THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT GO TO
Next Hit Forward New Bills Search
Prev Hit Back HomePage
Hit List Best Sections Help
Doc Contents
H.R.2505
Educating America's Girls Act (Introduced in the House)
SEC. 5. SCHOOL SAFETY FOR GIRLS.
(a) SEXUAL HARASSMENT PREVENTION TRAINING GRANTS-
(1) SHORT TITLE- This subsection may be cited as the `Sexual Harassment
Prevention Training Grants Act'.
(2) FINDINGS- Congress makes the following findings:
(A) Sexual harassment in schools is an illegal form of discrimination
on the basis of sex banned under title IX of the Education Amendment of
1972.
(B) The vast majority of secondary school students experience some
form of sexual harassment.
(C) Girls are disproportionately affected by sexual
harassment.
(D) The American Association of University Women Educational
Foundation's 1993 survey of 8th through 11th grade students on sexual
harassment in schools, entitled `Hostile Hallways', found that--
(i) 85 percent of girls experienced some form of sexual
harassment;
(ii) 65 percent of girls who have been harassed were harassed in the
classroom; and
(iii) 81 percent of girls who have been harassed do not report the
harassment to adults.
(E) A 1996 University of Michigan study showed that sexual harassment
can result in academic problems such as paying less attention in class.
The study found that--
(i) 33 percent of girls do not want to go to school at all due to
the stress and anxiety the girls suffer as a result of sexual
harassment; and
(ii) nearly 1 in 4 girls report that harassment caused the girls to
stay home from school or cut a class.
(F) Schools have not responded well to the issue of sexual
harassment.
(G) Few schools have or effectively enforce sexual harassment
policies.
(H) The least progress has been made in the area of sexual harassment
compared to any other gender equity issue in education.
(3) STATEMENT OF PURPOSES- It is the purpose of this subsection
to--
(A) train teachers and administrators in identifying and preventing
sexual harassment; and
(B) reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in elementary schools
and secondary schools.
(4) PROGRAM AUTHORITY; AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS-
(A) PROGRAM AUTHORITY- The Secretary is authorized to carry out a
program of awarding grants to eligible grant recipients to enable the
eligible grant recipients to train teachers and administrators in
identifying and preventing sexual harassment.
(B) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENTS- The Secretary is authorized to award
grants under this section to State educational agencies, local educational
agencies, or other private and public agencies and organizations for the
planning, developing, or carrying out the activities described in
paragraph (1).
(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year
2000, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding
fiscal years.
(b) ESEA AMENDMENTS- Title
IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 4113(d)(2)(C)(ii) (20 U.S.C. 7113(d)(2)(C)(ii))--
(A) in subclause (VIII), by striking `and' after the
semicolon;
(B) in subclause (IX), by striking the period and inserting `; and';
and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
`(X) high rates of reported incidences of sexual harassment and
abuse.';
(2) in section 4114(c) (20 U.S.C. 7114(c))--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (10), (11), and (12) as paragraphs
(11), (12), and (13), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
`(10) developing and implementing strategies and programs to greatly
reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and abuse and to encourage
positive and respectful interactions between girls and boys;';
(3) in section 4116(a)(1) (20 U.S.C. 7116(a)(1))--
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking `and' after the
semicolon;
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D);
and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
`(C) greatly reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and abuse;
and'; and
(4) in section 4117(a)(2)(A) (20 U.S.C. 7117(a)(2)(A)), by inserting `,
including sexual harassment and abuse,' after `violence'.
SEC. 6. HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC PROGRAM DATA.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Girls who play sports have better physical and emotional health than
girls who do not play sports.
(2) Involvement in sports leads to higher self-esteem, positive
attitudes toward school, and less destructive behavior.
(3) Sports build girls' confidence, sense of physical empowerment, and
social recognition within the school and community.
(4) Higher rates of athletic participation are associated with lower
rates of sexual activity and pregnancy.
(5) Physical activity is linked to lower rates of heart disease, breast
cancer, and osteoporosis in later life.
(6) Girls in secondary school who participate in team sports are--
(A) 40 percent less likely to drop out of school;
(B) 33 percent less likely to become pregnant; and
(C) less likely to smoke cigarettes.
(7) By secondary school graduation, girls are less prone to have elected
physical education and are twice as likely to be inactive as boys.
(8) Girls who are not involved in physical activity by age 10 have only
a 10 percent chance of being athletic when the girls are 25.
