I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1843

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

grants to local educational agencies for teacher recruitment, retention,

and training, and to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to

expand the program of loan forgiveness for teachers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 15, 2001

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

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies

for teacher recruitment, retention, and training, and to

amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand

the program of loan forgiveness for teachers.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. TEACHER RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND

4 TRAINING.

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

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

7 seq.) is amended—
2

•HR 1843 IH

1 (1) by redesignating part E as part F;

2 (2) by redesignating sections 2401 and 2402 as

3 sections 2501 and 2502, respectively; and

4 (3) by inserting after part D the following:

5 ‘‘PART E—TEACHER RECRUITMENT, RETENTION,

6 AND TRAINING

7 ‘‘SEC. 2401. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

9 make grants to local educational agencies to permit such

10 agencies to recruit, retain, and train high-quality teachers

11 by carrying out one or more of the activities described in

12 subsection (b).

13 ‘‘(b) USES OF FUNDS.—

14 ‘‘(1) RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND TRAIN15 ING ACTIVITIES.—A local educational agency that

16 receives a grant under this part may use the grant

17 funds for any of the following recruitment, retention,

18 and training activities:

19 ‘‘(A) Providing signing bonuses for teach20 ers.

21 ‘‘(B) Carrying out merit pay programs.

22 ‘‘(C) Providing performance bonuses to

23 teachers.

24 ‘‘(D) Providing scholarships to teachers to

25 pursue advanced course work.
3

•HR 1843 IH

1 ‘‘(E) Providing mentoring programs for

2 teachers.

3 ‘‘(F) Coordinating with institutions of

4 higher education to provide professional devel5 opment for teachers.

6 ‘‘(G) Any other activity that the local edu7 cational agency believes to be effective in re8 cruiting, retaining, or training high-quality

9 teachers.

10 ‘‘SEC. 2402. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

12 this part such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal

13 years 2002 through 2004.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2003 of

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20

16 U.S.C. 6603) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘part C)’’ and

18 inserting ‘‘parts C and E)’’; and

19 (2) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘(other than

20 parts C and E)’’ after ‘‘title’’.

21 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS.

22 (a) ELIMINATION OF NEW BORROWER RESTRIC23 TIONS.—

24 (1) FFEL PROGRAM.—Section 428J(b) of the

25 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–
4

•HR 1843 IH

1 10(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘for any new bor2 rower on or after October 1, 1998, who’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘for any borrower who’’.

4 (2) FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM.—Section

5 460(b)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j(b)(1)) is

6 amended by striking ‘‘for any new borrower on or

7 after October 1, 1998, who’’ and inserting ‘‘for any

8 borrower who’’.

9 (b) EXPANSION OF ELIGIBLE TEACHING LOCATIONS

10 AND SUBJECTS; ELIMINATING DELAY IN SERVICE BEN11 EFIT.—

12 (1) FFEL PROGRAM.—Section 428J(b)(1) of

13 such Act is amended by striking everything pre14 ceding subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘(1) has been employed as a full-time teacher—

16 ‘‘(A)(i) in a school that qualifies under sec17 tion 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for Per18 kins loan recipients who teach in such schools;

19 ‘‘(ii) as a full-time special education teach20 er, as described in section 465(a)(2)(C); or

21 ‘‘(iii) as a full-time teacher in any field of

22 expertise where the State educational agency

23 determines there is a shortage of qualified

24 teachers;’’.
5

•HR 1843 IH

1 (2) FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM.—Section

2 460(b)(1)(A) of such Act (20 U.S.C.

3 1087j(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking everything

4 preceding clause (ii) and inserting the following:

5 ‘‘(A) has been employed as a full-time

6 teacher—

7 ‘‘(i)(I) in a school that qualifies under

8 section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation

9 for Perkins loan recipients who teach in

10 such schools;

11 ‘‘(II) as a full-time special education

12 teacher, as described in section

13 465(a)(2)(C); or

14 ‘‘(III) as a full-time teacher in any

15 field of expertise where the State edu16 cational agency determines there is a

17 shortage of qualified teachers;’’.

18 (c) AMOUNTS SUBJECT TO FORGIVENESS.—

19 (1) FFEL PROGRAM.—Section 428J(c) of the

20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–

21 10(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and in22 serting the following:

23 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT AND RATE OF REPAYMENT.—The

24 Secretary shall repay an amount that is not more

25 than $20,000 in the aggregate of the loan obligation
6

•HR 1843 IH

1 on a loan made under section 428 or 428H that is

2 outstanding after the completion of the first com3 plete school year of teaching described in subsection

4 (b)(1) for which the borrower seeks repayment

5 under this section. Such amount shall be repaid at

6 the rate of 15 percent for the first or second year

7 of such service, 20 percent for the third or fourth

8 year of such service, and 30 percent for the fifth

9 year of such service. No borrower may receive a re10 duction of loan obligations under both this section

11 and section 460.’’.

12 (2) FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM.—Section

13 460(c) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j(c)) is amended

14 by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT AND RATE OF REPAYMENT.—The

17 Secretary shall cancel an amount that is not more

18 than $20,000 in the aggregate of the loan obligation

19 on a loan made under section 428 or 428H that is

20 outstanding after the completion of the first com21 plete school year of teaching described in subsection

22 (b)(1)(A). Such amount shall be canceled at the rate

23 of 15 percent for the first or second year of such

24 service, 20 percent for the third or fourth year of
7

•HR 1843 IH

1 such service, and 30 percent for the fifth year of

2 such service.’’.

Æ