I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1924

To provide for the establishment of a commission to review and make recommendations to the Congress and the States on alternative and nontraditional routes to teacher certification.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 21, 2001

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

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To provide for the establishment of a commission to review

and make recommendations to the Congress and the

States on alternative and nontraditional routes to teacher

certification.

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 ‘‘National Advisory

5 Commission on Alternative Routes to Teacher Certifi6 cation Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 The purpose of this Act is to establish a commission

3 to study, and report to the Congress recommendations on,

4 how the States might improve and expand their systems

5 for alternative certification of teachers. The Commission

6 is also to make recommendations on the appropriate steps

7 the Federal Government might take in fostering improve8 ment and expansion of States’ alternative certification

9 programs for teachers.

10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

11 The Congress finds the following:

12 (1) Interest among the States in providing al13 ternate routes for certifying teachers is escalating.

14 (2) In 1998 and 1999 alone, States developed

15 10 new alternate route programs. In the past 2

16 years, 14 States have passed, introduced, or plan to

17 introduce, new legislation to establish alternative

18 programs for the preparation and certification of in19 dividuals who have a bachelor’s degree and want to

20 become teachers.

21 (3) More than 125,000 individuals have been

22 certified through alternative routes. In 1998 and

23 1999, more than 24,000 teachers were certified

24 through alternative routes in just the 28 States that

25 collected these data.
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1 (4) 40 States have some type of alternative to

2 going back to college and majoring in education in

3 order to become a teacher. The States currently re4 port 115 such programs.

5 (5) People from all walks of life are stepping

6 forward to meet the projected demand for teachers.

7 Many of these individuals already have at least a

8 bachelor’s degree, and for these individuals, the old

9 model of training teachers in undergraduate edu10 cation programs is not practical. States are aggres11 sively meeting the challenge by creating new training

12 and licensing avenues for people to enter the teach13 ing profession.

14 (6) These alternative teacher certification

15 routes provide opportunities for people from various

16 educational backgrounds and walks of life to become

17 teachers. They have opened doors to teaching for

18 persons switching careers, leaving the military, and

19 graduating from liberal arts colleges. They have also

20 provided opportunities for former teachers who want

21 to upgrade their credentials and get back into teach22 ing and for people who trained to teach years ago

23 but never did.

24 (7) In 1999, 36 States reported that they had

25 programs targeted specifically to bring into the
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1 teaching profession individuals from careers other

2 than education, the individuals formerly in the mili3 tary, retirees, liberal arts graduates, and others.

4 (8) Compared with recent college graduates who

5 come into teaching directly from a traditional teach6 er preparation program, those entering teaching

7 through alternate routes—

8 (A) have degrees with majors in subjects

9 other than education;

10 (B) are more likely to have work experi11 ence in occupations other than education;

12 (C) tend to be older;

13 (D) are more likely to be people of color;

14 and

15 (E) are more likely to be men.

16 (9) Those entering teaching through alternate

17 routes are more likely to teach where job demand is

18 greatest, such as in inner cities and outlying rural

19 areas, and in high-demand subject areas.

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL ADVISORY COM21 MISSION ON ALTERNATIVE ROUTES TO

22 TEACHER CERTIFICATION.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the ex24 ecutive branch a National Advisory Commission on Alter25 native Routes to Teacher Certification (in this Act re-
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1 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’), comprised of 10 members

2 to be appointed by the Secretary of Education. The mem3 bership of the Commission shall be as follows:

4 (1) 2 members who currently serve as college

5 professors in schools of education.

6 (2) 2 members who currently serve as State

7 teacher licensure officials.

8 (3) 2 members who currently serve as class9 room teachers.

10 (4) 2 members who serve as superintendents or

11 comparable local educational agency officials.

12 (5) 2 members who have special expertise in the

13 alternative certification of teachers, including indi14 viduals currently involved in providing alternative

15 routes to teaching and certification.

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

17 Congress that the Secretary of Education should draw

18 from a number of important areas of expertise in appoint19 ing the Commission, including various experts familiar

20 with the issue of teacher licensure and, in particular, alter21 native teacher certification.

22 (c) APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments to the Commis23 sion shall be made not later than 45 days after the date

24 of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 5. RULES OF THE COMMISSION.

2 (a) QUORUM.—5 members of the Commission shall

3 constitute a quorum for conducting the business of the

4 Commission.

5 (b) INITIAL MEETING.—If, 60 days after the date of

6 the enactment of this Act, 5 or more members of the Com7 mission have been appointed, members who have been ap8 pointed may meet and select the Chair (or Co-chairs) who

9 thereafter shall have the authority to begin the operations

10 of the Commission, including the hiring of staff.

11 (c) RULES.—The Commission may adopt such other

12 rules as it considers appropriate.

13 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Commission

14 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same

15 manner in which the original appointment was made. Any

16 meeting of the Commission or any subcommittee thereof

17 may be held in executive session to the extent that the

18 Chair (Co-Chairs, if elected) or a majority of the members

19 of the Commission or subcommittee determine appro20 priate.

21 (e) CONTINUATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—If any indi22 vidual is appointed to the Commission by virtue of holding

23 a position described in section 4(a), and ceases to hold

24 such position before the report of the Commission is sub25 mitted, such individual may continue as a member of the

26 Commission for not longer than the 30-day period begin-
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1 ning on the date that such individual ceases to hold such

2 position.

3 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The duties of the Commission

5 shall include the following:

6 (1) To conduct, for a period of not to exceed 18

7 months from the date of its first meeting, the review

8 described in subsection (b).

