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105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1261

To establish the Education Scholars Block Grant Program.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 7, 1997

Mr. FRIST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To establish the Education Scholars Block Grant Program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. EDUCATION SCHOLARS BLOCK GRANT PRO4 GRAM.

5 Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended by adding at

7 the end the following:
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1 ‘‘Subpart 9—Education Scholars Block Grant

2 Program

3 ‘‘SEC. 420G. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE; AUTHORIZATION OF

4 APPROPRIATIONS.

5 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This subpart may be cited as

6 the ‘Teacher Investment Act’.

7 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this subpart—

8 ‘‘(1) to attract more of our Nation’s most aca9 demically gifted students into teaching careers in el10 ementary and secondary education;

11 ‘‘(2) to retain in teaching our Nation’s best

12 teachers who have demonstrated promise in, and a

13 commitment to, a teaching career;

14 ‘‘(3) to increase the public status of a teaching

15 career in elementary and secondary education;

16 ‘‘(4) to address the anticipated shortage of

17 teachers in the next several decades; and

18 ‘‘(5) to provide States with the flexibility to in19 tegrate State teacher education initiatives with Fed20 eral teacher scholarship support.

21 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subpart

23 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1998 and

24 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 420H. SCHOLARSHIP AUTHORIZED.

2 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may

3 award grants to States from allotments under section 420I

4 to enable the States to provide scholarships to individuals

5 who—

6 ‘‘(1)(A) have completed at least half of the aca7 demic credit requirements for graduation from an

8 institution of higher education with a bachelor’s de9 gree, or with a graduate degree that prepares the in10 dividual for licensure or certification as an elemen11 tary school or secondary school teacher;

12 ‘‘(2) are admitted to or enrolled in an institu13 tion of higher education;

14 ‘‘(3) have demonstrated outstanding academic

15 achievement while enrolled in an institution of high16 er education; and

17 ‘‘(4) are committed to becoming or remaining

18 elementary school or secondary school teachers.

19 ‘‘(b) PERIOD OF AWARD.—A State shall determine

20 the scholarship period, except that a scholarship recipient

21 shall not receive a scholarship award for more than 2

22 years of study at any institution of higher education.

23 ‘‘SEC. 420I. ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES.

24 ‘‘(a) ALLOCATION FORMULA.—From the sums ap25 propriated pursuant to the authority of section 420G(c)

26 for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each State
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1 that has an agreement under section 420J an amount

2 equal to $5,000 multiplied by the number of scholarships

3 determined by the Secretary to be available to such State

4 in accordance with subsection (b).

5 ‘‘(b) NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE.—The

6 number of scholarships to be made available in a State

7 for any fiscal year shall bear the same ratio to the number

8 of scholarships made available to all States as the State’s

9 population ages 5 through 17 bears to the population ages

10 5 through 17 in all the States, except that not less than

11 10 scholarships shall be made available to any State.

12 ‘‘(c) USE OF CENSUS DATA.—For the purpose of this

13 section, the population ages 5 through 17 in a State and

14 in all the States shall be determined by the most recently

15 available data from the Bureau of the Census that the

16 Secretary determines is satisfactory.

17 ‘‘SEC. 420J. STATE AGREEMENTS.

18 ‘‘The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with

19 each State desiring to participate in the scholarship pro20 gram under this subpart. Each such agreement shall in21 clude provisions to ensure that—

22 ‘‘(1) the State educational agency will admin23 ister the program in the State;

24 ‘‘(2) the State educational agency will comply

25 with the provisions of this subpart;
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1 ‘‘(3) the State educational agency will conduct

2 outreach activities to publicize the availability of the

3 scholarships to all eligible postsecondary students in

4 the State, with particular emphasis on activities de5 signed to ensure that students from low-income and

6 moderate-income families have access to the infor7 mation regarding the opportunity for full participa8 tion in the program; and

9 ‘‘(4) the State educational agency will pay to

10 each individual in the State who is awarded a schol11 arship the cost of tuition and fees at an institution

12 of higher education for a year, except that such pay13 ment shall not exceed $5,000.

14 ‘‘SEC. 420K. SELECTION OF EDUCATION SCHOLARS.

