I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5839 

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

to establish a Federal ‘‘Grow Your Own Teacher’’ program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 10, 2014 

Mr. ISRAEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Federal ‘‘Grow Your 

Own Teacher’’ 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 ‘‘Grow Your Own 

5 Teacher Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM. 

7 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART E—GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM 

2 ‘‘SEC. 2501. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

4 carry out this part, the Secretary shall carry out a pro5 gram to make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

6 entities, to be used by such entities to train and employ 

7 eligible individuals in hard-to-staff schools or hard-to-staff 

8 teaching positions in accordance with subsection (c). 

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means a consortium consisting of— 

12 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency that is eli13 gible to receive funds under part A of title I; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education 

16 that offers a program, accredited by the State, 

17 for preparing individuals to fulfill all the re18 quirements for receiving a teaching certificate 

19 in the State of the local educational agency de20 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

22 individual’ means an individual— 

23 ‘‘(A) who— 

24 ‘‘(i) received a high school diploma 

25 from a local educational agency described 

26 in paragraph (1)(A); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is enrolled in a program to re2 ceive a teaching certificate in the State of 

3 the local educational agency at an institu4 tion of higher education described in para5 graph (1)(B); and 

6 ‘‘(B) is— 

7 ‘‘(i) a high school graduate who grad8 uated not more than 5 years ago; 

9 ‘‘(ii) a parent of a current or former 

10 student of the local educational agency 

11 who has a history of working to improve 

12 the local educational agency; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) an education support profes14 sional in the local educational agency who 

15 works with students in an instructional 

16 role. 

17 ‘‘(3) VETERAN TEACHER.—The term ‘veteran 

18 teacher’ means a teacher who has taught in a local 

19 educational agency described in paragraph (1)(A) 

20 for a period of least 15 years. 

21 ‘‘(4) STUDENT LOANS.—The term ‘student 

22 loans’ means any loans awarded to an eligible indi23 vidual under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

25 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

2 a grant under this section shall use such grant funds 

3 to— 

4 ‘‘(A) conduct a training program for eligi5 ble individuals to be teachers, which shall in6 clude requiring such individuals to observe and 

7 work with a veteran teacher in a classroom for 

8 at least one year; 

9 ‘‘(B) employ such individuals in hard-to10 staff schools and hard-to-staff teaching posi11 tions in the local educational agency of the eli12 gible entity, with priority given to teaching posi13 tions in mathematics, science, special education, 

14 world languages, and English as a second lan15 guage; and 

16 ‘‘(C) employ such individuals in a manner 

17 that reduces the divergence between the racial 

18 diversity of teachers and of students. 

19 ‘‘(2) OTHER AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eli20 gible entity receiving a grant under this section may 

21 use any grant funds that remain after carrying out 

22 paragraph (1) for the following activities: 

23 ‘‘(A) Helping an eligible individual trained 

24 under this section to cover the costs of childcare 

25 and other indirect expenses that are reasonably 


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1 required by the individual to participate in the 

2 training program. 

3 ‘‘(B) Recruiting and counseling eligible in4 dividuals, and individuals who are likely to be5 come eligible individuals in the near future 

6 (such as students soon to receive a high school 

7 diploma from a local educational agency de8 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(A)), to participate 

9 in the training program. 

10 ‘‘(C) Providing space in the community of 

11 the eligible entity to carry out the activities de12 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(D) Offering the training program under 

14 this section in community settings and to pro15 vide tutoring services to supplement the train16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(E) Carrying out any other activities con18 sistent with the purposes of this section, as de19 termined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(d) STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

22 available to carry out this part, the Secretary is au23 thorized to forgive the student loans incurred by an 

24 eligible individual who has completed a training pro25 gram under this section and has been employed as 


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1 a teacher in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-staff 

2 teaching position, in an amount not to exceed the 

3 total amount of students loans incurred by the indi4 vidual for participating in the program. 

5 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—The 

6 Secretary may forgive— 

7 ‘‘(A) in the case of an eligible individual 

8 who has been employed in a hard-to-staff school 

9 or hard-to-staff teaching position for at least 5 

10 years, the total amount of the student loans in11 curred by the student for participating in a 

12 training program under this section; or 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible individual 

14 who has been employed in a hard-to-staff school 

15 or hard-to-staff teaching position for less than 

16 5 years, an amount that is less than the total 

17 amount of the student loans incurred by the 

18 student for participating in a training program 

19 under this section. 

20 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

21 promulgate any regulations as may be necessary to carry 

22 out this section. 

23 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the 

25 rights, remedies, and procedures afforded school or local 


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1 educational agency employees under Federal, State, or 

2 local laws (including applicable regulations or court or3 ders) or under the terms of collective bargaining agree4 ments, memoranda of understanding, or other agreements 

5 between such employees and their employers. 

6 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 such sums as may be necessary.’’. 

Æ 


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