I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2011 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive demonstration grant program to provide funds for local educational agencies in 

order to increase the effectiveness of substitute teaching, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2009 

Mr. PAYNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive demonstration grant program to provide funds 

for local educational agencies in order to increase the 

effectiveness of substitute teaching, 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 ‘‘Substitute Teaching 

5 Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) As much as one full year of a child’s ele2 mentary and secondary education is taught by sub3 stitute teachers. 

4 (2) Less than one in four school districts pro5 vide training for substitute teachers. 

6 (3) No training is given to substitute teachers 

7 in 77 percent of school districts in the United 

8 States. 

9 (4) Over half (56 percent) of school districts 

10 never have a face-to-face interview with substitute 

11 teaching candidates. 

12 (5) Poorly trained substitute teachers have a 

13 negative impact on student academic performance 

14 and achievement. 

15 (6) Schools with high concentrations of dis16 advantaged populations are more likely to be taught 

17 by less qualified permanent teachers and under-pre18 pared substitute teachers. 

19 (7) Nine out of the ten lowest-ranked States in 

20 National Assessment of Educational Progress 

21 (NAEP) testing allowed substitute teachers with 

22 only a high school diploma to teach in their schools. 

23 (8) In fact, in 28 States, principals may hire 

24 anyone with a high school diploma or a general 


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1 equivalency diploma (GED) who is age 18 years of 

2 age or older. 

3 (9) Schools with lower academic achievement 

4 are twice as likely to allow less qualified substitutes 

5 in the classroom. 

6 (10) On any given day in the United States, 

7 more than 270,000 classes are taught by substitute 

8 teachers. 

9 (11) Formal training of substitute teachers has 

10 been shown to improve the quality of education, 

11 lower school district liability, reduce the number of 

12 student and faculty complaints, and increase reten13 tion rates of substitute teachers. 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE EF15 FECTIVENESS OF SUBSTITUTE TEACHING. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education is au17 thorized to make competitive demonstration grants to eli18 gible local educational agencies for the purposes of— 

19 (1) increasing the effectiveness of substitute 

20 teaching through a comprehensive training program 

21 for substitute teachers, principals, permanent class22 room teachers, and district managers of substitute 

23 teachers; and 

24 (2) evaluating the effectiveness of the program. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

2 this Act, the term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ 

3 means— 

4 (1) a high-need local educational agency; or 

5 (2) a partnership of a high-need local edu6 cational agency and an institution of higher edu7 cation, or non-profit education organization. 

8 SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS. 

9 A local educational agency that receives a grant 

10 under section 3 shall use the funds made available through 

11 the grant— 

12 (1) to train substitute teachers in— 

13 (A) classroom management; 

14 (B) effective teaching strategies that ad15 dress a variety of student learning needs and 

16 styles; 

17 (C) teacher professionalism; and 

18 (D) educational laws and issues; 

19 (2) to train principals and permanent teachers 

20 in effectively integrating substitute teachers in 

21 school operations, such as— 

22 (A) best practices in recruiting and retain23 ing substitutes; 

24 (B) best practices in preparing students 

25 for substitutes; 


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1 (C) proper planning and follow-up for sub2 stitutes; and 

3 (D) use of permanent substitutes; 

4 (3) to develop a resource kit for substitute 

5 teachers that contains— 

6 (A) short whole-class critical thinking ac7 tivities; 

8 (B) independent student activities; and 

9 (C) teacher-directed activities and lessons 

10 organized by subject matter; and 

11 (4) to collect data on substitute teachers and 

12 the practices for managing substitute teachers in 

13 participating districts, including information on 

14 the— 

15 (A) demand for substitute teachers; 

16 (B) qualifications of substitute teachers; 

17 (C) number and percentage of substitute 

18 teachers that receive some form of training 

19 prior to entering the classroom; and 

20 (D) number of complaints registered 

21 against substitute teachers. 

22 SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND REPORTS. 

23 (a) STUDY ON SUBSTITUTE TEACHING.—Not later 

24 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

25 the Secretary of Education shall commission a national 


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1 independent evaluation of the prevalence of substitute 

2 teaching and current State and local efforts to improve 

3 the effectiveness of substitute teaching and their impact 

4 on student achievement. The Secretary shall report the 

5 findings of the evaluation to the Congress not later than 

6 two years after the date on which the study is commis7 sioned. 

8 (b) IMPACT OF FUNDED PROGRAMS.—Not later than 

9 1 year after the date on which the last demonstration 

10 grant made under section 3 expires, the Secretary of Edu11 cation shall submit a report to the Congress describing 

12 the impact on student achievement of programs funded 

13 under this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

16 this Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums 

17 as may be necessary for fiscal years 2011 through 2014. 

Æ 


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