I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4424 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 so that every student has 

a path to a quality, debt-free degree or credential that leads to a 

rewarding career, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

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

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 so that every 

student has a path to a quality, debt-free degree or 

credential that leads to a rewarding career, 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 ‘‘Elevation of the Edu5 cation Profession Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELEVATION OF THE EDUCATION PROFESSION 

2 STUDY. 

3 Part A of title II of the Higher Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022 et seq.) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 209 as section 210; 

6 (2) in section 202(a), by striking ‘‘section 209’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘section 210’’; and 

8 (3) by inserting after section 208 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 209. ELEVATION OF THE EDUCATION PROFESSION 

10 STUDY. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the elevation of the 

12 profession feasibility study is to examine State policies re13 lated to teacher and school leader education and certifi14 cation, produce a comprehensive set of expectations that 

15 sets a high bar for entry into the profession and ensures 

16 that all entering teachers and school leaders are profes17 sion-ready, and develop recommendations to Congress on 

18 best practices with respect to elevating the education pro19 fession that are evidence-based, reliable, and verified by 

20 the field. 

21 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 

23 shall establish an Advisory Committee to carry out 

24 the elevation of the education profession study de25 scribed in subsection (c) and make recommendations 

26 to Congress on the findings. 


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1 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP OF THE ADVISORY COM2 MITTEE.—The Advisory Committee shall include 

3 representatives or advocates from the following cat4 egories: 

5 ‘‘(A) Teacher unions. 

6 ‘‘(B) School leader organizations. 

7 ‘‘(C) State and local officials. 

8 ‘‘(D) State educational agencies and local 

9 educational agencies. 

10 ‘‘(E) Teacher and school leader advocacy 

11 organizations. 

12 ‘‘(F) School administrator organizations. 

13 ‘‘(G) Institutions of higher education, in14 cluding colleges of teacher education. 

15 ‘‘(H) Civil rights organizations. 

16 ‘‘(I) Organizations representing students 

17 with disabilities. 

18 ‘‘(J) Organizations representing English 

19 learners. 

20 ‘‘(K) Nonprofit organizations representing 

21 subject-fields, such as STEM Educator organi22 zations, comprehensive literacy Educator orga23 nizations, and arts and humanities educator or24 ganizations. 


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1 ‘‘(L) Professional development organiza2 tions. 

3 ‘‘(M) Educational technology organiza4 tions. 

5 ‘‘(N) Nonprofit research organizations. 

6 ‘‘(O) Organizations representing nontradi7 tional pathways into teacher and school leader 

8 education. 

9 ‘‘(P) Organizations representing parents. 

10 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Advisory Com12 mittee shall conduct a feasibility study to— 

13 ‘‘(A) assess the state of policies and prac14 tices related to teacher and school leader edu15 cation and entry into the profession including 

16 barriers to achieving certification and licensure, 

17 best practices in producing profession-ready 

18 teachers and school leaders, and recruitment 

19 and retention of teachers and school leaders in 

20 schools; 

21 ‘‘(B) compile best practices for educating 

22 and training profession-ready teachers and 

23 school leaders including evidence-based prac24 tices for training teachers and school leaders to 

25 support diverse learners, developing teacher and 


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1 school leaders, and successful pre-service and 

2 in-service educational activities; 

3 ‘‘(C) review certification and credentialing 

4 practices throughout the Nation including min5 imum standards in each State, differences in 

6 types of credentials, and impact of different 

7 certification processes in each State for teach8 ers and school leaders who relocate; and 

9 ‘‘(D) recommend a comprehensive set of 

10 rigorous expectations for States standards to 

11 elevate the profession of teaching and to 

12 produce profession-ready teachers and school 

13 leaders prepared to educate diverse learners in 

14 inclusive educational settings. 

15 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) Not later than 1 year after the Advi17 sory Committee’s first meeting, the Committee 

18 shall submit an interim report to the Secretary 

19 and to the authorizing committees detailing the 

20 methods of the study and progress in devel21 oping the set of comprehensive and rigorous ex22 pectations. 

23 ‘‘(B) Not later than 3 years after the Advi24 sory Committee’s first meeting, the Committee 

25 shall submit a final report to the Secretary and 


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1 to the authorizing committees detailing the 

2 findings, recommendations, and suggested set 

3 of comprehensive and rigorous expectations. 

4 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—In 

5 carrying out the study under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary shall disseminate information found in the 

7 study in an accessible format to all stakeholders. 

8 ‘‘(4) DATABASE.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 

10 the Secretary shall produce an electronically acces11 sible clearinghouse of State certification procedures 

12 and best State practices for producing and retaining 

13 profession-ready teachers and school leaders.’’. 

Æ 


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