - View All

Latest Action: 06/18/2008 - Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

Bill Text
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding environmental education, and for other purposes. 7/12/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Inside Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize states to use federal funds for the development of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) plans for environmental education and teacher training to ensure that high school graduates are environmentally literate. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to partnerships that include a local educational agency (LEA), and may include institutions of higher education (IHE) and other educational or business entities, for activities that include the development of teacher training programs and more rigorous environmental education curricula. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to nonprofit organizations, states, LEAs, or IHEs for activities to improve and support environmental education [...]

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Latest Action: 05/09/2007 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Bill Text
To enable America's schools to use their computer hardware to increase student achievement and prepare students for the 21st century workplace, and for other purposes. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Education for the 21st Century (E-21) Act - Establishes assistance programs for: (1) middle school computer literacy; and (2) high-quality educational software for all schools.Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states (especially those with a priority on training middle school teachers) that integrate into the state curriculum the goal of making all middle school graduates in the state technologically literate. Requires use of such grants for teacher training in technology, emphasizing programs preparing teachers in elementary, middle, and secondary schools to become technology leaders and then serve as experts and train other teachers. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants for students at secondary schools and institutions of higher education [...]

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Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill Text
A bill to authorize resources for a grant program for local educational agencies to create innovation districts. 1/4/2007--Introduced. Innovation Districts for School Improvement Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to 10 urban and 10 non-urban local educational agencies (LEAs) for the creation of innovation districts. Requires the LEAs to: (1) establish tests and longitudinal data systems to track the academic progress of each elementary and secondary school student and use such performance measures in evaluating and awarding school personnel and programs; (2) work with teacher representatives and other community partners to attain the administrative flexibility to staff more equitably all agency schools with effective personnel; (3) evaluate and award effective teachers on the basis of student progress and observations of teacher performance; (4) provide grants to recent college graduates and mid-career professionals to attend LEA-established [...]

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Latest Action: 04/26/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5177)

Bill Text
A bill to authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer learning through summer learning grants.

1/4/2007--Introduced.

Summer Term Education Programs for Upward Performance Act of 2007, or the STEP UP Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive demonstration grants to state educational agencies to pay the federal share of summer learning grants for eligible students to be summer scholars in summer learning opportunity programs primarily designed to increase the literacy and numeracy of such students.

Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S141-142)

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a program to help States expand the educational system to include at least 1 year of early education preceding the year a child enters kindergarten.

1/4/2007--Introduced.

Early Education Act of 2007 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to award matching grants to at least ten states to establish early education programs providing children with at least a half-day of schooling each week day during the academic year preceding kindergarten.

Requires each program to: (1) be carried out by one or more local educational agencies (LEAs), chosen by the state; (2) be available to all children served by the LEA or LEAs carrying out the program; and (3) involve only licensed or certified instructors.

Latest Action: 01/04/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S157-158)

Bill Text
A bill to modernize the education system of the United States. 1/4/2007--Introduced. States Using Collaboration and Coordination to Enhance Standards for Students Act of 2007 or the SUCCESS Act - Amends the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act to require a biennial national assessment of student achievement in grades four and eight, and grade 12 student preparedness, in reading, mathematics, and science. (Currently, science is not included in such assessments and grade 12 assessments need not be biennial.) Requires the Assessment Board's national academic content and student achievement standards to be competitive with rigorous international standards and set at a level that prepares students for non-remedial higher education, participation in the 21st century workforce, and the Armed Forces. Requires the Board, at a state's request, to assist it in identifying discrepancies between its standards and national standards, and in aligning such [...]

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Latest Action: 02/28/2007 - Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S2434 text as passed Senate: CR S2434 text of measure as introduced: CR S2378)

Bill Text
A resolution designating March 2, 2007, as "Read Across America Day".

2/28/2007--Passed Senate without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Designates March 2, 2007, as Read Across America Day.

Honors Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for his success in encouraging children to discover the joy of reading.

Honors the 10th anniversary of Read Across America Day.

Encourages parents to read with their children for at least 30 minutes on Read Across America Day.

Latest Action: 04/10/2007 - By Senator Kennedy from Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions filed written report. Report No. 110-49.

