Legis Daily

SOAR Reauthorization Act

USA115th CongressHR-1387| House 
| Updated: 3/27/2017
Jason Chaffetz

Jason Chaffetz

Republican Representative

Utah

Cosponsors (10)
Mark Meadows (Republican)Andy Harris (Republican)Tim Walberg (Republican)Todd Rokita (Republican)Luke Messer (Republican)Ron DeSantis (Republican)Steve Russell (Republican)Daniel Lipinski (Democratic)Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (Republican)Virginia Foxx (Republican)

Oversight and Government Reform Committee

  • Introduced
  • In Committee
  • On Floor
  • Passed Chamber
  • Enacted
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act or the SOAR Reauthorization Act (Sec. 2) This bill repeals the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program School Certification Requirements Act, as contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. (Sec. 3) The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) is amended to limit its focus to students in the lowest-performing Washington, DC, elementary and secondary schools. (Sec. 4) The Department of Education (ED) shall not limit the number of eligible students receiving Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) scholarships, or prevent otherwise eligible students from participating in the OSP because of: the type of school the student previously attended; whether or not the individual previously received the scholarship or participated in OSP, including one previously awarded a scholarship who did not use it; or was a member of the control group used by the Institute of Education Sciences to carry out previous OSP evaluations. (Sec. 5) An eligible nonprofit organization's application for an OSP grant must include how it will ensure: the financial viability of a participating school in which 85% or more of enrolled students receive and use an opportunity scholarship, utilization of internal fiscal and quality controls and compliance with financial reporting requirements. (Sec. 6) Priorities for the award of scholarships are modified to give priority to: students who in the preceding school year attended a low-achieving elementary or secondary school, and certain students regardless of whether they have attended a private school. (Sec. 7) OSP-participating schools must: ensure that participating students are taught core subject matter by a teacher with a baccalaureate or equivalent degree, conduct criminal background checks on school employees who have direct and unsupervised interactions with students, and comply with all requests for data and information regarding certain reporting requirements. Participating private schools must be provisionally or fully accredited or in the process of seeking accreditation. ED must make OSP funds available to eligible entities receiving a grant for administrative expenses and parental education and assistance. (Sec. 8) The bill revises current OSP evaluation procedures. ED shall ensure that evaluation of the OSP is conducted using an acceptable quasi-experimental research design for determining the effectiveness of the opportunity scholarship program under this division that does not use a control study group consisting of students who applied for but did not receive opportunity scholarships. The bill revises the duties of the ED Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) to repeal the requirement for a grade appropriate, nationally norm-referenced standardized test each school year to assess participating eligible students. IES shall instead assess participating eligible students who use an opportunity scholarship in each of grades 3 through 8, as well as one of the high school level grades, by supervising the administration of a specified reading and mathematics assessment used by the DC public schools. The issues to be assessed shall exclude OSP success in increasing parental involvement of such parents in the education of their children, but include: a comparison of the academic achievement of participating eligible students who use an opportunity scholarship to the academic achievement of a comparison group of students with similar backgrounds in the DC public schools and DC public charter schools (instead of the academic growth and achievement of the eligible students in the same grades who sought to participate in the OSP but were not selected); a comparison of the college enrollment rates, college persistence rates, and college graduation rates of students who participated in the program in specified years as the result of winning the OSP lottery with the enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates for students who entered but did not win the lottery in those years and who, as a result, served as the control group for previous evaluations of the program; as well as an assessment of student academic achievement at participating schools in which 85% of the total number of students enrolled at the school are participating eligible students who receive and use an opportunity scholarship. The prohibition against any disclosure of personally identifiable information shall be replaced with specified requirements for such a disclosure. (Sec. 9) The specified authorized OSP funds that ED may withhold for noncompliance with SOAR requirements shall be differentiated based on whether the noncompliance relates to the DC public schools, to the DC public charter schools, or to both. Funds provided under this bill to support DC public charter schools may be directed to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for transfer to subgrantee public charter schools or networks of such schools, or DC-based non-profit organizations with successful experience with them. (Sec. 10) ED and the Mayor shall revise a specified memorandum of understanding to ensure that participating schools meet fire code standards and maintain certificates of occupancy. (Sec. 12) The bill reauthorizes the OSP through FY2022. (Sec. 13) This bill shall apply beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.

Bill Text Versions

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Timeline
Mar 7, 2017
Introduced in House
Mar 7, 2017
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Mar 10, 2017
Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
Mar 10, 2017
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Mar 27, 2017
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 34.
Mar 27, 2017
Reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 115-62.
  • March 7, 2017
    Introduced in House


  • March 7, 2017
    Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.


  • March 10, 2017
    Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.


  • March 10, 2017
    Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.


  • March 27, 2017
    Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 34.


  • March 27, 2017
    Reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 115-62.

