I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1995

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to empower

teachers, improve student achievement through high-quality professional

development for teachers, reauthorize the Reading Excellence Act, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1999

Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. CASTLE, Mr.

HOEKSTRA, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr.

GRAHAM, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. NORTHUP, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, and Mr. HILL of

Montana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to empower teachers, improve student achievement through high-quality professional development for

teachers, reauthorize the Reading Excellence Act, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teacher Empowerment

3 Act’’.

4 SEC. 2. TEACHER EMPOWERMENT.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and

6 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et

7 seq.) is amended—

8 (1) by striking the heading for title II and in9 serting the following:

10 ‘‘TITLE II—TEACHER QUALITY’’;

11 (2) by repealing sections 2001 through 2003;

12 and

13 (3) by amending part A to read as follows:

14 ‘‘PART A—TEACHER EMPOWERMENT

15 ‘‘SEC. 2001. PURPOSE.

16 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to provide grants to

17 States and localities in order to assist their efforts to in18 crease student academic achievement through such strate19 gies as improving teacher quality.

20 ‘‘Subpart 1—Grants to States

21 ‘‘SEC. 2011. FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of each State that

23 in accordance with section 2013 submits to the Secretary

24 an application for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make

25 a grant for the year to the State for the uses specified
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1 in section 2012. The grant shall consist of the allotment

2 determined for the State under subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF ALLOT4 MENT.—

5 ‘‘(1) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the

6 amount made available to carry out this subpart for

7 any fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve—

‘‘(A) 1 8 ⁄2 of 1 percent for allotments for the

9 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and

10 the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is11 lands, to be distributed among these outlying

12 areas on the basis of their relative need, as de13 termined by the Secretary in accordance with

14 the purpose of this part; and

‘‘(B) 1 15 ⁄2 of 1 percent for the Secretary of

16 the Interior for programs under this part for

17 professional development activities for teachers,

18 other staff, and administrators in schools oper19 ated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

20 ‘‘(2) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), from the total amount made avail23 able to carry out this subpart for any fiscal

24 year and not reserved under paragraph (2), the

25 Secretary shall allot to each of the 50 States,
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1 the District of Columbia, and the Common2 wealth of Puerto Rico an amount as follows:

3 ‘‘(i) 50 percent of such total amount

4 shall be allocated among such States on

5 the basis of their relative populations of in6 dividuals aged 5 through 17, as determined

7 by the Secretary on the basis of the most

8 recent satisfactory data.

9 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent of such total amount

10 shall be allocated among such States in

11 proportion to the number of children, aged

12 5 to 17, who reside within the State from

13 families with incomes below the poverty

14 line (as defined by the Office of Manage15 ment and Budget and revised annually in

16 accordance with section 673(2) of the

17 Community Services Block Grant Act (42

18 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to a family of

19 the size involved for the most recent fiscal

20 year for which satisfactory data are avail21 able, compared to the number of such indi22 viduals who reside in all such States for

23 that fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—No State receiving an

25 allotment under subparagraph (A) may receive
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less than 1 1 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the total amount

2 made available to carry out this subpart for any

3 fiscal year and not reserved under paragraph

4 (1).

5 ‘‘(3) REALLOTMENT.—If any State does not

6 apply for an allotment under this subsection for any

7 fiscal year, the Secretary shall reallot such amount

8 to the remaining States in accordance with this sub9 section.

10 ‘‘SEC. 2012. WITHIN-STATE ALLOCATIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State receiving a grant

12 under this subpart shall use the funds provided under the

13 grant in accordance with this section to carry out activities

14 for the improvement of teaching and learning.

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED AND AUTHORIZED EXPENDI16 TURES.—

17 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED EXPENDITURES.—The Sec18 retary may make a grant to a State under this sub19 part only if the State agrees to expend at least—

20 ‘‘(A) 95 percent of the amount of the

21 funds provided under the grant for the purpose

22 of making subgrants to local educational agen23 cies under subpart 3; and

24 ‘‘(B) 2.5 percent of the amount of the

25 funds provided under the grant for the purpose
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1 of making subgrants to eligible partnerships

2 under subpart 2 (of which percent, up to 5 per3 cent may be used for planning and administra4 tion related to carrying out such purpose).

5 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.—A State

6 that receives a grant under this subpart may expend

7 not more than 2.5 percent of the amount of the

8 funds provided under the grant for one or more of

9 the authorized State activities described in sub10 section (d) (of which percent, the State may use up

11 to 5 percent for planning and administration related

12 to carrying out such activities and making subgrants

13 to local educational agencies under subpart 3).

