[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3184 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3184
To make grants to States to implement statewide portal initiatives, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24 (legislative day, June 23), 2008
Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To make grants to States to implement statewide portal initiatives, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Empowering Teaching and Learning
Through Education Portals Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 21st century skills.--The term ``21st century
skills''--
(A) means skills that students need to succeed in
school, work, and life; and
(B) includes--
(i) skills related either to core academic
subjects or to 21st century themes;
(ii) learning and innovation skills, such
as--
(I) creativity and innovation;
(II) critical thinking and problem
solving; or
(III) communication and
collaboration; and
(iii) life and career skills to prepare
students for the global economy, such as--
(I) flexibility and adaptability;
(II) productivity and
accountability; or
(III) leadership and
responsibility.
(2) Core academic subjects; educational agencies; schools;
state.--The terms ``core academic subjects'', ``elementary
school'', ``local educational agency'', ``secondary school'',
``State'', and ``State educational agency'' have the meanings
given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) Covered educator.--The term ``covered educator'' means
a teacher, administrator, or other professional staff member,
at a covered school.
(4) Covered parent.--The term ``covered parent'' means the
parent of a covered student.
(5) Covered school.--The term ``covered school'' means a
Head Start agency operating a Head Start program, or a public
school that is a preschool, elementary school, secondary
school, or institution of higher education (including such an
institution offering a program leading to a baccalaureate
degree or a program leading to an advanced degree).
(6) Covered student.--The term ``covered student'' means a
student at a covered school.
(7) Covered teacher.--The term ``covered teacher'' means a
teacher at a covered school.
(8) Education technology.--The term ``education
technology'' means any technology resource that improves the
learning, training, and engagement of students or helps
teachers learn, improve their knowledge, and practice.
(9) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002).
(10) Professional development.--The term ``professional
development'' means a resource or training that increases a
teacher's skills, content knowledge, or other information that
has a positive impact on student learning.
(11) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
SEC. 3. GRANTS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary may award grants to eligible States,
to pay for the Federal share of the cost of implementing and
maintaining education portal initiatives.
(b) Amounts.--The Secretary may award the grants for periods of not
less than 1 year and not more than 3 years.
(c) Federal Share.--
(1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost described in
subsection (a) shall be 50 percent.
(2) Non-federal share.--The State may provide the non-
Federal share of the cost in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated,
including plant, equipment, or services. The State may provide
the non-Federal share from State, local, or private sources.
SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS AND AWARDS.
(a) In General.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section for an initiative, a State shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information
as the Secretary may require.
(b) Contents.--The application shall contain, at a minimum--
(1) a comprehensive plan for the initiative for which the
State seeks the grant, including evidence that the initiative
meets the requirements of subsections (a) and (c) of section 5;
(2) information describing how the State will provide the
non-Federal share of the cost described in section 3(a), and
will continue to provide that share during the implementation
of the initiative and the remainder of the grant period;
(3) information describing how the State will meet the
maintenance of effort requirements in section 6;
(4) information explaining the protocol the State will use
to ensure safe and legal access to the education portal;
(5) an assurance that the State has established or will
establish an advisory panel, to provide advice on the
implementation and maintenance of the initiative, including
representatives of leaders in school districts, leaders at
institutions of higher education, State educational agencies,
parents, and teachers; and
(6) a plan to ensure sufficient statewide bandwidth
capacity and systems access to implement and maintain the State
education portal.
(c) Awards.--In determining the amounts of grants under this Act,
the Secretary--
(1) shall take into consideration the extent to which a
State has developed and implemented an education portal
initiative prior to the date of the submission of the
application involved; but
(2) shall not penalize States that have made greater
progress in developing and implementing such initiatives.
SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.
(a) Required Uses.--A State that receives a grant under this Act
for a fiscal year shall use the funds made available through the grant
to implement or maintain an education portal initiative that includes--
(1) collecting and making available--
(A) high quality resources (including data, tools,
and digital media content) for covered educators,
covered students, and covered parents, that support
teaching, leading, and learning, and are, as
appropriate, aligned with State education standards;
and
(B) information for covered teachers to use in
assisting covered students to attain skills such as
21st century skills; and
(2) collecting resources for ongoing and sustainable
professional development for covered educators, related to the
use of education technology, and making the resources available
through the implementation of research-based methods and
strategies for teacher coaching, collaborating, or mentoring.
