Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2015

Summary: Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2015 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education (ED) to award competitive, renewable grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), states, and partnerships of LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education for the development and implementation of innovative teacher retention programs that include: (1) professional development; (2) teacher mentoring; (3) advanced certification or credentialing; (4) research, travel, or fellowship opportunities; and (5) pairing teachers with research or industry professionals. ED must: (1) identify the most promising teacher retention strategies, and (2) make information about those strategies publicly available and easily accessible to states and LEAs.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States faces an increasing need for high-
        quality educators. The Department of Education estimates the 
        United States will need about 430,000 new elementary and 
        secondary teachers by 2020.
            (2) For the first time since the 1960s, teachers with 10 
        years of experience or less now constitute more than half of 
        our teaching force.
            (3) Research shows that a key reason for teacher turnover 
        is job dissatisfaction, which may result from poor working 
        conditions, inadequate administrative support, low salary, low 
        morale, or lack of a pathway for professional advancement.
            (4) The National Center for Education Statistics found a 
        correlation between the level of support and training provided 
        to new teachers and the likelihood of a teacher leaving after 
        their first year, with teachers who are assigned a mentor 
        teacher more likely to continue their teaching careers than 
        those who did not.
            (5) Efforts to address the teacher shortage demands a 
        national strategy to support the development and implementation 
        of innovative teacher retention programs.
            (6) Effective teacher retention programs to address this 
        problem are already at work in local educational agencies 
        around the country, and many more innovative programs could be 
        advanced if additional resources were available.
            (7) The Department of Education has made teacher 
        recruitment and retention a priority, and can play an important 
        role in facilitating the identification of the most promising 
        teacher retention approaches and disseminating information 
        about them to State educational agencies and local educational 
        agencies.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHER RETENTION PROGRAMS.

    Section 2151 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6651) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Teacher Retention Activities.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and carry 
        out a teacher retention program to--
                    ``(A) assist State educational agencies and local 
                educational agencies in developing and implementing 
                innovative teacher retention programs, and support the 
                development of model programs and best practices in 
                retaining quality teachers in the classroom; and
                    ``(B) facilitate the dissemination of innovative 
                teacher retention programs to State educational 
                agencies and local educational agencies.
            ``(2) Grants.--The Secretary shall carry out paragraph 
        (1)(A) by making grants to eligible entities to develop and 
        implement innovative teacher retention programs, including 
        activities such as--
                    ``(A) professional development programs;
                    ``(B) teacher mentoring programs;
                    ``(C) advanced certification or advanced 
                credentialing;
                    ``(D) research, travel, or fellowship 
                opportunities; and
                    ``(E) pairing of teachers with professionals in 
                research or industry.
            ``(3) Eligible entities.--In this subsection, the term 
        `eligible entity' includes--
                    ``(A) local educational agencies;
                    ``(B) State educational agencies; and
                    ``(C) partnerships of local educational agencies, 
                nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher 
                education.
            ``(4) Grant terms.--Grants under this subsection shall be 
        awarded for periods of not more than 5 years and on a 
        competitive basis. Grants awarded under this subsection may be 
        renewed.
            ``(5) Secretary's duty to identify most promising teacher 
        retention approaches.--In carrying out paragraph (1)(B), the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) identify the most promising teacher retention 
                approaches, including the approaches already working 
                and the approaches developed through grants funded 
                under this subsection, and make information about such 
                approaches publicly available and easily accessible to 
                State educational agencies and local educational 
                agencies; and
                    ``(B) not later than 9 months after the date of the 
                enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, 
                transmit to the Committee on Education and the 
                Workforce of the House of Representatives and the 
                Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
                the Senate, a report that describes--
                            ``(i) the methodology by which the most 
                        promising teacher retention programs are 
                        identified under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) the Secretary's efforts to 
                        disseminate information regarding such programs 
                        to State educational agencies and local 
                        educational agencies.''.