,,ii #aafth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #defc ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,september #aj1 #bjbj,mrs4 ,loeffler introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,finance ,a ,,bill ,to give ,states the flexibility to have ,federal education funds follow the child4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,choice for ,every ,child ,act4 #b4 ,title ,i portability 7a7 ,in ,general ,part ,a of title ,i of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #fcaa et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following3 #aabh4 ,title ,i funds follow the low-income child ,state option 7a7 ,in general 7#a7 ,allocation to ,l,e,as ,notwithstanding any other provision of law and to the extent permitted under ,state law1 a ,state educational agency may allocate grant funds under this part to the local educational agencies in the ,state based on the number of eligible children in each local educational agency 7including such children who are enrolled in the public schools served by the local educational agency1 enrolled in the ,state-accredited private schools within local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction1 or participating in homeschool in such jurisdiction74 7#b7 ,choice of distribution ,each ,state may choose whether to have local educational agencies in the ,state distribute funds made available for eligible children who are enrolled in ,state-accredited private schools within each local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction directly to such schools in accordance with subsection 7c77#c77;,a7 or directly to the parents of such children in accordance with subsection 7c77#c77;,b74 7b7 ,eligible child 7#a7 ,definition ,in this section1 the term eligible child means a child aged #e to #ag1 inclusive1 from a family with an income below the poverty level on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data published by the ,department of ,commerce4 7#b7 ,criteria of poverty ,in determining the families with incomes below the poverty level for the purposes of this section1 a ,state educational agency shall use the criteria of poverty used by the ,census ,bureau in compiling the most recent decennial census1 as the criteria have been updated by increases in the ,consumer ,price ,index for ,all ,urban ,consumers1 published by the ,bureau of ,labor ,statistics4 7#c7 ,amount per eligible child ,the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state shall be equal to-- 7,a7 the total amount available to the ,state under this section2 divided by 7,b7 the total number of eligible children in the ,state4 7c7 ,student enrollment in public and private schools 7#a7 ,identification of eligible children ,on an annual basis1 on a date to be determined by the ,state educational agency1 each local educational agency that receives grant funding in accordance with subsection 7a7 shall inform the ,state educational agency of the number of eligible children enrolled in the public schools served by the local educational agency1 enrolled in the ,state-accredited private schools within local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction1 or participating in homeschool in such jurisdiction4 7#b7 ,allocation to local educational agencies ,based on the identification of eligible children in paragraph 7#a71 the ,state educational agency shall provide to a local educational agency an amount equal to the sum of the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state multiplied by the number of eligible children identified by the local educational agency under paragraph 7#a74 7#c7 ,distribution 7,a7 ,direct distribution to private schools ,in the case of a ,state that chooses to have funds under this section distributed directly to ,state-accredited private schools within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction1 the local educational agency that receives funds under paragraph 7#b7 shall distribute such funds to the public schools served by the local educational agency and ,state-accredited private schools within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction-- 7i7 based on the number of eligible children enrolled in such schools2 and 7ii7 in a manner that would1 in the absence of such ,federal funds1 supplement the funds made available from non-,federal resources for the education of pupils participating in programs under this subpart1 and not to supplant such funds4 7,b7 ,distribution to parents of private school students ,in the case of a ,state that chooses to have funds under this section distributed directly to parents of children that are enrolled in ,state-accredited private schools within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction1 the local educational agency that receives funds under paragraph 7#b7 shall-- 7i7 distribute such funds to the public schools served by the local educational agency based on the number of eligible children enrolled in such schools2 7ii7 distribute the amount available for each eligible child to the parents of each child who is enrolled in a ,state-accredited private school within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction for use for qualified educational expenses2 and 7iii7 distribute funds under paragraph 7#b7 in a manner that would1 in the absence of such ,federal funds1 supplement the funds made available from non-,federal resources for the education of pupils participating in programs under this subpart1 and not to supplant such funds4 7,c7 ,distribution to parents of home school students ,each local educational agency that receives funds under paragraph 7#b7 shall distribute the amount available for each eligible child to the parents of each child who participates in homeschool for use for qualified educational expenses4 7d7 ,qualified educational expenses 7#a7 ,in ,general ,in this section1 the term qualified educational expenses means-- 7,a7 tuition2 7,b7 curriculum and curricular materials2 7,c7 books or other instructional materials2 7,d7 