I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 839

To establish a national teaching fellowship program to encourage individuals

to enter and remain in the field of teaching at public schools.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 1, 2001

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. FROST, Ms.

MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. CLEMENT, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr.

PAYNE, Mr. STRICKLAND, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr.

BAIRD, Mr. WATT of North Carolina, and Mr. HOLT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce

A BILL

To establish a national teaching fellowship program to encourage individuals to enter and remain in the field

of teaching at public 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 ‘‘Teaching Fellows Act

5 of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The United States faces an increasing need

2 for high-quality educators.

3 (2) Up to 1,000,000 of the country’s 3,000,000

4 teachers will retire in the next 5 years. American

5 schools will have to hire 2,200,000 teachers by 2010.

6 (3) The Congress desires to inspire promising

7 high school seniors and accomplished persons cur8 rently involved in the field of education to become

9 certified teachers.

10 (4) The opportunity created by a fellowship

11 program would allow persons in the field of edu12 cation the financial opportunity to obtain a quality

13 education which they would use to teach America’s

14 youth.

15 (5) The Congress desires to motivate those who

16 go into the field of teaching to become career edu17 cators.

18 (6) Many teacher assistants have received their

19 training at community colleges and have the poten20 tial and desire to obtain degrees in education and

21 certification as teachers.

22 (7) Rural and inner-city communities could

23 greatly benefit from encouraging those in the com24 munity who already have an interest in teaching to
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1 pursue a degree in education and become career

2 educators.

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

4 Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

5 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended—

6 (1) by striking out the head of such title and

7 inserting the following:

8 ‘‘TITLE II—TEACHER QUALITY

9 ‘‘Part A—Teacher Quality Enhance10 ment Grants for States and

11 Partnerships’’;

12 (2) by striking out ‘‘this title’’ each place it ap13 pears in section 201 through 209 and inserting ‘‘this

14 part’’; and

15 (3) by adding at the end the following new part:

16 ‘‘Part B—Federal Teaching and

17 Partnership Fellows

18 ‘‘SEC. 211. STATE TEACHING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

19 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en20 courage promising high school seniors and college under21 graduates to enter the field of teaching and become career

22 educators.

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF TEACHING FELLOWS PRO24 GRAM.—
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1 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.—

2 From the funds appropriated under subsection (g),

3 the Secretary shall make grants available to States

4 for the purpose of establishing State Teaching Fel5 lows Programs to provide scholarships for Teaching

6 Fellows. Such scholarships shall be used to pay for

7 higher education tuition, fees, and other costs of at8 tendance.

9 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—Teaching Fel10 lows shall be selected from individuals who—

11 ‘‘(A) at the time of application, are high

12 school seniors or in their second year of a pro13 gram of undergraduate education;

14 ‘‘(B) are United States citizens or legal

15 aliens;

16 ‘‘(C) are residents of the State sponsoring

17 the Fellows Program to which they are apply18 ing; and

19 ‘‘(D) meet the criteria established under

20 subsection (d)(1)(B).

21 ‘‘(c) COMPETITION FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) STATE APPLICATION TO PROGRAM.—The

23 governor of each State desiring to participate in the

24 Partnership Program shall designate a single State

25 agency to submit an application to the Secretary and
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1 to administer the State Fellows Program. Such

2 agency shall have a full-time staff and may be a di3 vision of the State’s education department, a coordi4 nating or governing board of higher education, an

5 independent government agency, or a non-profit or6 ganization. Any such application shall be submitted

7 to the Secretary at such time, and contain such in8 formation, as the Secretary shall require.

9 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—From the ap10 plications submitted by State agencies, the Secretary

11 shall approve those applications that the Secretary

12 determines to be the most promising in carrying out

13 the purposes of the Fellows Program. Each State

14 whose application is selected by the Secretary to par15 ticipate in the Fellows Program shall receive funds

16 to offer scholarships in an amount determined by

17 the Secretary in light of the amount of the total ap18 propriation for the Fellows Program, the relative

19 size of the State’s student population, and the fund20 ing necessary to administer a viable State Fellows

21 Program. Such funds shall go to the State agency

22 designated in subsection (c)(1).

