II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 457 

To establish a grant program for innovative partnerships among teacher 

preparation programs, local educational agencies, and community-based 

organizations to expand access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff 

schools and high-need schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program for innovative partnerships 

among teacher preparation programs, local educational 

agencies, and community-based organizations to expand 

access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff schools 

and high-need schools, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partnering Aspiring 

5 Teachers with High-need Schools to Tutor Act of 2021’’ 

6 or the ‘‘PATHS to Tutor Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR HIGH-QUALITY TUTORING. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 (1) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 

5 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7801). 

8 (2) EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAM.—The 

9 term ‘‘educator preparation program’’ means a 

10 State-accredited program at a public or nonprofit in11 stitution of higher education or other nonprofit pro12 vider that prepares individuals to serve as educators. 

13 (3) HARD-TO-STAFF SCHOOL.—The term 

14 ‘‘hard-to-staff school’’ means a high-need school that 

15 has a high rate of teacher turnover or a large con16 centration of teachers in their first or second year 

17 of teaching. 

18 (4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 

19 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

20 2211 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6631). 

22 (5) HIGH-QUALITY TUTORING.—The term 

23 ‘‘high-quality tutoring’’ means tutoring— 

24 (A) that is provided by a tutor; 

25 (B) that is one-on-one or in a small group 

26 not to exceed a ratio of 1 to 4, or a small group 


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1 ratio based on evidence deemed sufficient by the 

2 State educational agency in the State in which 

3 the tutoring takes place; 

4 (C) that includes plans and time for tutors 

5 to collaborate; 

6 (D) that— 

7 (i) includes multiple sessions each 

8 week that are of sufficient length, such as 

9 the length of a regularly scheduled class or 

10 period; and 

11 (ii) is embedded in the school sched12 ule, preferably during the regular school 

13 day or tightly integrated to the regular 

14 school day and provided before or after 

15 school, or during school vacations; 

16 (E) in which content and grade specific tu17 tors are matched with students; 

18 (F) that is aligned to local standards and 

19 curriculum; 

20 (G) that includes high-quality pre-service 

21 training and ongoing professional support; 

22 (H) that is facilitated by the local consor23 tium where local educational agencies and 

24 schools support tutors through direct super25 vision and feedback with additional capacity 


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1 provided by the education preparation program 

2 faculty or staff; and 

3 (I) where tutors are adequately com4 pensated for their work. 

5 (6) LOCAL CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘local con6 sortium’’ means a consortium consisting of commu7 nity partners as follows: 

8 (A) The consortium shall include the fol9 lowing entities, one or both of which shall serve 

10 as the lead entity of the consortium: 

11 (i) A local educational agency, an in12 dividual school, or an educational service 

13 agency. 

14 (ii) An educator preparation program. 

15 (B) The consortium may include a commu16 nity partner, such as— 

17 (i) a community-based organization; 

18 (ii) a child and youth serving organi19 zation or agency; 

20 (iii) an institution of higher education, 

21 as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

23 1001(a)); 

24 (iv) a foundation; 

25 (v) an educator organization; 


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1 (vi) an organization representing edu2 cation professionals; 

3 (vii) a local government, including a 

4 government agency serving children and 

5 youth, such as a child welfare and juvenile 

6 justice agency; 

7 (viii) an organization representing 

8 students; or 

9 (ix) an organization representing par10 ents. 

11 (7) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

12 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

13 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 (8) MENTOR.—The term ‘‘mentor’’ means an 

16 experienced educator, including a teacher-educator 

17 at an educator preparation program, dedicated to 

18 advising a tutor or administering the tutoring pro19 gram. 

20 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Education. 

22 (10) TUTOR.—The term ‘‘tutor’’ means— 

23 (A) a postsecondary student who is en24 rolled in an educator preparation program; 


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1 (B) a recent graduate of an educator prep2 aration program; 

3 (C) an individual serving as an education 

4 paraprofessional or teaching aide; or 

5 (D) a fully certified and licensed educator 

6 (such as a recently retired educator, an educa7 tor experiencing a gap in employment due to 

8 COVID-induced budget cuts, or an educator 

9 providing tutoring before or after school, or 

10 during the summer). 

11 (b) DEMONSTRATION COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO12 GRAM.—The Secretary shall award grants, on a competi13 tive basis, to local consortia to enable the local consortia 

14 to carry out high-quality tutoring, especially at hard-to15 staff schools or high-need schools. 

16 (c) APPLICATION.—A local consortium that desires to 

17 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica18 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

19 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

20 require, including the following: 

21 (1) A description of the local consortium, in22 cluding which public or nonprofit entity participating 

23 in the local consortium shall serve as the fiscal agent 

24 for the local consortium. 


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1 (2) A description of the strategy for recruit2 ment, careful selection, and matching of tutors with 

3 hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools. 

4 (3) A description of the pre-service training and 

5 ongoing professional support for tutors. 

6 (4) A list of hard-to-staff schools and high-need 

7 schools, and the grades that will be supported in 

8 each school, identified by the local consortium to re9 ceive comprehensive, coordinated continuum of serv10 ices and support. 

11 (5) A description of how the high-quality tutor12 ing program plans to accelerate student learning. 

