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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1964

To empower our educators.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 26, 1999

Mr. LAZIO (for himself, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. HORN, and Mrs.

WILSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To empower our educators.

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 ‘‘Empowering Our Edu5 cators Act’’.

6 TITLE I—ALTERNATIVE CERTIFI7 CATION AND LICENSURE OF

8 TEACHERS

9 SEC. 101. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the measure of a good teacher is how much

2 and how well the teacher’s students learn and

3 achieve;

4 (2) one of the primary problems regarding

5 teacher quality is the lack of subject matter knowl6 edge, particularly for teachers who receive emer7 gency credentials and are assigned to teach subject

8 matter for which they lack knowledge or adequate

9 preparation;

10 (3) knowledgeable and eager individuals of

11 sound character and various professional back12 grounds should be encouraged to enter the pre13 kindergarten through grade 12 classrooms as teach14 ers;

15 (4) many talented professionals who have dem16 onstrated a high level of subject area competence

17 outside the education profession wish to pursue ca18 reers in education, but have not fulfilled the tradi19 tional requirements to be certified or licensed as

20 teachers;

21 (5) States should have maximum flexibility and

22 be provided with incentives to create alternative

23 teacher certification and licensure programs in order

24 to recruit well-educated people and talented profes25 sionals into the teaching profession; and
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1 (6) alternative routes should enable qualified in2 dividuals to fulfill State teacher certification or licen3 sure requirements and allow school systems to utilize

4 the expertise of professionals and thereby improve

5 and expand the pool of qualified individuals available

6 to local educational agencies as teachers.

7 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to im8 prove the supply of well-qualified elementary and sec9 ondary school teachers by encouraging and assisting

10 States to develop and implement programs for alternative

11 routes to teacher certification and licensure requirements.

12 SEC. 102. ALLOTMENTS.

13 (a) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro15 priated to carry out this title for each fiscal year,

16 the Secretary shall allot to each State the lesser of—

17 (A) the amount the State applies for under

18 section 103; or

19 (B) an amount that bears the same rela20 tion to the amount so appropriated as the total

21 population of children ages 5 through 17 in the

22 State bears to the total population of such chil23 dren in all the States (based on the most recent

24 data available that is satisfactory to the Sec25 retary).
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1 (2) REALLOCATION.—If a State does not apply

2 for the State’s allotment, or the full amount of the

3 State’s allotment, under paragraph (1), the Sec4 retary may reallocate the excess funds to 1 or more

5 other States that demonstrate, to the satisfaction of

6 the Secretary, a current need for the funds.

7 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding section 421(b)

8 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C.

9 1225(b)), funds awarded under this title shall remain

10 available for obligation by a recipient for a period of 2

11 calendar years from the date of the grant.

12 SEC. 103. STATE APPLICATIONS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any State desiring to receive an

14 allotment under this title shall, through the State edu15 cational agency, submit an application at such time, in

16 such manner, and containing such information, as the Sec17 retary may reasonably require.

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each application shall—

19 (1) describe the programs, projects, and activi20 ties to be undertaken with assistance provided under

21 this title; and

22 (2) contain such assurances as the Secretary

23 considers necessary, including assurances that—

24 (A) assistance provided to the State edu25 cational agency under this title will be used to
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1 supplement, and not to supplant, any State or

2 local funds available for the development and

3 implementation of programs to provide alter4 native routes to fulfilling teacher certification or

5 licensure requirements;

6 (B) the State educational agency has, in

7 developing and designing the application, con8 sulted with—

9 (i) representatives of local educational

10 agencies, including superintendents and

11 school board members, including represent12 atives of their professional organizations if

13 appropriate;

14 (ii) elementary school and secondary

15 school teachers, including representatives

16 of their professional organizations;

17 (iii) schools or departments of edu18 cation within institutions of higher edu19 cation;

20 (iv) parents; and

21 (v) other interested individuals and

22 organizations; and

23 (C) the State educational agency shall sub24 mit to the Secretary, at such time as the Sec25 retary may specify, a final report describing the
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1 activities carried out with assistance provided

2 under this title and the results achieved with

3 respect to such activities.

4 (c) GEPA PROVISIONS INAPPLICABLE.—Sections

5 441 and 442 of the General Education Provisions Act (20

6 U.S.C. 1232d and 1232e), except to the extent that such

7 sections relate to fiscal control and fund accounting proce8 dures, shall not apply to this title.

9 SEC. 104. USE OF FUNDS.

10 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

12 shall use funds provided under this title to support

13 and create programs, projects, or activities that de14 velop and implement new, or expand and improve

15 existing, programs that enable individuals to move to

16 a teaching career in elementary or secondary edu17 cation from another occupation through an alter18 native route to teacher certification or licensure that

19 includes taking a State licensing examination.