(9) Students involved in extracurricular activities, such as secondary
school sports, were 3 times as likely to perform in the top quartile on
mathematics and reading assessments.
(10) 80 percent of female managers of Fortune 500 companies have a
sports background.
(b) AMENDMENTS- Section 404(a)(1) of the National Education Statistics Act
of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9003(a)(1)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (G), (H), and (I) as subparagraphs
(H), (I), and (J), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (F) the following new
subparagraph:
`(G) the participation, by gender, of secondary school students in
physical education and athletic programs;'.
SEC. 7. DROPOUT PREVENTION FOR PREGNANT AND PARENTING TEENAGERS.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Five out of every 100 young adults enrolled in secondary school in
1996 left school without successfully completing a secondary school
program.
(2) In October of 1997, 3,600,000 young adults, or 11 percent of young
adults between the ages of 16 and 24 in the United States, were neither
enrolled in a secondary school program nor had the young adults completed
secondary school.
(3) Girls who drop out of school are less likely to return and complete
school than boys.
(4) The United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of any
industrialized nation.
(5) Almost 1,000,000 teenagers become pregnant each year and 80 percent
of the pregnancies are unintended.
(6) Pregnancy and parenting account for half of the female school
dropout rate and for 1/4 of the school dropout rate for all students.
(7) Two-thirds of girls who give birth before age 18 will not complete
secondary school.
(8) The younger the adolescent is when she becomes pregnant, the more
likely it is that she will not complete secondary school.
(b) ESEA AMENDMENTS- The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is
amended--
(1) in section 5404(d) (20 U.S.C. 7264(d))--
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking `and' after the semicolon;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new
paragraph:
`(2) provisions that emphasize mentoring and other support services for
pregnant and parenting teenagers; and';
(2) in section 10905 (20 U.S.C. 8245)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (10), (11), (12), and (13), as
paragraphs (11), (12), (13), and (14), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following:
`(10) mentoring and other support services for pregnant and parenting
teenagers to encourage the teenagers to stay in school.';
(3) in section 11001(a) (20 U.S.C. 8401(a))--
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting `teenage pregnancy,' after `gang
violence,'; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by inserting `and so that children will be
discouraged from dropping out of school' before the period; and
(4) in section 11004(c) (20 U.S.C. 8404(c))--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting `and an assessment of the needs of
children requiring specialized comprehensive services such as students who
are pregnant or parenting' after `foster children'; and
(B) in paragraph (7), by inserting `, or families with pregnant or
parenting children in school,' after `families'.
SEC. 8. WOMEN'S EDUCATIONAL EQUITY.
Part B of title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 7231 et seq.) is amended to read as follows:
`SEC. 5201. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
`(a) SHORT TITLE- This part may be cited as the `Women's Educational
Equity Act of 1999'.
`(b) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--
`(1) since the enactment of title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972, women and girls have made strides in educational achievement and in
their ability to avail themselves of educational opportunities;
`(2) because of funding provided under the Women's Educational Equity
Act of 1994, more curricula, training, and other educational materials
concerning educational equity for women and girls are available for national
dissemination;
`(3) teaching and learning practices in the United States are frequently
inequitable as such practices relate to women and girls, for example--
`(A) sexual harassment, particularly that experienced by girls,
undermines the ability of schools to provide a safe and equitable learning
or workplace environment;
`(B) classroom textbooks and other educational materials do not
sufficiently reflect the experiences, achievements, or concerns of women
and, in most cases, are not written by women or persons of color;
`(C) girls do not take as many mathematics and science courses as
boys, girls lose confidence in their mathematics and science ability as
girls move through adolescence, and there are few women role models in the
sciences;
`(D) the low number of girls taking higher level computer science
courses leading to technical careers, and the low degree of participation
of women in the development of education technology, will perpetuate a
cycle of disadvantage for girls in elementary schools and secondary
schools as technology is increasingly integrated into the classroom;
and
`(E) pregnant and parenting teenagers are at high risk for dropping
out of school and existing dropout prevention programs do not adequately
address the needs of such teenagers;
`(4) efforts to improve the quality of public education also must
include efforts to ensure equal access to quality education programs for all
women and girls;
`(5) Federal support not only should address research and development of
innovative model curricula and teaching and learning strategies to promote
gender equity, but also should assist schools and local communities to
implement gender-equitable practices;
`(6) Federal assistance for gender equity must be tied to systemic
reform, involve collaborative efforts to implement effective gender
practices at the local level, and encourage parental participation;
and
`(7) excellence in education, high educational achievements and
standards, and the full participation of women and girls in American
society, cannot be achieved without educational equity for women and
girls.
