I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5079 

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

to establish a Federal ‘‘Grow Your Own Teacher’’ program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 20, 2010 

Mr. ISRAEL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Federal ‘‘Grow Your 

Own Teacher’’ program, 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. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM. 

4 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5079 IH

1 ‘‘PART E—GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM 

2 ‘‘SEC. 2501. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

4 carry out this part, the Secretary shall carry out a pro5 gram to make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

6 entities, to be used by such entities to train and employ 

7 eligible individuals in hard-to-staff schools or hard-to-staff 

8 teaching positions in accordance with subsection (c). 

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means a consortium consisting of— 

12 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency that is eli13 gible to receive funds under part A of title I; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education 

16 that offers a program, accredited by the State, 

17 for preparing individuals to fulfill all the re18 quirements for receiving a teaching certificate 

19 in the State of the local educational agency de20 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

22 individual’ means an individual— 

23 ‘‘(A) who— 

24 ‘‘(i) received a high school diploma 

25 from a local educational agency described 

26 in paragraph (1)(A); and 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5079 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) is enrolled in a program to re2 ceive a teaching certificate in the State of 

3 the local educational agency at an institu4 tion of higher education described in para5 graph (1)(B); and 

6 ‘‘(B) is— 

7 ‘‘(i) a high school graduate who grad8 uated not more than 5 years ago; 

9 ‘‘(ii) a parent of a current or former 

10 student of the local educational agency 

11 who has a history of working to improve 

12 the local educational agency; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) an education support profes14 sional in the local educational agency who 

15 works with students in an instructional 

16 role. 

17 ‘‘(3) VETERAN TEACHER.—The term ‘veteran 

18 teacher’ means a teacher who has taught in the local 

19 educational agency described in paragraph (1)(A) 

20 for a period of least 15 years. 

21 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

23 a grant under this section shall use such grant funds 

24 to— 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5079 IH

1 ‘‘(A) conduct a training program for eligi2 ble individuals to be teachers, which shall in3 clude requiring such individuals to observe and 

4 work with a veteran teacher in a classroom for 

5 at least one year; 

6 ‘‘(B) employ such individuals in hard-to7 staff schools and hard-to-staff teaching posi8 tions in the local educational agency of the eli9 gible entity, with priority given to teaching posi10 tions in mathematics, science, special education, 

11 world languages, and English as a second lan12 guage; and 

13 ‘‘(C) employ such individuals in a manner 

14 that reduces the divergence between the racial 

15 diversity of teachers and of students. 

16 ‘‘(2) OTHER AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eli17 gible entity receiving a grant under this section may 

18 use any grant funds that remain after carrying out 

19 paragraph (1) for the following activities: 

20 ‘‘(A) Helping an eligible individual trained 

21 under this section to cover the costs of childcare 

22 and other indirect expenses that are reasonably 

23 required by the individual to participate in the 

24 training program. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5079 IH

1 ‘‘(B) Recruiting and counseling eligible in2 dividuals, and individuals who are likely to be3 come eligible individuals in the near future 

4 (such as students soon to receive a high school 

5 diploma from a local educational agency de6 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(A)), to participate 

7 in the training program. 

8 ‘‘(C) Providing space in the community of 

9 the eligible entity to carry out the activities de10 scribed in subparagraph (B). 

11 ‘‘(D) Offering the training program under 

12 this section in community settings and to pro13 vide tutoring services to supplement the train14 ing. 

15 ‘‘(E) Carrying out any other activities con16 sistent with the purposes of this section, as de17 termined by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(d) STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 

20 available to carry out this part, the Secretary is au21 thorized to forgive the student loans incurred by an 

22 eligible individual who has completed the training 

23 program under this section and has been employed 

24 as a teacher in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-staff 

25 teaching position, in an amount not to exceed the 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5079 IH

1 total amount of students loans incurred by the indi2 vidual for participating in the program. 

3 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—The 

4 Secretary may forgive— 

5 ‘‘(A) in the case of an eligible individual 

6 who has been employed in a hard-to-staff school 

7 or hard-to-staff teaching position for at least 5 

8 years, the total amount of the student loans in9 curred by the student for participating in the 

10 training program under this section; or 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of an eligible individual 

12 who has been employed in a hard-to-staff school 

13 or hard-to-staff teaching position for less than 

14 5 years, an amount that is less than the total 

15 amount of the student loans incurred by the 

16 student for participating in the training pro17 gram under this section. 

18 ‘‘(3) STUDENT LOANS.—The term ‘student 

19 loans’ means any loans awarded to an eligible indi20 vidual under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

22 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

23 promulgate any regulations necessary to carry out this 

24 section. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5079 IH

1 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to alter or otherwise affect the 

3 rights, remedies, and procedures afforded school or local 

4 educational agency employees under Federal, State, or 

5 local laws (including applicable regulations or court or6 ders) or under the terms of collective bargaining agree7 ments, memoranda of understanding, or other agreements 

8 between such employees and their employers. 

9 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 such sums as may be necessary.’’. 

Æ 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with BILLS