14 ‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION OF SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDU15 CATIONAL AGENCIES.—

16 ‘‘(1) FORMULA FOR 80 PERCENT OF FUNDS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

18 subparagraph (B), a State receiving a grant

19 under this subpart shall distribute 80 percent

20 of the amount described in subsection (b)(1)(A)

21 through a formula under which—

22 ‘‘(i) 50 percent is allocated to local

23 educational agencies in accordance with

24 the relative enrollment in public and pri25 vate nonprofit elementary and secondary
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1 schools within the boundaries of such

2 agencies; and

3 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent is allocated to local

4 educational agencies in proportion to the

5 number of children, aged 5 to 17, who re6 side within the geographic area served by

7 such agency from families with incomes

8 below the poverty line (as defined by the

9 Office of Management and Budget and re10 vised annually in accordance with section

11 673(2) of the Community Services Block

12 Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable

13 to a family of the size involved for the

14 most recent fiscal year for which satisfac15 tory data are available, compared to the

16 number of such individuals who reside in

17 the geographic areas served by all the local

18 educational agencies in the State for that

19 fiscal year.

20 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE FORMULA.—A State

21 may increase the percentage described in sub22 paragraph (A)(ii) (and commensurately de23 crease the percentage described in subpara24 graph (A)(i)).
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1 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION OF 20 PERCENT OF

2 FUNDS.—A State receiving a grant under this sub3 part shall distribute 20 percent of the amount de4 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(A) through a competi5 tive process.

6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED STATE ACTIVITIES.—The author7 ized State activities referred to in subsection (b)(2) are

8 the following:

9 ‘‘(1) Reforming teacher certification, recertifi10 cation, or licensure requirements to ensure that—

11 ‘‘(A) teachers have the necessary teaching

12 skills and academic content knowledge in the

13 subject areas in which they are assigned to

14 teach;

15 ‘‘(B) they are aligned with the State’s

16 challenging State content standards; and

17 ‘‘(C) teachers, principals, and administra18 tors have the knowledge and skills necessary to

19 help students meet challenging State student

20 performance standards.

21 ‘‘(2) Carrying out programs that—

22 ‘‘(A) include support during the initial

23 teaching experience; and

24 ‘‘(B) establish, expand, or improve alter25 native routes to State certification of teachers
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1 for highly qualified individuals with a bacca2 laureate degree, including mid-career profes3 sionals from other occupations, paraprofes4 sionals, former military personnel, and recent

5 college graduates with records of academic dis6 tinction.

7 ‘‘(3) Developing and implementing effective

8 mechanisms to assist local educational agencies and

9 schools in effectively recruiting highly qualified

10 teachers.

11 ‘‘(4) Reforming tenure systems and imple12 menting teacher testing and procedures to expedi13 tiously remove incompetent or unqualified teachers.

14 ‘‘(5) Developing enhanced performance systems

15 to measure the effectiveness of specific professional

16 development programs and strategies.

17 ‘‘(6) Providing technical assistance to local edu18 cational agencies consistent with this part.

19 ‘‘(7) Funding projects to promote reciprocity of

20 teacher certification or licensure between or among

21 States.

22 ‘‘(8) Developing or assisting local educational

23 agencies or eligible partnerships (as defined in sec24 tion 2021(d)) in the development and utilization of

25 proven, innovative strategies to deliver intensive pro-
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1 fessional development programs that are both cost2 effective and easily accessible, such as through the

3 use of technology and distance learning.

4 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—States receiving grants under

5 section 202 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, shall

6 coordinate the use of such funds with activities carried out

7 under this section.

8 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a

10 grant under this part—

11 ‘‘(A) in the event the State provides public

12 State report cards on education, shall include in

13 such report cards—

14 ‘‘(i) the percentage of classes in core

15 academic subject areas that are taught by

16 out-of-field teachers; and

17 ‘‘(ii) the average statewide class size;

18 or

19 ‘‘(B) in the event the State provides no

20 such report card, shall disseminate to the public

21 the information described in clauses (i) and (ii)

22 of subparagraph (A) through other means.

23 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Such information

24 shall be made widely available to the public, includ-
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1 ing parents and students, through major print and

2 broadcast media outlets throughout the State.

3 ‘‘SEC. 2013. APPLICATIONS BY STATES.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant

5 under this subpart, a State shall submit an application

6 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con7 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably

8 require.

9 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each application under this sec10 tion shall include the following:

11 ‘‘(1) A description of how the State will ensure

12 that a local educational agency receiving a subgrant

13 under subpart 3 will comply with the requirements

14 of such subpart, including the required use of funds

15 for mathematics and science programs, professional

16 development, and hiring teachers to reduce class

17 size.

