A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve retention of public elementary and secondary school teachers, and for other purposes.

Summary: Teacher Center Act of 2006 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) or consortiums of LEAs for the establishment and operation of new teacher centers or the support of existing centers. Requires that special consideration be given to high-need LEAs that serve a specified number or percentage of poor children and face difficulties in recruiting highly qualified teachers.

Requires teacher centers established or supported with such funds to provide: (1) high-quality professional development to teachers that will enable them to help students improve their achievement and meet state academic standards; (2) teachers with information on developments in curricula, assessments, and educational research; and (3) training and support for new teachers. Lists other permissible uses of such funds by teacher centers. Conditions a center's receipt of such assistance on its operation under the supervision of a teacher center policy board, the majority of whose members must be representatives of, and selected by, the elementary and secondary school teachers to be served by the center.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teacher Center Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) There are not enough qualified teachers in the Nation's 
        classrooms, and an unprecedented number of teachers will retire 
        over the next 5 years. Over the next decade, the Nation will 
        need to bring 2,000,000 new teachers into public schools.
            (2) Too many teachers do not receive adequate preparation 
        for their jobs.
            (3) More than one-third of children in grades 7 through 12 
        are taught by a teacher who lacks both a college major and 
        certification in the subject being taught. Rates of ``out-of-
        field teaching'' are especially high in high-poverty schools.
            (4) Teacher turnover is a serious problem, particularly in 
        urban and rural areas. Over one-third of new teachers leave the 
        profession within their first 3 years of teaching, and 14 
        percent of new teachers leave the field within the first year. 
        After 5 years--the average time it takes for teachers to 
        maximize students' learning--half of all new teachers will have 
        exited the profession. Rates of teacher attrition are highest 
        in high-poverty schools. Between 2000 and 2001, 1 out of 5 
        teachers in the Nation's high-poverty schools either left to 
        teach in another school or dropped out of teaching altogether.
            (5) African-American, Latino, and low-income students are 
        much less likely than other students to have highly-qualified 
        teachers.
            (6) Research shows that individual teachers have a great 
        impact on how well their students learn. The most effective 
        teachers have been shown to be able to boost their pupils' 
        learning by a full grade level relative to students taught by 
        less effective teachers.
            (7) Only 16 States finance new teacher induction programs, 
        and fewer still require inductees to be matched with mentors 
        who teach the same subject.
            (8) Large-scale studies of effective professional 
        development have documented that student achievement and 
        teacher learning increases when professional development is 
        teacher-led, ongoing, and collaborative.
            (9) Research shows that the characteristics of successful 
        professional development include a focus on concrete classroom 
        applications and practice, and opportunities for teacher 
        observation, critique, reflection, group support, and 
        collaboration.
            (10) Data on school reform shows that teachers are 
        attracted to and continue to teach in academically challenged 
        schools when appropriate supports are in place to help them 
        succeed. Appropriate supports include high-quality induction 
        programs, job-embedded professional development, and small 
        classes which allow teachers to tailor instruction to meet the 
        needs of individual students.

SEC. 3. IMPROVING RETENTION OF AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR PUBLIC 
              ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

                      ``PART E--TEACHER RETENTION

``SEC. 2501. IMPROVING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH 
              TEACHER CENTERS.

