I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4389 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide additional amounts 

of loan forgiveness to teachers of English learners, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

additional amounts of loan forgiveness to teachers of 

English learners, 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 ‘‘Supporting Providers 

5 of English Language Learning Act’’ or the ‘‘SPELL Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS. 

7 (a) LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS.—Section 

8 428J(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 1078–10(c)(3)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the paragraph heading by striking 

2 ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, OR SPECIAL EDUCATION’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, SPECIAL

4 EDUCATION, OR ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION’’; 

5 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

6 at the end; 

7 (3) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 

11 school teacher— 

12 ‘‘(i) who meets the requirements of 

13 subsection (b); 

14 ‘‘(ii) whose qualifying employment for 

15 purposes of such subsection is as a teacher 

16 of English learners (as that term is defined 

17 in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 7801)) whose primary responsibility 

20 is to teach such learners; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) who, as certified by the chief ad22 ministrative officer of the public or non23 profit private elementary school or sec24 ondary school in which the borrower is em25 ployed, or, in the case of a teacher who is 


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1 employed by an educational service agency, 

2 as certified by the chief administrative offi3 cer of such agency, is teaching English 

4 learners who correspond with the bor5 rower’s training and has demonstrated 

6 knowledge and teaching skills in the con7 tent areas of the elementary school or sec8 ondary school curriculum that the bor9 rower is teaching.’’. 

10 (b) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR TEACHERS.—Section 

11 460(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

12 1087j(c)(3)) is amended— 

13 (1) in the paragraph heading by striking 

14 ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, OR SPECIAL EDUCATION’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, SPECIAL

16 EDUCATION, OR ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION’’; 

17 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

18 at the end; 

19 (3) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking the pe20 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 

23 school teacher— 

24 ‘‘(i) who meets the requirements of 

25 subsection (b); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) whose qualifying employment for 

2 purposes of such subsection is as a teacher 

3 of English learners (as that term is defined 

4 in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

5 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 7801)) whose primary responsibility 

7 is to teach such learners; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) who, as certified by the chief ad9 ministrative officer of the public or non10 profit private elementary school or sec11 ondary school in which the borrower is em12 ployed, or, in the case of a teacher who is 

13 employed by an educational service agency, 

14 as certified by the chief administrative offi15 cer of such agency, is teaching English 

16 learners who correspond with the bor17 rower’s training and has demonstrated 

18 knowledge and teaching skills in the con19 tent areas of the elementary school or sec20 ondary school curriculum that the bor21 rower is teaching.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 

23 The amendments made by section 1 shall take effect 

24 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 

25 with respect to individuals who are eligible to receive 


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1 teacher loan forgiveness under section 428J of the Higher 

2 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) or teacher 

3 loan cancellation under section 460 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

4 1087j) after such date. 

Æ 


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