BEST Act
Latest action · Sep 13, 2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 27, 2013
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Biliteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act or the BEST Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award renewable two-year grants to states to establish or improve a Seal of Biliteracy program to recognize student proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language.
Requires students who wish to participate in such a program to submit an application to their state that includes assurances that they: (1) will receive a secondary school diploma or its equivalent in the year they apply; and (2) have met the state's criteria for demonstrating proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in both English and a second language.
Requires states to provide participating students who demonstrate that proficiency: (1) a permanent seal or other marker on their secondary school diploma or its equivalent, and (2) documentation of that proficiency on their official academic transcript.
Allows students who gain proficiency in a second language outside of school to participate in such programs.
Prohibits states from charging students an application fee.
Cosponsors 14
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 27, 2013 to May 29, 2014, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Grace F. Napolitano | Original | Jun 27, 2013 |
| D-CA | Juan Vargas | Original | Jun 27, 2013 |
| D-CO | Jared Polis | Jul 11, 2013 | |
| D-IL | William L. Enyart | Jul 18, 2013 | |
| D-FL | Joe Garcia | Jul 19, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Linda T. Sánchez | Jul 19, 2013 | |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | Jul 19, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Tony Cárdenas | Jul 19, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Alan S. Lowenthal | Jul 22, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Jul 22, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Jared Huffman | Jul 31, 2013 | |
| D-MA | James P. McGovern | Sep 9, 2013 | |
| D-NJ | Rush Holt | Sep 17, 2013 | |
| D-TX | Ruben Hinojosa | May 29, 2014 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Sep 13, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
- Jun 27, 2013Introduced in House
- Jun 27, 2013Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 27, 2013Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.