18 ‘‘(2) A description of the specific performance

19 indicators the State will use (including an identifica20 tion of how such performance indicators will be

21 measured and reported) for each local educational

22 agency to measure the annual progress of activities

23 funded under subpart 3 in increasing—

24 ‘‘(A) student academic achievement; and
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1 ‘‘(B) teacher quality, as demonstrated

2 through a reduction in the number of out-of3 field teachers in the classroom.

4 ‘‘(3) A description of the bonus incentives, if

5 any, that will be provided to local educational agen6 cies that exceed a level of improvement established

7 by the State based on such performance indicators,

8 and actions the State will take in the event a local

9 educational agency fails to meet or make progress

10 toward such level of improvement.

11 ‘‘(4) A description of how the State will coordi12 nate professional development activities authorized

13 under this part with professional development activi14 ties provided under other Federal, State, and local

15 programs, including those authorized under title I,

16 title III, title IV, part A of title VII, and (where ap17 plicable) the Individuals with Disabilities Education

18 Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Tech19 nical Education Act. The description shall include

20 information on the use of technology to improve

21 teaching and learning.

22 ‘‘(5) A description of how the State will encour23 age the development of proven, innovative strategies

24 to deliver intensive professional development pro25 grams that are both cost-effective and easily acces-
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1 sible, such as through the use of technology and dis2 tance learning.

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION SUBMISSION.—A State application

4 submitted to the Secretary under this section shall be ap5 proved by the Secretary unless the Secretary makes a

6 written determination, within 90 days after receiving the

7 application, that the application is in violation of the provi8 sions of this Act.

9 ‘‘Subpart 2—Subgrants to Eligible Partnerships

10 ‘‘SEC. 2021. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount described in

12 section 2012(b)(1)(B), the State agency for higher edu13 cation, working in conjunction with the State educational

14 agency (if such agencies are separate), shall award grants

15 on a competitive basis to eligible partnerships to enable

16 such partnerships to carry out activities described in sub17 section (b).

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of funds under

19 this section shall use the funds for—

20 ‘‘(1) professional development activities in core

21 academic subjects to ensure that teachers have con22 tent knowledge in the subjects they teach; and

23 ‘‘(2) developing and providing assistance to

24 local educational agencies and the teachers, prin25 cipals, and administrators, of each such agency, for
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1 sustained, high-quality professional development ac2 tivities.

3 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE.—No single participant in an eli4 gible partnership may retain more than 50 percent of the

5 funds made available to the partnership under this section.

6 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—As used in this sec7 tion, the term ‘eligible partnerships’ means an entity

8 that—

9 ‘‘(1) shall include—

10 ‘‘(A) a high-need local educational agency;

11 ‘‘(B) a school of arts and sciences; and

12 ‘‘(C) an institution that prepares teachers;

13 and

14 ‘‘(2) may include other local educational agen15 cies, a public charter school, a public or private ele16 mentary or secondary school, an educational service

17 agency, a public or private nonprofit educational or18 ganization, or a business.

19 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—Partnerships receiving grants

20 under section 203 of the Higher Education Act of 1965

21 shall coordinate the use of such funds with any related

22 activities carried out by such partnership with funds made

23 available under this section.
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1 ‘‘Subpart 3—Subgrants to Local Educational

2 Agencies

3 ‘‘SEC. 2031. LOCAL USE OF FUNDS.

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational

6 agency that receives a subgrant under this subpart

7 shall use the subgrant to carry out the activities de8 scribed in this subsection.

9 ‘‘(2) MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount made

11 available to each local educational agency under

12 this subpart for a fiscal year, the agency shall

13 use not less than the amount provided to the

14 agency under section 2206(b) of this Act (as in

15 effect on the day before the date of the enact16 ment of the Teacher Empowerment Act) for the

17 fiscal year preceding such enactment for profes18 sional development activities in mathematics

19 and science in accordance with section 2033.

20 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—

21 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—A local edu22 cational agency may seek a waiver of the

23 requirement in subparagraph (A) from a

24 State in order to allow the local edu25 cational agency to use such funds for pro-
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1 fessional development in academic subjects

2 other than mathematics and science.

