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105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1741

To provide for teacher training facilities.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 11, 1998

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

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide for teacher training facilities.

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 ‘‘Teacher Quality Act

5 of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) there is a teacher quality crisis, not a teach9 er quantity crisis, in the United States;

10 (2) individuals entering a classroom should have

11 a sound grasp of the subject the individuals intend
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1 to teach, and the individuals should know how to

2 teach;

3 (3) the quality of teachers impacts student

4 achievement;

5 (4) people who enter the teaching profession

6 through alternative certification programs can bene7 fit from having the opportunity to attend a teacher

8 training facility;

9 (5) teachers need to increase their subject mat10 ter knowledge;

11 (6) less than 40 percent of the individuals

12 teaching the core subjects (English, mathematics,

13 science, social studies, and foreign languages) ma14 jored or minored in the core subjects; and

15 (7) according to the Third International Mathe16 matics and Science Study, American high school

17 seniors finished near the bottom of the study in both

18 science and mathematics.

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to

20 strengthen teacher training programs by establishing a

21 private and public partnership to create the best teacher

22 training facilities in the world to ensure that teachers re23 ceive unlimited access to the most updated technology and

24 skills training in education, so that students can benefit

25 from the teachers’ knowledge and experience.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

4 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given

5 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

7 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

8 the Secretary of Education.

9 SEC. 4. GRANTS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated

11 under section 5 for a fiscal year the Secretary shall award

12 grants to local educational agencies to enable the local

13 educational agencies to establish teacher training facilities

14 for elementary and secondary school teachers.

15 (b) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The Secretary shall award

16 grants under this Act on a competitive basis.

17 (c) PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT REQUIRED.—In order

18 to receive a grant under this Act, a local educational agen19 cy shall enter into a contract with a nongovernmental or20 ganization to establish a teacher training facility.

21 (d) APPLICATIONS.—Each local educational agency

22 desiring a grant under this Act shall submit to the Sec23 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and

24 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may

25 require. Each such application shall contain an assurance

26 that the local educational agency—
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1 (1) has raised $4,000,000 in matching funds,

2 from public or private sources, for the support of the

3 teacher training facility;

4 (2) will train the teachers employed by the local

5 educational agency at the teacher training facility

6 for a period of 10 years after the date the agency

7 enters into the contract described in subsection (c);

8 and

9 (3) will spend 0.5 percent of the local edu10 cational agency’s total school budget for each fiscal

11 year to support the teacher training facility.

12 (e) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall award each grant

13 under this section in the amount of $4,000,000.

14 (f) NUMBER.—The Secretary shall award 2 grants

15 under this title for fiscal year 1999, 3 such grants for fis16 cal year 2000, 3 such grants for fiscal year 2001, and

17 4 such grants for fiscal year 2002.

18 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

20 this Act $8,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $12,000,000 for

21 fiscal year 2000, $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and

22 $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2002.

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