online educational materials2 and 7,e7 tuition for tutoring or educational classes outside of the home1 including at a tutoring facility1 but only if the tutor or instructor-- 7i7 is not related to the student2 7ii7 is licensed as a teacher in any ,state2 and 7iii7 is a subject matter expert in the relevant subject4 7#b7 ,homeschool ,qualified educational expenses shall include expenses for the purposes described in subparagraphs 7,a7 through 7,e7 of paragraph 7#a7 in connection with a homeschool 7whether treated as a homeschool or a private school for purposes of applicable ,state law74 7e7 ,treatment of direct payments ,the amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible child under this section shall not be treated as income of the child or his or her parents for purposes of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf or for determining eligibility for any other ,federal program4 7f7 ,prohibition of control over non-,public education ,nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize additional ,federal or ,state control over non-public education providers4 4 7b7 ,table of contents amendment ,the table of contents in section #b of the ,elementary and ,secondary ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #fcja et seq47 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #aabg the following3 #aabh4 ,title ,i funds follow the low-income child ,state option4 4 #c4 ,federal funding under the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act to follow the child ,part ,b of the ,individuals with ,disabilities ,education ,act 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #adaa et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following3 #fbj4 ,,idea funds follow the child ,state option 7a7 ,in general ,notwithstanding any other provision of law and to the extent permitted under ,state law1 a ,state educational agency may establish a program through which the funds made available under this part are allocated to the local educational agencies in the ,state based on the number of eligible children within each local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction4 7b7 ,eligible child 7#a7 ,eligible child defined ,in this section1 the term eligible child means a child with a disability who is eligible to receive special education and related services under this part4 7#b7 ,amount per eligible child ,the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state shall be equal to-- 7,a7 the total amount available to the ,state under this part2 divided by 7,b7 the total number of eligible children in the ,state4 7c7 ,allocation to ,l,e,as 7#a7 ,identification of eligible children ,on an annual basis1 on a date to be determined by the ,state educational agency1 each local educational agency that receives grant funding in accordance with subsection 7a7 shall inform the ,state educational agency of the number of eligible children within the local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction4 7#b7 ,allocation to local educational agencies ,based on the identification of eligible children in paragraph 7#a71 the ,state educational agency shall provide to a local educational agency an amount equal to the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state multiplied by the number of eligible children identified by the local educational agency under paragraph 7#a74 7#c7 ,distribution of funds ,each local educational agency that receives funds under paragraph 7#b7 shall-- 7,a7 distribute to each public school served by the local educational agency an amount equal to-- 7i7 number of eligible children enrolled in such school2 multiplied by 7ii7 the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state2 7,b7 distribute to the parents of each eligible child in local educational agency's geographic jurisdiction who is not enrolled in public school an amount equal to the amount available for each eligible child in the ,state for use for qualified educational expenses2 and 7,c7 distribute the funds under paragraph 7#b7 in a manner that would1 in the absence of such ,federal funds1 supplement the funds made available from non-,federal resources for the education of pupils participating in programs under this subpart1 and not to supplant such funds4 7d7 ,qualified educational expenses 7#a7 ,in ,general ,in this section1 the term qualified educational expenses means-- 7,a7 tuition2 7,b7 curriculum and curricular materials2 7,c7 books or other instructional materials2 7,d7 online educational materials2 and 7,e7 tuition for tutoring or educational classes outside of the home1 including at a tutoring facility1 but only if the tutor or instructor-- 7i7 is not related to the student2 7ii7 is licensed as a teacher in any ,state2 and 7iii7 is a subject matter expert in the relevant subject4 7#b7 ,homeschool ,qualified educational expenses shall include expenses for the purposes described in subparagraphs 7,a7 through 7,e7 of paragraph 7#a7 in connection with a homeschool 7whether treated as a homeschool or a private school for purposes of applicable ,state law74 7e7 ,payments to parents ,in the case of an eligible child who is not enrolled in public school and whose parents receive a direct payment under subsection 7c77#c77;,b71 the ,state shall be considered to have provided that child with a free appropriate public education1 to have provided special education and related services to that child1 and to have fulfilled the ,state's other obligations under this part with respect to that child4 7f7 ,treatment of direct payments ,the amount of any direct payment to parents of an eligible child under this section shall not be treated as income of the child or his or her parents for purposes of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf or for determining eligibility for any other ,federal program4 7g7 ,prohibition of control over non-,public education ,nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize additional ,federal or ,state control over non-public education providers4 4