3 ‘‘(ii) STANDARD FOR GRANTING.—A

4 State may not approve such a waiver un5 less the local educational agency is able to

6 demonstrate that—

7 ‘‘(I) the professional development

8 needs of mathematics and science

9 teachers, including elementary teach10 ers responsible for teaching mathe11 matics and science, have been ade12 quately met;

13 ‘‘(II) State assessments in math14 ematics or science demonstrate that

15 each school within the local edu16 cational agency has made progress to17 ward meeting the challenging State or

18 local content standards and student

19 performance standards in these areas;

20 and

21 ‘‘(III) State assessments in other

22 academic subjects demonstrate a need

23 to focus on subjects other than mathe24 matics and science.
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1 ‘‘(iii) GRANDFATHER OF OLD WAIV2 ERS.—A waiver provided to a local edu3 cational agency under part D of title XIV

4 prior to the date of the enactment of the

5 Teacher Empowerment Act shall be

6 deemed effective until such time as it oth7 erwise would have ceased to be effective.

8 ‘‘(3) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVI9 TIES.—Each local educational agency that receives a

10 subgrant under this subpart shall use a portion of

11 such funds for professional development activities

12 that give teachers, principals, and administrators the

13 knowledge and skills to provide students with the op14 portunity to meet challenging State or local content

15 standards and student performance standards. Such

16 activities shall be consistent with sections 2033 and

17 2034.

18 ‘‘(4) HIRING TEACHERS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational

20 agency that receives a subgrant under this sub21 part shall use a portion of such funds for re22 cruiting, hiring, and training certified teachers,

23 including teachers certified through State and

24 local alternative routes, in order to reduce class

25 size.
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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR SPECIAL EDU2 CATION TEACHERS.—Notwithstanding subpara3 graph (A), a local educational agency may use

4 some or all of the funds described in such sub5 paragraph to hire special education teachers re6 gardless of whether such action reduces class

7 size.

8 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.—

9 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—A local edu10 cational agency may seek a waiver of the

11 requirement in subparagraph (A) from a

12 State in order to allow the local edu13 cational agency to use such funds for pur14 poses other than hiring teachers in order

15 to reduce class size.

16 ‘‘(ii) STANDARD FOR GRANTING.—A

17 State may not approve such a waiver un18 less the local educational agency is able to

19 demonstrate that—

20 ‘‘(I) such funds will be used to

21 ensure that all instructional staff have

22 the subject matter knowledge, teach23 ing knowledge, and teaching skills

24 necessary to teach effectively in the
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1 content area or areas in which they

2 provide instruction; or

3 ‘‘(II) an initiative to reduce class

4 size would result in having to rely on

5 underqualified teachers, inadequate

6 classroom space, or would have any

7 other negative consequence affecting

8 the efforts of the local educational

9 agency to improve student academic

10 achievement.

11 ‘‘(b) ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.—Each local edu12 cational agency that receives a subgrant under this sub13 part may use the subgrant to carry out the following ac14 tivities:

15 ‘‘(1) Initiatives to assist recruitment of highly

16 qualified teachers, including—

17 ‘‘(A) providing signing bonuses or other fi18 nancial incentives for teachers to teach in aca19 demic subject areas in which there exists a

20 shortage of such teachers within the school or

21 local educational agency;

22 ‘‘(B) establishing programs that—

23 ‘‘(i) recruit professionals from other

24 fields and provide such professionals with
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1 alternative routes to teacher certification;

2 and

3 ‘‘(ii) provide increased opportunities

4 for minorities, individuals with disabilities,

5 and other individuals underrepresented in

6 the teaching profession; and

7 ‘‘(C) implementing hiring policies that en8 sure comprehensive recruitment efforts as a

9 way to expand the applicant pool, such as

10 through identifying teachers certified through

11 alternative routes, coupled with a system of in12 tensive screening designed to hire the most

13 qualified applicant.

14 ‘‘(2) Initiatives to promote retention of highly

15 qualified teachers, including—

16 ‘‘(A) programs that provide mentoring to

17 newly hired teachers, such as from master

18 teachers; or

19 ‘‘(B) programs that provide other incen20 tives for highly qualified teachers to remain in

21 the classroom.

22 ‘‘(3) Programs and activities that are designed

23 to improve the quality of the teacher force, such

24 as—
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1 ‘‘(A) innovative professional development

2 programs (which may be through partnerships

3 including institutions of higher education), in4 cluding programs that train teachers to utilize

5 technology to improve teaching and learning,

6 that are consistent with the requirements of

7 section 2033;

8 ‘‘(B) development and utilization of prov9 en, cost-effective strategies for the delivery of

10 professional development activities, such as

11 through the utilization of technology and dis12 tance learning;

13 ‘‘(C) tenure reform;

14 ‘‘(D) merit pay;

15 ‘‘(E) testing of elementary and secondary

16 school teachers in the subject areas taught by

17 such teachers;

18 ‘‘(F) professional development programs

19 that provide instruction in how to teach chil20 dren with different learning styles, particularly

21 children with disabilities and children with spe22 cial learning needs; and

23 ‘‘(G) professional development programs

24 that provide instruction in how best to dis25 cipline children in the classroom and identify
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1 early and appropriate interventions to help such

2 children learn.