`SEC. 5202. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES.
`It is the purpose of this part--
`(1) to promote gender equity in education in the United States;
`(2) to provide financial assistance to enable educational agencies and
institutions to meet the requirements of title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972; and
`(3) to promote equity in education for women and girls who suffer from
multiple forms of discrimination on the basis of sex and race, ethnic
origin, limited English proficiency, disability, socioeconomic status, or
age.
`SEC. 5203. PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED.
`(a) IN GENERAL- The Secretary is authorized--
`(1) to promote, coordinate, and evaluate gender equity policies,
programs, activities, and initiatives in all Federal education programs and
offices;
`(2) to develop, maintain, and disseminate materials, resources,
analyses, and research relating to education equity for women and
girls;
`(3) to provide information and technical assistance to assure the
effective implementation of gender equity programs;
`(4) to coordinate gender equity programs and activities with other
Federal agencies with jurisdiction over education and related
programs;
`(5) to assist the Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and
Improvement in identifying research priorities related to education equity
for women and girls; and
`(6) to perform any other activities consistent with achieving the
purposes of this part.
`(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary is authorized to make grants to, and
enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, public agencies,
private nonprofit agencies, organizations, institutions, student groups,
community groups, and individuals, for a period not to exceed 4
years--
`(A) to develop model gender equity programs; and
`(B) for the implementation of gender equity programs in schools
throughout the Nation.
`(2) SUPPORT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE- To achieve the purposes of this
part, the Secretary is authorized to provide support and technical
assistance--
`(A) to implement effective gender equity policies and programs at all
educational levels, including--
`(i) assisting educational agencies and institutions to implement
policies and practices to comply with title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972;
`(ii) training for teachers, counselors, administrators, and other
school personnel, especially preschool and elementary school personnel,
in gender equitable teaching and learning practices;
`(iii) leadership training for women and girls to develop
professional and marketable skills to compete in the global marketplace,
improve self-esteem, and benefit from exposure to positive role
models;
`(iv) school-to-work transition programs, guidance and counseling
activities, and other programs to increase opportunities for women and
girls to enter a technologically demanding workplace and, in particular,
to enter highly skilled, high paying careers in which women and girls
have been underrepresented;
`(v) enhancing educational and career opportunities for those women
and girls who suffer multiple forms of discrimination on the basis of
sex and race, ethnic origin, limited English proficiency, disability,
socioeconomic status, or age;
`(vi) assisting pregnant students and students rearing children to
remain in or to return to secondary school, graduate, and prepare their
preschool children to start school;
`(vii) evaluating exemplary model programs to assess the ability of
such programs to advance educational equity for women and
girls;
`(viii) introduction into the classroom of textbooks, curricula, and
other materials designed to achieve equity for women and
girls;
`(ix) programs and policies to address sexual harassment and
violence against women and girls and to ensure that educational
institutions are free from threats to the safety of students and
personnel;
`(x) nondiscriminatory tests of aptitude and achievement and of
alternative assessments that eliminate biased assessment instruments
from use;
`(xi) programs to increase educational opportunities, including
higher education, vocational training, and other educational programs
for low-income women, including underemployed and unemployed women, and
women receiving assistance under part A of title IV of the Social
Security Act;
`(xii) programs to improve representation of women in educational
administration at all levels; and
`(xiii) planning, development, and initial implementation
of--
`(I) comprehensive institutional or districtwide evaluation to
assess the presence or absence of gender equity in educational
settings;
`(II) comprehensive plans for implementation of gender equity
programs in State and local educational agencies and institutions of
higher education, including community colleges; and
`(III) innovative approaches to school-community partnerships for
educational equity for women and girls; and
`(B) for research and development, which shall be coordinated with
each of the research institutes of the Office of Educational Research and
Improvement to avoid duplication of research efforts, designed to advance
gender equity nationwide and to help make policies and practices in
educational agencies and institutions, and local communities, gender
equitable, including--
THIS SEARCH THIS DOCUMENT GO TO
Next Hit Forward New Bills Search
Prev Hit Back HomePage
Hit List Best Sections Help
Doc Contents