Resource block grants

(a) Program established (1) In general The Secretary of Education shall award a grant to each qualified local educational agency with an approved application to enable the qualified local educational agency to bring additional eligible educators and support staff into elementary schools and secondary schools and establish community partnerships, and carry out other activities described in this section, with the goals of— (A) expanding educational opportunities and improving academic achievement; (B) expanding social service programming; (C) developing locally designed and rooted educational programs; (D) developing and implementing trauma-informed violence prevention strategies; (E) promoting safe, secure, and welcoming school and community environments; (F) strengthening the educator pipeline, improving teacher professional development, and diversifying the teacher and school leader workforce; (G) improving student engagement and decreasing chronic absenteeism; (H) better integrating knowledge of the local community into schools; and (I) providing support, training, and career pathways for paraprofessionals. (2) Consultation and integration (A) Consultation by the Secretary The Secretary of Education shall consult with States and Indian Tribes, as appropriate, in administering the grant program under this section. During such consultation, the Secretary of Education shall strongly encourage the States to integrate the locally designed and rooted educational programs, developed under paragraph (1) (as applicable), into State educational plans and activities, and to support, replicate, and disseminate such educational programs, as appropriate. (B) Consultation by LEAs A local educational agency that receives a grant under this section shall consult with the Secretary of Education, the State educational agency, and Indian Tribes (as applicable) in implementing such grant. (3) Qualified local educational agency In this section, the term qualified local educational agency means— (A) a local educational agency that serves 1 or more elementary schools or secondary schools that are ranked as one of the 1/3 most vulnerable schools in the United States, based on the most recent available vulnerability ranking; (B) a local educational agency that serves elementary schools or secondary schools that are in the bottom 1/3 of all schools in the State when ranked by student-to-staff ratios from lowest to highest ratios based on the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics; or (C) a BIE school or school funded by BIE. (4) Additional local educational agencies Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if funding under this section remains after the Secretary of Education has awarded grants to each qualified local educational agency that submits an application under this section, in amounts that are sufficient to meet the needs of those agencies, the Secretary of Education shall award grants under this section to other local educational agencies that are not qualified local educational agencies, in accordance with the priority requirements described in subsection (b)(3). (b) Application (1) In general A local educational agency desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary of Education, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary of Education may reasonably require, which shall include the following: (A) The resource allocation plan described in section 101. (B) A description of the local educational agency’s plan to attempt to hire eligible educators and support staff who, in accordance with section 101(b)(2)(C)— (i) reside in the same catchment area as students attending the school in which those eligible educators and support staff will work, or who previously attended the school in which the educators and staff will work; or (ii) reside in the same ZIP Code, or a neighboring ZIP Code, as the school in which the educators and staff will work. (C) An assurance that after the 10-year period during which grant funds will pay for the eligible educator and support staff positions described in this section, the local educational agency will— (i) retain those positions, and a description of the local educational agency's plan to fund those positions after such period; and (ii) attempt to maintain and continue to fund community partnerships supported by such grant, to the extent that the other entities in those partnerships desire to continue the activities supported with grant funds. (D) A description of the local educational agency's plan to— (i) aim to meet target student-to-staff ratios of 12:1 for students in kindergarten through grade 8, and 15:1 for students in grades 9 through 12 (where staff is defined broadly to refer to any adult professional employed in the school whose work directly relates to education, including the eligible educators and support staff described in this section); (ii) aim to place a lead teacher and paraprofessional in all prekindergarten through grade 3 classes; (iii) aim to hire at least 1 full-time equivalent school psychologist for every 500 students, at least 1 full-time equivalent school counselor for every 250 students, and at least 1 full-time equivalent school social worker for every 250 students served by the agency; and (iv) where applicable, aim to shift special educators from a caseload model to a workload analysis model to ensure sufficient capacity and time to support students. (E) A description of the local educational agency’s plan— (i) to meet the goals described in subsection (a)(1); (ii) to progress toward ending the school-to-prison pipeline and zero tolerance discipline, including by reducing suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to law enforcement; (iii) for progressing toward reallocating resources spent on punishment to restorative justice practices; and (iv) to progress toward ending the use of seclusion, restraint, and corporal punishment. (2) Approval (A) In general The Secretary of Education shall approve each application that meets the requirements of this section. (B) Consultation and technical assistance In the case of an application that does not meet the requirements of this section, the Secretary of Education shall— (i) consult with the local educational agency and shall provide technical assistance, as necessary, to ensure that the local educational agency meets such requirements; and (ii) review and approve revised applications that meet such requirements. (3) Priority If the Secretary of Education awards grants under this section to local educational agencies that are not qualified local educational agencies, in accordance with subsection (a)(3), the Secretary of Education shall give priority to local educational agencies that meet one of the following criteria: (A) Serving a percentage that is higher than the State median of students who are counted under section 1113(a)(5)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6313(a)(5)(A)). (B) Serving a percentage that is higher than the State median of students who are children with a disability. (C) Serving a percentage that is higher than the State median of students who are English learners. (D) Serving schools that have a per-pupil expenditure that is lower than the State median per-pupil expenditure. (c) Uses of funds (1) Support for eligible educators and support staff (A) In general A local educational agency receiving a grant under this section shall use not less than 80 percent of grant funds— (i) to hire, on a full-time basis, and pay the salaries of eligible educators and support staff described in subparagraph (B) for a period of 10 years; (ii) to increase the salaries of paraprofessionals and promote paraprofessionals who meet the requirements for promotion; and (iii) to provide or facilitate access for paraprofessionals to affordable training by establishing partnerships with community colleges and local institutions of higher education, establishing tuition reimbursement programs, or offering similar