I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 932

To provide scholarships for scientists and engineers to become certified as

science, mathematics, and technology teachers in elementary and secondary schools.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 7, 2001

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. WU) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

To provide scholarships for scientists and engineers to become certified as science, mathematics, and technology

teachers in elementary and secondary schools.

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 ‘‘Science Teacher Schol5 arships for Scientists and Engineers Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the quality of education in science, mathe2 matics, and engineering is the foundation of the Na3 tion’s future security and prosperity;

4 (2) there is evidence that the Nation’s schools

5 are not ready to meet this challenge due to inad6 equate numbers of qualified science, mathematics,

7 and technology teachers;

8 (3) the Department of Education has estimated

9 that more than 240,000 new science and mathe10 matics elementary and secondary school teachers are

11 needed over the next decade;

12 (4) at present, 34 percent of public school

13 mathematics teachers and nearly 40 percent of

14 science teachers lack even a minor in their primary

15 teaching fields; and

16 (5) new incentives are required to attract stu17 dents from science and engineering fields to pursue

18 careers as science, mathematics, and technology

19 teachers in elementary and secondary schools.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act—

22 (1) the term ‘‘science teacher’’ means a science,

23 mathematics, or technology teacher at the elemen24 tary or secondary school level;
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1 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

2 the National Science Foundation; and

3 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

4 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of

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

6 1001).

7 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

8 The Director is authorized to make awards to institu9 tions of higher education to provide scholarships to assist

10 graduates of baccalaureate degree programs in science,

11 mathematics, or engineering, or individuals pursuing de12 grees in those fields, to fulfill the academic requirements

13 necessary to become certified as science teachers. Such

14 awards shall be made through competitive, merit-based

15 procedures.

16 SEC. 5. SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT AND DURATION.

17 Each scholarship provided through awards under sec18 tion 4 shall be in the amount of $7,500 and shall cover

19 a period of 1 year.

20 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS.

21 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Institutions of higher education

22 offering baccalaureate degrees in science, mathematics,

23 and engineering and coursework toward teacher certifi24 cation are eligible to apply for awards under the program
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1 established by section 4. Individuals provided scholarships

2 under the program shall be—

3 (1) undergraduate students majoring in science,

4 mathematics, or engineering who are within 1 aca5 demic year of completion of degree requirements; or

6 (2) graduates of baccalaureate or advanced de7 gree programs in science, mathematics, or engineer8 ing.

9 (b) GUIDELINES, PROCEDURES, AND CRITERIA.—

10 The Director shall establish and publish application and

11 selection guidelines, procedures, and criteria for the pro12 gram established by section 4.

13 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOLARSHIP APPLICA14 TIONS.—Each application for a scholarship shall include

15 a plan specifying the course of study that will allow the

16 applicant to fulfill the academic requirements for obtain17 ing a teaching certificate during the scholarship period.

18 (d) WORK REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of accept19 ance of a scholarship under this Act, a recipient shall

20 agree to work as a science teacher for a minimum of 2

21 years following certification as such a teacher or to repay

22 the amount of the scholarship to the National Science

23 Foundation.
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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na3 tional Science Foundation to carry out this Act

4 $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2002, 2003, and

5 2004.

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