January 31, 1997
School Choice: The Right to Learn in Safe Schools
- Provides children from low-income families who must attend unsafe schools with the option of attending safer schools.
- Authorizes $50 million for FY98 school choice pilot programs of which no more than 15% can be used for administration of the plan.
- Students assisted under this section shall remain eligible to continue receiving assistance for at least three academic years.
- These monies may be used to develop, establish, and operate programs that are designed to protect victims of, and witnesses to, incidents of elementary and secondary school violence, including programs designed to protect witnesses testifying in school disciplinary proceedings.
- Priority of aid will be given to programs that provide for the suspension, delay, or restriction of driving privileges of persons under the age of 18 who have a conviction, an adjudication in a juvenile proceeding, or a finding in a school disciplinary proceeding, involving illegal drugs.
State School Choice Programs:
- Amends ESEA to provide scholarships or vouchers to parents to select the public or private, including sectarian, school that the parent's child will attend.
Same Gender Education:
- Amends ESEA to allow "education reform projects that provide same gender schools, as long as comparable educational opportunities are offered for students of both sexes.
Merit Pay:
- Amends ESEA to allow "education reform projects that reward teachers, administrators, and schools with cash bonuses and other incentives for significantly improving the academic performance of their students."
Bob Dole Education Investment Accounts (EIA)
- A single EIA may not be established for more than one individual per family. Families must establish a separate EIA for each child.
- No contribution will be accepted after the date on which the account holder attains age 18.
Employer-Provided Educational Assistance
State Pre-Paid Tuition Plans
- Permanently extends the tax exclusion benefits of employer-provided educational assistance.
- Repeals limitation on employer-provided educational assistance for graduate level work including law, business, medical or other advanced academic discipline.
- Repeals current law to make any pre-paid higher education disbursement tax free.
Deduction for Student Loan Interest
- Persons shall be allowed to deduct, up to a maximum of $2,500, an amount equal to the annual interest paid on any qualified education loan.
- The maximum deduction is limited for persons with modified adjusted gross incomes above $45,000 ($65,000 in the case of a joint return).
- Deductions are allowed during the first 60 months (whether or not consecutive) in which interest payments are required.
Work-Study Exclusion
- Excludes from gross income any monies received through Federal work study programs operated under Section 441 of the Higher Educational Act of 1965.
- The IDEA is authorized for "not less than" the following amounts:
Year Authorized Funding FY98 $4,107,522 FY99 $5,607,522 FY2000 $7,107,522 FY01 $8,607,522 FY02 $10,107,522 FY03 $11,607,522 FY04 $13,107,522* * and "such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year."
- Adult education programs are authorized at $400 million for FY98, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003.
- Eligible agencies must identify and develop "proposed quantifiable benchmarks to measure the progress" of: improvements in literacy skill levels; attainment of secondary school diplomas or general equivalency diplomas; placement in, retention in, or completion of, post-secondary education, training, or employment; and attainment of the literacy skills and knowledge individuals need to be productive and responsible citizens and to become more actively involved in the education of their children.
National Institute for Literacy
- The Institute shall improve the quality and accountability of the adult basic skills and literacy delivery system.
- The Institute may award fellowships to outstanding individuals pursuing careers in adult education or literacy in the areas of instruction, management, research, or innovation.
- The National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board consists of 10 individuals appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
- Each member of the Board shall be appointed for a term of three years and may be appointed for no more than two consecutive terms.
- The Institute is authorized $10 million for FY98 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003 to carry out this section.
Demonstration Programs to Promote Literacy
- Provides in-service training for teachers, pre-service training for teachers, and training opportunities for parents, community volunteers, and other persons interested in obtaining language acquisition and systematic phonics skills for the purpose of improving their literacy or the literacy skills of children or other adults.
- Authorization of $100 million for FY98 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four succeeding fiscal years.
National Commission on Literacy
- The Commission shall consist of fifteen members -- the President, the Speaker of the House, and the Majority Leader of the Senate each appointing five members.
- The Commission shall examine matters including the following:
- requirements for prospective reading teachers studying at colleges of education; whether such requirements include obtaining knowledge about direct, intensive, and systematic phonics; a review of the available testing instruments; an assessment of experimentally unverified teaching methods; a review of medical and neurological aspects of reading; and a review of the cost of illiteracy to business and industry.
- Authorization for such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 1998 through 2000.
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