23 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF FED24 ERAL FUNDS.—Each State participating in the Fellows

25 Program shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) provide information and assurances—

2 ‘‘(A) identifying the institutions of higher

3 education within the State, either private or

4 public, that will participate in the Fellows Pro5 gram;

6 ‘‘(B) establishing specific, rigorous criteria

7 to be used in selecting Teaching Fellows;

8 ‘‘(C) providing that the State will offer no

9 less than $6,500 per year in scholarships to

10 each Fellow, which shall be available—

11 ‘‘(i) for each of 4 years of under12 graduate education, in the case of a Fellow

13 who, at the time of application, was a high

14 school senior;

15 ‘‘(ii) for the third and fourth year of

16 undergraduate education, in the case of a

17 Fellow who, at the time of application, was

18 in his or her second year of undergraduate

19 education; and

20 ‘‘(iii) for a fifth year of undergraduate

21 education if such year is required in order

22 to obtain a bachelor’s degree with a State

23 license or certificate to teach;

24 ‘‘(D) providing that each participating in25 stitution will provide a full-time faculty member
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1 or administrator to serve as the Fellows Pro2 gram director and to work closely with the

3 State agency to administer the campus program

4 and create and execute the extra-curricular en5 richment programs;

6 ‘‘(E) describing mandatory extra-curricular

7 enrichment programs and activities as part of

8 the State’s Fellows Program that—

9 ‘‘(i) are designed to motivate students

10 to become career educators;

11 ‘‘(ii) provide Teaching Fellows with a

12 multidisciplinary education;

13 ‘‘(iii) are offered regularly during each

14 year of schooling (including during inter15 vals between periods of enrollment); and

16 ‘‘(iv) expose Fellows to the State’s

17 business, political, demographic, cultural,

18 and economic climate and help Fellows de19 velop leadership qualities; and

20 ‘‘(F) establishing procedures for the dis21 tribution of scholarships and administration of

22 service obligation oversight;

23 ‘‘(2) provide an assurance that the State agency

24 and participating institutions shall, collectively,

25 match the Federal funds provided under this section
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1 by providing at least 25 percent of the total cost of

2 the Fellows Program;

3 ‘‘(3) use funds received under this section only

4 to supplement the amount of funds that would, in

5 the absence of such Federal funds, be made avail6 able from non-Federal sources for the purposes of

7 this section, and not to supplant such funds; and

8 ‘‘(4) provide an assurance that Teaching Fel9 lows fulfill their teaching commitments at United

10 States public schools within that State only.

11 ‘‘(e) CONVERSION TO LOAN.—

12 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO REPAY.—The Fellows

13 Program shall require that a Teaching Fellow agree

14 to repay a pro rata amount, as determined by the

15 State agency, of the scholarship received from the

16 Fellows Program, and to pay interest on such pro

17 rata amount at an annual rate of 10 percent until

18 such pro rata amount is repaid, if the recipient fails

19 to comply with one of the following:

20 ‘‘(A) Within 7 years after graduation the

21 recipient of the scholarship teaches for 4 years

22 at a public school.

23 ‘‘(B) Within 7 years after graduation the

24 recipient teaches for 3 consecutive years, unless

25 the recipient takes an approved leave of ab-
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1 sence, at a public school that at the time the re2 cipient accepts employment is a low-performing

3 school, as defined by State educational agency

4 or the Secretary of Education.

5 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

6 apply if the State agency finds that it is impossible

7 for the recipient to teach for 4 years, within 7 years

8 after the recipient graduates, at a public school be9 cause of the death or permanent disability of the re10 cipient.

11 ‘‘(f) REVOLVING FUNDING.—Any funds repaid by a

12 Teaching Fellow pursuant to subsection (e), together with

13 any interest thereon, may be retained by the State agency

14 for making available additional scholarships under this

15 section, and for paying costs related to the disbursement

16 of awards and the collection of payments under subsection

17 (e).

18 ‘‘(g) FUNDS.—There is authorized to be appropriated

19 to carry out this section $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2002

20 and such sums as may be necessary for the 4 succeeding

21 fiscal years.

22 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:

23 ‘‘(1) FELLOWS PROGRAM.—The term ‘Fellows

24 Program’ means the program established under this

25 section.
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1 ‘‘(2) TEACHING FELLOWS.—The term ‘Teach2 ing Fellow’ means an individual selected for an

3 award of financial assistance under this section.

4 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the

5 several States, the District of Columbia, and the

6 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

7 ‘‘(4) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘State agency’

8 means the agency designated pursuant to subsection

9 (c)(1).

