I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5093 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a program for displaced 

aerospace professionals to become certified elementary, secondary, or 

vocational school teachers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2010 

Ms. KOSMAS (for herself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. KLEIN of 

Florida, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. 

WILSON of Ohio, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Ms. JACKSON LEE of 

Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and Ms. GIFFORDS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a program for displaced aerospace professionals to become 

certified elementary, secondary, or vocational school 

teachers. 

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 ‘‘Space to Schools Act 

5 of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM. 

2 (a) PURPOSE.—The Secretary of Education may 

3 carry out a program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro4 gram’’) to— 

5 (1) encourage highly skilled retiring or dis6 placed aerospace professionals with backgrounds in 

7 science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to 

8 pursue careers as elementary, secondary, or voca9 tional school teachers; and 

10 (2) promote science, technology, engineering, 

11 and mathematics (STEM) education in kindergarten 

12 through grade 12 by encouraging aerospace profes13 sionals to pursue careers in teaching. 

14 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

15 (1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—An individual 

16 who is eligible to participate in the Program is an 

17 individual— 

18 (A) who is a former employee of the Na19 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

20 its suppliers, or a related contractor; and 

21 (B) who has relevant work experience in 

22 the aerospace industry. 

23 (2) SCHOOL ELIGIBILITY.—An eligible local 

24 education agency, charter school, or vocational 

25 school may receive Program participants. 

26 (c) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) FORM AND SUBMISSION.—Selection of eligi2 ble individuals to participate in the Program shall be 

3 made on the basis of applications submitted to the 

4 Secretary of Education within the time periods spec5 ified in paragraph (2). An application shall be in 

6 such form and contain such information as the Sec7 retary may require. 

8 (2) TIME FOR SUBMISSION.—An application 

9 shall be considered to be submitted on a timely basis 

10 if it submitted not later than 4 years after the date 

11 on which the individual is retired, separated, or re12 leased from employment in the aerospace industry. 

13 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to paragraphs 

15 (2) and (3), the Secretary shall prescribe the criteria 

16 to be used to select eligible individuals to participate 

17 in the Program. 

18 (2) EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND.— 

19 (A) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL

20 TEACHER.—If an applicant is applying for as21 sistance for placement as an elementary or sec22 ondary school teacher, the Secretary shall re23 quire the applicant to have received a bacca24 laureate or advanced degree from an accredited 


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1 institution of higher education in a science, 

2 technology, engineering, or mathematics field. 

3 (B) VOCATIONAL OR TECHNICAL TEACH4 ER.—If an applicant for assistance for place5 ment as vocational or technical teacher, the 

6 Secretary shall require the applicant to have— 

7 (i) received an associate degree, post8 secondary training, or related certification 

9 obtained through service in the Armed 

10 Forces; 

11 (ii) have 6 or more years of work ex12 perience in a vocational or technical field; 

13 or 

14 (iii) otherwise meet the certification or 

15 licensing requirements for a vocational or 

16 technical teacher in the State in which the 

17 applicant seeks assistance for placement 

18 under the Program. 

19 (3) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—An appli20 cant who was terminated from previous employment 

21 for cause shall be ineligible to participate in the Pro22 gram. 

23 (e) PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible individual se25 lected to participate in the Program and receive fiVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:53 Apr 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5093.IH H5093

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1 nancial assistance under this section shall be re2 quired to enter into an agreement with the Secretary 

3 in which the participant agrees— 

4 (A) within such time as the Secretary may 

5 require, to obtain certification or licensing as an 

6 elementary, secondary, vocational, or technical 

7 school teacher, and to become a highly qualified 

8 teacher; and 

9 (B) to accept an offer of full-time employ10 ment as an elementary, secondary, vocational, 

11 or technical school teacher for not less than 3 

12 school years and commit to teaching in the sub13 jects of science, technology, engineering, or 

14 mathematics with an eligible local educational 

15 agency, charter school, or vocational school to 

16 begin the school year after obtaining such cer17 tification or licensing. 

18 (2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 3- 

19 year commitment described in paragraph (1)(B) for 

20 a participant if the Secretary determined such waiv21 er to be appropriate. 

22 (3) STIPENDS FOR PARTICIPANTS.— 

23 (A) STIPEND AUTHORIZED.—The Sec24 retary may pay to a participant in the Program 

25 a stipend in an amount of not more than 


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1 $5,000 to be used towards obtaining licensing 

2 or certification for elementary or secondary 

3 teaching or vocational teaching programs. 

4 (B) STIPEND BONUS.—The Secretary, in 

5 lieu of paying a stipend under subparagraph 

6 (A), may pay a bonus of $10,000 to a partici7 pant in the Program who agrees in the partici8 pation agreement to become a highly qualified 

9 teacher and accept full-time employment as an 

10 elementary, secondary, vocational, or technical 

11 teacher for not less than 3 years in a high-need 

12 school and teach in the subject area of science, 

13 technology, engineering, or mathematics. 

14 (f) REIMBURSEMENT UNDER CERTAIN CIR15 CUMSTANCES.— 

16 (1) REIMBURSEMENT REQUIRED.—A partici17 pant in the Program who is paid a stipend or bonus 

18 under this section shall be required to repay the sti19 pend or bonus under the following circumstances: 

20 (A) FAILURE TO OBTAIN QUALIFICATIONS

21 OR EMPLOYMENT.—The participant fails to ob22 tain teacher certification or licensing, to become 

23 a highly qualified teacher, or to obtain employ24 ment as an elementary school teacher, sec25 ondary school teacher, or vocational or technical 


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1 teacher as required by the participation agree2 ment under subsection (e). 