3 ‘‘(4) Teacher opportunity payments, consistent

4 with section 2034.

5 ‘‘SEC. 2032. LOCAL APPLICATIONS.

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency seek7 ing to receive a subgrant from a State under this subpart

8 shall submit an application to the State—

9 ‘‘(1) at such time as the State shall require;

10 and

11 ‘‘(2) which is coordinated with other programs

12 under this Act, or other Acts, as appropriate.

13 ‘‘(b) LOCAL APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The local ap14 plication described in subsection (a), shall include, at a

15 minimum, the following:

16 ‘‘(1) A description of the how the local edu17 cational agency intends to use funds provided under

18 this subpart, including an assurance that the local

19 educational agency will meet the requirements for

20 the use of funds for mathematics and science pro21 grams, professional development, and hiring teachers

22 to reduce class size under section 2031.

23 ‘‘(2) An assurance that the local educational

24 agency will target funds to schools within the juris25 diction of the local educational agency that—
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1 ‘‘(A) have the highest proportion of out-of2 field teachers;

3 ‘‘(B) have the largest average class size; or

4 ‘‘(C) are identified for school improvement

5 under section 1116(c).

6 ‘‘(3) A description of how the local educational

7 agency will coordinate professional development ac8 tivities authorized under this subpart with profes9 sional development activities provided through other

10 Federal, State, and local programs, including those

11 authorized under title I, title III, title IV, part A of

12 title VII, and (where applicable) the Individuals with

13 Disabilities Education Act and the Carl D. Perkins

14 Vocational and Technical Education Act.

15 ‘‘(4) A description of how the local educational

16 agency will integrate funds under this subpart with

17 funds received under title III that are used for pro18 fessional development to train teachers in how to use

19 technology to improve learning and teaching.

20 ‘‘(c) PARENTS’ RIGHT-TO-KNOW.—A local edu21 cational agency that receives funds under this subpart

22 shall provide, upon request and in an understandable and

23 uniform format, to any parent of a student attending any

24 school receiving funds under this subpart, information re25 garding the professional qualifications of the student’s
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1 classroom teachers, including, at a minimum, the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(1) Whether the teacher has met State quali4 fication and licensing criteria for the grade levels

5 and subject areas in which the teacher provides in6 struction.

7 ‘‘(2) Whether the teacher is teaching under

8 ‘emergency’ or other provisional status through

9 which State qualification or licensing criteria have

10 been waived.

11 ‘‘(3) The college major of the teacher and any

12 other graduate certification or degree held by the

13 teacher, and the field or discipline of the certifi14 cation or degree.

15 ‘‘SEC. 2033. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS.

16 ‘‘(a) LIMITATION RELATING TO CURRICULUM AND

17 CONTENT AREAS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), professional development funds under this

20 subpart may not be provided for a teacher and an

21 activity if the activity is not—

22 ‘‘(A) directly related to the curriculum and

23 content areas in which the teacher provides in24 struction; or
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1 ‘‘(B) designed to enhance the teaching of

2 such areas.

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not

4 apply to funds for professional development activities

5 that instruct in methods of disciplining children.

6 ‘‘(b) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—Professional develop7 ment activities funded under this subpart—

8 ‘‘(1) shall be measured, in terms of progress,

9 using the specific performance indicators established

10 by the State in accordance with section 2013(b)(2);

11 ‘‘(2) shall be tied to challenging State or local

12 content standards and student performance stand13 ards;

14 ‘‘(3) shall be tied to scientifically based research

15 demonstrating the effectiveness of such program in

16 increasing student achievement or substantially in17 creasing the knowledge and teaching skills of such

18 teachers;

19 ‘‘(4) shall be of sufficient intensity and duration

20 (such as generally not to include 1-day or short-term

21 workshops and conferences) to have a positive and

22 lasting impact on the teacher’s performance in the

23 classroom; and
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1 ‘‘(5) shall be developed with extensive participa2 tion of teachers, principals, and administrators of

3 schools to be served under this part.

