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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 990

To provide for teacher training facilities.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 6, 1999

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 for teacher training facilities.

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 Quality Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) individuals entering a classroom should have

9 a sound grasp of the subject the individuals intend

10 to teach, and the individuals should know how to

11 teach;
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1 (2) the quality of teachers impacts student

2 achievement;

3 (3) people who enter the teaching profession

4 through alternative certification programs can ben5 efit from having the opportunity to attend a teacher

6 training facility;

7 (4) teachers need to increase their subject mat8 ter knowledge;

9 (5) less than 40 percent of the individuals

10 teaching the core subjects (English, mathematics,

11 science, social studies, and foreign languages) ma12 jored or minored in the core subjects; and

13 (6) according to the Third International Mathe14 matics and Science Study, American high school

15 seniors finished near the bottom of the study in both

16 science and mathematics.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to

18 strengthen teacher training programs by establishing a

19 private and public partnership to create the best teacher

20 training facilities in the world to ensure that teachers re21 ceive unlimited access to the most updated technology and

22 skills training in education, so that students can benefit

23 from the teachers’ knowledge and experience.

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

25 In this Act:
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1 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

2 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given

3 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

5 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

6 the Secretary of Education.

7 SEC. 4. GRANTS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated

9 under section 5 for a fiscal year the Secretary shall award

10 grants to local educational agencies to enable the local

11 educational agencies to establish teacher training facilities

12 for elementary and secondary school teachers.

13 (b) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Secretary shall award

14 grants under this Act on a competitive basis.

15 (c) PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT REQUIRED.—In order

16 to receive a grant under this Act, a local educational agen17 cy shall enter into a contract with a nongovernmental or18 ganization to establish a teacher training facility.

19 (d) APPLICATIONS.—Each local educational agency

20 desiring a grant under this Act shall submit to the Sec21 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and

22 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may

23 require. Each such application shall contain an assurance

24 that the local educational agency—
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1 (1) will raise matching funds, from public or

2 private sources, for the support of the teacher train3 ing facility in an amount equal to the amount of

4 funds provided under the grant;

5 (2) will train the teachers employed by the local

6 educational agency at the teacher training facility

7 for a period of 10 years after the date the agency

8 enters into the contract described in subsection (c);

9 and

10 (3) will spend not less than 0.5 percent of the

11 local educational agency’s total school budget for

12 each fiscal year to support the teacher training facil13 ity.

14 (e) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall award each grant

15 under this section in an amount that is not less than

16 $1,000,000 and not more than $4,000,000.

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

19 this Act $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $12,000,000 for

20 fiscal year 2001, $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and

21 $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

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