I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2291

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend loan forgiveness 

for certain loans to Head Start teachers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 2, 2003

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 

Mr. SERRANO, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. ETHERIDGE, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. 

ACEVEDO-VILA ́, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 

Ms. SOLIS, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. FILNER, Mr. CONYERS, 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. OLVER, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. RUSH, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MEEHAN, 

Ms. WATERS, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. FORD, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. LEE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. NADLER, 

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. OWENS, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend 

loan forgiveness for certain loans to Head Start teachers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR HEAD START TEACH2 ERS. 

3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

4 ‘‘Loan Forgiveness for Head Start Teachers Act of 2003’’. 

5 (b) HEAD START TEACHERS.—Section 428J of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C 1078–10) is 

7 amended—

8 (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (1) 

9 and inserting the following: 

10 ‘‘(1)(A) has been employed—

11 ‘‘(i) as a full-time teacher for 5 consecutive 

12 complete school years in a school that qualifies 

13 under section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation 

14 for Perkins loan recipients who teach in such a 

15 school; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) as a Head Start teacher for 5 con17 secutive complete program years under the 

18 Head Start Act; and 

19 ‘‘(B)(i) if employed as a secondary school teach20 er, is teaching a subject area that is relevant to the 

21 borrower’s academic major as certified by the chief 

22 administrative officer of the public or nonprofit pri23 vate secondary school in which the borrower is em24 ployed; 

25 ‘‘(ii) if employed as an elementary school teach26 er, has demonstrated, as certified by the chief ad-
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1 ministrative officer of the public or nonprofit private 

2 elementary school in which the borrower is em3 ployed, knowledge and teaching skills in reading, 

4 writing, mathematics, and other areas of the elemen5 tary school curriculum; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) if employed as a Head Start teacher, has 

7 demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in read8 ing, writing, early childhood development, and other 

9 areas of a preschool curriculum, with a focus on cog10 nitive learning; and’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (g), by adding at the end the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(3) HEAD START.—An individual shall be eli14 gible for loan forgiveness under this section for serv15 ice described in clause (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A) 

16 only if such individual received a baccalaureate or 

17 graduate degree on or after the date of enactment 

18 of the Loan Forgiveness for Head Start Teachers 

19 Act of 2003.’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

23 necessary for fiscal year 2007 and succeeding fiscal years 

24 to carry out loan repayment under this section for service 

25 described in clause (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A).’’. 
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1 (c) DIRECT STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 460 of the Higher 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C 1087j) is amend4 ed—

5 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking sub6 paragraph (A) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(A)(i) has been employed—

8 ‘‘(I) as a full-time teacher for 5 con9 secutive complete school years in a school 

10 that qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) 

11 for loan cancellation for Perkins loan re12 cipients who teach in such a school; or 

13 ‘‘(II) as a Head Start teacher for 5 

14 consecutive complete program years under 

15 the Head Start Act; and 

16 ‘‘(ii)(I) if employed as a secondary school 

17 teacher, is teaching a subject area that is rel18 evant to the borrower’s academic major as cer19 tified by the chief administrative officer of the 

20 public or nonprofit private secondary school in 

21 which the borrower is employed; 

22 ‘‘(II) if employed as an elementary school 

23 teacher, has demonstrated, as certified by the 

24 chief administrative officer of the public or non25 profit private elementary school in which the 
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1 borrower is employed, knowledge and teaching 

2 skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and 

3 other areas of the elementary school cur4 riculum; and 

5 ‘‘(III) if employed as a Head Start teach6 er, has demonstrated knowledge and teaching 

7 skills in reading, writing, early childhood devel8 opment, and other areas of a preschool cur9 riculum, with a focus on cognitive learning; 

10 and’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (g), by adding at the end 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) HEAD START.—An individual shall be eli14 gible for loan forgiveness under this section for serv15 ice described in subclause (II) of subsection 

16 (b)(1)(A)(i) only if such individual received a bacca17 laureate or graduate degree on or after the date of 

18 enactment of the Loan Forgiveness for Head Start 

19 Teachers Act of 2003.’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated such sums as may be necessary for 

24 fiscal year 2007 and succeeding fiscal 

25 years to carry out loan repayment under 
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1 this section for service described in sub2 clause (II) of subsection (b)(1)(A)(i).’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 460 

4 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1087j) is amended—

6 (A) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or 

7 fifth complete program year’’ after ‘‘fifth com8 plete school year of teaching’’; 

9 (B) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘sub10 section (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

11 (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)’’; 

12 (C) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking 

13 ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub14 section (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)’’; and 

15 (D) in subsection (h), by inserting ‘‘except 

16 as part of the term ‘program year’,’’ before 

17 ‘‘where’’. 

18 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 428J of 

19 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) 

20 is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or fifth 

22 complete program year’’ after ‘‘fifth complete school 

23 year of teaching’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘subsection 

25 (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)’’; 
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1 (3) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘sub2 section (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

3 (b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 

4 (4) in subsection (h), by inserting ‘‘except as 

5 part of the term ‘program year’,’’ before ‘‘where’’.

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