A bill to amend Title XI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to encourage urban education institutions to form partnerships to use their knowledge and resources for the solution of severe urban problems.

Summary

Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise and retitle title XI as Urban Community Service. Establishes an Urban Community Service program to provide incentives to urban institutions to devise and implement solutions to pressing and severe problems in their communities. Requires applications for such urban community service program grants to include documentation of the formation of a consortium that includes, in addition to the eligible urban institution of higher education, one or more of the folowing entities: (1) an urban school system; (2) a local government; (3) a business or other employer; and (4) a nonprofit institution. Allows the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to waive such consortium requirements for applicants with an appropriate integrated and coordinated plan. Gives priority to applications that propose to conduct joint projects supported by other local, State, and Federal programs. Requires grant funds to be used for planning, applied research, technical training, resource exchanges, technology transfers, delivery of services, or other activities to design and implement programs to assist urban communities to meet and address their most pressing problems. Includes the following problem areas among those for which such activities are authorized: (1) work force preparation; (2) urban poverty and its alleviation; (3) health care, including delivery and access; (4) under-performing school systems and students; (5) problems faced by the elderly in urban settings; (6) problems faced by families and children; (7) crime prevention and alternative interventions; (8) urban housing; (9) urban infrastructure; (10) economic development; (11) urban environmental concerns; and (12) other problem areas which the participants agree are of high priority for that urban area. Establishes an Urban College, University, and School Partnerships program to encourage partnerships of urban institutions of higher education and secondary schools or local educational agencies (LEAs) serving low-income and disadvantaged urban students to support programs to improve school retention and graduation rates, student academic skills, opportunities to continue education beyond high school, and prospects for productive employment. Provides that such program shall also help institutions of higher education serve more effectively both nontraditional students and unemployed or underemployed adults, particularly in high unemployment areas. Allows such partnerships to include businesses, labor organizations, professional associations, community-based organizations, or other public or private agencies or organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible partnerships to support the authorized program activities. Requires that grant preference be given to programs that: (1) serve predominantly low-income neighborhoods; (2) are conducted during the regular school year and during the summer; and (3) serve educationally disadvantaged students, potential dropouts, pregnant adolescents, and teenaged parents. Requires maintenance of fiscal effort by LEAs participating in such partnership agreement. Requires: (1) matching funds (in cash or kind) from the partnership; (2) a gradually declining specified Federal share of project costs; and (3) use of such Federal grant funds to supplement and not supplant non-Federal funds. Provides for: (1) peer review panels for title IX grant applications; and (2) multiyear disbursement of grant funds, under specified conditions. Authorizes appropriations.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

2 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN

  ViewDownloadOpen at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 20 June 1991

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.