1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Success in the Middle Act of 2019 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Research shows that Federal funding for students in middle school and high school, particularly grades 6 through 12, is significantly lower than funding for elementary and postsecondary students. (2) International comparisons indicate that students in the United States do not start out behind students of other nations in mathematics and science, but that they fall behind by the end of the middle grades. (3) Approximately 65 percent of students in grade 8 read below the proficient level on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. A little over one-third of students in grade 8 in the United States, and approximately 5 percent of such students who are English learners, can read with proficiency, according to the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. (4) In mathematics, 37 percent of students in grade 8 show skills at or above the proficient level on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. However, the percentage of students in grade 4 at or above the proficient level on such Assessment was 40 percent. In grade 8, the gaps between the average mathematics scores of White and Black students and between White and Hispanic students were approximately as wide in 2017 as in 2015. (5) By grade 6, a student who attends school less than 80 percent of the time, receives unsatisfactory marks for mild but sustained misbehavior, or who fails English or mathematics, has only a 10 to 20 percent chance of graduating on time. Without effective interventions and proper supports, these students are at risk of subsequent failure in secondary school, or of dropping out. (6) Approximately 55 percent of students in grades 5 through 12 are engaged in the learning process, while 28 percent are unengaged or mentally checked out and 17 percent are actively disengaged and feel negatively about school, according to a 2013 Gallup Student Poll. Additionally, 54 percent of students are