9 (2) To submit to the Congress a report of the

10 results of such review, including recommendations

11 for revisions to the Elementary and Secondary Edu12 cation Act of 1965 and the Higher Education Act of

13 1965.

14 (b) REVIEW AND ISSUING PROPOSALS.—The Com15 mission shall review all existing and proposed programs

16 for alternative teacher certification in the various States

17 and ascertain which programs work best in terms of hiring

18 and retaining highly qualified teachers, including profes19 sionals seeking a second career in teaching, and, when ap20 plicable, issue proposals and recommendations on the com21 ponents of highly effective alternative teacher certification

22 programs and ways for States to develop and implement

23 such programs. The Commission shall also make rec24 ommendations concerning the appropriate measures that

25 might be undertaken by the Federal Government to im-
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1 prove and expand alternative certification programs in the

2 States, including recommendations for legislative changes

3 to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

4 and the Higher Education Act of 1965.

5 SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission or, on the au7 thorization of the Commission, any subcommittee or mem8 ber thereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provi9 sions of this Act, hold such hearings and sit and act at

10 such times and places, take such testimony, receive such

11 evidence, and administer such oaths, as the Commission

12 or such designated subcommittee or designated member

13 may deem advisable.

14 (b) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to such

15 extent and in such amounts as are provided in appropria16 tion Acts, enter into contracts to enable the Commission

17 to discharge its duties under this Act.

18 (c) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES AND OF19 FICES.—

20 (1) INFORMATION.—The Commission is author21 ized to secure directly from any executive depart22 ment, bureau, agency, board, commission, office,

23 independent establishment, or instrumentality of the

24 Government, as well as from any committee or other

25 office of the legislative branch, such information,
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1 suggestions, estimates, and statistics as it requires

2 for the purposes of its review and report. Each such

3 department, bureau, agency, board, commission, of4 fice, establishment, instrumentality, or committee

5 shall, to the extent not prohibited by law, furnish

6 such information, suggestions, estimates, and statis7 tics directly to the Commission, upon request made

8 by the Chair (Co-chairs, if elected).

9 (2) DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.—The Sec10 retary of Education is authorized on a nonreimburs11 able basis to provide the Commission with adminis12 trative services, funds, facilities, staff, and other

13 support services for the performance of the Commis14 sion’s functions.

15 (3) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—

16 The Administrator of General Services shall provide

17 to the Commission on a nonreimbursable basis such

18 administrative support services as the Commission

19 may request.

20 (4) OTHER ASSISTANCE.—In addition to the as21 sistance set forth in paragraphs (1) through (3), de22 partments and agencies of the United States are au23 thorized to provide to the Commission such services,

24 funds, facilities, staff, and other support services as
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1 they may deem advisable and as may be authorized

2 by law.

3 (5) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may

4 use the United States mails in the same manner and

5 under the same conditions as departments and agen6 cies of the United States.

7 (6) GIFTS.—The Commission may accept, use,

8 and dispose of gifts or donations of services or prop9 erty in carrying out its duties under this Act.

10 SEC. 8. STAFF OF THE COMMISSION.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chair (Co-Chairs, if elected),

12 in accordance with rules agreed upon by the Commission,

13 may appoint and fix the compensation of a staff director

14 and such other personnel as may be necessary to enable

15 the Commission to carry out its functions without regard

16 to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing

17 appointments in the competitive service, and without re18 gard to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III

19 or chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and

20 General Schedule pay rates, except that no rate of pay

21 fixed under this subsection may exceed the equivalent of

22 that payable to a person occupying a position at level V

23 of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5,

24 United States Code. Any Federal Government employee

25 may be detailed to the Commission without reimbursement
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1 from the Commission, and such detailee shall retain the

2 rights, status, and privileges of his or her regular employ3 ment without interruption.

4 (b) CONSULTANT SERVICES.—The Commission is au5 thorized to procure the services of experts and consultants

6 in accordance with section 3109 of title 5, United States

7 Code, but at rates not to exceed the daily rate paid a per8 son occupying a position at level IV of the Executive

9 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States

10 Code.

11 SEC. 9. COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.

12 (a) COMPENSATION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graph (2), each member of the Commission may be

15 compensated at not to exceed the daily equivalent of

16 the annual rate of basic pay in effect for a position

17 at level IV of the Executive Schedule under section

18 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day

19 during which that member is engaged in the actual

20 performance of the duties of the Commission.

21 (2) EXCEPTION.—Members of the Commission

22 who are officers or employees of the United States

23 or Members of Congress shall receive no additional

24 pay on account of their service on the Commission.
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1 (b) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from their

2 homes or regular places of business in the performance

3 of services for the Commission, members of the Commis4 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

5 in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons em6 ployed intermittently in the Government service are al7 lowed expenses under section 5703(b) of title 5, United

8 States Code.

9 SEC. 10. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION; TERMINATION.

10 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the

11 date of the first meeting of the Commission, the Commis12 sion shall submit a report to the Committee on Education

13 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and

14 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen15 sions of the Senate. The report of the Commission shall

16 describe the results of its review under section 6(b), shall

17 make the recommendations for revisions to the Elemen18 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the High19 er Education Act of 1965 referred to section 6(a)(2), and

20 shall such make recommendations to State departments

21 of education as the Commission considers appropriate.

22 (b) TERMINATION.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, and all the

24 authorities of this Act, shall terminate on the date
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1 that is 90 days after the date on which the report

2 is required to be submitted under subsection (a).

3 (2) CONCLUDING ACTIVITIES.—The Commis4 sion may use the 90-day period referred to in para5 graph (1) for the purposes of concluding its activi6 ties, including providing testimony to committees of

7 the Congress concerning its report and dissemi8 nating such report.

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