Bill Text
A bill to reauthorize the Head Start Act, and for other purposes. 3/29/2007--Reported to Senate amended.    (There is 1 other summary) Head Start for School Readiness Act - Amends the Head Start Act (the Act) to revise and reauthorize Head Start programs. (Sec. 2) Includes children's growth in language, preliteracy, premathematics, emotional, and physical skills among the aims of Head Start programs. (Sec. 3) Includes community-based organizations and financial literacy training within the definitions of Head Start delegate agencies and family literacy services, respectively. Adds definitions of Head Start deficiencies, homeless children, institutions of higher education, interrater reliability, limited English proficient (LEP) children, and unresolved areas of noncompliance. Removes Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau from the list of program participants. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services [...]

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Latest Action: 02/27/2007 - Star Print ordered on S. 562.

Bill Text
A bill to provide for flexibility and improvements in elementary and secondary education, and for other purposes. 2/13/2007--Introduced. No Child Left Behind Flexibility and Improvements Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise requirements relating to annual yearly progress (AYP) of students and schools, statewide and local accountability systems, special education, limited English proficiency students, funding levels and academic assessment deferrals, highly qualified teachers, and reading activities. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to modify an AYP timeline. Allows states to use: (1) additional types of statewide models and systems for measuring all students' progress; and (2) alternative assessments, designated by their individualized education program plan teams, for students with disabilities. Gives states an option to include as limited English proficiency students, until they complete secondary school,[...]

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Latest Action: 02/15/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill Text
A bill to provide for secondary school reform, and for other purposes. 2/15/2007--Introduced. Pathways for All Students to Succeed Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to establish a program that will provide grants to state educational agencies (SEAs), and direct grants or subgrants through SEAs to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs), to establish literacy and mathematics skills programs to improve overall reading, writing, and mathematics performance among students in middle school and secondary school. Requires LEAs receiving a literacy or mathematics subgrant to hire literacy or mathematics coaches (at least one such coach for every 20 teachers) to work with classroom teachers to carry out specified related activities. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of grants to SEAs and, through them, subgrants to LEAs that: (1) enables a secondary school receiving assistance under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (ESEA) [...]

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Latest Legislation - View All

Latest Action: 03/13/2008 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR 3/14/2008 S2142)

Bill Text
A bill to provide for Kindergarten Plus programs. 3/13/2008--Introduced. Kindergarten Plus Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states to provide Kindergarten Plus (K+) programs of voluntary full days of kindergarten during the summer before and the summer after their traditional kindergarten school year. Directs the Secretary to ensure, to the extent possible, that each grant is of sufficient size to enable the state to provide K+ to all eligible students served by the local educational agencies (LEAs) within the state with the highest concentrations of eligible students. Makes children eligible to participate in such programs if they are: (1) five-years old or will be eligible to attend kindergarten at the beginning of the next school year; (2) from a family with an income at or below 185% of the poverty line; and (3) not already served by a high-quality program in the summer before or the summer after the child enters [...]

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Latest Action: 02/29/2008 - Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S1436; text as passed Senate: CR S1436; text of measure as introduced: CR S1433)

Bill Text
A resolution designating March 3, 2008, as "Read Across America Day".

2/29/2008--Passed Senate without amendment.    (There is 1 other summary)

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Designates March 3, 2008, as Read Across America Day.

Honors Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for his success in encouraging children to discover the joy of reading.

Honors the 11th anniversary of Read Across America Day.

Encourages parents to read with their children for at least 30 minutes on Read Across America Day.

Latest Action: 12/11/2007 - Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Bill Text
To aid and support pediatric involvement in reading and education.

12/11/2007--Introduced.

Prescribe A Book Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Pediatric Early Literacy program under which the Secretary of Education awards matching grants to nonprofit organizations for the implementation of three-part models through which: (1) health care providers encourage parents to read aloud to their children and offer them recommendations and strategies for doing so; (2) health care providers give each visiting child between the ages of six months and five-years a new, developmentally appropriate children's book to take home and keep; and (3) volunteers reading to children in health care facility waiting areas show parents the techniques and pleasures of reading aloud to children.

Requires that the books provided to children under the program be obtained at a discount.

Latest Action: 02/05/2008 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Bill Text
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize additional flexibility to a State with an unemployment rate that is equal to or greater than 125 percent of the national unemployment rate to transfer funds among programs made available to such State by various provisions of that Act, and for other purposes.

12/4/2007--Introduced.