10 ‘‘SEC. 212. TEACHING FELLOWS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en12 courage members of the education community, such as

13 teaching assistants and other school employees who are

14 not yet certified teachers, to obtain a degree in education.

15 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PARTNERSHIP FELLOWS

16 PROGRAM.—

17 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.—

18 From the funds appropriated under subsection (h),

19 the Secretary shall make grants available to States

20 for the purpose of establishing Partnership Pro21 grams between associate-degree-granting institutions

22 and bachelor-degree-granting institutions.

23 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—Partnership

24 Fellows shall be selected from individuals who—
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1 ‘‘(A) are United States citizens or legal

2 aliens;

3 ‘‘(B) are residents of the State sponsoring

4 the partnership program to which they are ap5 plying; and

6 ‘‘(C) meet the criteria established under

7 subsection (e)(1).

8 ‘‘(c) COMPETITION FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—

9 ‘‘(1) STATE REVIEW AND SUBMISSION.—The

10 governor of each State desiring to participate in the

11 Partnership Program shall designate a single State

12 education department, a coordinating or governing

13 board of higher education, or other agency—

14 ‘‘(A) to receive and review partnership pro15 posals from associate-degree-granting institu16 tions and bachelor-degree-granting institutions

17 within the State;

18 ‘‘(B) to determine which proposals delin19 eate Partnership Programs to be created be20 tween associate-degree-granting institutions and

21 bachelor-degree-granting institutions that are

22 the most promising in carrying out the pur23 poses of this section;

24 ‘‘(C) to submit the partnership proposals

25 that are approved by the State agency to the
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1 Secretary for competitive selection in the form

2 of one single partnership proposal application;

3 and

4 ‘‘(D) to administer the funds available

5 under this section.

6 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—From the

7 partnership proposal applications submitted by State

8 agencies under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall

9 select for funding under this section those applica10 tions that the Secretary determines to be the most

11 promising in carrying out the purposes of the Part12 nership Program. The Secretary shall distribute the

13 awards for each selected application to the State

14 agency that submitted the application.

15 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF FED16 ERAL FUNDS.—A State agency that submits a partnership

17 proposal application to the Secretary under subsection (c)

18 shall provide to the Secretary such information and assur19 ances as the Secretary may require to demonstrate that

20 the State will comply with the following requirements:

21 ‘‘(1) Any State whose partnership proposal ap22 plication is selected to receive Federal funds as au23 thorized by this section shall match the Federal

24 funding by providing at least 25 percent of the total

25 cost of the Partnership Program or Programs.
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1 ‘‘(2) The State agency may reserve up to 20

2 percent of its Federal funding to be used for admin3 istrative costs associated with the creation of articu4 lation agreements between one or more associate-de5 gree-granting institutions and one or more bachelor6 degree-granting institutions that detail the partner7 ship arrangement between the institutions. Such re8 served administrative funds shall be made available

9 to the Partnership institutions in order to support

10 curricula alignment between the associate-degree

11 granting institution’s and the bachelor-degree-grant12 ing institution’s requirements and to allow the Part13 nership institutions to sponsor extra-curricular ac14 tivities for its Fellows as specified in subsection

15 (e)(3).

16 ‘‘(3) The State agency shall be responsible for

17 determining how the funds provided under this sec18 tion are allocated among specific partnership pro19 posals or to administer the allocation of funds for an

20 approved state-wide Partnership Program.

21 ‘‘(4) The State agency shall be responsible for

22 assuring such funds are used to provide full-time

23 Partnership Fellows with scholarships of no less

24 than $6,500 per year, which shall be available for

25 each of the four years of undergraduate education
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1 remaining after the year of the Fellow’s selection,

2 and for a fifth year of undergraduate education if

3 such year is required in order to obtain a bachelor’s

4 degree with a State license or certificate to teach.

5 Partnership Fellows pursuing a part-time course

6 load, as defined by the institution attended, shall re7 ceive a pro rata scholarship over a period not to ex8 ceed six years. The annual scholarship amount shall

9 be a fraction of the full-time scholarship amount and

10 shall be reduced according to the number of credits

11 being pursued. Partnership Programs also may

12 make scholarship funds available during the period

13 of student teaching as prescribed by subsection

14 (e)(6).