(b) Allowable Uses.--The State may use the funds made available
through the grant for such an initiative, for a portal that--
(1) gives covered educators access to formative assessment
and other resources to address various student learning styles,
needs, and achievement levels;
(2) provides an entry point to other information or
services, including information on model examples of effective
classroom practices, subscriptions or data systems, content
standards, lesson plans, courses of study, engaging interactive
media, Web resources, e-mail list management software, online
portfolios, after-school program resources, and other
educational resources;
(3) provides access to technology-based curriculum
resources and tools that promote the teaching and learning of
21st century skills;
(4) enables covered educators to quickly search for lesson
plans, professional development resources, model examples of
effective classroom practices, or other resources, by content
standard, grade level, or topic;
(5) provides an online support network or community for
covered educators to collaborate on and discuss teaching,
learning, curricula, and experiences, and serves as a
communication tool between covered educators and covered
parents;
(6) includes digital media content developed by a
television public broadcasting entity in coordination with the
grant recipient; or
(7) makes available access to 1 or more resource sections
of the education portal, subject to the protocol described in
section 4(b)(4), by covered education, covered students, and
covered parents, from other States (with no requirement for
State-specific log-ins), so that those covered educators,
covered students, and covered parents can benefit from
resources developed in the State, thereby expanding access to
the national learning community.
(c) Provision of and Access to Resources.--The covered educators,
covered students, and covered parents in the State may provide
resources and information for the education portal, subject to the
protocol described in section 4(b)(4). The resources and information in
the education portal shall be accessible statewide by the educators,
students, and parents, subject to the protocol.
(d) Other Federal Funds.--A State that receives a grant under part
A of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) may use funds made available through that grant to
maintain (but not implement) the State's education portal initiative
under this Act, after the end of the period in which the State receives
funding under this Act.
(e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 2113(a) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(a)) is amended by
striking ``A'' and inserting ``Subject to section 5 of the Empowering
Teaching and Learning Through Education Portals Act, a''.
SEC. 6. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.
(a) In General.--A State that receives a grant under this Act for a
fiscal year shall maintain the expenditures of the State for education
portal initiatives at a level not less than the level of such
expenditures of the State for the fiscal year preceding the first
fiscal year for which the State received such a grant.
(b) Reduction.--If the Secretary determines that a State, during a
fiscal year, expends less than the sum required to comply with
subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(1) determine the difference between the required sum and
the expenditure; and
(2) reduce the State's grant under this Act for the
following year by the amount of the difference.
SEC. 7. EVALUATIONS AND CONFERENCE.
(a) Federal Evaluation.--The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation
of each initiative funded under this Act. The Secretary shall submit a
report containing the results of the evaluation to Congress.
(b) Federal Conference.--Not less often than once every 2 years,
the Secretary shall hold a conference for advisory panels described in
section 4(b)(5), to share information on best practices relating to
education portal initiatives.
(c) State Evaluations.--Each State that receives a grant under this
Act shall conduct an evaluation of the initiative funded under the
grant, using funds provided as part of the non-Federal share of the
costs described in section 3(a). The State shall prepare and submit to
the Secretary a report containing the results of the evaluation.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012, and such sums
as may be necessary for each of the following 2 fiscal years.
SEC. 9. SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO CORPORATE CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO
EDUCATION PORTAL PROJECTS OF ELIGIBLE STATES.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of Section 170(b) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (related to percentage limitations) is amended by
redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively, and by inserting
after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph:
``(B) Special rule for corporate contributions to
education portal projects of eligible states.--
``(i) In general.--In the case of qualified
education portal project contributions--
``(I) subparagraph (A) shall be
applied separately with respect to such
contributions and with respect to other
charitable contributions of the
taxpayer, and
``(II) in applying subparagraph (A)
to such qualified education portal
project contributions, subparagraph (A)
shall be applied by substituting `50
percent' for `10 percent'.
``(ii) Qualified education portal project
contribution.--For purposes of this paragraph,
the term `qualified education portal project
contribution' means a charitable contribution
in cash--
``(I) to a State (as defined in
section 2 of the Empowering Teaching
and Learning Through Education Portals
Act) which has a grant application
approved under section 4 of such Act,
and
``(II) for the purpose of paying
the non-Federal share of the cost of
implementing and maintaining education
portal initiatives (within the meaning
of section 3 of such Act).''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to contributions made after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
<all>