I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1826

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize the Alternate

Routes to Teacher Certification and Licensure program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 14, 2001

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

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize

the Alternate Routes to Teacher Certification and Licensure program.

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 ‘‘Alternative Routes to

5 Teacher Certification and Licensure Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM REAUTHORIZED.

7 The Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended by

8 inserting after title VII (20 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) the fol9 lowing new title:
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1 ‘‘TITLE VIII—ALTERNATIVE

2 ROUTES TO TEACHER CER3 TIFICATION AND LICENSURE

4 ‘‘SEC. 801. FINDINGS.

5 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

6 ‘‘(1) effective elementary and secondary schools

7 require competent teachers and strong leadership;

8 ‘‘(2) school systems would benefit greatly by in9 creasing the pool of qualified individuals from which

10 to recruit teachers;

11 ‘‘(3) many talented professionals who have dem12 onstrated a high level of subject area competence

13 outside the education profession may wish to pursue

14 careers in education, but have not fulfilled the re15 quirements to be certified or licensed as teachers;

16 ‘‘(4) alternative routes can enable qualified in17 dividuals to fulfill State certification or licensure re18 quirements and would allow school systems to utilize

19 the expertise of such professionals and improve the

20 pool of qualified individuals available to local edu21 cational agencies as teachers; and

22 ‘‘(5) alternative routes to certification or licen23 sure requirements that do not exclude qualified indi24 viduals from teaching solely because such individuals

25 do not meet traditional certification or licensure re-
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1 quirements would allow school systems to take ad2 vantage of these professionals and improve the sup3 ply of well-qualified teachers.

4 ‘‘SEC. 802. PURPOSE.

5 ‘‘It is the purpose of this title to improve the supply

6 of well-qualified elementary and secondary school teachers

7 by encouraging and assisting States to develop and imple8 ment programs for alternative routes to teacher certifi9 cation or licensure requirements. Such programs shall

10 place special emphasis on the participation of individuals

11 who are members of minority groups.

12 ‘‘SEC. 803. ALLOTMENTS.

13 ‘‘(a) ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro15 priated to carry out this title, the Secretary shall

16 allot to each State the lesser of either the amount

17 the State applies for under section 556 or an

18 amount that is proportional to the State’s share of

19 the total population of children ages 5 through 17

20 in all the States (based on the most recent data

21 available that is satisfactory to the Secretary).

22 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION.—If a State does not

23 apply for its allotment, or the full amount of its al24 lotment, under the preceding paragraph, the Sec25 retary may reallocate the excess funds to one or
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1 more other States that demonstrate, to the satisfac2 tion of the Secretary, a current need for the funds.

3 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding section

4 412(b) of the General Education Provisions Act, funds

5 awarded under this title shall remain available for obliga6 tion by a recipient for a period of 2 calendar years from

7 the date of the grant.

8 ‘‘SEC. 804. STATE APPLICATIONS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State desiring to receive a

10 grant under this title shall, through the State educational

11 agency, submit an application at such time, in such man12 ner, and containing such information, as the Secretary

13 may reasonably require.

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each application shall—

15 ‘‘(1) describe the programs, projects, and activi16 ties to be undertaken; and

17 ‘‘(2) contain such assurances as the Secretary

18 considers necessary, including assurances that—

19 ‘‘(A) assistance provided to the State edu20 cational agency under this title will be used to

21 supplement, and not to supplant, any State or

22 local funds available for the development and

23 implementation of programs to provide alter24 native routes to fulfilling teacher certification or

25 licensure requirements;
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1 ‘‘(B) the State educational agency has, in

2 developing and designing the application, con3 sulted with—

4 ‘‘(i) representatives of local edu5 cational agencies, including superintend6 ents and school board members (including

7 representatives of their professional organi8 zations where applicable);

9 ‘‘(ii) elementary and secondary school

10 teachers, including representatives of their

11 professional organizations;

12 ‘‘(iii) institutions of higher education

13 with schools or departments of education;

14 ‘‘(iv) parents; and

15 ‘‘(v) other interested organizations

16 and individuals; and

17 ‘‘(C) the State educational agency will sub18 mit to the Secretary, at such time as the Sec19 retary may specify, a final report describing the

20 activities carried out with assistance provided

21 under this title and the results achieved.

22 ‘‘(c) GEPA PROVISIONS INAPPLICABLE.—Sections

23 435 and 436 of the General Education Provisions Act, ex24 cept to the extent that such sections relate to fiscal control
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1 and fund accounting procedures, shall not apply to this

2 title.

3 ‘‘SEC. 805. USE OF FUNDS.

4 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

6 shall use assistance provided under this title to sup7 port programs, projects, or activities that develop

8 and implement new, or expand and improve existing,

9 programs that enable individuals to move to a career

10 in education from another occupation through an al11 ternative route to teacher certification or licensure.

12 ‘‘(2) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—A State edu13 cational agency may carry out such programs,

14 projects, or activities directly, through contracts, or

15 through grants to local educational agencies, inter16 mediate educational agencies, institutions of higher

17 education, or consortia of such agencies.

18 ‘‘(b) USES.—Funds received under this title may be

19 used for—

20 ‘‘(1) the design, development, implementation,

21 and evaluation of programs that enable qualified

22 professionals who have demonstrated a high level of

23 subject area competence outside the education pro24 fession and are interested in entering the education
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1 profession to fulfill State certification or licensure

2 requirements;

3 ‘‘(2) the establishment of administrative struc4 tures necessary for the development and implemen5 tation of programs to provide alternative routes to

6 fulfilling State requirements for certification or li7 censure;

8 ‘‘(3) training of staff, including the develop9 ment of appropriate support programs, such as men10 tor programs, for teachers entering the school sys11 tem through alternative routes to teacher certifi12 cation or licensure;

13 ‘‘(4) the development of recruitment strategies;

14 ‘‘(5) the development of reciprocity agreements

15 between or among States for the certification or li16 censure of teachers; and

17 ‘‘(6) other appropriate programs, projects, and

18 activities designed to meet the objectives of this title.

19 ‘‘SEC. 806. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

21 this title $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and each of

22 the 3 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

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