Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 5584 (ih) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to designate educational empowerment zones in certain low-income areas and to give a tax incentive to attract teachers to work in such areas. [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 5584 (ih) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to designate educational empowerment zones in certain low-income areas and to give a tax incentive to attract teachers to work in such areas. [Introduced in House] ...
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5583
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish an alternative
path to teaching in needy school districts.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 26, 2000
Mr. Tierney (for himself and Mr. George Miller of California)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish an alternative
path to teaching in needy school districts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Alternative Path to Teaching Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to encourage highly knowledgeable individuals to teach
in needy school districts; and
(2) to provide them with strong support, especially during
their initial years of teaching.
SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE PATH TO TEACHING IN NEEDY SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
(a) In General.--Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 203 the
following:
``SEC. 203A. ALTERNATIVE PATH TO TEACHING IN NEEDY SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
``(a) Program Authorized.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized, in
accordance with the provisions of this section, to make grants,
on a competitive basis, to collaboratives satisfying the
requirements of paragraph (3) to carry out the purposes
described in subsection (b).
``(2) Supplement not supplant.--Funds received under this
section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, funds
provided to a State, a local educational agency, or any other
person or entity, under any other Federal or State program
established for the purpose of increasing the ability of local
educational agencies effectively to recruit highly qualified
teachers, such as funds provided under section 204.
``(3) Requirements on collaboratives.--
``(A) State licensing examination.--In order to
receive a grant under this section, a collaborative
shall be established by one or more local educational
agencies in a State that requires an individual to have
passed a State teacher licensing examination in order
to obtain State certification as a teacher.
``(B) Establishment; required participants.--In
order to be eligible for a grant under this section, a
collaborative shall be established by one or more local
educational agencies and shall have a membership that
includes at least one representative from each of the
following:
``(i) The local educational agency or
agencies establishing the collaborative, and
any other local educational agency that desires
to participate.
``(ii) Institutions of higher education
that are--
``(I) selected by the local
educational agency or agencies
establishing the collaborative;
``(II) not rated by any State as
being low performing; and
``(III) in compliance with all
applicable provisions of this Act.
``(iii) Any additional entity--
``(I) selected by the entities
described in clauses (i) and (ii); and
``(II) deemed by such entities--
``(aa) to be of assistance
with recruiting, training, or
placing teachers from diverse
backgrounds in eligible
schools; and
``(bb) to have a record of
providing high quality and
effective professional
development to teachers in
eligible schools.
``(4) Applications.--
``(A) in general.--Each collaborative desiring to
receive a grant under this section shall prepare and
submit an application to the Secretary at such time and
in such a manner as the Secretary deems appropriate.
``(B) Written statement of support.--Such
application shall include a written statement of
support, cooperation, and intention to participate as
necessary in accordance with the provisions of this
section, including an assurance that the matching
requirements in paragraph (6) will be satisfied, from--
``(i) the head of the State educational
agency;
``(ii) the head of the State higher
education agency or the State university system
(if the head of such agency or system is
different from the head of the State
educational agency); and
``(iii) the head of the State agency that
is responsible for teacher licensure or
certification (if the head of such agency is
different from the person described in clause
(ii)).
``(5) Minimum grant amount.--Grants awarded under this
section--
``(A) subject to subparagraph (B), shall be for not
less than $250,000 per grantee, per year; and
``(B) shall be for not less than $5,000,000 per
State, per year.
``(6) Carryover.--A collaborative receiving a grant under
this section may use any grant funds that remain at the end of
a grant year in the succeeding year.
``(b) Uses of Funds.--
``(1) Required uses of funds.--A collaborative shall use
funds received under this section for the following purposes:
``(A) Developing and implementing an intensive
full-time pre-service training program for
collaborative participants that--
``(i) provides a minimum of 240 hours of
instruction to prepare participants to commence
teaching duties in eligible schools; and
``(ii) makes successful completion of the
program contingent on receipt of an evaluation
incorporating a finding that the graduate is
prepared to begin teaching in an eligible
school.
``(B) Recruiting and screening of training program
applicants to ensure both quality and diversity.
``(C) Providing stipends to collaborative
participants during their initial 240-hour training
period, including stipends to cover the costs of
housing, board, and relocation, if such payments will
help to ensure quality and diversity in the corps of
participants.
``(D) Recruiting, screening, training, and
providing ongoing support for, mentors for
collaborative participants.
``(E) Purchasing release time for mentor teachers
and for collaborative participants for induction
activities during the first 3 years of collaborative
participation.
``(F) Evaluating individual collaborative
participants at the conclusion of their first year of
teaching.
``(G) Evaluating the collaborative's programs as a
whole to determine to what extent they are an effective
means of increasing the percentage of fully qualified
teachers in eligible schools and improving student
achievement in those schools.
