20 U.S.C. § 6303b — Direct student services

(a) State reservation. (1) In general. (A) States. After meaningfully consulting with the geographically diverse local educational agencies described in subparagraph (B), each State educational agency may reserve no more than 3 percent of the amount it receives under subpart 2 of part A for each fiscal year to carry out this section. (B) Consultation. The State educational agency must consult with local educational agencies that include (i) suburban, rural, and urban local educational agencies; (ii) local educational agencies serving a high percentage of schools that the State identifies for comprehensive support and improvement under section 6311(c)(4)(D)(i) of this title; and (iii) local educational agencies serving a high percentage of schools carrying out targeted support and improvement plans under section 6311(d)(2) of this title. (2) Program administration. Of the funds reserved under paragraph (1)(A), the State educational agency may use no more than 1 percent to administer the program described in this section.

(b) Awards. (1) In general. From the amount it reserved under subsection (a), a State educational agency must award grants to the geographically diverse local educational agencies described in subsection (a)(1)(B)(i). (2) Priority. When making these awards, the State educational agency must prioritize local educational agencies serving the highest percentage, compared with other local educational agencies in the State, of schools that (A) the State identifies for comprehensive support and improvement under section 6311(c)(4)(D)(i) of this title; or (B) are carrying out targeted support and improvement plans under section 6311(d)(2) of this title.

(c) Local use of funds. A local educational agency receiving an award under this section (1) may use no more than 1 percent of its award for outreach and communication to parents about the direct student services described in paragraph (3) that are available in the local educational agency and State; (2) may use no more than 2 percent of its award for administrative costs related to those direct student services; (3) must use the rest of the award to pay costs connected with one or more of these direct student services: (A) enrollment and participation in academic courses not otherwise available at a student’s school, including (i) advanced courses; and (ii) career and technical education coursework that (I) is aligned with the challenging State academic standards; and (II) leads to industry-recognized credentials meeting the quality criteria the State establishes under section 3153(a) of title 29; (B) credit-recovery and academic-acceleration courses leading to a regular high-school diploma; (C) activities helping students successfully complete postsecondary-level instruction and examinations accepted for credit at institutions of higher education, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, which may include reimbursing low-income students for some or all of those examination fees; (D) components of a personalized-learning approach, which may include high-quality academic tutoring; and (E) for a local educational agency that does not reserve funds under section 6311(d)(1)(D)(v) of this title, transportation allowing a student enrolled in a school identified for comprehensive support and improvement under section 6311(c)(4)(D)(i) of this title to transfer to another public school, which may include a charter school, that the State has not identified under that section; and (4) when paying the costs of the direct student services described in paragraph (3), must (A) first pay those costs for students enrolled in schools the State identifies for comprehensive support and improvement under section 6311(c)(4)(D)(i) of this title; (B) second pay those costs for low-achieving students enrolled in schools carrying out targeted support and improvement plans under section 6311(d)(2) of this title; and (C) use any remaining funds to pay those costs for other low-achieving students served by the local educational agency.

(d) Application. A local educational agency seeking an award under subsection (b) must submit an application to the State educational agency at the time and in the manner the State educational agency requires. At a minimum, the application must describe how the local educational agency will (1) provide enough outreach to ensure that parents can make a meaningful choice of direct student services for their child’s education; (2) ensure that parents have enough time and information to make a meaningful choice before enrolling their child in a direct student service; (3) if it offers public-school choice under this section, ensure enough seats are available in the public schools it will offer as public-school choice options; (4) prioritize services for the lowest-achieving students; (5) select providers of direct student services, which may include one or more of (A) the local educational agency or other local educational agencies; (B) community colleges or other institutions of higher education; (C) nonpublic entities; (D) community-based organizations; or (E) for high-quality academic tutoring, a variety of tutoring providers selected and approved by the State that appear on the State’s list required under subsection (e)(2); (6) monitor the provision of direct student services; and (7) publicly report the results of direct student service providers in improving relevant student outcomes in a way parents can access.

(e) Providers and schools. A State educational agency that reserves funds under subsection (a) must (1) ensure that each local educational agency receiving an award under this section and intending to provide public-school choice under subsection (c)(3)(E) can provide enough options to give parents a meaningful choice; (2) compile and maintain an updated list of State-approved high-quality academic tutoring providers that (A) is developed through a fair negotiation and rigorous selection and approval process; (B) gives parents meaningful choices; (C) offers a range of tutoring models, including online and on-campus models; and (D) includes only providers that (i) have a demonstrated record of success in increasing students’ academic achievement; (ii) comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local health, safety, and civil-rights laws; and (iii) provide secular, neutral, and non-ideological instruction and content; (3) ensure that each local educational agency receiving an award can provide enough high-quality academic tutoring options to ensure that parents have a meaningful choice of services; (4) develop and carry out procedures for monitoring the quality of services provided by direct student service providers; and (5) establish and carry out clear criteria describing what action will be taken against direct student service providers that are not successful in improving student academic outcomes. For a high-quality academic tutoring provider, that action may include a process to remove State approval under paragraph (2).

This section does not define the term “meaningful choice.”