15 ‘‘(5) The State agency will use funds received

16 under this section only to supplement the amount of

17 funds that would, in the absence of such Federal

18 funds, be made available from non-Federal sources

19 for the purposes of this section, and not to supplant

20 such funds.

21 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTNERSHIP PRO22 POSALS.—Each partnership proposal under this section

23 shall be submitted by one or more associate-degree-grant24 ing institutions and one or more bachelor-degree-granting

25 institutions and shall propose the establishment of a pro-
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1 gram allowing individuals, such as those currently in the

2 education field, to complete a bachelor’s degree with a

3 State license or certification to teach. Such proposals shall

4 include—

5 ‘‘(1) identification of specific, rigorous criteria

6 to be used in selecting Partnership Fellows, includ7 ing outstanding service to school-age children, a firm

8 commitment to the field of education, and aptitude

9 to succeed as a teacher;

10 ‘‘(2) designation of a full-time faculty member

11 or administrator to serve as the local or regional

12 Partnership Program director or coordinator and to

13 work closely with the State agency director to ad14 minister the program and create and execute the

15 extra-curricular enrichment programs;

16 ‘‘(3) mandatory extra-curricular enrichment

17 programs and activities as part of the State’s Fel18 lows Program that—

19 ‘‘(A) are designed to motivate students to

20 become career educators;

21 ‘‘(B) provide Fellows with a multidisci22 plinary education;

23 ‘‘(C) are offered regularly during each year

24 of schooling (including during intervals between

25 periods of enrollment); and
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1 ‘‘(D) expose Fellows to the State’s busi2 ness, political, demographic, cultural, and eco3 nomic climate and help Fellows develop leader4 ship qualities;

5 ‘‘(4) a specific description of how the proposed

6 Partnership Program will provide individuals in

7 rural or underserved communities access to the cur8 riculum and extracurricular opportunities created by

9 the Partnership Program;

10 ‘‘(5) a description of how the program will ac11 commodate Partnership Fellows who must maintain

12 employment while pursuing a degree, whether via

13 distance learning methods, evening and weekend

14 programs, minimum credit requirements, or other

15 programs;

16 ‘‘(6) a description of how the program will as17 sist Partnership Fellows in accordance with sub18 section (d)(4) during the period of student teaching

19 should they be otherwise financially unable to com20 plete such a requirement; and

21 ‘‘(7) an itemized account of how the funds will

22 be allocated to best achieve the goals of the Partner23 ship Program.

24 ‘‘(f) CONVERSION TO LOAN.—
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1 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO REPAY.—The Partnership

2 Program shall require that a Partnership Fellow

3 agree to repay a pro rata amount, as determined by

4 the State agency, of the scholarship received from

5 the Partnership Program, and to pay interest on

6 such pro rata amount at an annual rate of 10 per7 cent until such pro rata amount is repaid, if the re8 cipient fails to comply with one of the following:

9 ‘‘(A) Within 7 years after graduation the

10 recipient of the scholarship teaches for 4 years

11 at a public school.

12 ‘‘(B) Within 7 years after graduation the

13 recipient teaches for 3 consecutive years, unless

14 the recipient takes an approved leave of ab15 sence, at a public school that at the time the re16 cipient accepts employment is a low-performing

17 school, as defined by State educational agency

18 or the Secretary of Education.

19 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

20 apply if the State agency finds that it is impossible

21 for the recipient to teach for 4 years, within 7 years

22 after the recipient graduates, at a public school be23 cause of the death or permanent disability of the re24 cipient.
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1 ‘‘(g) REVOLVING FUNDING.—Any funds repaid by a

2 Teaching Fellow pursuant to subsection (f), together with

3 any interest thereon, may be retained by the State agency

4 for making available additional scholarships under this

5 section, and for paying costs related to the disbursement

6 of awards and the collection of payments under subsection

7 (f).

8 ‘‘(h) FUNDS.—There is authorized to be appropriated

9 to carry out this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002

10 and such sums as necessary for the 4 subsequent fiscal

11 years.

12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:

13 ‘‘(1) PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.—the term ‘Part14 nership Program’ means the program established

15 under this section.

16 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP FELLOWS.—The term

17 ‘Partnership Fellow’ means an individual selected

18 for an award of financial assistance under this sec19 tion.

20 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the

21 several States, the District of Columbia, and the

22 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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1 ‘‘(4) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘State agency’

2 means the agency designated pursuant to subsection

3 (c)(1).’’.

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