II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1247 

To provide for loan repayment for teachers in high-need schools. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 25, 2017 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide for loan repayment for teachers in high-need 

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 ‘‘Teacher Loan Repay5 ment Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR TEACHERS. 

7 (a) SUNSETS.—The Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 420O— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Beginning’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(b) SUNSET.—Beginning on the date of enactment 

5 of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act of 2017, the Sec6 retary shall not award funds under this subpart for new 

7 TEACH Grants.’’; 

8 (2) in section 428J, by adding at the end the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(i) SUNSET.—Beginning on the date of enactment 

11 of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act of 2017, the Sec12 retary shall not enter into a new agreement to assume the 

13 obligation to repay a qualified loan amount under this sec14 tion.’’; 

15 (3) in section 428K— 

16 (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub17 section (i); and 

18 (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(h) SUNSET.—Beginning on the date of enactment 

21 of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act of 2017, the Sec22 retary shall not enter into a new agreement to forgive a 

23 qualified loan amount under this section.’’; and 

24 (4) in section 460, by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(i) SUNSET.—Beginning on the date of enactment 

2 of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act of 2017, the Sec3 retary shall not enter into a new agreement to cancel the 

4 obligation to repay a qualified loan amount under this sec5 tion.’’. 

6 (b) LOAN REPAYMENT FOR TEACHERS.—Title IV of 

7 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 

8 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘PART J—LOAN REPAYMENT FOR TEACHERS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 499A. LOAN REPAYMENT FOR TEACHERS. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en12 courage highly qualified individuals to enter and continue 

13 in the teaching profession, and to ensure qualified effective 

14 teachers are encouraged to work in high-need schools. 

15 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

17 ‘child with a disability’ has the meaning given the 

18 term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil19 ities Education Act. 

20 ‘‘(2) STUDENT LOAN.—The term ‘student loan’ 

21 means a loan— 

22 ‘‘(A) made, insured, or guaranteed under 

23 part B, except as provided in subparagraph (C); 

24 ‘‘(B) made under part D or E, except as 

25 provided in subparagraph (C); or 


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1 ‘‘(C) made under section 428C or 455(g), 

2 to the extent that such loan was used to repay 

3 a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Di4 rect Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a loan 

5 made under section 428 or 428H. 

6 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

7 carry out a program under which the Department of Edu8 cation shall assume the obligation to repay a student loan, 

9 by direct payments on behalf of a borrower to the holder 

10 of such loan, in accordance with subsection (e), for any 

11 borrower who— 

12 ‘‘(1) is not in default on a loan for which the 

13 borrower seeks forgiveness; and 

14 ‘‘(2) is employed as a full-time teacher for serv15 ice in an academic year (including such a teacher 

16 employed by an educational service agency)— 

17 ‘‘(A) in a public elementary school or sec18 ondary school, which, for the purpose of this 

19 paragraph and for that year— 

20 ‘‘(i) has been determined by the Sec21 retary (after consultation with the State 

22 educational agency of the State in which 

23 the school is located) to be a school in 

24 which the number of children meeting a 

25 measure of poverty under section 


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1 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965, is not less 

3 than 40 percent of the total number of 

4 children enrolled in such school; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) is in a school district served by 

6 a local educational agency that is eligible 

7 in such year for assistance pursuant to 

8 part A of title I of the Elementary and 

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in a public elementary school or sec11 ondary school or location operated by an edu12 cational service agency, which, for the purpose 

13 of this paragraph and for that year, has been 

14 determined by the Secretary (after consultation 

15 with the State educational agency of the State 

16 in which the educational service agency oper17 ates) to be a school or location in which the 

18 number of children taught who meet a measure 

19 of poverty under section 1113(a)(5) of the Ele20 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 

21 is not less than 40 percent of the total number 

22 of children taught at such school or location. 

23 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) LIST.—If the list of schools in which a 

25 teacher may perform service pursuant to subsection 


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1 (c)(2) is not available before May 1 of any year, the 

2 Secretary may use the list for the year preceding the 

3 year for which the determination is made to make 

4 such service determination. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—Any teacher 

6 who performs service in a school during which time 

7 their service meets the requirements of subsection 

8 (c)(2) in any year, and, in a subsequent year, fails 

9 to meet the requirements of such subsection, may 

10 continue to teach in such school and shall be eligible 

11 for loan cancellation pursuant to this section in sub12 sequent years. 

13 ‘‘(3) CHOICE OF LOAN REPAYMENT PRO14 GRAM.—An individual who, on the date of enactment 

15 of the Teacher Loan Repayment Act of 2017, is par16 ticipating in a loan repayment program under sec17 tion 428J, 428K, or 460, may choose to continue to 

18 participate in such program or may enter into par19 ticipation in the program under this section if eligi20 ble to participate in the program under this section. 

21 ‘‘(e) TERMS OF LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) BORROWER AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 

23 and an individual who desires to receive student loan 

24 repayment under this section shall enter into an 

25 agreement that includes a provision that to remain 


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1 eligible to receive student loan repayment under this 

2 section, the individual shall remain employed in the 

3 school or location for which the individual gained eli4 gibility for student loan repayment under this sec5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(2) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT AMOUNT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the agreement de8 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

9 agree to make a student loan payment for such 

10 individual of $250 a month for the first and 

11 second year of teaching, $300 a month for the 

12 third year of teaching, $350 a month for the 

13 fourth year of teaching, and $400 a month for 

14 the fifth and sixth year of teaching. 

15 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM TOTAL AMOUNT.—The 

16 maximum total amount of student loan pay17 ments made by the Secretary for an individual 

18 under this section shall be $23,400. 

19 ‘‘(C) REMAINING BALANCE.—An individual 

20 shall enter repayment on any remaining prin21 cipal and interest due on a student loan for 

22 which the Secretary has made payments under 

23 this section after the maximum total amount 

24 has been reached under subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(3) BEGINNING OF PAYMENTS.—Nothing in 

2 this section shall authorize the Secretary to pay any 

3 amount to reimburse a borrower for any student 

4 loan payments made by such borrower prior to the 

5 date on which the Secretary entered into an agree6 ment with the borrower under this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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