I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5096 

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

the Secretary of Education to make grants for recruiting, training, and 

retaining individuals from underrepresented groups as teachers at public 

elementary and secondary schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2010 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, and Mr. 

HONDA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make 

grants for recruiting, training, and retaining individuals 

from underrepresented groups as teachers at public elementary and secondary schools, 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 ‘‘Diverse Teachers Re5 cruitment Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5096 IH

1 (1) Department of Education statistics reveal a 

2 lack of diversity among public schoolteachers. Dur3 ing the school year of 2007 through 2008, an esti4 mated 83.1 percent of public schoolteachers were 

5 Caucasian, while 7.1 percent were Latino, 7 percent 

6 were African-American, and 1.2 percent were Asian. 

7 Of all public schoolteachers, 24.1 percent were male 

8 and 75.9 percent were female. 

9 (2) Some experts believe the lack of diversity 

10 can leave students in underrepresented groups with11 out role models to whom they can relate, which may 

12 lead to poorer performance in the classroom. Statis13 tics show that students in some underrepresented 

14 groups have lower standardized test scores and lower 

15 graduation rates. 

16 (3) Teacher demographics should better reflect 

17 those of the population as a whole, ensuring that 

18 students have role models from diverse backgrounds 

19 and racial and ethnic groups and of different gen20 ders. 

21 SEC. 3. RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETENTION OF 

22 TEACHERS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED 

23 GROUPS. 

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

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


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5096 IH

1 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 part: 

3 ‘‘PART E—RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETEN4 TION OF TEACHERS FROM UNDERREP5 RESENTED GROUPS 

6 ‘‘SEC. 2501. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts appropriated 

8 under section 2505, the Secretary shall make grants on 

9 a competitive basis to eligible entities for recruiting, train10 ing, and retaining individuals from underrepresented 

11 groups as teachers at public elementary schools and sec12 ondary schools. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary may only make a 

14 grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity that— 

15 ‘‘(1) serves schools that have difficulty recruit16 ing, training, and retaining individuals from under17 represented groups as teachers; and 

18 ‘‘(2) submits an application at such time, in 

19 such form, and containing such information and as20 surances as the Secretary may require, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) a description of how the activities the 

22 eligible entity carries out with grant funds will 

23 ensure the recruitment, training, and retention 

24 of a significant number of individuals from 

25 underrepresented groups; and 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(B) a description of the difficulty recruit2 ing, training, and retaining individuals from 

3 underrepresented groups experienced by the 

4 schools served by the eligible entity. 

5 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In making grants under subsection 

6 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to— 

7 ‘‘(1) local educational agencies (or consortia of 

8 local educational agencies) that serve the most high9 need schools; and 

10 ‘‘(2) local educational agencies (or consortia of 

11 local educational agencies) that serve schools with 

12 the highest percentages of minority individuals in 

13 their student populations. 

14 ‘‘(d) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

16 make a grant to an eligible entity under subsection 

17 (a) unless the eligible entity agrees that, with re18 spect to the costs to be incurred by the eligible enti19 ty in carrying out the activities for which the grant 

20 is awarded, the eligible entity will make available 

21 non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to not 

22 less than 10 percent of the Federal funds provided 

23 under the grant. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(2) SATISFYING MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 The non-Federal contributions required under para3 graph (1) may be— 

4 ‘‘(A) in cash or in-kind, including services, 

5 fairly evaluated; and 

6 ‘‘(B) from— 

7 ‘‘(i) any private source; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) a State educational agency or 

9 local educational agency. 

10 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive or re11 duce the non-Federal contribution required by para12 graph (1) if the eligible entity involved demonstrates 

13 that it cannot meet the contribution requirement due 

14 to financial hardship. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2502. REPORTS TO SECRETARY. 