4 ‘‘(c) ACCOUNTABILITY.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall notify a local

6 educational agency that the agency is on notice of

7 the possibility that the agency may be subject to the

8 requirement in paragraph (3) if, after any fiscal

9 year, the State determines that the programs or ac10 tivities funded by the agency fail to meet the re11 quirements of subsections (a) and (b).

12 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—A local edu13 cational agency that has been put on notice pursu14 ant to paragraph (1) may request technical assist15 ance from the State in order to provide the oppor16 tunity for such local educational agency to comply

17 with the requirements of subsections (a) and (b).

18 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE TEACHER OP19 PORTUNITY PAYMENTS.—A local educational agency

20 that has been put on notice by the State pursuant

21 to paragraph (1) during any 2 consecutive fiscal

22 years shall expend under section 2034 for the suc23 ceeding fiscal year a proportion of the amount made

24 available to the agency under this subpart equal to

25 the proportion of such amount expended by the
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1 agency on professional development for the second

2 fiscal year in which it was put on notice.

3 ‘‘SEC. 2034. TEACHER OPPORTUNITY PAYMENTS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency re5 ceiving funds under this subpart may (or, in the case of

6 a local educational agency described in section 2033(c)(3),

7 shall) provide funds directly to a teacher or a group of

8 teachers seeking opportunities to participate in a profes9 sional development activity of their choice.

10 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO TEACHERS.—Local educational

11 agencies distributing funds under this section shall estab12 lish and implement a timely process through which proper

13 notice of availability of funds will be given to all teachers

14 within schools identified by the agency and shall develop

15 a process whereby teachers will be specifically rec16 ommended by principals to participate in such program

17 by virtue of—

18 ‘‘(1) their lack of full certification to teach in

19 the subject or subjects in which they teach; or

20 ‘‘(2) their need for additional assistance to en21 sure that their students make progress toward meet22 ing challenging State content standards and student

23 performance standards.

24 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF TEACHERS.—In the event ade25 quate funding is not available to provide payments under
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1 this section to all teachers seeking such assistance, or

2 identified as needing such assistance pursuant to sub3 section (b), a local educational agency shall establish pro4 cedures for selecting teachers which provide a priority for

5 those teachers described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub6 section (b).

7 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE PROGRAM.—Teachers receiving a pay8 ment under this section shall have the choice of attending

9 any professional development program that meets the cri10 teria set forth in subsection (a) or (b) of section 2033.

11 ‘‘Subpart 4—National Activities

12 ‘‘SEC. 2041. ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO TEACHING.

13 ‘‘(a) TEACHER EXCELLENCE ACADEMIES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award

15 grants on a competitive basis to eligible consortia to

16 carry out activities described in this subsection.

17 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium

19 receiving funds under this subsection shall use

20 the funds to pay the costs associated with the

21 establishment or expansion of a teacher acad22 emy in an elementary or secondary school facil23 ity that carries out the activities promoting al24 ternative routes to State teacher certification

25 specified in subparagraph (B), the model pro-
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1 fessional development activities specified in sub2 paragraph (C), or all such activities.

3 ‘‘(B) PROMOTING ALTERNATIVE ROUTES

4 TO TEACHER CERTIFICATION.—The activities

5 promoting alternative routes to State teacher

6 certification specified in this subparagraph are

7 the design and implementation of a course of

8 study and activities providing an alternative

9 route to State teacher certification that—

10 ‘‘(i) provide opportunities to highly

11 qualified individuals with a baccalaureate

12 degree, including mid-career professionals

13 from other occupations, paraprofessionals,

14 former military personnel, and recent col15 lege graduates with records of academic

16 distinction;

17 ‘‘(ii) provide stipends, for not more

18 than 2 years, to permit individuals de19 scribed in clause (i) to participate as stu20 dent teachers able to fill teaching needs in

21 academic subjects in which there is a dem22 onstrated shortage of teachers;

23 ‘‘(iii) provide for the recruitment and

24 hiring of master teachers to mentor and
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1 train student teachers within such acad2 emies; and

3 ‘‘(iv) include a reasonable service re4 quirement for individuals completing the

5 alternative certification program estab6 lished by the consortium.

7 ‘‘(C) MODEL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP8 MENT.—The model professional development

9 activities specified in this subparagraph are ac10 tivities providing ongoing professional develop11 ment opportunities for teachers, such as—

12 ‘‘(i) innovative programs and model

13 curricula in the area of professional devel14 opment which may serve as models to be

15 disseminated to other schools and local

16 educational agencies; and

17 ‘‘(ii) developing innovative techniques

18 for evaluating the effectiveness of profes19 sional development programs.

