Title 38 — Educational Institutions.

This chapter may be cited as the “Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act” or the “SOAR Act”.

Congress finds the following: (1) Parents are best equipped to make decisions for their children, including the educational setting that will best serve the interests and educational needs of their child. (2) For many parents in the District of Columbia, public school choice prov…

The purpose of this chapter is to provide low-income parents residing in the District of Columbia, particularly parents of students who attend elementary schools or secondary schools implementing comprehensive support and improvement activities or targeted support and improvement…

From funds appropriated under § 38-1853.14(a)(1), the Secretary shall award grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities with approved applications under § 38-1853.05 to carry out a program to provide eligible students with expanded school choice opportunities. The Secretar…

In order to receive a grant under § 38-1853.04(a), an eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may require. The Secretary may not approve the request of an eligible entity for a…

In awarding grants under § 38-1853.04(a), the Secretary shall give priority to applications from eligible entities that will most effectively— (1) in awarding scholarships under § 38-1853.07(a), give priority to— (A) eligible students who, in the school year preceding the school …

Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), an eligible entity receiving a grant under § 38-1853.04(a) shall use the grant funds to provide eligible students with scholarships to pay the tuition, fees, and transportation expenses, if any, to enable the eligible students to attend the Dist…

An eligible entity or a school participating in any program under this chapter shall not discriminate against program participants or applicants on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, or sex. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the prohibition of sex disc…

The Secretary and the Mayor of the District of Columbia shall— (A) jointly enter into an agreement with the Institute of Education Sciences of the Department of Education to evaluate annually the performance of students who received scholarships under the 5-year program under thi…

Each eligible entity receiving funds under § 38-1853.04(a) during a year shall submit a report to the Secretary not later than July 30 of the following year regarding the activities carried out with the funds during the preceding year. In addition to the reports required under su…

As a condition of receiving funds under this chapter on behalf of the District of Columbia public schools and the District of Columbia public charter schools, the Mayor shall agree to carry out the following: Ensure that all the District of Columbia public schools and the Distric…

The DC School Choice Incentive Act of 2003 (§ 38-1851.01 et seq., D.C. Official Code) is repealed. Notwithstanding any other provision of law— (1) funding appropriated to provide opportunity scholarships for students in the District of Columbia under the heading “Federal Payment …

As used in this division: The term “elementary school” means an institutional day or residential school, including a public elementary charter school, that provides elementary education, as determined under District of Columbia law. The term “eligible entity” means any of the fol…

There are authorized to be appropriated $ 60,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, of which— (1) one-third shall be made available to carry out the opportunity scholarship program under this division for each fiscal year; (2) one-third shall …