II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 235 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to establish teacher 

leader development programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself, Ms. ERNST, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. JONES, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. INHOFE, 

and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants 

to establish teacher leader development programs. 

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 ‘‘Teachers Are Leaders 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

7 Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) in section 200— 


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1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (21), 

2 (22), and (23), as paragraphs (22), (23), and 

3 (24), respectively; and 

4 (B) by inserting after paragraph (20) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(21) TEACHER LEADER.—The term ‘teacher 

7 leader’ means a teacher who carries out formalized 

8 leadership responsibilities based on demonstrated 

9 school needs, while maintaining a role as a class10 room instructor.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 202— 

12 (A) in subsection (b)(6)(C), by striking 

13 ‘‘subsection (f) or (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub14 section (g) or (h)’’; 

15 (B) in subsection (c)— 

16 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘a 

17 teacher leader development program under 

18 subsection (f),’’ after ‘‘subsection (e),’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 

21 ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

22 (g)’’; 

23 (C) by redesignating subsections (f), (g), 

24 (h), (i), (j), and (k), as subsections (g), (h), (i), 

25 (j), (k), and (l), respectively; and 


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1 (D) by inserting after subsection (e) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(f) TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A teacher leader develop5 ment program carried out with a grant awarded 

6 under this section shall involve the professional de7 velopment of teachers, as described in paragraph 

8 (2), who maintain their roles as classroom teachers 

9 but who also carry out formalized leadership respon10 sibilities to increase the academic achievement of 

11 students and promote data-driven instructional prac12 tices that address the demonstrated needs at their 

13 schools, such as— 

14 ‘‘(A) development of curriculum and cur15 ricular resources; 

16 ‘‘(B) facilitating the work of committees 

17 and teams; 

18 ‘‘(C) family and community engagement; 

19 ‘‘(D) school discipline and culture; 

20 ‘‘(E) peer observations and coaching; or 

21 ‘‘(F) dual enrollment instruction. 

22 ‘‘(2) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The pro23 fessional development of teachers in a teacher leader 

24 development program carried out with a grant 

25 awarded under this section shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) one year of professional development, 

2 training, and support that may— 

3 ‘‘(i) include— 

4 ‘‘(I) the engagement of teachers 

5 in rigorous coursework and fieldwork 

6 relevant to their role as a teacher 

7 leader, including available teacher 

8 leader standards; and 

9 ‘‘(II) regular observations and 

10 professional support from— 

11 ‘‘(aa) a principal, vice prin12 cipal, or a designated instruc13 tional leader of the school; 

14 ‘‘(bb) a representative from 

15 the institution of higher edu16 cation that is a partner in the eli17 gible entity; 

18 ‘‘(cc) a representative from 

19 another entity that is a partner 

20 in the eligible entity; and 

21 ‘‘(dd) another member of 

22 the teacher leader cohort, if ap23 plicable, or a peer teacher; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) result in the awarding of a cre25 dential in teacher leadership; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) one or 2 additional years of support 

2 from a principal, vice principal, or a designated 

3 instructional leader of the school, a representa4 tive from the institution of higher education 

5 that is a partner in the eligible entity, and a 

6 representative from another entity that is a 

7 partner in the eligible entity. 

8 ‘‘(3) TEACHER LEADER DEVELOPMENT PRO9 GRAM PLAN.—In carrying out a teacher leader devel10 opment program under this section, an eligible entity 

11 shall develop a plan that shall describe— 

12 ‘‘(A) how the work hours of teacher leaders 

13 will be allocated between their classroom re14 sponsibilities and responsibilities as a teacher 

15 leader, which may include a description of 

16 whether the teacher leader will be relieved from 

17 teaching duties during the teacher leader’s par18 ticipation in the teacher leader development 

19 program; 

20 ‘‘(B) how the partnership will support 

21 teacher leaders after the first year of profes22 sional development in the program; and 

23 ‘‘(C) how teacher leader activities could be 

24 sustained by the eligible partnership after the 

25 program concludes, which may include a deVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Feb 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S235.IS S235

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1 scription of opportunities for the teacher lead2 ers to assist in the educator preparation pro3 gram at the institution of higher education in 

4 the partnership. 

5 ‘‘(4) SELECTION OF TEACHER LEADERS; USE

6 OF FUNDS.—In carrying out a teacher leader devel7 opment program under this section, an eligible enti8 ty— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall select a teacher for participation 

10 in the program— 

11 ‘‘(i) who— 

12 ‘‘(I) is fully certified to teach in 

13 the State in which the high-need local 

14 educational agency that is a partner 

15 in the eligible entity is located; 

16 ‘‘(II) is employed by a high-need 

17 local educational agency that is a 

18 partner in the eligible entity; 

19 ‘‘(III) has not less than 3 years 

20 of teaching experience; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) submits an application for 

22 participation to the eligible entity; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) based on selection criteria that 

24 includes— 


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1 ‘‘(I) demonstration of strong con2 tent knowledge or a record of accom3 plishment in the field or subject area 

4 the teacher will support as a teacher 

5 leader; and 

6 ‘‘(II) demonstration of attributes 

7 linked to effective teaching that is de8 termined through interviews, observa9 tions, artifacts, student achievement, 

10 or performance assessments, such as 

11 those leading to an advanced creden12 tial; 

13 ‘‘(B) may develop admissions goals and 

14 priorities for the teacher leader development 

15 program that— 

16 ‘‘(i) are aligned with the demonstrated 

17 needs of the school or high-need local edu18 cational agency in which the teacher is em19 ployed; 

20 ‘‘(ii) consider cultural competencies 

21 that would make the applicant effective in 

22 the applicant’s teacher leader role; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) consider whether the teacher has 

24 substantial teaching experience in the 

25 school in which the teacher is employed or 


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1 in a school that is similar to the school in 

2 which the teacher is employed; 

3 ‘‘(C) shall use the grant funds to pay for 

4 costs of training and supporting teacher leaders 

5 for not less than 2 years and not more than 3 

6 years; 

7 ‘‘(D) may use the grant funds to pay for 

8 a portion of a stipend for teacher leaders if 

9 such grant funds are matched by additional 

10 non-Federal public or private funds as follows: 

11 ‘‘(i) during each of the first and sec12 ond years of the grant period, grant funds 

13 may pay not more than 50 percent of such 

14 stipend; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) during the third year of the 

16 grant period, grant funds may pay not 

17 more than 33 percent of such stipend; and 

18 ‘‘(E) may require teacher leaders to pay 

19 back the cost of attaining a credential if they 

20 do not complete their term of service in the 

21 teacher leader development program.’’. 

Æ 


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