THE MERIT-BASED EDUCATION & WORKFORCE REFORM ACT (MEWRA)

A Bill to Overhaul Education and Workforce Training Through Measurable Merit and Accountability

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Merit-Based Education & Workforce Reform Act (MEWRA).”

SECTION 2. PURPOSE

To replace outdated accreditation and federal education funding mechanisms with real-time, merit-based measurement systems that ensure funding goes to schools, programs, and training initiatives that demonstrate verifiable student and worker outcomes; to codify the April 2026 Department of Education accreditation rulemaking so that outcome-based recognition cannot be reversed by future regulation alone; and to make it operationally simple to form new schools that can receive per-pupil federal funds on the same outcome basis as existing institutions.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & STANDARDS

Vehicle: Definitional (no standalone vehicle). Terms defined in this Title apply throughout the Act and are operative under whichever vehicle carries the substantive Title that references them.

Sec. 101. Key Terms

(a) “Failing School” A public or private educational institution that meets any two of the following conditions over a three-year rolling period:

Declining or stagnant student performance on federally recognized standardized assessments.
Student proficiency rates below 50% in core subjects (math, reading, science).
Graduation rates below 67% for high schools.
Failure to meet established career and college readiness benchmarks (e.g., SAT/ACT thresholds, workforce placement rates).
Negative net outcomes for students, as demonstrated by post-graduation employment rates, income data, or remedial education enrollment.

(b) “Measurable Improvement” Demonstrated, verifiable academic or skill growth assessed through:

Federally recognized standardized assessments (e.g., NAEP, state-specific exams).
Competency-based evaluations, including direct assessments of knowledge and application.
Longitudinal tracking of individual student growth, with adaptive comparisons to peer performance.
Third-party skill validation and certification outcomes (e.g., professional licensing exams, trade skill certifications).
Industry-validated workforce readiness assessments measuring job placement success.

(c) “Learning Outcomes” For an educational institution to qualify for federal funds, it must demonstrate measurable learning outcomes in at least three of the following areas:

Core Subject Mastery — Proficiency in math, reading, writing, and science.
Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving — Measured through structured reasoning assessments.
College & Career Readiness — Placement rates into higher education or skilled employment.
Retention of Knowledge Over Time — Demonstrated competency six months to one year post-instruction.
Workforce Competency — Job performance evaluations for vocational training programs.
Entrepreneurial & Innovation Readiness — Ability to start and manage new businesses or projects.

(d) “NASR-Registered School” A K-12 educational entity registered under Sec. 501 of this Act whose assessment methodology and curriculum-outcomes crosswalk have been accepted by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
(e) “Per-Pupil Federal Funds” For purposes of this Act, the portion of federal education appropriations under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) that is calculated on a per-student basis.

TITLE II — FEDERAL EDUCATION FUNDING REFORM

Vehicle: Reconciliation-eligible. Direct budgetary effect on federal education appropriation formulas under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.). Within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for reconciliation instructions. Precedent: Extends the outcome-conditioning framework already present in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 3101 et seq.) performance accountability system to the Title I formula.

Sec. 201. Federal Education Funds Tied to Measured Outcomes

(a) Creation of the National Learning Measurement Framework (NLMF)

Establishes a federal learning and workforce performance database tracking student skill acquisition, comprehension, and long-term retention.
Institutions must participate in this real-time tracking system to qualify for federal funding.

(b) Defunding Non-Performing Institutions

Any K–12 school, college, or workforce program that fails to demonstrate measurable improvement over 3 consecutive years shall lose federal funding.
Reallocation of funds to high-performing institutions serving similar demographics, including NASR-registered schools (Sec. 501).

A national, open-access dashboard will provide real-time, anonymized performance data to ensure public transparency in school and workforce training outcomes.

(d) State & Employer Alignment Requirement

Federal education funds shall prioritize schools that align curricula with workforce and industry needs, using terminology and performance indicators consistent with WIOA Sec. 116 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 3141).
Employers will be incentivized to partner with education providers to ensure curricula meet modern labor demands.

