II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1434 

To provide grants to teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher 

education to award scholarships for teachers to receive a graduate level 

degree. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2005 

Mr. DEWINE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide grants to teacher preparation programs at institutions of higher education to award scholarships for teachers to receive a graduate level degree. 

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 ‘‘Master Teacher Schol5 arship Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Programs in title II of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) address 
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1 improving the quality of the teaching workforce and 

2 holding institutions of higher education accountable 

3 for preparing teachers. However, States are still 

4 finding it difficult to provide high-quality teachers in 

5 the areas of mathematics and science and for sec6 ondary schools. 

7 (2) Under the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), as 

9 amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 

10 (Public Law 107–110, 115 Stat. 1425), States are 

11 required to ensure that all teachers teaching in core 

12 academic subjects within the State are highly quali13 fied by not later than the end of the 2005–2006 

14 school year. Yet schools in rural areas and high-pov15 erty schools have trouble attracting and retaining 

16 such teachers. 

17 (3) Teacher retention is at the main root of 

18 teacher shortages, and recruitment initiatives alone 

19 will not solve this problem. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

22 (1) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

23 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 

24 a local educational agency that serves a school that 

25 qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) of the Higher 
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1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)(2)(A)) 

2 for loan cancellation for Perkins loan recipients who 

3 teach in such schools. 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

5 teacher’’ means a teacher who is employed by the el6 igible local educational agency included in the part7 nership with the teacher preparation program and 

8 is— 

9 (A) an elementary school or secondary 

10 school special education teacher; or 

11 (B) a middle school or secondary school 

12 teacher who teaches in the area of mathematics, 

13 science, or foreign languages. 

14 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Education. 

16 (4) TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM.—The 

17 term ‘‘teacher preparation program’’ means a school 

18 of education program at an institution of higher 

19 education that provides courses of study leading to 

20 a graduate degree. 

21 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 

23 to teacher preparation programs for the purpose of ena24 bling the teacher preparation programs to award scholar-
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1 ships to assist eligible teachers in obtaining a graduate 

2 level degree from the teacher preparation program. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.—Each teacher preparation pro4 gram applying for a grant shall submit, in partnership 

5 with an eligible local educational agency, an application 

6 to the Secretary describing— 

7 (1) the partnership between the teacher prepa8 ration program and the eligible local educational 

9 agency; and 

10 (2) how the teacher preparation program is de11 signed to meet the needs of the teachers partici12 pating in the program and the partnering local edu13 cational agency, including mentoring and alignment 

14 of the teacher preparation program with the high 

15 academic standards that students of the State where 

16 the teacher preparation program is located are ex17 pected to meet. 

18 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each teacher preparation 

20 program receiving a grant under this Act shall use 

21 the grant funds to award scholarships to eligible 

22 teachers pursuing a graduate degree in the area of 

23 mathematics, science, foreign language, or special 

24 education. 
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1 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Each teacher 

2 preparation program receiving a grant under this 

3 Act may use not more than 1 percent of the grant 

4 funds— 

5 (A) to administer the scholarship program; 

6 (B) to recruit teachers to participate in the 

7 program; and 

8 (C) to assist in designing the program to 

9 meet the needs of the teacher and school. 

10 (d) SCHOLARSHIPS.—Each individual awarded a 

11 scholarship under this Act shall use the scholarship funds 

12 only to pay for the tuition and fees associated with obtain13 ing a graduate level degree. 

14 SEC. 5. SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT. 

15 Each eligible teacher awarded a scholarship under 

16 this Act shall enter into an agreement with the eligible 

17 local educational agency and the teacher preparation pro18 gram, under which— 

19 (1) the teacher preparation program agrees to 

20 award a scholarship of a total of not less than 

21 $5,000 and not more than $7,000 to the eligible 

22 teacher; and 

23 (2) the eligible teacher agrees— 

24 (A) to teach for 5 years after receiving the 

25 graduate level degree, in the school the eligible 
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1 teacher previously taught or in a school des2 ignated by the eligible local educational agency; 

3 (B) to mentor a novice teacher in the eligi4 ble local educational agency for 2 years; and 

5 (C) to repay a pro rata portion of the 

6 scholarship funds received if the teacher fails to 

7 comply with subparagraph (A). 

8 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

10 this Act $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and each of the 

11 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

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