HR5181-119

What This Bill Does

This bill amends the Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act, which supports the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program. It allows grants to run for five years and permits renewals for an additional period of up to five years without a new competitive process when continuity is appropriate. It changes geographic language from the District of Columbia to the Washington metropolitan region, defined to include D.C., Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, and Arlington County, Fairfax County, Alexandria, and Falls Church in Virginia.

The bill updates participating-school rules. Existing participating schools must be recognized by a national or regional accrediting body or an accrediting body cited by ICE's Student and Visitor Exchange English Language Program. New participating schools must become fully accredited within five years after pursuing participation. The bill expands scholarship use from kindergarten to pre-kindergarten, gives the eligible entity sole authority to set a scholarship maximum below the statutory cap, adds tutoring expenses for participating students needing academic help, and prioritizes students from the lowest-performing D.C. schools if tutoring funds are insufficient. It increases parent assistance and student academic assistance funds from $2 million to $2.2 million and changes IES evaluation and reporting requirements.

Who Benefits and How

Opportunity Scholarship Program families benefit because scholarship use expands to pre-kindergarten and tutoring expenses. Participating private schools in the Washington metropolitan region benefit because the eligible school geography expands beyond D.C. Existing participating schools benefit from recognition of certain accrediting bodies tied to the ICE Student and Visitor Exchange English Language Program. Students from the lowest-performing D.C. schools benefit from priority when tutoring funds are insufficient. The eligible program entity benefits from sole authority to set a scholarship maximum below the statutory cap and from longer grant continuity. IES researchers benefit from a clearer seven-year evaluation cycle.

Who Bears the Burden and How

New participating schools must obtain full accreditation within five years after pursuing participation. Existing participating schools must maintain recognition by an approved accrediting body. The eligible entity must administer scholarship limits, tutoring priorities, parent-assistance funds, school-violence reports, suspension reports, and expulsion reports. The Department of Education and IES must carry out rigorous evaluations, publish reports by January 1, 2027 and every seven years, and disseminate results. D.C. public schools and charter schools may be used as comparison groups, which can create data-sharing and evaluation burden.

Key Provisions

• Extends SOAR grant duration to five years and authorizes noncompetitive renewals for up to five additional years.
• Expands program geography to the Washington metropolitan region.
• Requires accreditation recognition for existing schools and full accreditation within five years for new participating schools.
• Adds pre-kindergarten and tutoring expenses to allowable scholarship uses.
• Provides $2.2 million for parent assistance and student academic assistance.
• Requires IES evaluations and public reports beginning January 1, 2027 and recurring every seven years.
• Requires participating-entity reports on school violence, suspensions, and expulsions.