20 (2) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—A State edu21 cational agency may carry out such programs,

22 projects, or activities directly, through contracts, or

23 through grants to local educational agencies and in24 stitutions of higher education, or consortia of such

25 agencies or institutions.
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1 (b) USES.—A State educational agency that receives

2 funds under this title may use such funds for—

3 (1) the design, development, implementation,

4 and evaluation of programs that enable qualified

5 professionals who have demonstrated a high level of

6 subject area competence outside the education pro7 fession and are interested in entering the education

8 profession to fulfill State teacher certification or li9 censure requirements;

10 (2) the establishment of administrative struc11 tures necessary for the development and implemen12 tation of programs to provide alternative routes to

13 fulfilling State teacher certification or licensure re14 quirements;

15 (3) training of staff, including the development

16 of appropriate support programs, such as mentor

17 programs, for teachers entering the school system

18 through alternative routes to teacher certification or

19 licensure;

20 (4) the development of recruitment strategies;

21 (5) the development of reciprocity agreements

22 between or among States for the certification or li23 censure of teachers; or

24 (6) other programs, projects, and activities

25 that—
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1 (A) are designed to meet the purpose of

2 this title; and

3 (B) the Secretary determines appropriate.

4 (c) LIMITATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A

5 State educational agency may use not more than 3 percent

6 of the amount of funds received under this title for the

7 administrative costs to carry out this title.

8 SEC. 105. DEFINITIONS.

9 In this title:

10 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU11 CATIONAL AGENCY; SECONDARY SCHOOL; SEC12 RETARY; AND STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The

13 terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local educational agen14 cy’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘State

15 educational agency’’ have the meanings given the

16 terms in section 14101 of the Elementary and Sec17 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

18 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the

20 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

22 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

23 the several States of the United States, the District

24 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

25 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
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1 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern

2 Mariana Islands.

3 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 this title $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and each of

6 the 3 succeeding fiscal years.

7 TITLE II—TEACHER TRAINING

8 FACILITIES

9 SEC. 201. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

11 (1) individuals entering a classroom should have

12 a sound grasp of the subject the individuals intend

13 to teach, and the individuals should know how to

14 teach;

15 (2) the quality of teachers impacts student

16 achievement;

17 (3) people who enter the teaching profession

18 through alternative certification programs can ben19 efit from having the opportunity to attend a teacher

20 training facility;

21 (4) teachers need to increase their subject mat22 ter knowledge, learning theory, and teaching strate23 gies;

24 (5) less than 40 percent of the individuals

25 teaching the core subjects (English, mathematics,
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1 science, social studies, and foreign languages) ma2 jored or minored in the core subjects; and

3 (6) according to the Third International Mathe4 matics and Science Study, American high school

5 seniors finished near the bottom of the study in both

6 science and mathematics.

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to

8 strengthen teacher training programs by establishing a

9 private and public partnership to create the best teacher

10 training facilities in the world to ensure that teachers re11 ceive unlimited access to the most updated technology and

12 skills training in education, so that students can benefit

13 from the teachers’ knowledge and experience.

14 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

15 In this title:

16 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

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

18 the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and

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

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

21 the Secretary of Education.

22 SEC. 203. GRANTS.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated

24 under section 204 for a fiscal year the Secretary shall

25 award grants to local educational agencies to enable the
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1 local educational agencies to establish teacher training fa2 cilities for elementary and secondary school teachers.

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

4 grants under this title on a competitive basis.

5 (c) PARTNERSHIP CONTRACT REQUIRED.—In order

6 to receive a grant under this title, a local educational agen7 cy shall enter into a contract with a nongovernmental or8 ganization to establish a teacher training facility.

9 (d) APPLICATIONS.—Each local educational agency

10 desiring a grant under this title shall submit to the Sec11 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and

12 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may

13 require. Each such application shall contain an assurance

14 that the local educational agency—

15 (1) will raise matching funds, from public or

16 private sources, for the support of the teacher train17 ing facility in an amount equal to the amount of

18 funds provided under the grant;

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

20 educational agency at the teacher training facility

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

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

23 and

24 (3) will spend not less than 0.5 percent of the

25 local educational agency’s total school budget for
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1 each fiscal year to support the teacher training facil2 ity.

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

4 under this section in an amount that is not less than

5 $1,000,000 and not more than $4,000,000.

6 SEC. 204. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

8 this title $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $8,000,000 for

9 fiscal year 2001, $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and

10 $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

11 TITLE III—MENTORING PRO12 GRAMS FOR NOVICE TEACH13 ERS

14 SEC. 301. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

15 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

16 (1) Only half of all novice teachers will still be

17 teaching in 7 years: most will depart the teaching

18 profession after 3 years.