TITLE III — ACCREDITATION TRANSITION & CODIFICATION

Vehicle: Executive / regulatory, with a codification clause that is Reconciliation-eligible. The substantive standards in Sec. 301 are implemented under existing Secretary of Education authority in Title IV of the Higher Education Act and 34 C.F.R. Part 602. Sec. 301(d) codifies the April 2026 Department of Education accreditation proposal (91 Fed. Reg. ____, April 2026) as statute so that outcome-based recognition cannot be reversed by subsequent rulemaking alone, and is drafted to fit the Byrd Rule as a direct condition on federal student aid appropriations. Precedent: Codifies, rather than invents, the rulemaking already progressing toward a Nov. 1, 2026 finalization deadline for July 2027 effect.

Sec. 301. Codification of the April 2026 Accreditation Rulemaking

(a) The Secretary of Education’s notice of proposed rulemaking on accreditation and recognition of accrediting agencies, published April 2026, is hereby codified as statute to the extent of the following provisions:

Minimum student-achievement standards as a condition of agency recognition, including quantitative thresholds for graduation, licensure pass rates, and post-completion employment.
A recognition pathway for new accrediting agencies that substantially shortens existing processing times and provides for provisional recognition upon satisfaction of objective criteria.
A cost-efficiency factor in the recognition of accrediting agencies and in the agencies’ own standards applied to institutions.

(b) Nothing in this section authorizes the Secretary to narrow the recognition criteria as codified below Sec. 301(a) levels by regulation; any such narrowing shall require an Act of Congress.
(c) The Secretary shall retain authority to set stricter standards consistent with existing 34 C.F.R. Part 602.
(d) Eligibility for disbursement of Federal student aid under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.) is conditioned on institutional accreditation by an agency recognized under standards no less rigorous than those codified in Sec. 301(a).

Sec. 302. Phased Transition Schedule

(a) Year 1–2: Parallel system with both accreditation and performance-based funding models in place.
(b) Year 3: Performance-based funding expands to 50% of federal education dollars.
(c) Year 4–5: Traditional accreditation is phased out entirely, replaced by merit-based evaluation under the codified standards in Sec. 301.

Sec. 303. Alternative Credentialing & Crosswalk with State Licensure Requirements

A National Credentialing Equivalency System (NCES) will integrate:

Alternative skill-based certifications with state professional licensing boards.
Employer-verified job performance data as a recognized substitute for degrees.
Third-party competency assessments for non-degree pathways to licensure.

TITLE IV — AI-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT & DATA PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

Vehicle: Executive / regulatory. Implemented under existing Secretary of Education authority in Title IV of the Higher Education Act and under the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (15 U.S.C. Sec. 278h-1). Data-privacy provisions extend existing Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) standards. Precedent: No new agency; operates inside the Department of Education’s existing Office of Educational Technology and the Institute of Education Sciences.

Sec. 401. Implementation of AI-Based Performance Tracking

(a) AI-driven assessments must comply with documentation and reproducibility requirements consistent with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.
(b) All AI algorithms used for assessments must be publicly documented and subject to periodic third-party review.
(c) Strict security measures must be implemented for student and worker data collected by AI-driven assessments.

Sec. 402. Data Privacy & Security Measures

(a) Encryption & Anonymization Standards

All student and worker data must be stored with end-to-end encryption and anonymized before public reporting, in a manner at least as protective as required by 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g (FERPA).

(b) Limited Data Access

No third-party access to personally identifiable information (PII) without explicit user consent.

Any institution found violating data privacy standards will face funding penalties and legal action.

TITLE V — ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL FORMATION & OUTCOME-BASED FUNDING

Vehicle: Reconciliation-eligible. Amends Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to authorize per-pupil federal funds to follow the student to any NASR-registered school that meets outcome accountability. Within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for reconciliation instructions. Pay-for: Per-pupil portability is revenue-neutral against existing Title I allocation; no incremental outlay is required for Sec. 504. The Sec. 503 bonus allotment is offset by the savings captured under MEWRA Sec. 201(b) defunding of persistently non-performing institutions. Precedent: Builds on the January 2025 Executive Order directing the Department of Education to allow Title I funds to follow students under school-choice arrangements, and on the Workforce Pell (Pub. L. 119-21) framework for outcome-conditioned federal aid.