20 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall award not

21 less than 1 grant to a consortium that—

22 ‘‘(A) includes a high-need local educational

23 agency located in a rural area; and
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1 ‘‘(B) proposes the extensive use of distance

2 learning in order to provide the applicable

3 course work to student teachers.

4 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE.—No single participant in

5 an eligible consortium may retain more than 50 per6 cent of the funds made available to the consortium

7 under this subsection.

8 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a

9 grant under this subsection, an eligible consortium

10 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such

11 time, in such manner, and containing such informa12 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require.

13 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUM.—In this sub14 section, the term ‘eligible consortium’ means a con15 sortium for a State that—

16 ‘‘(A) shall include—

17 ‘‘(i) the State agency responsible for

18 certifying teachers;

19 ‘‘(ii) not less than 1 high-need local

20 educational agency;

21 ‘‘(iii) a school of arts and sciences;

22 and

23 ‘‘(iv) an institution that prepares

24 teachers; and
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1 ‘‘(B) may include local educational agen2 cies, public charter schools, public or private el3 ementary or secondary schools, educational

4 service agencies, public or private nonprofit

5 educational organizations, museums, or busi6 nesses.

7 ‘‘(b) CONTINUATION OF TROOPS-TO-TEACHERS PRO8 GRAM.—

9 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this sub10 section to authorize the continuation after Sep11 tember 30, 1999, of the teachers and teachers’ aide

12 placement program known as the ‘troops-to-teachers

13 program’, which was established by the Secretary of

14 Defense, and the Secretary of Transportation with

15 respect to the Coast Guard, under section 1151 of

16 title 10, United States Code.

17 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO CONTINUE PRO18 GRAM.—Subject to the requirements of this sub19 section, the Secretary of Education may provide a

20 transfer of funds to the Defense Activity for Non21 Traditional Education Support of the Department of

22 Defense to permit the Defense Activity to carry out

23 the troops-to-teachers program under section 1151

24 of title 10, United States Code, notwithstanding the
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1 termination date specified in subsection (c)(1)(A) of

2 such section.

3 ‘‘(3) DEFENSE AND COAST GUARD CONTRIBU4 TION.—The Secretary of Education may not make a

5 transfer of funds under paragraph (2) unless the

6 Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Trans7 portation with respect to the Coast Guard, agree to

8 cover not less than 25 percent of the costs associ9 ated with the activities conducted under the troops10 to-teachers program. The contributions may be in

11 the form of in-kind contributions or cash expendi12 tures, which may include the use of private contribu13 tions made for purposes of the program.

14 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE MEMBERS.—After September

15 30, 1999, the troops-to-teachers program shall have

16 a primary focus of recruiting members of the Armed

17 Forces who are retiring after not less than 20 years

18 of active duty.

19 ‘‘(5) PLACEMENT PRIORITY.—The Defense Ac20 tivity for Non-Traditional Education Support shall

21 cooperate with the Department of Education in ef22 forts to notify high-need local educational agencies

23 of the services available to them under the troops24 to-teachers program.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2042. NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT.

2 ‘‘The Secretary may make a grant to the National

3 Writing Project, a nonprofit educational organization

4 which has as its primary purpose the improvement of the

5 quality of student writing and learning and the teaching

6 of writing as a learning process in the Nation’s class7 rooms.

8 ‘‘SEC. 2043. EISENHOWER NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR

9 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION.

10 ‘‘The Secretary may award a grant or contract, in

11 consultation with the Director of the National Science

12 Foundation, to continue the Eisenhower National Clear13 inghouse for Mathematics and Science Education.

14 ‘‘Subpart 5—Funding

15 ‘‘SEC. 2051. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 ‘‘(a) FISCAL YEAR 2000.—For the purpose of car17 rying out this part, there are authorized to be appro18 priated $2,060,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, of which

19 $20,000,000 are authorized to be appropriated to carry

20 out subpart 4.

21 ‘‘(b) OTHER FISCAL YEARS.—For the purpose of

22 carrying out this part, there are authorized to be appro23 priated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years

24 2001 through 2004.
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1 ‘‘Subpart 6—General Provisions

2 ‘‘SEC. 2061. DEFINITIONS.

3 ‘‘For purposes of this part—

4 ‘‘(1) ARTS AND SCIENCES.—The term ‘arts and

5 sciences’ means—

6 ‘‘(A) when referring to an organizational

7 unit of an institution of higher education, any

8 academic unit that offers 1 or more academic

9 majors in disciplines or content areas cor10 responding to the academic subject matter

11 areas in which teachers provide instruction; and

12 ‘‘(B) when referring to a specific academic

13 subject matter area, the disciplines or content

14 areas in which academic majors are offered by

15 the arts and sciences organizational unit.

