II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2067

To provide education and training for the information age.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 10, 2000

Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. ABRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,

Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide education and training for the information age.

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 section may be cited as the ‘‘American’s Math

5 and Science Excellence Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means

9 the Director of the National Science Foundation.

10 (2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

11 SCHOOL.—The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘sec-
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1 ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms

2 in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary

3 Education Act of 1965.

4 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

5 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the same

6 meaning given it in section 1201(a) of the Higher

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1201(a)).

8 (4) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘charter

9 school’’ has the same meaning given it in section

10 10310(g) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20

11 U.S.C. 8060(g)).

12 (5) INTERNSHIP.—The term ‘‘internship’’

13 means a program of personal service by an indi14 vidual, other than an employee, for a specified pe15 riod of time under which the service is primarily for

16 the educational experience of the individual.

17 SEC. 3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TEACHER TRAINING

18 GRANTS.

19 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Director, in con20 sultation with the Secretary of Education, is authorized

21 to award grants, on a competitive basis, to support profes22 sional development in the use of information technology

23 as it pertains to enhanced student learning for teachers

24 who teach in elementary schools, secondary schools, or

25 charter schools.
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1 (b) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this

2 section—

3 (1) to individuals shall be awarded for a period

4 of not more than 1 year; and

5 (2) to educational institutions shall be awarded

6 for a period of not more than 3 years.

7 (c) APPLICATIONS.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under

9 this section, an individual, secondary school, or other

10 educational institution shall submit an application to

11 the Director at such time, in such manner, and ac12 companied by such information as the Director may

13 require.

14 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In awarding grants

15 under this section, the Director shall not require ap16 plications for the grants to be submitted by com17 puter or Internet-based routes, although such appli18 cations may be submitted by such routes.

19 (3) USES OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded

20 under this section may be used for—

21 (A) substitute teacher pay or teacher sal22 ary;

23 (B) fees for attendance at workshops, sem24 inars, conferences, classes, or training sessions;
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1 (C) developing a compensation system

2 based on merit that supports teachers who be3 come increasingly expert in subject areas under4 pinning information technology, and dem5 onstrate high levels of teaching performance, re6 sulting from the use of information technology

7 tools, measured against professional teaching

8 standards; or

9 (D) other reasonable expenses related to

10 professional development in information tech11 nology for elementary school, secondary school,

12 or charter school teachers.

13 (4) RECIPIENTS.—Grants under this subsection

14 may be awarded to individual elementary school, sec15 ondary school, or charter school teachers, to elemen16 tary schools, secondary schools, or charter schools,

17 or to organizations supporting professional develop18 ment in information technology areas for elementary

19 school, secondary school, or charter school teachers.

20 (5) FACTORS.—Among the factors the Director

21 shall consider in awarding grants under this sub22 section, are the following:

23 (A) Whether the grant will benefit elemen24 tary schools, secondary schools, and charter

25 schools that are at or below the 25th percentile
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1 for academic performance of schools in the re2 spective State.

3 (B) Whether matching funds are available

4 for the private sector.

5 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science

7 Foundation to carry out this section $25,000,000 for fis8 cal year 2001, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2002,

9 $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and $35,000,000 for fis10 cal year 2004.

11 SEC. 4. TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WORKFORCE INTERNSHIP

12 GRANTS.

13 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Director, in con14 sultation with the Secretary of Education, is authorized

15 to award grants to secondary schools and institutions of

16 higher education to establish student information tech17 nology internships.

18 (b) APPLICATIONS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under

20 this section, an individual, secondary school, or insti21 tution of higher education shall submit an applica22 tion to the Director at such time, in such manner,

23 and accompanied by such information as the Direc24 tor may require.
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1 (2) FORM.—In awarding grants under this sec2 tion, the Director shall not require applications for

3 the grants to be submitted by computer or Internet4 based routes, although such applications may be

5 submitted by such routes.

6 (c) USES OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this

7 section may be used for—

8 (1) internships designed to strengthen the

9 science, mathematics, and engineering preparation of

10 technicians for the high-performance workforce; and

11 (2) internships to offer students hands-on op12 portunities in the private sector to apply their edu13 cation to information technology, manufacturing, or

14 information security.