Sec. 501. National Alternative School Registry (NASR)

(a) The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education within the Department of Education shall maintain a ministerial National Alternative School Registry. The Registry is not a new agency and shall operate within existing appropriations for the Office.
(b) Any K-12 educational entity, including a new entity in formation, may register by filing:

An assessment methodology describing how student outcomes will be measured, consistent with the NLMF (Sec. 201).
A curriculum-outcomes crosswalk mapping instructional content to the Learning Outcomes defined in Sec. 101(c).
A signed attestation of compliance with applicable federal civil rights and student privacy law.

(c) Registration is not conditioned on accreditation by any recognized accrediting agency. The Secretary shall accept or reject a submission within 90 days based solely on whether the filing satisfies the ministerial requirements of subsection (b); a rejection shall be accompanied by specific written findings and an opportunity to cure.
(d) The Secretary shall publish the Registry in machine-readable form.

Sec. 502. Provisional Funding for New Schools

(a) In the first and second full school years following registration under Sec. 501, a NASR-registered school whose assessment methodology has been accepted shall be eligible to receive 60 percent of the per-pupil federal funds amount calculated under Sec. 504, against the school’s actual enrollment.
(b) In the third school year following registration, the school shall be evaluated against the same outcome metrics as established institutions under Sec. 201 using its first-cohort longitudinal data, and shall convert to the full per-pupil amount under Sec. 504 if it meets the applicable benchmarks.
(c) The 3-year failure clock under Sec. 201(b) begins to run only upon conversion to full funding under subsection (b).
(d) Interim Assessment Methodology (pre-NLMF). Until the National Learning Measurement Framework under Sec. 201(a) is certified operational by the Secretary in coordination with the Institute of Education Sciences, a NASR-registered school’s Year 3 conversion evaluation under subsection (b) shall use the school’s filed assessment methodology under Sec. 501(b), supplemented by at minimum two federally recognized standardized assessments identified in Sec. 101(b) and State assessment data reported under 20 U.S.C. Sec. 6311(b)(2)(B). The Secretary shall publish the interim methodology in machine-readable form and shall certify the NLMF as operational not later than 36 months after the date of enactment.
(e) Offset and Cap. Provisional funding under subsections (a) and (b) shall be offset against the Title I reallocation savings captured under Sec. 201(b) (defunding of persistently non-performing institutions). Total first-cohort provisional outlay under this section shall not exceed 0.5 percent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I, part A appropriation in any fiscal year. The Secretary shall ration provisional awards on a first-registered, first-funded basis within the cap and shall publish the running cap utilization quarterly.

Sec. 503. State Funding Coordination Bonus

(a) In each fiscal year beginning in Year 2 after enactment, the Secretary shall make available a supplemental per-pupil allotment of up to 15 percent over a State’s baseline Title I allocation to any State that elects to permit NASR-registered schools to receive State education funds on the same outcome-based basis as other public or publicly funded K-12 schools in that State.
(b) The supplemental allotment shall be calculated, awarded, and reduced on an annual basis. A State that ceases to meet the eligibility conditions of subsection (a) shall lose only the supplemental allotment, not its baseline allocation.
(c) Nothing in this section requires a State to participate. State legislatures retain full discretion over the terms and conditions of State education funds.

Sec. 504. Per-Pupil Federal Funds Portability

(a) Section 1127 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6337) is amended by adding at the end the following: “Federal per-pupil funds authorized under this Title shall follow an eligible student to any school registered under Section 501 of the Merit-Based Education and Workforce Reform Act, subject to the outcome accountability provisions of Section 201 of that Act.”
(b) Disbursement under subsection (a) shall be made directly to the NASR-registered school of enrollment; no intermediate State-level administrative charge, other than a reasonable accounting reconciliation cost not to exceed 1 percent, shall be withheld.
(c) A family’s election to enroll a student in a NASR-registered school shall not reduce the Title I allocation otherwise received by the student’s prior school of enrollment for students remaining at that school.