16 ‘‘(2) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN17 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’

18 means a local educational agency that serves an ele19 mentary school or secondary school located in an

20 area in which there is—

21 ‘‘(A) a high percentage of individuals from

22 families with incomes below the poverty line (as

23 defined by the Office of Management and

24 Budget and revised annually in accordance with

25 section 673(2) of the Community Services

26 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)));
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1 ‘‘(B) a high percentage of secondary school

2 teachers not teaching in the content area in

3 which the teachers were trained to teach; or

4 ‘‘(C) a high teacher turnover rate.

5 ‘‘(3) OUT-OF-FIELD TEACHER.—The term ‘out6 of-field teacher’ means a teacher—

7 ‘‘(A) teaching a subject for which he or she

8 is not fully qualified, as determined by the

9 State; or

10 ‘‘(B) who did not receive a degree from an

11 institution of higher education with a major or

12 minor in the field in which he or she teaches.

13 ‘‘(4) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH.—The

14 term ‘scientifically based research’—

15 ‘‘(A) means the application of rigorous,

16 systematic, and objective procedures to obtain

17 valid knowledge relevant to professional devel18 opment of teachers; and

19 ‘‘(B) shall include research that—

20 ‘‘(i) employs systematic, empirical

21 methods that draw on observation or ex22 periment;

23 ‘‘(ii) involves rigorous data analyses

24 that are adequate to test the stated
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1 hypotheses and justify the general conclu2 sions drawn;

3 ‘‘(iii) relies on measurements or obser4 vational methods that provide valid data

5 across evaluators and observers and across

6 multiple measurements and observations;

7 and

8 ‘‘(iv) has been accepted by a peer-re9 viewed journal or approved by a panel of

10 independent experts through a comparably

11 rigorous, objective, and scientific review.’’.

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

13 (1) NATIONAL WRITING PROJECT.—Part K of

14 title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education

15 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8331 et seq.) is repealed.

16 (2) REFERENCE TO NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE

17 FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION.—Sec18 tion 13302(1) of the Elementary and Secondary

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8672(1)) is

20 amended by striking ‘‘2102(b)’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘2043’’.
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO READING EXCEL2 LENCE ACT.

3 (a) REPEAL OF PART B.—Part B of title II of the

4 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

5 U.S.C. 6641–6651) is repealed.

6 (b) READING EXCELLENCE ACT.—

7 (1) PART HEADING.—Part C of title II of such

8 Act is redesignated as part B and the heading for

9 such part B is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘PART B—READING EXCELLENCE ACT’’.

11 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

12 Section 2260 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6661i) is

13 amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(3) FISCAL YEARS 2001 TO 2004.—There are

15 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this part

16 $260,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such sums as

17 may be necessary for fiscal years 2002 through

18 2004.’’.

19 SEC. 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et

22 seq.) is amended—

23 (1) by repealing part D;

24 (2) by redesignating part E as part C; and

25 (3) by striking sections 2401 and 2402 and in26 serting the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 2401. PROHIBITION ON NATIONAL CERTIFICATION OF

2 TEACHERS.

3 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON TESTING OR CERTIFI4 CATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

5 Secretary is prohibited from using Federal funds to plan,

6 develop, implement, or administer any national teacher

7 test or certification.

8 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON WITHHOLDING FUNDS.—The

9 Secretary is prohibited from withholding funds from any

10 State or local educational agency if such State or local

11 educational agency fails to adopt a specific method of

12 teacher certification.

13 ‘‘SEC. 2402. PROVISIONS RELATED TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS.

14 ‘‘The provisions of sections 14503 through 14506

15 apply to programs under this title.

16 ‘‘SEC. 2403. HOME SCHOOLS.

17 ‘‘Nothing in this title shall be construed to permit,

18 allow, encourage, or authorize any Federal control over

19 any aspect of any private, religious, or home school,

20 whether or not a home school is treated as a private school

21 or home school under State law. This section shall not be

22 construed to bar private, religious, or home schools from

23 participation in programs or services under this title.’’.

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

25 (1) DEFINITION OF COVERED PROGRAM.—Sec26 tion 14101(10)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary
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1 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801(10)(C)) is

2 amended by striking ‘‘(other than section 2103 and

3 part D)’’.

4 (2) PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION.—Section

5 14503(b)(1)(B) (20 U.S.C. 8893(b)(1)(B)) of such

6 Act is amended by striking ‘‘(other than section

7 2103 and part D of such title)’’.

Æ