A bill to prepare tomorrow's teachers to use technology through pre-service and in-service training, and for other purposes.

Summary: Technology for Teachers Act of 2001 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) with respect to ESEA title III technology for education. Requires local applications for school technology resource grants to demonstrate how local educational agencies will use portions of such funds for in-service teacher training.Establishes a program authorizing the Secretary of Education, through the Office of Educational Technology, to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible consortia for developing or redesigning teacher preparation programs to enable prospective teachers to use technology effectively in their classrooms.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Technology for Teachers Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. LOCAL APPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE GRANTS.

    Section 3135 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6845) is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ``(a) In General.--
        '' before ``Each local educational agency'';
            (2) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) demonstrate the manner in which the local educational 
        agency will utilize at least 30 percent of the amounts provided 
        to the agency under this subpart in each fiscal year to provide 
        for in-service teacher training, or that the agency is using at 
        least 30 percent of its total technology funding available to 
        the agency from all sources (including Federal, State, and 
        local sources) to provide in-service teacher training.'';
            (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (b) and (c) respectively; and
            (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``subsection (e)'' and inserting ``subsection (a)''.

SEC. 3. TEACHER PREPARATION.

    Part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6811 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

      ``Subpart 5--Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers To Use Technology

``SEC. 3161. PURPOSE; PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

    ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this subpart to assist 
consortia of public and private entities in carrying out programs that 
prepare prospective teachers to use advanced technology to foster 
learning environments conducive to preparing all students to achieve to 
challenging State and local content and student performance standards.
    ``(b) Program Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized, through the 
        Office of Educational Technology, to award grants, contracts, 
        or cooperative agreements on a competitive basis to eligible 
        applicants in order to assist them in developing or redesigning 
        teacher preparation programs to enable prospective teachers to 
        use technology effectively in their classrooms.
            ``(2) Period of award.--The Secretary may award grants, 
        contracts, or cooperative agreements under this subpart for a 
        period of not more than 5 years.

``SEC. 3162. ELIGIBILITY.

    ``(a) Eligible Applicants.--In order to receive an award under this 
subpart, an applicant shall be a consortium that includes--
            ``(1) at least 1 institution of higher education that 
        offers a baccalaureate degree and prepares teachers for their 
        initial entry into teaching;
            ``(2) at least 1 State educational agency or local 
        educational agency; and
            ``(3) 1 or more of the following entities:
                    ``(A) an institution of higher education (other 
                than the institution described in paragraph (1));
                    ``(B) a school or department of education at an 
                institution of higher education;
                    ``(C) a school or college of arts and sciences at 
                an institution of higher education;
                    ``(D) a professional association, foundation, 
                museum, library, for-profit business, public or private 
                nonprofit organization, community-based organization, 
                or other entity with the capacity to contribute to the 
                technology-related reform of teacher preparation 
                programs.
    ``(b) Application Requirements.--In order to receive an award under 
this subpart, an eligible applicant shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, and containing such information, as the 
Secretary may require. Such application shall include--
            ``(1) a description of the proposed project, including how 
        the project would ensure that individuals participating in the 
        project would be prepared to use technology to create learning 
        environments conducive to preparing all students, including 
        girls and students who have economic and educational 
        disadvantages, to achieve to challenging State and local 
        content and student performance standards;
            ``(2) a demonstration of--
                    ``(A) the commitment, including the financial 
                commitment, of each of the members of the consortium; 
                and
                    ``(B) the active support of the leadership of each 
                member of the consortium for the proposed project;
            ``(3) a description of how each member of the consortium 
        would be included in project activities;
            ``(4) a description of how the proposed project would be 
        continued once the Federal funds awarded under this subpart 
        end; and
            ``(5) a plan for the evaluation of the program, which shall 
        include benchmarks to monitor progress toward specific project 
        objectives.
    ``(c) Matching Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of any 
        project funded under this subpart shall not exceed 50 percent. 
        Except as provided in paragraph (2), the non-Federal share of 
        such project may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 
        including services.
            ``(2) Acquisition of equipment.--Not more than 10 percent 
        of the funds awarded for a project under this subpart may be 
        used to acquire equipment, networking capabilities, or 
        infrastructure, and the non-Federal share of the cost of any 
        such acquisition shall be in cash.

``SEC. 3163. USE OF FUNDS.

    ``(a) Required Uses.--A recipient shall use funds under this 
subpart for--
            ``(1) creating programs that enable prospective teachers to 
        use advanced technology to create learning environments 
        conducive to preparing all students, including girls and 
        students who have economic and educational disadvantages, to 
        achieve to challenging State and local content and student 
        performance standards; and
            ``(2) evaluating the effectiveness of the project.
    ``(b) Permissible Uses.--A recipient may use funds under this 
subpart for activities, described in its application, that carry out 
the purposes of this subpart, such as--
            ``(1) developing and implementing high-quality teacher 
        preparation programs that enable educators to--
                    ``(A) learn the full range of resources that can be 
                accessed through the use of technology;
                    ``(B) integrate a variety of technologies into the 
                classroom in order to expand students' knowledge;
                    ``(C) evaluate educational technologies and their 
                potential for use in instruction; and
                    ``(D) help students develop their own technical 
                skills and digital learning environments;
            ``(2) developing alternative teacher development paths that 
        provide elementary schools and secondary schools with well-
        prepared, technology-proficient educators;
            ``(3) developing performance-based standards and aligned 
        assessments to measure the capacity of prospective teachers to 
        use technology effectively in their classrooms;
            ``(4) providing technical assistance to other teacher 
        preparation programs;
            ``(5) developing and disseminating resources and 
        information in order to assist institutions of higher education 
        to prepare teachers to use technology effectively in their 
        classrooms; and
            ``(6) subject to section 3162(c)(2), acquiring equipment, 
        networking capabilities, and infrastructure to carry out the 
        project.

``SEC. 3164. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``For purposes of carrying out this subpart, there is authorized to 
be appropriated $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.''.