I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2878 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

grants for innovative teacher retention programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2013 

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCINTYRE, Ms. 

BORDALLO, and Mr. WALZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide grants for innovative teacher retention 

programs. 

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 ‘‘Keep Teachers Teach5 ing Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States faces an increasing need 

9 for high-quality educators. 


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1 (2) Approximately one-third of teachers leave 

2 the profession within 3 years of being hired because 

3 of poor working conditions, low pay, low morale, or 

4 lack of a pathway for professional advancement. In 

5 some schools, the five-year attrition rate reaches 50 

6 percent. 

7 (3) Effective teacher retention programs to ad8 dress this problem are already at work in local edu9 cational agencies around the country, and many 

10 more innovative programs could be advanced if addi11 tional resources were available. 

12 (4) Efforts to address the teacher shortage de13 mands a national strategy to support the develop14 ment and implementation of innovative teacher re15 tention programs. 

16 (5) The Department of Education can play an 

17 important role in facilitating the identification of the 

18 most promising teacher retention approaches and 

19 disseminating information about them to State edu20 cational agencies and local educational agencies. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHER RETENTION 

22 PROGRAMS. 

23 Section 2151 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6651) is amended by add25 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) TEACHER RETENTION ACTIVITIES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab3 lish and carry out a teacher retention program to— 

4 ‘‘(A) assist State educational agencies and 

5 local educational agencies in developing and im6 plementing innovative teacher retention pro7 grams, and support the development of model 

8 programs and best practices in retaining quality 

9 teachers in the classroom; and 

10 ‘‘(B) facilitate the dissemination of innova11 tive teacher retention programs to State edu12 cational agencies and local educational agencies. 

13 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out 

14 paragraph (1)(A) by making grants to eligible enti15 ties to develop and implement innovative teacher re16 tention programs, including activities such as— 

17 ‘‘(A) professional development programs; 

18 ‘‘(B) teacher mentoring programs; 

19 ‘‘(C) advanced certification or advanced 

20 credentialing; 

21 ‘‘(D) research, travel, or fellowship oppor22 tunities; and 

23 ‘‘(E) pairing of teachers with professionals 

24 in research or industry. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this subsection, 

2 the term ‘eligible entity’ includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) local educational agencies; 

4 ‘‘(B) State educational agencies; and 

5 ‘‘(C) partnerships of local educational 

6 agencies, nonprofit organizations, and institu7 tions of higher education. 

8 ‘‘(4) GRANT TERMS.—Grants under this sub9 section shall be awarded for periods of not more 

10 than 5 years and on a competitive basis. Grants 

11 awarded under this subsection may be renewed. 

12 ‘‘(5) SECRETARY’S DUTY TO IDENTIFY MOST

13 PROMISING TEACHER RETENTION APPROACHES.—In 

14 carrying out paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall— 

15 ‘‘(A) identify the most promising teacher 

16 retention approaches, including the approaches 

17 already working and the approaches developed 

18 through grants funded under this subsection, 

19 and make information about such approaches 

20 publicly available and easily accessible to State 

21 educational agencies and local educational agen22 cies; and 

23 ‘‘(B) not later than 9 months after the 

24 date of the enactment of this subsection, and 

25 annually thereafter, transmit to the Committee 


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1 on Education and the Workforce of the House 

2 of Representatives and the Committee on 

3 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

4 Senate, a report that describes— 

5 ‘‘(i) the methodology by which the 

6 most promising teacher retention programs 

7 are identified under subparagraph (A); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary’s efforts to dis9 seminate information regarding such pro10 grams to State educational agencies and 

11 local educational agencies.’’. 

Æ 


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