19 (2) Better support for novice teachers is among

20 the top policy reforms that will help school systems

21 retain more teachers.

22 (3) Novice teachers find that having a mentor

23 during the first year is an effective form of support

24 in adjusting to the profession.
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1 (4) Teachers who have had a mentor are more

2 confident in their teaching, more able to deal with

3 the social and bureaucratic aspects of their profes4 sion than teachers who have not had a mentor.

5 (5) Teachers who have had a mentor are more

6 likely to remain in the profession than teachers who

7 have not had a mentor.

8 (6) Studies show that principals are more satis9 fied with the performances of teachers who have had

10 a mentor than with teachers who have not had a

11 mentor.

12 (7) Teachers who have had a mentor have a

13 higher rate of one-to-one contact with students, are

14 more interactive with students in general, are more

15 focused on academic content, handle discipline bet16 ter, and have an enhanced ability to communicate

17 with parents than teachers who have not had a men18 tor.

19 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this title to in20 crease teacher retention and improve the support and per21 formance of teachers in the first few years of their employ22 ment by encouraging and assisting States and local edu23 cational agencies to develop and implement mentoring pro24 grams for novice teachers.
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1 SEC. 302. APPLICATIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any State educational agency or

3 local educational agency desiring to receive a grant under

4 this title shall submit an application at such time, in such

5 manner, and containing such information, as the Sec6 retary may reasonably require.

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each application shall—

8 (1) describe the programs, projects, and activi9 ties to be undertaken with assistance provided under

10 this title;

11 (2) assess the needs of novice teachers; and

12 (3) contain such assurances as the Secretary

13 considers necessary, including assurances that—

14 (A) assistance provided under this title will

15 be used to supplement, and not supplant, any

16 State or local funds available for the develop17 ment and implementation of programs to pro18 vide a mentoring program for novice teachers;

19 and

20 (B) the State educational agency or local

21 educational agency has, while developing and

22 before submitting the application, consulted

23 with—

24 (i) superintendents and school board

25 members (including representatives of their

26 professional organizations if appropriate);
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1 (ii) elementary and secondary school

2 teachers, including representatives of their

3 professional organizations;

4 (iii) schools or departments of edu5 cation within institutions of higher edu6 cation; and

7 (iv) other interested individuals and

8 organizations.

9 SEC. 303. USE OF FUNDS.

10 (a) USE OF FUNDS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

12 or local educational agency that receives a grant

13 under this title shall use such funds to develop and

14 implement new, or expand and improve existing, pro15 grams that support and train novice teachers

16 through a mentoring program.

17 (2) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—A State edu18 cational agency or local educational agency may

19 carry out such programs, projects, or activities di20 rectly, through contracts, or through grants to local

21 educational agencies, institutions of higher edu22 cation, or consortia of such agencies or institutions.

23 (b) SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.—Funds received under

24 this title may be used for—
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1 (1) the design, development, implementation,

2 and evaluation of programs that enable novice teach3 ers to have the support and training of other teach4 ers and administrators;

5 (2) the establishment of administrative struc6 tures necessary for the development and implemen7 tation of mentoring programs;

8 (3) training of staff, including the development

9 of support for mentors, workshops, and seminars for

10 the education and support of novice teachers; and

11 (4) other programs that—

12 (A) are designed to meet the purpose of

13 this title; and

14 (B) the Secretary determines appropriate.

15 SEC. 304. REPORTING.

16 Each State educational agency and local educational

17 agency that receives a grant under this title shall submit

18 to the Secretary, at such time as the Secretary may speci19 fy, a final report describing the mentoring programs car20 ried out with assistance provided under this title and the

21 results achieved with respect to such programs.

22 SEC. 305. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this title:

24 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; LOCAL EDU25 CATIONAL AGENCY; SECONDARY SCHOOL; AND STATE
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1 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms ‘‘elementary

2 school,’’ ‘‘local educational agency,’’ ‘‘secondary

3 school,’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the

4 same meanings given such terms in section 14101 of

5 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).

7 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

8 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the same

9 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High10 er Education Act of 1965.

11 (3) MENTORING PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘men12 toring program’’ means to provide professional sup13 port and development, instruction, and guidance to

14 novice teachers, but does not include a teacher or in15 dividual who begins to work in a supervisory posi16 tion.

17 (4) NOVICE TEACHER.—The term ‘‘novice

18 teacher’’ means an educator in a public school who

19 has not yet been teaching 3 full school years.

20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

21 the Secretary of Education.

22 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

23 the several States of the United States, the District

24 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

25 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American
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1 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern

2 Mariana Islands.

3 SEC. 306. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

5 this title $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and each of the

6 3 succeeding fiscal years.

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