``(2) Allowable uses of funds.--A collaborative may use
funds received under this section for the following purposes:
``(A) Providing bonuses to mentor teachers.
``(B) Providing signing bonuses to collaborative
participants prior to the commencement of their
training.
``(c) Qualification of Collaborative Participants.--
``(1) Standards for member acceptance.--Each collaborative
shall establish standards for acceptance of collaborative
participants to ensure that each class of collaborative
participants is diverse and that each collaborative participant
possesses appropriate and high level credentials and is likely
to become a highly effective teacher in an eligible school. At
a minimum, all candidates accepted by any collaborative funded
under this section shall possess the following qualifications:
``(A) Recent graduates.--Individuals who completed
a bachelor's degree 3 years or less prior to applying
to be a collaborative participant--
``(i) shall have been in the top 25 percent
of their graduating class or have placed in the
top 25 percent nationally on a widely used
examination for entry into graduate or
professional school;
``(ii) if the individual intends to teach
at the elementary school level, shall possess a
bachelor's degree that provides them with the
content area knowledge needed to teach the full
range of subjects included in the elementary
school curriculum; and
``(iii) if the individual intends to teach
at the secondary school level, shall possess a
bachelor's degree in each subject area in which
the individual plans to provide instruction, or
a closely related field.
``(B) Other graduates.--Individuals who completed a
bachelor's degree more than 3 years prior to applying
to be a collaborative participant--
``(i) shall have a record of outstanding
achievement in their profession;
``(ii) if the individual intends to teach
at the elementary school level, shall possess a
bachelor's degree or professional background
and experience that provides them with the
content area knowledge needed to teach the full
range of subjects included in the elementary
school curriculum; and
``(iii) if the individual intends to teach
at the secondary school level, shall possess a
bachelor's degree in each subject area in which
the individual plans to provide instruction, or
a closely related field.
``(2) Length of commitment.--All potential collaborative
participants shall be required, as a condition on receipt of
financial assistance from a collaborative under subsection (b),
to make a 3-year commitment to teach in eligible schools under
the jurisdiction of the local educational agency or agencies
that established the collaborative.
``(d) Provisions Relating to Local Educational Agencies.--In order
for a collaborative to use a grant under this section for the benefit
of a local educational agency establishing the collaborative, and for
the local educational agency to employ a teacher who is a collaborative
participant, the local educational agency shall provide to the
Secretary assurances that--
``(1) the local educational agency has a rate of employment
of teachers who are not fully qualified, teacher vacancies,
teacher turnover, or use of substitutes that exceeds the State
average;
``(2) no collaborative participant will be given a teaching
assignment in any school that is not an eligible school;
``(3) no collaborative participant will be given a teaching
assignment for which he or she is not fully qualified;
``(4) no collaborative participant will be asked to teach,
during the member's first 3 years of teaching, in a school in
corrective action, as described in section 1116(c)(5) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
6317(c)(5));
``(5) all collaborative participants will receive high
intensity, sustained, high quality professional development,
including mentoring, throughout the participant's first year of
teaching in an eligible school;
``(6) all collaborative participants who successfully
complete their first year of teaching will complete, in their
second and third year of teaching, a professional development
course based on an evaluation that the participant receives
from the collaborative at the end of their first year of
teaching; and
``(7) all collaborative participants who successfully
complete their first year of teaching and are given a positive
evaluation and recommendation by their principal and mentor
will be offered an extension of employment by the local
educational agency, barring exceptional circumstances.
``(e) Requirements Relating to Teacher Licensure or
Certification.--
``(1) Initial teacher licensure or certification.--In order
for a collaborative to receive a grant under this section, the
State agency charged with teacher licensure or certification
shall provide to the Secretary an assurance that it is
authorized to, and shall, grant full and unrestricted first-
year teacher certification or licensure to all collaborative
participants who--
``(A) successfully complete the pre-service
training program for collaborative participants
described in subsection (b)(1)(A); and
``(B) pass all applicable State and local licensing
examinations for first-year teachers.
``(2) License or certificate renewal.--In order for a
collaborative to receive a grant under this section, the State
agency charged with teacher licensure or certification shall
provide to the Secretary an assurance that it is authorized to,
and shall, renew a first-year license or certificate granted to
a collaborative participant only if, at the end of the
participant's first year of teaching, the participant receives
a positive evaluation from the local educational agency or
agencies establishing the collaborative.
``(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
``(1) Collaborative.--The term `collaborative' means a
partnership established in accordance with the requirements of
subsection (a)(3).
``(2) Collaborative participant.--The term `collaborative
participant' means an individual who is a trainee or teacher
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