I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3108 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a teacher 

leader development program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2019 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. TRONE, 

Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. UNDERWOOD, and Mr. GROTHMAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

for a teacher leader development 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 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teachers are Leaders 

5 Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 202 of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(f) TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A teacher leader develop3 ment program carried out with a grant awarded 

4 under this section shall involve the professional de5 velopment of teachers, as described in paragraph 

6 (2), who maintain their roles as classroom teachers 

7 and who also carry out formalized leadership respon8 sibilities to increase the academic achievement of 

9 students and promote data-driven instructional prac10 tices that address the demonstrated needs at the ele11 mentary schools and secondary schools in which the 

12 teachers are employed, such as— 

13 ‘‘(A) development of curriculum and cur14 ricular resources; 

15 ‘‘(B) facilitating the work of committees 

16 and teams; 

17 ‘‘(C) family and community engagement; 

18 ‘‘(D) school discipline and culture; 

19 ‘‘(E) peer observations and coaching; or 

20 ‘‘(F) dual enrollment instruction. 

21 ‘‘(2) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The pro22 fessional development of teachers in a teacher leader 

23 development program carried out with a grant 

24 awarded under this section shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) one year of professional development, 

2 training, and support that may— 

3 ‘‘(i) include— 

4 ‘‘(I) the engagement of teachers 

5 in rigorous coursework and fieldwork 

6 relevant to their role as a teacher 

7 leader, including available teacher 

8 leader standards; and 

9 ‘‘(II) regular observations and 

10 professional support from— 

11 ‘‘(aa) a principal, vice prin12 cipal, or a designated instruc13 tional leader of the school; 

14 ‘‘(bb) a representative from 

15 the institution of higher edu16 cation that is a partner in the eli17 gible partnership; 

18 ‘‘(cc) a representative from 

19 another entity that is a partner 

20 in the eligible partnership; and 

21 ‘‘(dd) another member of 

22 the teacher leader cohort, if ap23 plicable, or a peer teacher; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) result in the awarding of a cre25 dential in teacher leadership; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) one or 2 additional years of support 

2 from a principal, vice principal, or a designated 

3 instructional leader of the school, a representa4 tive from the institution of higher education 

5 that is a partner in the eligible partnership, and 

6 a representative from another entity that is a 

7 partner in the eligible partnership. 

8 ‘‘(3) TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PRO9 GRAM PLAN.—In carrying out a teacher leader devel10 opment program under this section, an eligible part11 nership shall develop a plan that shall describe— 

12 ‘‘(A) how the work hours of teacher leaders 

13 will be allocated between their classroom re14 sponsibilities and responsibilities as a teacher 

15 leader, which may include a description of 

16 whether the teacher leader will be relieved from 

17 teaching duties during their participation in the 

18 teacher leader development program; 

19 ‘‘(B) how the partnership will support 

20 teacher leaders after the first year of profes21 sional development in the program; and 

22 ‘‘(C) how teacher leader activities could be 

23 sustained by the eligible partnership after the 

24 program concludes, which may include a de25 scription of opportunities for the teacher leadVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3108.IH H3108

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1 ers to assist in the educator preparation pro2 gram at the institution of higher education in 

3 the partnership. 

4 ‘‘(4) SELECTION OF TEACHER LEADERS; USE

5 OF FUNDS.—In carrying out a teacher leader devel6 opment program under this section, an eligible part7 nership— 

8 ‘‘(A) shall select a teacher for participation 

9 in the program— 

10 ‘‘(i) who— 

11 ‘‘(I) is fully certified to teach in 

12 the State of the high-need local edu13 cational agency that is a partner in 

14 the eligible partnership; 

15 ‘‘(II) is employed by such high16 need local educational agency; 

17 ‘‘(III) has not less than 3 years 

18 of teaching experience; and 

19 ‘‘(IV) submits an application for 

20 participation to the eligible partner21 ship; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) based on selection criteria that 

23 includes— 

24 ‘‘(I) demonstration of strong con25 tent knowledge or a record of accomVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:46 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3108.IH H3108

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1 plishment in the field or subject area 

2 the teacher will support as a teacher 

3 leader; and 

4 ‘‘(II) demonstration of attributes 

5 linked to effective teaching that is de6 termined through interviews, observa7 tions, artifacts, student achievement, 

8 or performance assessments, such as 

9 those leading to an advanced creden10 tial; 

11 ‘‘(B) may develop admissions goals and 

12 priorities for the teacher leader development 

13 program that— 

14 ‘‘(i) are aligned with the demonstrated 

15 needs of the school or high-need local edu16 cational agency in which the teacher is em17 ployed; 

18 ‘‘(ii) considers cultural competencies 

19 that would make the applicant effective in 

20 the applicant’s teacher leader role; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) considers whether the teacher 

22 has substantial teaching experience in the 

23 school in which the teacher is employed or 

24 in a school that is similar to the school in 

25 which the teacher is employed; 


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1 ‘‘(C) shall use the grant funds to pay for 

2 costs of training and supporting teacher leaders 

3 for not less than 2 years and not more than 3 

4 years; 

5 ‘‘(D) may use the grant funds to pay for 

6 a portion of a stipend for teacher leaders if 

7 such grant funds are matched by additional 

8 non-Federal public or private funds as follows: 

9 ‘‘(i) during each of the first and sec10 ond years of the grant period, grant funds 

11 may pay not more than 50 percent of such 

12 stipend; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) during the third year of the 

14 grant period, grant funds may pay not 

15 more than 33 percent of such stipend; and 

16 ‘‘(E) may require teacher leaders to pay 

17 back the cost of attaining the credential de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) if they do not 

19 complete their term of service in the teacher 

20 leader development program. 

21 ‘‘(5) TEACHER LEADER DEFINED.—In this sub22 section, the term ‘teacher leader’ means a highly ef23 fective educator who carries out formalized leader24 ship responsibilities based on the demonstrated 

25 needs of the elementary school or secondary school 


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1 in which the teacher is employed, while maintaining 

2 a role as a classroom instructor who— 

3 ‘‘(A) is trained in and practices teacher 

4 leadership; and 

5 ‘‘(B) fosters a collaborative culture to— 

6 ‘‘(i) support educator development, ef7 fectiveness, and student learning; 

8 ‘‘(ii) support access and use research 

9 to improve practice and student learning; 

10 ‘‘(iii) promote professional learning 

11 for continuous improvement; 

12 ‘‘(iv) facilitate improvements in in13 struction and student learning; promote 

14 the appropriate use of assessments and 

15 data for school and district improvement; 

16 ‘‘(v) improve outreach and collabora17 tion with families and community; 

18 ‘‘(vi) advance the profession by shap19 ing and implementing policy; and 

20 ‘‘(vii) advocate for increased access to 

21 great teaching and learning for all stu22 dents.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202(c)(2) 

24 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022a) 


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1 is amended by striking ‘‘leadership development program’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘teacher leader development program’’. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

4 209 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 1022h) is amended by striking ‘‘for fiscal year 2009 and 

6 such sums as may be necessary for each of the two suc7 ceeding fiscal years’’ and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2019 

8 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 suc9 ceeding fiscal years’’. 

Æ 


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