initiatives for training. (B) Eligible educators and support staff The eligible educators and support staff described in this subparagraph are— (i) paraprofessionals; (ii) mental health professionals, including psychologists, therapists, and social workers; (iii) school counselors; (iv) librarians; (v) nurses; (vi) restorative justice specialists; (vii) community school site coordinators; (viii) teachers, including special education teachers; (ix) coordinators for culturally responsive education; (x) facilities and food service workers; (xi) learning specialists, including mathematics and reading specialists; (xii) English as a Second Language instructors; (xiii) Native language and cultural specialists; and (xiv) staff to support other social services programming. (2) Community partnerships, educational programming, and social service programming (A) In general In addition to carrying out the activities described in paragraph (1), a local educational agency receiving a grant under this section shall use not less than 2.5 percent and not more than 20 percent of such funds for community partnerships, educational programming, social service programming, and violence prevention and school safety initiatives, which shall include one or more of the following: (i) Development of place-based and experiential education and community-driven educational programs, with a focus on educational programs that affirm and explore the underlying principles of the Green New Deal, including the significance of and the connections between racial, economic, and environmental and climate justice, and that are responsive to the impacts of climate change and socioeconomic injustice on youth mental health. (ii) Programs and spaces that engage students in hands-on, project-based learning across science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics instruction, as well as humanities instruction, in the scientific, technical, design, and social aspects of healthy green retrofits funded by the climate capital facilities grants under section 102, as well as of any other uses of those grants. (iii) Spaces and programming to advance vocational and career and technical education, including project-based learning opportunities and advancing such education in partnership with career and technical education schools, community colleges, local institutions of higher education, community organizations, and pre-apprenticeship programs, to prepare students for a wide range of careers related to addressing climate change. (iv) Programming to support extracurricular, co-curricular, and community-based activities such as arts, music, recreation, organized sports, honor societies, 4–H clubs, foreign and Native languages, college access centers, civic engagement clubs and activities, clubs and activities to support movement and connectedness to nature, early child care centers, and after-school and summer education programming. (v) Creating or supporting a school-based youth peer support program. (vi) Other partnerships with local community organizations and social service providers to expand the scale and scope of on-site services in support of the resource allocation plan for the grant. (vii) Training and professional development to advance trauma-informed, healing-centered learning models and practices, centering on the whole child and the child’s cognitive, emotional, and social needs, inclusive of culturally responsive pedagogy. (viii) Providing funding to establish or improve libraries, child care centers, health offices, mental health and wellness centers, cafeteria and dining spaces, gymnasiums, studios and art spaces, outdoor green spaces, or job resource centers in the schools that are served by the local educational agency, which shall be operated by the local educational agency or the local educational agency in partnership with a nonprofit organization. (ix) Website development and other communications to share and exchange knowledge and best practices. (x) Wellness, stress management, and mindfulness training. (xi) Anti-racist and anti-hate educational programming. (xii) Training for and implementation of restorative justice practices, including peer mediation, restorative conferences, counseling, and peace circles for students as well as anti-bullying initiatives. (xiii) Developing and implementing evidence-based practices to support school safety that do not rely on the criminal justice system. (xiv) Developing and implementing evidence-based, inclusive, and trauma-informed practices to prevent violence and improve school climate and culture, including schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports, restorative justice programs and interventions, social and emotional learning programs, community-integrated violence prevention programming, and programs to ensure students have access to one-on-one relationships with mentors or other caring adults. (xv) Improving school capacity to identify, refer, and provide services to students and families in need of trauma support services or other social services, including with the appropriate technology and spaces to do so. (xvi) Technical assistance, including contract templates, local data clearinghouses for best practices, and temporary staff to support finding and building initial partnerships to build the capacity to develop and sustain local partnerships with other knowledge centers in the community. (xvii) Increased parent and student engagement in learning. (xviii) Increased availability of translation to create accessible learning environments for English learners. (3) Requirement A local educational agency receiving a grant under this section shall ensure that if such agency contracts with a third-party to carry out activities under this subsection, such third-party— (A) is located in the same catchment area as students attending the school in which they will work, or previously attended the school in which they will work; or (B) is located in a ZIP Code served by the local educational agency receiving the grant or in a neighboring ZIP Code. (4) Prohibitions on use of funds A local educational agency receiving a grant under this section may not use grant funds for any of the following: (A) For measures that subject students to potential penalties imposed by law enforcement, unduly surveil students, or otherwise detract from a positive, inclusive, and welcoming school culture and environment. (B) For measures that would reduce the accessibility of the school environment for students with disabilities. (d) Wage and labor organization requirements Each local educational agency that receives funds through a grant under this section, with the exception of schools funded by BIE, shall— (1) ensure that eligible educators and support staff hired with the grant funds are paid wages in accordance with prevailing rates in the locality or any applicable collective bargaining agreement, and on a pathway with regular increases in pay; (2) ensure that such educators and staff are considered to be part of any existing (as of the date of the hiring) applicable bargaining unit of a labor organization and not considered to be executive employees or employees in other positions exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); and (3) if the local educational agency does not have such a bargaining unit, have an explicit neutrality policy, which covers such educators and staff, on any issue involving the organization of employees for purposes of collective bargaining. (e) Authorization of appropriations; mandatory appropriations Out of funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are authorized to be appropriated, and there are appropriated for the 10-fiscal-year period following the date of enactment of this Act— (1) $250,000,000,000 to the Secretary of Education to provide grants under this section; and (2) sums as are necessary to the Secretary of Education for the administrative expenses and provision of technical assistance in carrying out this section.