II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1173

To provide for a teacher quality enhancement and incentive program.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. TORRICELLI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for a teacher quality enhancement and incentive

program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

4 The purpose of this Act is—

5 (1) to encourage the best and brightest can6 didates to teach in public elementary and secondary

7 schools serving disadvantaged populations; and

8 (2) to encourage high achieving candidates to

9 enter the teaching profession who would otherwise

10 not consider a career in teaching.
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

3 award grants to at least 50 local educational agencies for

4 a fiscal year to enable the local educational agencies to

5 award bonuses to highly qualified individuals who agree

6 to teach in elementary schools or secondary schools that

7 are served by the local educational agency and located in

8 high poverty areas, for a period of not less than 4 years.

9 (b) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—A

10 local educational agency shall be eligible for a grant under

11 this Act if—

12 (1) not less than 20 percent of children in the

13 schools served by the local educational agency are el14 igible to be counted under section 1124(c) of the El15 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

16 U.S.C. 6333(c)); or

17 (2) the local educational agency is eligible to be

18 counted under section 10952 of the Elementary and

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8272).

20 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall award a

21 grant under subsection (a) to at least 1 eligible local edu22 cational agency in each State.

23 (d) AMOUNT.—Grants under this section shall be

24 awarded based on the number of students enrolled in

25 schools under the jurisdiction of the local educational
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1 agency involved. With respect to a local educational agency

2 with an enrollment of—

3 (1) 1,500 or fewer students, the amount of a

4 grant shall be $22,500;

5 (2) at least 1,501 but less than 5,001 students,

6 the amount of a grant shall be $112,500;

7 (3) at least 5,001 but less than 15,001 stu8 dents, the amount of a grant shall be $150,000; and

9 (4) at least 15,001 students, the amount of a

10 grant shall be $300,000.

11 (e) BONUSES NOT TAXED.—For purposes of the In12 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, a bonus awarded under this

13 Act shall not be includable in the gross income of the indi14 vidual awarded the bonus.

15 (f) COLLABORATION.—The Secretary shall collabo16 rate with local educational agencies, local boards of edu17 cation, and local offices of student financial assistance in

18 carrying out the program assisted under this section.

19 (g) DEFINITION.—The definitions in section 14101

20 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

21 (20 U.S.C. 8801) shall apply to this Act.

22 SEC. 3. LOCAL REQUIREMENTS.

23 (a) LOCAL USES.—Each local educational agency re24 ceiving a grant under this Act shall use the funds made

25 available under this Act to—
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1 (1) award bonuses to highly qualified individ2 uals who agree to teach in elementary schools or sec3 ondary schools in which at least 40 percent of the

4 children are eligible to be counted under section

5 1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education

6 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c));

7 (2) award the bonuses in accordance with sub8 section (b) on a competitive basis taking into

9 consideration—

10 (A) objective measures such as test scores,

11 grade point average or class rank, and such

12 other criteria as the local educational agency

13 may determine appropriate; and

14 (B) recommendations received under sub15 section (c); and

16 (3) award the bonuses in the amount of

17 $15,000 with $7,500 paid after the first year of

18 such teaching and $7,500 paid after the second year

19 of such teaching.

20 (b) BONUSES.—With respect to bonuses under sub21 section (a)(2), the local educational agency shall, with re22 spect to a local educational agency with an enrollment

23 of—
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1 (1) 1,500 or fewer students, award bonuses to

2 not more than 3 highly qualified individuals in the

3 fiscal year involved;

4 (2) at least 1,501 but less than 5,001 students,

5 award bonuses to not more than 15 highly qualified

6 individuals;

7 (3) at least 5,001 but less than 15,001 stu8 dents, award bonuses to not more than 20 highly

9 qualified individuals; and

10 (4) at least 15,001 students, award bonuses to

11 not more than 40 highly qualified individuals.

12 (c) PROHIBITION.—Each local educational agency re13 ceiving a grant under this Act shall not use the grant

14 funds to offset the salary of a teacher awarded a bonus

15 under this Act.

16 (d) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Each local educational

17 agency receiving a grant under this Act shall establish a

18 system for receiving a limited number of recommendations

19 from institutions of higher education for individuals to re20 ceive bonus awards under this Act.

21 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY.

22 To be eligible to receive a bonus award under this

23 Act an individual—

24 (1) shall enter into an agreement with the local

25 educational agency to work in a school described in
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1 section 3(a)(1) for not less than 4 years or repay the

2 bonus in accordance with section 6;

3 (2) shall pass all State certification examina4 tions required to teach in an elementary school or

5 secondary school in the State;

6 (3) shall have graduated with a 3.5 grade point

7 average from an institution of higher education, or

8 have graduated in the top 15 percent of the individ9 ual’s graduating class at an institution of higher

10 education, with a bachelor’s degree;

11 (4) shall submit an application to the local edu12 cational agency in accordance with section 5(a).

13 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS; NOTIFICATION.

14 (a) APPLICATION.—Each individual desiring a bonus

15 award under this Act shall submit an application to a local

16 educational agency not later than January 15 of each year

17 containing such information as the local educational agen18 cy may require.

19 (b) NOTIFICATION.—A local educational agency shall

20 notify individuals of their bonus awards by May 1 of each

21 year.

22 SEC. 6. REPAYMENT.

23 Each individual who receives a bonus award under

24 this Act and does not comply with the terms of the agree25 ment described in section 4(1) within 6 years of receiving
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1 the first bonus award payment under this Act, without an

2 excuse that is acceptable to the local educational agency,

3 shall repay to the local educational agency the amount of

4 the bonus awards received plus interest. Repayment shall

5 begin not later than 2 years after the local educational

6 agency determines the individual is in noncompliance with

7 the agreement.

8 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

9 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

10 this Act $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2000

11 through 2004.

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