I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 705 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage teachers to 

pursue teaching science, technology, engineering, and math subjects at 

elementary and secondary schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2009 

Mr. EHLERS (for himself, Mr. REYES, Mr. GALLEGLY, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. 

HOLT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. 

ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. OLSON, Mr. CARNAHAN, and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways 

and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage 

teachers to pursue teaching science, technology, engineering, and math subjects at elementary and secondary 

schools. 

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 ‘‘National STEM Edu5 cation Tax Incentive for Teachers Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR PORTION OF TUITION 

2 PAID FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION OF 

3 CERTAIN TEACHERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by by in7 serting after section 36 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 36A. TUITION FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION OF 

9 CERTAIN TEACHERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual who 

11 is an eligible teacher for the taxable year, there shall be 

12 allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this subtitle 

13 an amount equal to 10 percent of qualified undergraduate 

14 tuition paid by such individual. 

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DOLLAR AMOUNT.—The credit allowed by 

17 this section for any taxable year shall not exceed 

18 $1,000. 

19 ‘‘(2) TEACHERS IN HIGH-NEEDS SCHOOLS DIS20 TRICTS.—In the case of one of the first 5 taxable 

21 years in which a teacher is an eligible teacher who 

22 teaches in an elementary school or a secondary 

23 school (as those terms are defined in section 9101 

24 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) receiving funds under part 

26 A of title I of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.), 


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1 subparagraph (A) shall be applied by substituting 

2 ‘$1,500’ for ‘$1,000’. 

3 ‘‘(3) CREDIT ALLOWED ONLY FOR 10 YEARS.— 

4 No credit shall be allowed under this section for any 

5 taxable year after the 10th taxable year for which 

6 credit is allowed under this section. 

7 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—For purposes of this sec8 tion— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible teacher’ 

10 means, with respect to a taxable year, any indi11 vidual— 

12 ‘‘(A) who is a full-time teacher, including 

13 a full-time substitute teacher, in any of grades 

14 kindergarten through 12th grade for the aca15 demic year ending in such taxable year, 

16 ‘‘(B)(i) who teaches primarily math, 

17 science, engineering, or technology courses in 

18 one or more of grades 9 through 12 during 

19 such academic year, or 

20 ‘‘(ii) who teaches math, science, engineer21 ing, or technology courses in one or more of 

22 grades kindergarten through 8 during such aca23 demic year, 

24 ‘‘(C) who, in the case that such individual 

25 is a middle or secondary school teacher, reVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:02 Jan 28, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H705.IH H705

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1 ceived a baccalaureate or similar degree with a 

2 major in mathematics, science, engineering, or 

3 technology from an institution of higher edu4 cation, and 

5 ‘‘(D) who is highly qualified (as defined in 

6 section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965). 

8 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PER9 SONNEL.—School administrative functions shall be 

10 treated as teaching courses referred to in paragraph 

11 (1)(B) if such functions primarily relate to such 

12 courses or are for a school which focuses primarily 

13 on such courses. 

14 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED UNDERGRADUATE TUITION.—For 

15 purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified undergraduate 

16 tuition’ means qualified higher education expenses (as de17 fined in section 529(e)(3)) for enrollment or attendance 

18 at an institution of higher education, reduced as provided 

19 in section 25A(g)(2) and by any credit allowed by section 

20 25A with respect to such expenses. 

21 ‘‘(e) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

22 term ‘institution of higher education’ means an institution 

23 of higher education as defined in section 102 of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 


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1 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

2 such regulations as may be appropriate to carry out the 

3 purposes of this section.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

6 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

7 ‘‘36A,’’ after ‘‘36,’’. 

8 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

9 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

11 item relating to section 36 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36A. Tuition for undergraduate education of certain teachers.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act; except that only 

15 periods of being an eligible teacher (as defined in section 

16 36A(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added 

17 by this section) after such date shall be taken into account 

18 under section 36A(b)(3) of such Code, as so added. 

Æ 


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