13 (6) A description of how the local consortium 

14 will ensure that tutoring does not result in the 

15 tracking or negative labeling of students, or remedi16 ation. 

17 (7) A description of the duration of tutoring, 

18 including the duration of sessions, the number of 

19 days a week tutoring will occur, and the length in 

20 weeks the tutoring will occur. 

21 (8) An assurance that the local consortium will 

22 align tutoring to the local curriculum and standards 

23 of the local educational agency and school and will 

24 be designed to support student success in the class25 room. 


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1 (9) A description of materials and supports and 

2 how they are aligned with the local curriculum and 

3 standards of the local educational agency and school. 

4 (10) A description of how the high-quality tu5 toring program will build school capacity in the 

6 schools in which the tutors will serve. 

7 (11) An assurance that the local consortium 

8 will leverage tutors to supplement, not supplant ex9 isting staff. 

10 (12) A description of how tutors will be ade11 quately compensated. 

12 (13) An assurance that the local consortium 

13 will use funds to supplement and not supplant funds 

14 otherwise available to carry out high-quality tutoring 

15 and will not use any funds to replace teaching posi16 tions with tutoring positions. 

17 (14) A description of how the tutoring program 

18 will incorporate research-based social-emotional 

19 learning practices, trauma-informed learning prac20 tices, and culturally and linguistically responsive 

21 practices. 

22 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec23 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to local consortia 

24 that plan to support high-need schools in building student 

25 learning capacity by using tutors who are postsecondary 


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1 students who are enrolled in educator preparation pro2 grams. 

3 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A local consortium that receives 

4 a grant under this section may use the grant funds for 

5 the following: 

6 (1) Matching, training, and placing tutors with 

7 schools to deliver high-quality tutoring. 

8 (2) Supporting tutors to work with small 

9 groups of students attending high-need schools 

10 wherein tutors are providing supervision and instruc11 tion, and time for collaboration with mentors. 

12 (3) Matching tutors with mentors. 

13 (4) Providing stipends to tutors and mentors. 

14 (5) Purchasing instructional materials and 

15 connectivity resources, including internet access and 

16 accessible devices. 

17 (6) Providing transportation for students at18 tending the tutoring program. 

19 (7) Providing meals and snacks for students at20 tending the tutoring program. 

21 (8) Providing facilities for conducting the tutor22 ing program. 

23 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

25 appropriated to carry out this section $500,000,000. 


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1 (2) ALLOCATION.—From the amounts appro2 priated to carry out this section— 

3 (A) not less than 85 percent shall be used 

4 for directly supporting students, including pro5 viding stipends to tutors and mentors, providing 

6 transportation, meals, and snacks, and pur7 chasing instructional materials and connectivity 

8 resources for students; and 

9 (B) not more than 15 percent shall be 

10 used for other uses in carrying out this section. 

11 SEC. 3. COORDINATION WITH THE CORPORATION FOR NA12 TIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE. 

13 (a) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—The Secretary of 

14 Education shall enter into an interagency agreement with 

15 the Corporation for National and Community Service 

16 under section 121(b) of the National and Community 

17 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) under which 

18 the Corporation shall approve tutor positions under a pro19 gram funded under section 2, as approved national service 

20 positions (as defined in section 101 of the National and 

21 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511)). Such 

22 interagency agreement shall specify how a degree or cer23 tificate of completion for a term of service as a provider 

24 of high-quality tutoring will be submitted to the Corpora25 tion. 


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1 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding section 148 of 

2 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

3 U.S.C. 12604), the Secretary and the Chief Executive Of4 ficer of the Corporation for National and Community 

5 Service shall develop a program under which national serv6 ice educational awards may be disbursed to tutors upon 

7 completion of service under a program funded under sec8 tion 2. 

9 SEC. 4. REDUCING THE ECONOMIC BURDEN ON ASPIRING 

10 TEACHERS. 

11 Section 420N(b)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(b)(1)) is amended to read as 

13 follows: 

14 ‘‘(1) the applicant will— 

15 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time teacher (or, dur16 ing any of academic years 2020–2021, 2021– 

17 2022, or 2022–2023, serve as a full-time tutor 

18 in high-quality tutoring or a full-time instructor 

19 in small group instruction) for a total of not 

20 less than 4 academic years within 8 years after 

21 completing the course of study for which the 

22 applicant received a TEACH Grant under this 

23 subpart; 


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1 ‘‘(B) teach in a school described in section 

2 465(a)(2)(A), except if serving as a tutor or in3 structor as described in subparagraph (A); 

4 ‘‘(C) teach, except if serving as a tutor or 

5 instructor as described in subparagraph (A), in 

6 any of the following fields— 

7 ‘‘(i) mathematics; 

8 ‘‘(ii) science; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a foreign language; 

10 ‘‘(iv) bilingual education; 

11 ‘‘(v) special education; 

12 ‘‘(vi) as a reading specialist; or 

13 ‘‘(vii) another field documented as 

14 high-need by the Federal Government, 

15 State government, or local educational 

16 agency, and approved by the Secretary; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(D) submit evidence of such employment 

19 in the form of a certification by the chief ad20 ministrative officer of the school upon comple21 tion of each year of such service.’’. 

Æ 


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