I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4773 

To direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to States and local 

educational agencies to establish teacher mentoring programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. EMANUEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to 

States and local educational agencies to establish teacher 

mentoring 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 ‘‘Preparing Excellent 

5 Teachers Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The shortage of qualified teachers in the 

9 United States has reached critical levels. 


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1 (2) Education experts predict that over the next 

2 decade, the United States will need more than 2 mil3 lion new teachers. 

4 (3) In urban districts, nearly 50 percent of new 

5 teachers leave teaching during their first five years. 

6 (4) These numbers have a direct impact on the 

7 quality of the education of the children of the United 

8 States. 

9 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR TEACHER MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS.—The Secretary 

11 of Education may make grants in accordance with sub12 sections (d) and (e) to States and local educational agen13 cies to assist such States and agencies, in cooperation with 

14 universities and colleges in accordance with subsection (b), 

15 to establish and support teacher mentoring programs in 

16 schools for the purpose of attracting and training teachers 

17 of exceptional ability who are mid-career professionals or 

18 recent college graduates. 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN PROGRAM.—To 

20 be eligible to participate in a teacher mentoring program 

21 under this section, a mid-career professional or recent col22 lege graduate shall be enrolled in a masters degree pro23 gram in education or teaching in a university or college 

24 that— 


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1 (1) has entered into a written agreement relat2 ing to such program with the State or local edu3 cational agency that is the recipient of a grant under 

4 this section; 

5 (2) is located in such State or local educational 

6 agency; and 

7 (3) is accredited by the Council of Higher Edu8 cation Accreditation and the accrediting agency in 

9 the State, if any. 

10 (c) PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A mid-career professional or 

12 recent college graduate who participates in a teacher 

13 mentoring program shall, under the supervision of 

14 an experienced mentor teacher, complete not fewer 

15 than ten months teaching a class containing not 

16 more than 30 students and not fewer than 10 stu17 dents in a school chosen by the State or local edu18 cational agency that is the recipient of a grant under 

19 this section. 

20 (2) EXPERIENCED MENTOR TEACHER DE21 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘experienced 

22 mentor teacher’’ means a teacher who— 

23 (A) has at least five years teaching experi24 ence teaching in a school in the State or local 


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1 educational agency that is the recipient of a 

2 grant under this section; and 

3 (B) has a masters degree in education or 

4 teaching. 

5 (d) TEACHER CERTIFICATION.—As a condition of re6 ceiving a grant under this section, a university or college 

7 shall award to a mid-career professional or recent college 

8 graduate who successfully completes a teacher mentoring 

9 program a teacher certification that is valid in the State 

10 or local educational agency in which such university or col11 lege is located. 

12 (e) AMOUNT, NUMBER, AND DISTRIBUTION OF

13 GRANTS.— 

14 (1) AMOUNT.—A grant under this section shall 

15 be in an amount that is 50 percent of the cost of 

16 establishing and supporting a teacher mentoring 

17 program in a State or local educational agency, but 

18 such grant may not exceed $2,500,000. 

19 (2) NUMBER.—The Secretary may not make 

20 more than ten such grants each fiscal year, begin21 ning with fiscal year 2007. 

22 (3) DISTRIBUTION.—A State or local edu23 cational agency may receive not more than two 

24 grants each fiscal year. 


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1 (f) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—A teacher mentoring 

2 program under this section shall be for a period of one 

3 academic year. 

4 (g) AGREEMENT WITH TEACHERS FOR PLACEMENT

5 IN A SCHOOL.—A mid-career professional or recent college 

6 graduate who successfully completes a teacher mentoring 

7 program under this section shall agree in writing to place8 ment as a teacher in a school chosen by the State or local 

9 educational agency. Such placement shall be for a period 

10 of five academic years beginning with the academic year 

11 that begins after the successful completion by such profes12 sional or graduate in the teacher mentoring program. 

13 (h) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec14 tion, a State or local educational agency shall submit to 

15 the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

16 and containing such information as the Secretary may 

17 prescribe. 

18 (i) COMPETITIVE BASIS FOR SELECTION.—The Sec19 retary shall award grants to States and local educational 

20 agencies on a competitive basis. 

21 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

23 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011 

24 to carry out this section. Amounts appropriated are au25 thorized to remain available until expended, and may be 


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1 used by the Secretary to make additional grants, in ac2 cordance with this section, in a fiscal year beginning with 

3 fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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