TITLE VI — CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO EXISTING LAWS

Vehicle: Reconciliation-eligible. Repeals and amendments have direct budgetary effect on federal education and workforce appropriations. Within the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for reconciliation instructions.

Sec. 601. Repeal of Outdated Federal Education Mandates

(a) No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top provisions that rely solely on accreditation-based funding are repealed to the extent inconsistent with this Act.
(b) Higher Education Act amendments: Accreditation requirements for federal student aid eligibility are modified to incorporate performance-based evaluation standards as codified in Sec. 301.

Sec. 602. Adjustments to Workforce & Licensing Regulations

(a) Occupational licensing boards, to the extent receiving federal workforce funds, must incorporate competency-based pathways for licensure where feasible, in a manner consistent with WIOA Sec. 3(52) (29 U.S.C. Sec. 3102(52)).
(b) Federal job applications must recognize alternative credentials and skill-based hiring standards.

TITLE VII — IMPLEMENTATION & REVIEW

Vehicle: Implementation (no standalone vehicle). Oversight and review provisions take effect under whichever vehicle carried each substantive Title.

Sec. 701. Federal Oversight & Five-Year Review

(a) The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, shall oversee compliance and implementation of this Act.
(b) Every five years, a comprehensive review will determine the effectiveness of MEWRA and recommend amendments based on real-world data, including longitudinal outcome data from NASR-registered schools under Title V.

TITLE VIII — GENERAL PROVISIONS

Vehicle: Structural (no standalone vehicle). Severability, savings, rules-of-construction, and effective-date clauses operative under whichever vehicle carried the substantive Titles above.

Sec. 801. Severability

(a) If any provision of this Act, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of this Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.
(b) It is the intent of Congress that the provisions of this Act, and in particular the provisions of Title V (Alternative School Formation & Outcome-Based Funding), be severable to the maximum extent permitted by law, such that invalidation of any one Section shall not impair the continuing operation of the National Alternative School Registry or the portability mechanism under Sec. 504.

Sec. 802. Savings Clause

(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair or supersede any right, authority, obligation, liability, or appropriation existing under Federal law on the day before the date of enactment of this Act, except to the extent expressly provided by this Act.
(b) Actions taken, rules promulgated, orders issued, or recognitions granted under authorities amended by this Act and in effect on the date of enactment shall remain in effect until superseded by action taken under this Act.
(c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair or supersede the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1001 et seq.), or the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 3101 et seq.), except to the extent expressly amended by this Act.

Sec. 803. Rules of Construction

(a) This Act shall be construed in coordination with, and not to duplicate or conflict with, the statutes and rulemakings identified in Sec. 105 (Coordination with Existing Law), including the Department of Education’s April 2026 accreditation rulemaking codified in Title III.
(b) No provision of this Act shall be construed to imply preemption of State law except where expressly so provided. Where a provision of this Act conditions the receipt of Federal funds on State action, nothing shall be construed to compel a State’s participation.
(c) Nothing in Title V shall be construed to require any State, school district, or accrediting agency to approve, accredit, or certify any school registered under the National Alternative School Registry. Registration under Sec. 501 is a Federal action independent of State licensure or private accreditation.
(d) Where a provision of this Act is subject to more than one reasonable construction, the construction most consistent with the purposes stated in Section 2 shall prevail.

Sec. 804. Effective Date

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment.
(b) Title III (Codification of April 2026 Accreditation Rulemaking) shall take effect on the later of (1) 30 days after the date of enactment, or (2) the effective date of the final rule codified under Sec. 301, currently scheduled for November 2026.
(c) Title V (Alternative School Formation & Outcome-Based Funding) shall take effect upon publication of the National Alternative School Registry under Sec. 501(a), not later than 180 days after the date of enactment. Sec. 504 (Per-Pupil Federal Funds Portability) shall apply to the first full school year beginning after the Registry is published. Sec. 502(d) (Interim Assessment Methodology) shall cease to apply upon the Secretary’s certification that the National Learning Measurement Framework is operational, as required by Sec. 502(d).
(d) Title VI (Conforming Amendments) shall take effect at the beginning of the first fiscal year following enactment, to coincide with annual appropriations cycles.