“A bill to establish an Educational Equity Challenge Grant program administered by the Department of Education.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes an Educational Equity Challenge Grant program, under which the Secretary of Education awards grants to eligible entities—including local educational agencies (LEAs), LEA consortia, state educational agencies (SEAs), educational service agencies, certain nonprofit partnerships with LEAs, and the Bureau of Indian Education (but excluding for-profits)—to adopt or implement evidence-based interventions or grantee-evaluated field- and educator-initiated proposals addressing students' academic, social-emotional, mental, behavioral, and physical health needs (including those associated with the COVID-19 pandemic), provided such activities meet the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's strong evidence standard. For funds appropriated to carry out the program, the Secretary may use up to 5% for administration (including technical assistance and dissemination of best practices) and must reserve 5% for outlying areas and the Bureau of Indian Education to serve Bureau-operated or funded schools. Of the remaining funds, the Secretary must allocate 75% to evidence-based proposals and 25% to field- and educator-initiated proposals; not less than 25% to rural eligible entities (i.e., those or their majority-served schools with locale codes 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43) and not less than 50% to those serving student populations where 20% or more of school-age children live in low-income families (per Census Bureau Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates), with exceptions if insufficient qualified applications are received. (Thus, dual-eligible rural-low-income entities may satisfy both set-asides.) Within 90 days of enactment, the Secretary must publish grant applications and post Department of Education website resources on evidence-based activities; eligible entities must apply with details on identified student inequities, among other requirements.