15 (d) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this section

16 shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 years.

17 (e) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The Director shall en18 sure that—

19 (1) any internship assisted by a grant made

20 under this section is conducted at a private sector

21 entity; and

22 (2) matching funds from the private sector are

23 available in an amount equal to the amount of grant

24 funds provided under this subsection.
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to the National Science Foundation to be

3 appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for fis4 cal year 2001, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2002,

5 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and $25,000,000 for fis6 cal year 2004.

7 SEC. 5. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STATE SCHOLARSHIP

8 PROGRAM.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National

10 Science Foundation, in consultation with the Secretary of

11 Education, shall make grants to States to provide supple12 mentary scholarships to students for study leading to a

13 graduate degree in science, math, engineering, or a related

14 field. The scholarships shall be awarded by the State high15 er education system, the State scholarship commission, or

16 an equivalent State entity.

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A scholarship awarded

19 under subsection (a) may be applied to any tech20 nology-related degree program offered at an accred21 ited institution of higher learning, including a col22 lege, university, community college, or vocational23 training institution.

24 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A scholarship award25 ed under subsection (a) may not, when combined
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1 with other sources of financial assistance, exceed the

2 cost of tuition and related expenses of the qualified

3 degree program of the recipient.

4 (c) MATCHING.—The Director may not make a grant

5 to a State under subsection (a) unless the State provides

6 not less than one-half of the cost of the program for which

7 the grant is provided from State funds.

8 (d) DISTRIBUTION.—The Director may not make a

9 grant to a State under subsection (a) unless the State pro10 vides assurances that at least two-thirds of the scholar11 ships awarded using grant funds will be awarded to stu12 dents who are members of families with a family income

13 that is not more than 200 percent of the poverty line.

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science

16 Foundation a total of $50,000,000 for grants under this

17 section for fiscal years 2001 through 2004.

18 SEC. 6. TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY TEACHER ENHANCEMENT

19 PROGRAM.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 19A of the National Insti21 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–

22 2a) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 19A. TEACHER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EN2 HANCEMENT PROGRAM.

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish

4 within the Institute a Twenty-First Century Teacher En5 hancement Program.

6 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE AND GOALS.—The purpose of the pro7 gram established under this section is to provide for pro8 fessional development of mathematics and science teachers

9 for elementary, middle, and secondary schools. The goals

10 of the program are to provide—

11 ‘‘(1) math and science teaching strategies;

12 ‘‘(2) self-confidence in math and science; and

13 ‘‘(3) the understanding of math and science and

14 their impact on commerce and the economy.

15 ‘‘(c) FOCUS.—In carrying out the program under this

16 section, the Director shall focus on the areas of—

17 ‘‘(1) scientific measurements;

18 ‘‘(2) tests and standards development;

19 ‘‘(3) industrial competitiveness and quality;

20 ‘‘(4) manufacturing;

21 ‘‘(5) technology transfer; and

22 ‘‘(6) any other area of expertise of the Institute

23 that the Director determines to be appropriate.

24 ‘‘(d) SELECTION PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.—The

25 Director shall develop and issue procedures and selection
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1 criteria for participants in the program. Each such partici2 pant shall be a teacher described in subsection (b).

3 ‘‘(e) SUMMER PROGRAM.—The program established

4 under this section shall be conducted on an annual basis

5 during the summer months, during the period of time

6 when a majority of elementary, middle, and secondary

7 schools have not commenced a school year.

8 ‘‘(f) STRATEGIES.—The program shall provide for

9 teachers’ participation in activities at the Institute labora10 tory facilities or shall utilize other means of accomplishing

11 the goals of the program, which may include use of the

12 Internet, video conferencing and recording, workshops,

13 and conferences.’’.

14 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The following

15 amounts of funds appropriated to the National Institute

16 of Standards and Technology shall be used to carry out

17 the Twenty-First Century Teacher Enhancement Program

18 under section 19A of the National Institute of Standards

19 and Technology Act added by subsection (a) of this sec20 tion:

21 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.

22 (2) $5,500,000 for fiscal year 2002.

23 (3) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

24 (4) $6,500,000 for fiscal year 2004.

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