I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3943 

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

members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty on or after 

September 11, 2001, to be eligible to participate in the Troops-to-Teachers Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 27, 2009 

Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Mr. PETRI, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to allow members of the Armed Forces who 

served on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, 

to be eligible to participate in the Troops-to-Teachers 

Program, and for other purposes. 

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 The Act may be cited as the ‘‘Post 9/11 Troops to 

5 Teachers Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. YEARS OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS; STIPEND. 

2 (a) YEARS OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

3 2303(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

4 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6673(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara7 graph (B); 

8 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

9 subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(D) commencing on or after September 

12 11, 2001, serves at least 90 continuous days on 

13 active duty (as such term is defined in section 

14 101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code, ex15 cept that such term does not include a period 

16 of service described in paragraphs (1) through 

17 (3) of section 3311(d) of title 38, United States 

18 Code) in the Armed Forces (excluding service 

19 on active duty in entry level or skills training) 

20 and, after completion of such service, is dis21 charged or released as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) A discharge from active duty in 

23 the Armed Forces with an honorable dis24 charge. 

25 ‘‘(ii) A release after service on active 

26 duty in the Armed Forces characterized by 


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1 the Secretary concerned as honorable serv2 ice and placement on the retired list, 

3 transfer to the Fleet Reserve or Fleet Ma4 rine Corps Reserve, or placement on the 

5 temporary disability retired list. 

6 ‘‘(iii) A release from active duty in the 

7 Armed Forces for further service in a re8 serve component of the Armed Forces after 

9 service on active duty characterized by the 

10 Secretary concerned as honorable service.’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘6 or 

13 more years’’ and inserting ‘‘4 or more years’’. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND 

15 PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. 

16 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 2304(a)(1)(B) of the Ele17 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 6674(a)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘high-need local edu19 cational agency or public charter school, as such terms are 

20 defined in section 2101’’ and inserting ‘‘local educational 

21 agency receiving funding under part A of title I or public 

22 charter school (as such term is defined in section 2102)’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 subsection (a) shall take effect 30 days after the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. ADVISORY BOARD. 

2 Chapter A of subpart 1 of part C of title II of the 

3 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2308. ADVISORY BOARD. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

8 after the date of enactment of the Post 9/11 Troops to 

9 Teachers Enhancement Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

10 with the Secretary of Defense, shall establish an Advisory 

11 Board composed of— 

12 ‘‘(1) a representative from the Defense Activity 

13 for Non-Traditional Education Support Division of 

14 the Department of Defense; 

15 ‘‘(2) a representative from the Department of 

16 Innovation and Improvement of the Department of 

17 Education; 

18 ‘‘(3) a representatives from 3 State offices that 

19 operate to recruit eligible members of the Armed 

20 Forces for participation in the Program and facili21 tating the employment of participants in the Pro22 gram as elementary school teachers, secondary 

23 school teachers, and vocational or technical teachers; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(4) a representative from each of 3 veteran 

26 service organizations. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board established 

2 under subsection (a) shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) collect, consider, and disseminate feedback 

4 from participants and State offices described in sub5 section (a)(4) on— 

6 ‘‘(A) the best practices for improving re7 cruitment of eligible members of the Armed 

8 Forces in States, local educational agencies, 

9 and public charter schools under served by the 

10 Program; 

11 ‘‘(B) ensuring that high-need local edu12 cational agencies and public charter schools are 

13 aware of the Program and how to participate in 

14 it; 

15 ‘‘(C) coordinating the goals of the Program 

16 with other Federal, State, and local education 

17 needs and programs; and 

18 ‘‘(D) other activities that the Advisory 

19 Board deems necessary; and 

20 ‘‘(2) not later than 1 year after the date of the 

21 enactment of the Post 9/11 Troops to Teachers En22 hancement Act, and annually thereafter, prepare 

23 and submit a report to the Health, Education, 

24 Labor, and Pensions Committee, and the Armed 

25 Services Committee, of the Senate and the EduVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:01 Oct 28, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3943.IH H3943

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1 cation and Labor Committee, and the Armed Serv2 ices Committee, of the House which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) information with respect to the activi4 ties of the Advisory Board; 

5 ‘‘(B) information with respect to the Pro6 gram, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) the number of participants in the 

8 Program; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the number of States partici10 pating in the Program; 

11 ‘‘(iii) local educational agencies and 

12 schools in where participants are employed; 

13 ‘‘(iv) the grade levels at which partici14 pants teach; 

15 ‘‘(v) the academic subjects taught by 

16 participants; 

17 ‘‘(vi) rates of retention of participants 

18 by the local educational agencies and pub19 lic charter schools employing participant; 

20 ‘‘(vii) other demographic information 

21 as may be necessary to evaluate the effec22 tiveness of the program; and 

23 ‘‘(viii) a review of the stipend and 

24 bonus available to participants under subVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:01 Oct 28, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3943.IH H3943

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1 sections (c) and (d)(1) of section 2304; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) recommendations for— 

4 ‘‘(i) improvements to local, State, and 

5 Federal recruitment and retention efforts; 

6 ‘‘(ii) legislative or executive policy 

7 changes to improve the Program, enhance 

8 participant experience, and increase par9 ticipation in the program; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) other changes necessary to en11 sure that the Program is meeting the pur12 pose described in section 2302(a).’’. 

13 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 Section 2321(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6691) is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION.—From the funds appropriated 

18 to carry out this subpart for each of fiscal years 2010 

19 through 2014, the Secretary shall reserve $50,000,000 to 

20 carry out chapter A for each such fiscal year.’’. 

Æ 


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