Education

Related Bills

  • HR 115-244: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017
Academic performance and assessmentsCriminal justice information and recordsDistrict of ColumbiaEducational facilities and institutionsEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationHigher educationPersonnel recordsScience and engineering educationStudent aid and college costsStudent recordsTeaching, teachers, curricula

SOAR Reauthorization Act

USA115th CongressHR-1387| House 
| Updated: 3/27/2017
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.) Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Reauthorization Act or the SOAR Reauthorization Act (Sec. 2) This bill repeals the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program School Certification Requirements Act, as contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016. (Sec. 3) The Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act (SOAR) is amended to limit its focus to students in the lowest-performing Washington, DC, elementary and secondary schools. (Sec. 4) The Department of Education (ED) shall not limit the number of eligible students receiving Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) scholarships, or prevent otherwise eligible students from participating in the OSP because of: the type of school the student previously attended; whether or not the individual previously received the scholarship or participated in OSP, including one previously awarded a scholarship who did not use it; or was a member of the control group used by the Institute of Education Sciences to carry out previous OSP evaluations. (Sec. 5) An eligible nonprofit organization's application for an OSP grant must include how it will ensure: the financial viability of a participating school in which 85% or more of enrolled students receive and use an opportunity scholarship, utilization of internal fiscal and quality controls and compliance with financial reporting requirements. (Sec. 6) Priorities for the award of scholarships are modified to give priority to: students who in the preceding school year attended a low-achieving elementary or secondary school, and certain students regardless of whether they have attended a private school. (Sec. 7) OSP-participating schools must: ensure that participating students are taught core subject matter by a teacher with a baccalaureate or equivalent degree, conduct criminal background checks on school employees who have direct and unsupervised interactions with students, and comply with all requests for data and information regarding certain reporting requirements. Participating private schools must be provisionally or fully accredited or in the process of seeking accreditation. ED must make OSP funds available to eligible entities receiving a grant for administrative expenses and parental education and assistance. (Sec. 8) The bill revises current OSP evaluation procedures. ED shall ensure that evaluation of the OSP is conducted using an acceptable quasi-experimental research design for determining the effectiveness of the opportunity scholarship program under this division that does not use a control study group consisting of students who applied for but did not receive opportunity scholarships. The bill revises the duties of the ED Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) to repeal the requirement for a grade appropriate, nationally norm-referenced standardized test each school year to assess participating eligible students. IES shall instead assess participating eligible students who use an opportunity scholarship in each of grades 3 through 8, as well as one of the high school level grades, by supervising the administration of a specified reading and mathematics assessment used by the DC public schools. The issues to be assessed shall exclude OSP success in increasing parental involvement of such parents in the education of their children, but include: a comparison of the academic achievement of participating eligible students who use an opportunity scholarship to the academic achievement of a comparison group of students with similar backgrounds in the DC public schools and DC public charter schools (instead of the academic growth and achievement of the eligible students in the same grades who sought to participate in the OSP but were not selected); a comparison of the college enrollment rates, college persistence rates, and college graduation rates of students who participated in the program in specified years as the result of winning the OSP lottery with the enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates for students who entered but did not win the lottery in those years and who, as a result, served as the control group for previous evaluations of the program; as well as an assessment of student academic achievement at participating schools in which 85% of the total number of students enrolled at the school are participating eligible students who receive and use an opportunity scholarship. The prohibition against any disclosure of personally identifiable information shall be replaced with specified requirements for such a disclosure. (Sec. 9) The specified authorized OSP funds that ED may withhold for noncompliance with SOAR requirements shall be differentiated based on whether the noncompliance relates to the DC public schools, to the DC public charter schools, or to both. Funds provided under this bill to support DC public charter schools may be directed to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education for transfer to subgrantee public charter schools or networks of such schools, or DC-based non-profit organizations with successful experience with them. (Sec. 10) ED and the Mayor shall revise a specified memorandum of understanding to ensure that participating schools meet fire code standards and maintain certificates of occupancy. (Sec. 12) The bill reauthorizes the OSP through FY2022. (Sec. 13) This bill shall apply beginning with the 2018-2019 school year.

Bill Text Versions

View Text
2 versions available

Suggested Questions

Get AI-generated questions to help you understand this bill better

Timeline
Mar 7, 2017
Introduced in House
Mar 7, 2017
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Mar 10, 2017
Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
Mar 10, 2017
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Mar 27, 2017
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 34.
Mar 27, 2017
Reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 115-62.
  • March 7, 2017
    Introduced in House


  • March 7, 2017
    Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.


  • March 10, 2017
    Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.


  • March 10, 2017
    Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.


  • March 27, 2017
    Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 34.


  • March 27, 2017
    Reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. H. Rept. 115-62.
Jason Chaffetz

Jason Chaffetz

Republican Representative

Utah

Cosponsors (10)
Mark Meadows (Republican)Andy Harris (Republican)Tim Walberg (Republican)Todd Rokita (Republican)Luke Messer (Republican)Ron DeSantis (Republican)Steve Russell (Republican)Daniel Lipinski (Democratic)Rodney P. Frelinghuysen (Republican)Virginia Foxx (Republican)

Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Education

Related Bills

  • HR 115-244: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017
  • Introduced
  • In Committee
  • On Floor
  • Passed Chamber
  • Enacted
Academic performance and assessmentsCriminal justice information and recordsDistrict of ColumbiaEducational facilities and institutionsEducation programs fundingElementary and secondary educationHigher educationPersonnel recordsScience and engineering educationStudent aid and college costsStudent recordsTeaching, teachers, curricula