I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5399 

To establish a National Remote Teacher Corps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2010 

Mr. SABLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a National Remote Teacher Corps, 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. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL REMOTE 

4 TEACHER CORPS. 

5 The Secretary of Education may establish the Na6 tional Remote Teacher Corps (in this Act referred to as 

7 the ‘‘Corps’’) to fill teacher vacancies, reduce class sizes, 

8 and improve educational quality in qualified remote areas. 

9 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION AS A CORPS SITE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be designated as a 

11 Corps site, a local educational agency or charter school 


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1 located in a qualified remote area shall submit an applica2 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

3 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

4 (b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under 

5 subsection (a) shall demonstrate that the agency or char6 ter school is— 

7 (1) experiencing a shortage of teachers; 

8 (2) willing to work with the Secretary to— 

9 (A) promote teacher accountability and 

10 high standards for teachers; and 

11 (B) provide cooperation, support, and use 

12 of facilities for the programs described in sec13 tion 10; 

14 (3) willing to provide mentorship and profes15 sional development programs to teachers; 

16 (4) willing to provide compensation in accord17 ance with section 8(a) for each Corps participant 

18 placed with the agency or school under the Corps; 

19 and 

20 (5) willing to— 

21 (A) work with the Secretary under section 

22 9 to develop and implement an alternative cer23 tification route for individuals selected to be 

24 Corps participants; or 


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1 (B) allow such individuals to participate in 

2 an existing alternative certification program 

3 that is in compliance with any requirements 

4 prescribed by the Secretary. 

5 SEC. 3. RECRUITMENT. 

6 The Secretary may— 

7 (1) conduct recruiting programs for the Corps 

8 at institutions of higher education, including institu9 tions that offer majors in the fields of education, 

10 science, technology, engineering, or mathematics; 

11 and 

12 (2) recruit current highly qualified elementary 

13 school or secondary school teachers. 

14 SEC. 4. APPLICATION; SELECTION CRITERIA; PRIORITY. 

15 (a) APPLICATION.—Selection of individuals to par16 ticipate in the Corps shall be made on the basis of applica17 tions submitted to the Secretary at such time, in such 

18 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

19 may require. 

20 (b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—An individual selected to 

21 participate in the Corps shall— 

22 (1) have at least a bachelor’s degree from an 

23 institution of higher education; and 

24 (2) comply with such other criteria as the Sec25 retary may prescribe. 


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1 (c) PRIORITY.—In selecting individuals to participate 

2 in the Corps, the Secretary shall give priority to individ3 uals— 

4 (1) with at least a master’s degree in education 

5 (such as special education or teaching English as a 

6 second language), science, technology, engineering, 

7 or mathematics and who agree to seek employment 

8 as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, 

9 special education, or English as a second language 

10 teachers in elementary schools or secondary schools; 

11 or 

12 (2) who are highly qualified teachers with— 

13 (A) 10 or more years of experience teach14 ing students in elementary school or secondary 

15 school; or 

16 (B) equivalent qualifications and experi17 ence, as determined by the Secretary. 

18 SEC. 5. COMPENSATION FOR APPLICANTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may reimburse an 

20 individual applying to participate in the Corps for the ac21 tual and reasonable expenses incurred— 

22 (1) in traveling to and from the individual’s 

23 place of residence to a Corps site at which the indi24 vidual may be placed under section 6 for the purpose 


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1 of evaluating such site with regard to being assigned 

2 at such site; and 

3 (2) for the travel of 1 family member to accom4 pany the individual to such site. 

5 (b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary may estab6 lish a maximum total amount that may be paid to an indi7 vidual as reimbursement for such expenses. 

8 SEC. 6. PLACEMENT OF CORPS PARTICIPANTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall place each in10 dividual selected to be a Corps participant with a local 

11 educational agency or charter school that is designated as 

12 a Corps site. 

13 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In placing a Corps partici14 pant at a Corps site, the Secretary shall take into ac15 count— 

16 (1) the preference of the Corps participant; 

17 (2) the preferences of local educational agencies 

18 and charter schools that are Corps sites; and 

19 (3) the relative need among Corps sites with re20 spect to teacher shortages, including— 

21 (A) the total number of open teaching po22 sitions; 

23 (B) the number of teachers needed for 

24 class size reductions; and 


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1 (C) the shortage of teachers with a par2 ticular subject-matter expertise. 

3 SEC. 7. PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT. 

4 (a) PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual selected to 

6 participate in the Corps shall be required to enter 

7 into an agreement with the Secretary under which 

8 the individual agrees— 

9 (A) within such time as the Secretary may 

10 require, to obtain certification or licensing as an 

11 elementary school teacher or secondary school 

12 teacher under section 9 or through another pro13 cedure approved by the Secretary; and 

14 (B) to accept an offer of full-time employ15 ment as an elementary school teacher or sec16 ondary school teacher for not less than 3 school 

17 years with a local educational agency or charter 

18 school that is a Corps site. 

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

20 year commitment described in paragraph (1)(B), or 

21 any other requirement under a participation agree22 ment described in paragraph (1), for a participant 

23 if the Secretary determines such waiver to be appro24 priate. If the Secretary provides the waiver to a par25 ticipant, the participant— 


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1 (A) shall not be considered to be in viola2 tion of the agreement; and 

3 (B) shall not be required to provide reim4 bursement for any funds received as a Corps 

5 participant. 

6 (b) AGREEMENT RENEWAL.—Upon completion of the 

7 3-year commitment described in subsection (a)(1)(B), a 

8 Corp participant’s participation agreement may be re9 newed in 1-year increments. 

10 SEC. 8. COMPENSATION FOR CORPS PARTICIPANTS. 

11 (a) SALARY.—A Corps participant shall be considered 

12 an employee of the local educational agency or charter 

13 school in which the participant is employed under the 

14 Corps and shall be compensated at the same rates, includ15 ing periodic increases, as employees who are similarly situ16 ated in similar teaching positions and who have similar 

17 training, experience, and skills, and such rates shall be 

18 in accordance with applicable law. 