3 (B) TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.—The 

4 participant voluntarily leaves, or is terminated 

5 for cause from, employment as an elementary 

6 school teacher, secondary school teacher, or vo7 cational or technical teacher during the 3 years 

8 of required service in violation of the participa9 tion agreement. 

10 (2) AMOUNT OF REIMBURSEMENT.—A partici11 pant required to reimburse the Secretary for a sti12 pend or bonus paid to the participant under this sec13 tion shall pay an amount that bears the same ratio 

14 to the amount of the stipend or bonus as the 

15 unserved portion of required service bears to the 3 

16 years of required service. Any amount owed by the 

17 participant shall bear interest at the rate equal to 

18 the highest rate being paid by the United States on 

19 the day on which the reimbursement is determined 

20 to be due for securities having maturities of 90 days 

21 or less and shall accrue from the day on which the 

22 participant is first notified of the amount due. 

23 (3) TREATMENT OF OBLIGATION.—The obliga24 tion to reimburse the Secretary under this sub25 section is, for all purposes, a debt owing the United 


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1 States. A discharge in bankruptcy under title 11, 

2 United States Code, shall not release a participant 

3 from the obligation to reimburse the Secretary under 

4 this subsection. 

5 (g) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

6 (1) No later than 120 days after enactment of 

7 this Act, the Secretary shall establish an Advisory 

8 Board whose duties include— 

9 (A) collecting, considering, and dissemi10 nating feedback from participants, State edu11 cational agencies, local educational agencies, 

12 charter schools, and vocational schools on best 

13 practices for recruitment of eligible individuals 

14 to participate in the Program; 

15 (B) ensuring elementary schools, secondary 

16 schools, and vocational schools are aware of the 

17 Program and how to participate in it; 

18 (C) developing guidelines to help individ19 uals selected to participate in the Program 

20 identify and enroll in licensing or certification 

21 training for elementary or secondary education 

22 teaching or vocational teaching programs; and 

23 (D) coordinating the goals of the Program 

24 with other Federal, State, and local education 

25 needs. 


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1 (2) No later than 1 year after the date of en2 actment of this Act, and annually thereafter, pre3 pare and submit a report to the Committee on Edu4 cation and Labor of the House of Representatives 

5 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

6 and Pensions of the Senate, which shall include— 

7 (A) information with respect to the activi8 ties of the Advisory Board; 

9 (B) information with respect to the Pro10 gram, including— 

11 (i) the number of participants in the 

12 Program; 

13 (ii) the number of States participating 

14 in the Program; 

15 (iii) the local educational agencies and 

16 schools where participants are employed; 

17 (iv) the grade levels at which the par18 ticipants teach; 

19 (v) the academic subjects taught by 

20 participants; 

21 (vi) the hours of clinical and class22 room time participants completed during 

23 the certification or licensing required for 

24 participation in the Program; 


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1 (vii) a review of the stipend and bonus 

2 available to participants; and 

3 (viii) other demographic information 

4 as may be necessary to evaluate the effec5 tiveness of the Program; and 

6 (C) recommendations for improvements 

7 and other necessary changes to ensure that the 

8 Program is meeting the purpose as described in 

9 subsection (a). 

10 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

12 school’’, ‘‘highly qualified’’; ‘‘local educational agen13 cy’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘State educational agen14 cy’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meaning given the terms 

15 in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

17 (2) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘charter 

18 school’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

19 5210 of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 7221i). 

21 (3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

22 The term ‘‘eligible local educational agency’’ means 

23 a local educational agency receiving funding under 

24 part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.). 


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1 (4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 

2 school’’ means an elementary school, secondary 

3 school, or vocational school under the jurisdiction of 

4 an eligible local educational agency, or a charter 

5 school, or vocational school, where at least 50 per6 cent of the students enrolled in the school are— 

7 (A) in poverty counted in the most recent 

8 census data approved by the Secretary; 

9 (B) eligible for free and reduced priced 

10 lunches under the Richard B. Russell National 

11 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

12 (C) in families receiving assistance under 

13 the State program funded under part A of title 

14 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et 

15 seq.); or 

16 (D) eligible to receive medical assistance 

17 under the State Medicaid program under title 

18 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

19 et seq.). 

20 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

22 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High23 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

24 (6) VOCATIONAL SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘voca25 tional school’’ means— 


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1 (A) a specialized public secondary school 

2 used exclusively or principally for the provision 

3 of vocational and technical education to individ4 uals who are available for study in preparation 

5 for entering the labor market; or 

6 (B) the department or division of an insti7 tution of higher education that provides voca8 tional and technical education in not fewer than 

9 five different occupational fields leading to im10 mediate employment but not necessarily leading 

11 to a baccalaureate degree. 

12 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Education. 

14 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

16 appropriated $20,000,000 to carry out this Act for 

17 fiscal year 2011 and each of fiscal years 2012 

18 through 2014. 

19 (2) NO FISCAL YEAR LIMITATION ON FUND20 ING.—Funds appropriated under paragraph (1) shall 

21 remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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