PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5082-5085)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 4, 2009
Secondary School Innovation Fund Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a Secondary School Innovation Fund program awarding competitive matching grants to partnerships, which must include at least one state or local educational agency, for the implementation of innovative strategies to improve the achievement of at-risk students in secondary schools. Permits partnerships to award subgrants to schools for the implementation of such strategies.
Lists innovative strategies, one or more of which grantees or subgrantees must implement, that include: (1) creating multiple education pathways that offer students a range of educational options aligned with their needs and interests and preparing them for postsecondary education and the workforce; (2) giving students access to early college high school or other dual enrollment learning opportunities; (3) using secondary school early warning indicators and intervention systems attuned to the needs of at-risk students; (4) creating expanded learning time opportunities; (5) improving student transitions from middle school to high school or from high school to postsecondary education and the workforce; (6) increasing the autonomy and flexibility of secondary schools; (7) improving rural education through educational technology; (8) improving learning opportunities for students in the middle grades; (9) improving teaching and increasing academic rigor at the secondary school level; and (10) improving community and parental involvement in students' education.
Requires the Secretary to disseminate, and provide technical assistance regarding, best practices in improving secondary school student achievement.
People & committees
Sen. Reid, Harry [D-NV] · D–NV
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5082-5085)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5081-5082)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.968 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.968 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.968 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.968 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.