1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Promise Neighborhoods Act of 2013”.
Promise Neighborhoods Act of 2013
A BILL
To support Promise Neighborhoods.
2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
Between 2007 and 2009, the number of children in the United States living in poverty increased by 2,200,000, to 15,500,000 children.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, the number of poor children under age 6 increased by 24 percent between 2000 and 2007. The Center also found that, in Iowa, 20 percent of children under age 6 live in poor families.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2008, the United States had a child poverty rate of 20.6 percent, making the United States the OECD nation with the fourth worst level of child poverty. Of the 4 most developed countries in the world, the United States has the highest rate of child poverty.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, at age 4, children who live below the poverty line are 18 months below normal learning and achievement for their age group, and by age 10 that gap is still present. For children living in the poorest families, the gap is even larger.
Children from low-income families are more likely to have low levels of school engagement, to be chronically absent from school, to have emotional and behavioral problems, and to live in stressful home environments.
By age 3, children in low-income homes will have heard one-third as many words as children in middle-income and high-income homes.
Studies show that children who attend high-quality early childhood education programs are less likely to repeat grades, less likely to be assigned to special education, and more likely to perform better on standardized tests, experience reduced rates of teenage pregnancy, and graduate from high school. Additionally, such children are less likely to engage in criminal behavior and more likely to obtain employment at higher wages. Economically disadvantaged children gain even larger benefits from such high-quality programs.
Compared with children in kindergarten from low-income families, children in kindergarten from high-income families live in homes with 3 times the number of books and such children are 4 times as likely to have a computer at home. Children from high-income families also watch far less television and are more likely to visit museums or libraries.
By the time children from low-income families enter kindergarten, they are already 3 months behind the national average in reading and mathematics skills, a gap that persists through high school.
A child from a middle-income family typically enters first grade with about 1,000 hours of one-on-one picture book reading time with parents, other relatives, or teachers, but a child from a low-income family averages less than 100 hours of such reading time.
The percentage of households with children reporting food insecurity (limited or uncertain access to nutritious, safe foods) increased by 25 percent between 2007 and 2008. Poor nutrition is linked to behavioral problems, lower educational performance, and delayed socio-emotional development.
Twenty-nine percent of high-achieving 8th graders from low-income families complete college. This is the same rate of college completion as low-achieving 8th graders from high-income families.
About one-fourth of all students who start 9th grade will not graduate 4 years later. For African-American and Latino students, that figure increases to 40 percent. A 16- to 24-year-old coming from a high-income family is about 7 times as likely to have completed high school as a 16- to 24-year-old coming from a low-income family.
The average annual cost to incarcerate a youth in the United States is approximately $88,000, while per pupil annual spending for a student in kindergarten through grade 12 is $10,000.
3. Purpose
The purpose of this Act is to significantly improve academic outcomes, including school readiness, high school graduation, and college entry and success of children living in our Nation’s most distressed neighborhoods, by using data-driven decisionmaking and existing external resources to provide children in such neighborhoods with access to a community-based continuum of high-quality pipeline services that include access to early learning opportunities, high-quality schools, and evidence-based practices that address the needs of such children from birth through college and career.
4. Definitions
In this Act:
In general— Except as otherwise provided, the terms used in this Act have the meanings given the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
Child— The term child means an individual from birth through age 21.
College and career readiness— The term college and career readiness means the level of preparation a student needs in order to—
enroll and succeed, without remediation, in credit-bearing courses at an institution of higher education;
demonstrate the full range of knowledge and perform the full range of workplace skills necessary to succeed and advance in 21st century careers, such as higher-order thinking, collaboration and teamwork, and oral and written communication skills; and
complete a program leading to an industry-recognized credential that prepares graduates to obtain employment with family-sustaining wages and opportunities for advancement.
Community of practice— The term community of practice means a group of entities that interact regularly to share best practices to address one or more persistent problems, or improve practice with respect to such problems, in one or more neighborhoods.
Expanded learning time— The term expanded learning time means using a longer school day, week, or year schedule to significantly increase the total number of school hours to include additional time for—
instruction in core academic subjects;
instruction in other subjects and enrichment and other activities that contribute to a well-rounded education, including music and the arts, physical education, service-learning, and experiential and work-based learning opportunities (such as community service, learning apprenticeships, internships, and job shadowing); and
instructional and support staff to collaborate, plan, and engage in professional development, including on family and community engagement, within and across grades and subjects.
Family and community engagement— The term family and community engagement means the process of engaging family and community members in education meaningfully and at all stages of the planning, implementation, and school and neighborhood improvement process, including, at a minimum—
disseminating a clear definition of the neighborhood to the members of the neighborhood;
ensuring representative participation by the members of such neighborhood in the planning and implementation of the activities of each grant awarded under this Act;
regular engagement by the eligible entity and the partners of the eligible entity with family members and community partners;
the provision of strategies and practices to assist family and community members in actively supporting student achievement and child and youth development; and
collaboration with institutions of higher education and employers to align expectations and programming with college and career readiness.
Family and student supports— The term family and student supports includes—
health programs (including both mental health and physical health services);
school-, public-, and child-safety programs;
programs that improve family stability;
employment programs (including those that meet local business needs, such as internships and externships);
social service programs;
legal aid programs;
financial education programs;
adult education and family literacy programs;
family and community engagement programs; and
programs that increase access to learning technology and enhance the digital literacy skills of students.
Family member— The term family member means a parent (as defined in section 9101 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), relative, or other adult who is responsible for the education, care, and well-being of a child.
Integrated student supports— The term integrated student supports means services, supports, and community resources, which shall be offered through a site coordinator for at-risk students, that have been shown by evidence-based research—
to increase academic achievement and engagement;
to support positive child and youth development; and
to increase student preparedness for success in college and the workforce.
Neighborhood— The term neighborhood means a defined geographical area in which there are multiple signs of distress, demonstrated by indicators of need, including poverty, childhood obesity rates, academic failure, and rates of juvenile delinquency, adjudication, or incarceration.
Pipeline— The term pipeline means a continuum of supports and services (including pipeline services, as defined in this Act) for children from birth through college entry, college success, and career attainment.
Pipeline services— The term pipeline services includes, at a minimum, strategies to address through services or programs (including integrated student supports and wraparound services) the following:
Prenatal education and support for expectant parents.
High-quality early learning opportunities.
High-quality schools and out-of-school-time programs and strategies.
Support for a child’s transition to elementary school, between elementary school and middle school, from middle school to high school, and from high school into and through college and into the workforce.
Family and community engagement.
Family and student supports.
Activities that support college and career readiness, such as—
assistance with college admissions, financial aid, and scholarship applications, especially for low-income and low-achieving students; and
career preparation services and supports.
Neighborhood-based support for college-age students who have attended the schools in the pipeline, or students who are members of the community, facilitating their continued connection to the community and success in college and the workforce.