Maximizing the Use of Federal Education Funds for Job Creation Act of 2007 - Authorizes states with unemployment rates that equal or exceed 125% of the national unemployment rate to consolidate or transfer, without limitation, any funds made available to them from specified formula grant programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

Latest Action: 01/22/2008 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.

Bill Text
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish an instructional level assessment pilot program. 11/6/2007--Introduced. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to: (1) award competitive grants to up to 10 states for pilot programs to determine the effectiveness of assessing disabled students who are achieving significantly below grade-level proficiency at their instructional level; and (2) provide quality instruction to such students. Requires each grantee to identify a minimum of five local educational agencies (LEAs) to participate in its pilot program and limit student participation to 0.5% of the students assessed in each participating LEA. Requires such states and LEAs to ensure that each participating student's individualized education program team: (1) administers, after securing parental consent, a scientifically-valid and reliable assessment based on the student's instructional [...]

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Latest Action: 01/15/2008 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.

Bill Text
To provide grants to colleges to improve remedial education (including English language instruction), to customize remediation to student career goals, and to help students move rapidly from remediation into for-credit occupation program courses and through program completion.

11/1/2007--Introduced.

Bridges from Jobs to Careers Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to improve remedial education, customize remediation to student career goals, and help remedial students progress into and through for-credit occupational programs.

Gives grant priority to IHEs: (1) in which at least 50% of the first-year students are enrolled in remedial courses designed to give them collegiate reading, writing, or mathematics skills; and (2) that propose to collaborate with adult education providers and replicate practices that have proven effective with adults.

Latest Action: 10/24/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill Text
A bill to provide grants to States to ensure that all students in the middle grades are taught an academically rigorous curriculum with effective supports so that students complete the middle grades prepared for success in high school and postsecondary endeavors, to improve State and district policies and programs relating to the academic achievement of students in the middle grades, to develop and implement effective middle school models for struggling students, and for other purposes. 10/24/2007--Introduced. Success in the Middle Act of 2007 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to states, based on their proportion of poor children aged 5 to 17, to: (1) implement state middle school needs analyses and, on the basis of such analyses, improvement plans that describe what students must master to successfully complete the middle grades and succeed in academically rigorous high school coursework; and (2) award competitive matching subgrants to local educational [...]

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Latest Action: 10/17/2007 - Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13000)

Bill Text
A bill to provide for educational opportunities for all students in State public school systems, and for other purposes. 10/17/2007--Introduced. Student Bill of Rights - Directs the Secretary of Education to make annual determinations as to whether each state's public school system provides all its students with educational resources to succeed academically and in life. Requires such education to enable students to: (1) acquire knowledge and skills necessary for responsible citizenship; (2) meet challenging academic achievement standards; and (3) compete and succeed in a global economy. Requires each system to do so by: (1) providing specified fundamentals of educational opportunity to students at each public elementary and secondary school; (2) providing educational services in school districts that receive funds for disadvantaged students that are at least comparable to educational services provided in school districts not receiving such funds; and (3) complying with [...]

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Latest Action: 10/04/2007 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Bill Text
A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish pilot programs in expanded school attendance. 10/4/2007--Introduced. Expanded Education Act - Amends title I of the the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to create a new part I (Expanded Education) program awarding grants to states for the conduct of separate expanded day, week, or year pilot programs. Requires that for each of the expanded day and week programs at least: (1) 20 schools in each small state and 50 schools in each large state participate; (2) 50% of each participating school's student population consist of low-income students; (3) one entire grade in each participating school be involved in the program. Requires each expanded day and week program to: (1) increase student proficiency in reading and language arts, and mathematics; (2) provide education in new areas or directions, so that it is not wholly remedial; and (3) include sufficient recreational,[...]

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Latest Action: 10/04/2007 - Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Bill Text
To award competitive grants to eligible partnerships to enable the partnerships to implement innovative strategies at the secondary school level to improve student achievement and prepare at-risk students for postsecondary education and the workforce. 10/4/2007--Introduced. Getting Retention and Diplomas Up Among Today's Enrolled Students Act or the GRADUATES Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a Secondary School Innovation Fund program awarding competitive matching grants to partnerships, which must include at least one state or local educational agency, for the implementation of innovative strategies to improve the achievement of at-risk students in secondary schools. Permits partnerships to award subgrants to schools for the implementation of such strategies. Lists activities, one or more of which grantees or subgrantees must implement, that include: (1) creating multiple pathways that [...]

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