19 (b) FEDERAL BENEFITS.— 

20 (1) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any Fed21 eral funds a Corps participant receives from the Sec22 retary under this section or section 5 shall supple23 ment, not supplant, the compensation the partici24 pant receives under subsection (a) of this section. 


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1 (2) TRAVEL STIPENDS.—The Secretary may re2 imburse each Corps participant for all or part of the 

3 actual and reasonable expenses incurred by the par4 ticipant and 1 family member when traveling, not 

5 more than once per year of participation, from the 

6 Corps site to any location in the continental United 

7 States and from such location back to the Corps 

8 site. 

9 (3) CASH BONUS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

11 award annual or one-time cash bonuses to 

12 Corps participants, in amounts determined by 

13 the Secretary. 

14 (B) PRIORITY.—In awarding cash bonuses 

15 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

16 give priority to Corps participants— 

17 (i) with at least a master’s degree in 

18 education (such as special education or 

19 teaching English as a second language), 

20 science, technology, engineering, or mathe21 matics and who are participating in the 

22 Corps as science, technology, engineering, 

23 mathematics, special education, or English 

24 as a second language teachers in elemen25 tary schools or secondary schools; or 


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1 (ii) who are highly qualified teachers 

2 with— 

3 (I) 10 or more years of experi4 ence teaching students in elementary 

5 school or secondary school; or 

6 (II) equivalent qualifications and 

7 experience, as determined by the Sec8 retary. 

9 (C) TREATMENT OF CASH BONUS.—A cash 

10 bonus paid under subparagraph (A) to a Corps 

11 participant shall not be taken into account in 

12 determining the eligibility of the participant for 

13 Federal student financial assistance provided 

14 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

15 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070). 

16 SEC. 9. ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION ROUTE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (d), the Sec18 retary and each Corps site shall, jointly, develop and im19 plement a high-quality alternative certification route for 

20 individuals selected to participate in the Corps who are 

21 not certified teachers. 

22 (b) PRIORITY.—In selecting individuals described in 

23 subsection (a) to participate in the alternative certification 

24 route, the Secretary shall give priority to individuals— 

25 (1) who do not have a degree in education; and 


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1 (2) who have expertise in a field in which there 

2 is a shortage of teachers, such as mathematics, 

3 science, special education, English language acquisi4 tion, or another high-need subject. 

5 (c) ACCESS.—All classes and materials available 

6 under the alternative certification route shall be accessible 

7 to all Corps participants. 

8 (d) EXCEPTION.—A Corps site that has an existing 

9 alternative certification program that complies with any 

10 requirements prescribed by the Secretary, may, in lieu of 

11 developing and implementing an alternative certification 

12 route under subsection (a), allow individuals described in 

13 subsection (a) participate in such program. 

14 SEC. 10. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND DISTANCE 

15 LEARNING. 

16 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM.—From the 

17 amounts appropriated to carry out this subsection under 

18 section 12, the Secretary, in consultation with at least 1 

19 institution of higher education that is a research univer20 sity, as determined by the Secretary, shall develop a pro21 fessional development and distance-learning certificate or 

22 degree program that offers academic credit through— 

23 (1) online classes; 

24 (2) classes through video- or tele-conference 

25 technology; 


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1 (3) independent study; 

2 (4) in-person instruction at Corps sites; and 

3 (5) other distance learning methodologies as the 

4 Secretary designates, 

5 to assist individuals located in qualified remote areas in 

6 becoming highly qualified teachers. 

7 (b) GRANTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro9 priated to carry out this subsection under section 

10 12, the Secretary shall award grants to institutions 

11 of higher education that offer the program developed 

12 under subsection (a) to students enrolled at the in13 stitution. 

14 (2) USES OF FUNDS.—An institution of higher 

15 education that receives a grant under this subsection 

16 shall use such grant funds to cover— 

17 (A) the cost of administering the program 

18 developed under subsection (a); and 

19 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

20 the total cost of program tuition for teachers at 

21 Corps sites enrolled in the program at the insti22 tution. 

23 (3) APPLICATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant 

25 under this subsection, an institution of higher 


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1 education shall submit to the Secretary an ap2 plication at such time, in such manner, and 

3 containing such information as the Secretary 

4 may require. 

5 (B) ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS.—An ap6 plication submitted under subparagraph (A) 

7 shall include an assurance by the institution 

8 that the institution will include the program in 

9 its articulation agreements between or among 

10 other institutions of higher education. 

11 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro14 vided, any term that is defined in section 9101 of 

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall have the meaning given 

17 such term in such section. 

18 (2) ARTICULATION AGREEMENT.—The term 

19 ‘‘articulation agreement’’ has the meaning given 

20 such term in section 486A of the Higher Education 

21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1093a). 

22 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

24 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High25 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 


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1 (4) QUALIFIED REMOTE AREA.—The term 

2 ‘‘qualified remote area’’ means an area— 

3 (A) from which an institution of higher 

4 education is located more than 3 hours away 

5 when using public or private transportation (in6 cluding rail or bus); 

7 (B) to which the only method of access to 

8 the site at least 6 months of the year is by boat 

9 or airplane; or 

10 (C) that is located in a United States Ter11 ritory. 

12 (5) UNITED STATES TERRITORY.—The term 

13 ‘‘United States Territory’’ means the United States 

14 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Com15 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 

16 Puerto Rico. 

17 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

19 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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