16 ‘‘An eligible entity receiving a grant under section 

17 2501(a) shall submit to the Secretary not later than 90 

18 days after the end of each school year in which the entity 

19 receives grant funds a report that contains— 

20 ‘‘(1) a description of the activities for which the 

21 entity used grant funds during such school year; 

22 ‘‘(2) data concerning, with respect to the 

23 schools served by the entity— 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals from 

2 underrepresented groups that began teaching 

3 during such school year; 

4 ‘‘(B) the retention rate of teachers who are 

5 individuals from underrepresented groups; 

6 ‘‘(C) in the case of the report covering the 

7 last school year in which the entity receives 

8 grant funds, indicators of student academic 

9 achievement during such school year as com10 pared with previous school years, disaggregated, 

11 if possible, by the achievement of— 

12 ‘‘(i) economically disadvantaged stu13 dents; 

14 ‘‘(ii) students from major racial 

15 groups; 

16 ‘‘(iii) students with disabilities; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) students with limited English 

18 proficiency; 

19 ‘‘(D) student graduation rates for the 

20 school year covered by the report as compared 

21 with previous school years, if applicable in the 

22 case of the schools served by the entity; and 

23 ‘‘(E) student attendance rates for the 

24 school year covered by the report as compared 

25 with previous school years; and 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(3) a description of and data regarding such 

2 characteristics of the schools served by the entity, 

3 and the students of such schools, as the Secretary 

4 considers appropriate, including the number and 

5 percentage of students in each of the groups listed 

6 in clauses (i) through (iv) of paragraph (2)(C). 

7 ‘‘SEC. 2503. BEST PRACTICES INFORMATION CLEARING8 HOUSE. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evaluate the 

10 success of the activities carried out by eligible entities 

11 using grant funds received under section 2501(a) and 

12 compile a database of best practices for recruiting, train13 ing, and retaining individuals from underrepresented 

14 groups as public elementary and secondary school teach15 ers. The Secretary shall make such database available to 

16 eligible entities (regardless of whether such entities have 

17 received grants under such section) through an Internet 

18 Web site. 

19 ‘‘(b) FUNDS AVAILABLE.—Of the amounts appro20 priated to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Sec21 retary may use not more than 10 percent to carry out 

22 this section during such fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 2504. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this part, the following definitions apply: 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en2 tity’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency (or consor4 tium of local educational agencies); or 

5 ‘‘(B) an entity that— 

6 ‘‘(i) has entered into a partnership 

7 with a local educational agency (or consor8 tium of local educational agencies) in 

9 which the local educational agency (or con10 sortium of local educational agencies) is 

11 the primary partner; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) is a private nonprofit organiza13 tion, educational service agency, institution 

14 of higher education, or State educational 

15 agency. 

16 ‘‘(2) HIGH-NEED HIGH SCHOOL.—The term 

17 ‘high-need high school’ means a secondary school— 

18 ‘‘(A) in which the entering grade of the 

19 school is not lower than grade 9 and that in20 cludes grade 12; and 

21 ‘‘(B) that has a graduation rate of not 

22 more than 65 percent in each of the 2 academic 

23 years prior to the submission of the grant appli24 cation. 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5096 IH

1 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED MIDDLE SCHOOL.—The term 

2 ‘high-need middle school’ means a secondary 

3 school— 

4 ‘‘(A) in which the entering grade is not 

5 lower than grade 6 and the highest grade is not 

6 higher than grade 9; and 

7 ‘‘(B) from which not less than 35 percent 

8 of the students who complete such school enroll 

9 in a high-need high school. 

10 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘high11 need school’ means a public school, including a char12 ter school (as such term is defined in section 

13 5210(1))— 

14 ‘‘(A) in which not less than 40 percent of 

15 the enrolled students are eligible to receive free 

16 or reduced price lunches under section 9(b) of 

17 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)); or 

19 ‘‘(B) that is a high-need high school or a 

20 high-need middle school. 

21 ‘‘(5) INDIVIDUAL FROM AN UNDERREP22 RESENTED GROUP.—The term ‘individual from an 

23 underrepresented group’ means an individual who is 

24 a member of a racial group or gender that has his25 torically been underrepresented among teachers in 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5096 IH

1 public primary and secondary schools in the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(6) MINORITY INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘minor4 ity individual’ means an individual who is a member 

5 of a racial group that has historically been underrep6 resented among teachers in public primary and sec7 ondary schools in the United States. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 2505. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

10 this part such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2010 

11 through 2015.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

13 in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

14 Act of 1965 is amended by adding after the item related 

15 to section 2441 the following: 

PART E—RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, AND RETENTION OF TEACHERS FROM

UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS

Sec. 2501. Grant program. 

Sec. 2502. Reports to Secretary. 

Sec. 2503. Best practices information clearinghouse. 

Sec. 2504. Definitions. 

Sec. 2505. Authorization of appropriations. 

Æ 


jbell on DSKDVH8Z91PROD with BILLS