    ``(a) Grants.--The Secretary may make grants to eligible entities 
for the establishment and operation of new teacher centers or the 
support of existing teacher centers.
    ``(b) Special Consideration.--In making grants under this section, 
the Secretary shall give special consideration to any application 
submitted by an eligible entity that is--
            ``(1) a high-need local educational agency; or
            ``(2) a consortium that includes at least one high-need 
        local educational agency.
    ``(c) Duration.--Each grant under this section shall be for a 
period of 3 years.
    ``(d) Required Activities.--A teacher center receiving assistance 
under this section shall carry out each of the following activities:
            ``(1) Providing high-quality professional development to 
        teachers to assist the teachers in improving their knowledge, 
        skills, and teaching practices in order to help students to 
        improve the students' achievement and meet State academic 
        standards.
            ``(2) Providing teachers with information on developments 
        in curricula, assessments, and educational research, including 
        the manner in which the research and data can be used to 
        improve teaching skills and practice.
            ``(3) Providing training and support for new teachers.
    ``(e) Permissible Activities.--A teacher center may use assistance 
under this section for any of the following:
            ``(1) Assessing the professional development needs of the 
        teachers and other instructional school employees, such as 
        librarians, counselors, and paraprofessionals, to be served by 
        the center.
            ``(2) Providing intensive support to staff to improve 
        instruction in literacy, mathematics, science, and other 
        curricular areas necessary to provide a well-rounded education 
        to students.
            ``(3) Providing support to mentors working with new 
        teachers.
            ``(4) Providing training in effective instructional 
        services and classroom management strategies for mainstream 
        teachers serving students with disabilities and students with 
        limited English proficiency.
            ``(5) Enabling teachers to engage in study groups and other 
        collaborative activities and collegial interactions regarding 
        instruction.
            ``(6) Paying for release time and substitute teachers in 
        order to enable teachers to participate in the activities of 
        the teacher center.
            ``(7) Creating libraries of professional materials and 
        educational technology.
            ``(8) Providing high-quality professional development for 
        other instructional staff, such as paraprofessionals, 
        librarians, and counselors.
            ``(9) Assisting teachers to become highly qualified and 
        paraprofessionals to become teachers.
            ``(10) Assisting paraprofessionals to meet the requirements 
        of section 1119.
            ``(11) Developing curricula.
            ``(12) Incorporating additional on-line professional 
        development resources for participants.
            ``(13) Providing funding for individual- or group-initiated 
        classroom projects.
            ``(14) Developing partnerships with businesses and 
        community-based organizations.
            ``(15) Establishing a teacher center site.
    ``(f) Teacher Center Policy Board.--
            ``(1) In general.--A teacher center receiving assistance 
        under this section shall be operated under the supervision of a 
        teacher center policy board.
            ``(2) Membership.--
                    ``(A) Teacher representatives.--The majority of the 
                members of a teacher center policy board shall be 
                representatives of, and selected by, the elementary and 
                secondary school teachers to be served by the teacher 
                center. Such representatives shall be selected through 
                the teacher organization, or if there is no teacher 
                organization, by the teachers directly.
                    ``(B) Other representatives.--The members of a 
                teacher center policy board--
                            ``(i) shall include at least 2 members who 
                        are representatives of, or designated by, the 
                        school board of the local educational agency to 
                        be served by the teacher center;
                            ``(ii) shall include at least 1 member who 
                        is a representative of, and is designated by, 
                        the institutions of higher education (with 
                        departments or schools of education) located in 
                        the area; and
                            ``(iii) may include paraprofessionals.
    ``(g) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--To seek a grant under this section, an 
        eligible entity shall submit an application at such time, in 
        such manner, and accompanied by such information as the 
        Secretary may reasonably require.
            ``(2) Assurance of compliance.--An application under 
        paragraph (1) shall include an assurance that the eligible 
        entity will require any teacher center receiving assistance 
        through the grant to comply with the requirements of this 
        section.
            ``(3) Teacher center policy board.--An application under 
        paragraph (1) shall include the following:
                    ``(A) An assurance that--
                            ``(i) the eligible entity has established a 
                        teacher center policy board;
                            ``(ii) the board participated fully in the 
                        preparation of the application; and
                            ``(iii) the board approved the application 
                        as submitted.
                    ``(B) A description of the membership of the board 
                and the method of selection of the membership.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `eligible entity' means a local educational 
        agency or a consortium of 2 or more local educational agencies.
            ``(2) The term `high-need' means, with respect to an 
        elementary school or a secondary school, a school--
                    ``(A) that serves an eligible school attendance 
                area (as defined in section 1113) in which not less 
                than 65 percent of the children are from low-income 
                families, based on the number of children eligible for 
                free and reduced priced lunches under the Richard B. 
                Russell National School Lunch Act; or
                    ``(B) in which not less than 65 percent of the 
                children enrolled are from such families.
            ``(3) The term `high-need local educational agency' means a 
        local educational agency--
                    ``(A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 children 
                from families with incomes below the poverty line, or 
                for which not less than 20 percent of the children 
                served by the agency are from families with incomes 
                below the poverty line; and
                    ``(B) that is having or expected to have difficulty 
                filling teacher vacancies or hiring new teachers who 
                are highly qualified.
            ``(4) The term `teacher center policy board' means a 
        teacher center policy board described in subsection (f).
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 
2007 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding 
fiscal years.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents at section 2 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 
seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2441 
of such Act the following new items:

                      ``Part E--Teacher Retention

``Sec. 2501. Improving professional development opportunities.''.