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITERIA.—The State

16 educational agency shall establish the criteria for selection

17 of scholars. Such criteria shall—

18 ‘‘(1) fulfill the purpose of the subpart in ac19 cordance with a State’s projected elementary school

20 and secondary school teaching needs and priorities;

21 and

22 ‘‘(2) require a scholarship recipient to have

23 demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and

24 a commitment to a teaching career, as determined

25 by the State educational agency.
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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—In awarding scholarships under

2 this subpart, the State educational agency shall provide—

3 ‘‘(1) not less than 75 percent of the scholar4 ships to individuals who do not possess a bachelor’s

5 degree; and

6 ‘‘(2) not more than 25 percent of the scholar7 ships to individuals who are pursuing a graduate de8 gree.

9 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—In carrying

10 out this subpart, the State educational agency shall con11 sult with school administrators, school boards, teachers,

12 and counselors.

13 ‘‘SEC. 420L. AWARD AMOUNT; SCHOLARSHIP CONDITIONS.

14 ‘‘(a) AWARD AMOUNT.—Each individual awarded a

15 scholarship under this subpart shall receive an award for

16 the cost of tuition and fees at an institution of higher edu17 cation of not more than $5,000 for an academic year of

18 study.

19 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS.—Each State educational agency

20 receiving a grant under this subpart shall establish proce21 dures to ensure that each scholarship recipient—

22 ‘‘(1) pursues a course of study at an institution

23 of higher education;

24 ‘‘(2) maintains a 3.0 grade point average on a

25 4.0 scale; and
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1 ‘‘(3) enters into an agreement to teach in ac2 cordance with section 420M(a).

3 ‘‘SEC. 420M. SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT; REPAYMENT

4 PROVISIONS.

5 ‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT.—Each recipient of

6 a scholarship under this subpart shall enter into an agree7 ment with the State educational agency under which the

8 recipient shall—

9 ‘‘(1) within the 2-year period after completing

10 the education for which the scholarship was award11 ed, teach for a period of 2 years as an elementary

12 school or secondary school teacher in the State

13 served by the State educational agency;

14 ‘‘(2) provide the State educational agency with

15 evidence of compliance, determined pursuant to reg16 ulations promulgated by the Secretary, with the pro17 visions of paragraph (1); and

18 ‘‘(3) repay all or part of the scholarship award

19 received in accordance with subsection (b) in the

20 event the conditions of paragraph (1) are not com21 plied with, except as provided by section 420N.

22 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT PROVISIONS.—A recipient of a

23 scholarship found by the State educational agency to be

24 in noncompliance with the agreement entered into under

25 subsection (a) shall be required to repay to the State edu-
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1 cational agency a pro rata amount of such scholarship as2 sistance received, plus interest, at the rate of 8 percent

3 or the rate applicable to loans in the applicable period

4 under part B of this title, whichever is lower, and where

5 applicable, reasonable collection fees, on a schedule to be

6 prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to regulations pro7 mulgated under this subpart.

8 ‘‘SEC. 420N. EXCEPTIONS TO REPAYMENT PROVISIONS.

9 ‘‘(a) DEFERRAL DURING CERTAIN PERIODS.—A

10 scholarship recipient shall not be considered in violation

11 of the agreement entered into pursuant to section

12 420M(a) during any period in which the recipient—

13 ‘‘(1) is pursuing a full-time course of study re14 lated to the field of teaching at an institution of

15 higher education;

16 ‘‘(2) is serving, not in excess of 3 years, as a

17 member of the Armed Forces;

18 ‘‘(3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period

19 of time not to exceed 3 years as established by the

20 sworn affidavit of a qualified physician;

21 ‘‘(4) is unable to secure employment for a pe22 riod not to exceed 12 months by reason of the care

23 required by a spouse who is disabled;
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1 ‘‘(5) is seeking and unable to find full-time em2 ployment for a single period not to exceed 12

3 months; or

4 ‘‘(6) satisfies the provisions of additional repay5 ment exceptions that may be prescribed by the Sec6 retary in regulations promulgated under this sub7 part.

8 ‘‘(b) FORGIVENESS IF PERMANENTLY TOTALLY DIS9 ABLED.—A recipient shall be excused from repayment of

10 any scholarship assistance received under this subpart if

11 the recipient becomes permanently and totally disabled as

12 established by the sworn affidavit of a qualified physician.

13 ‘‘SEC. 420O. CONSTRUCTION OF NEEDS PROVISIONS.

14 ‘‘Except as provided in section 471, nothing in this

15 subpart, or any other Act, shall be construed to permit

16 the receipt of a scholarship under this subpart to be count17 ed for any needs analysis in connection with the awarding

18 of any grant or the making of any loan under this Act

19 or any other provision of Federal law relating to education

20 assistance.’’.

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