II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1282 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the exclusion 

from gross income of certain wages of a certified master teacher, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2007 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for the exclusion from gross income of certain wages 

of a certified master teacher, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. MASTER TEACHER EXCLUSION. 

4 (a) MASTER TEACHER EXCLUSION.—Part III of sub5 chapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 is amended by inserting after section 139A the fol7 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 139B. CERTAIN WAGES OF CERTIFIED MASTER 

2 TEACHERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) 25 PERCENT EXCLUSION.—Gross income does 

4 not include 25 percent of wages earned by a certified mas5 ter teacher in remuneration for employment at a qualified 

6 school in need of improvement or a Head Start program 

7 assisted under the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 

8 seq.). 

9 ‘‘(b) CERTIFIED MASTER TEACHER.—For purposes 

10 of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘certified master 

12 teacher’ means any eligible teacher who is certified 

13 by a State as being eligible for the exclusion from 

14 gross income provided under subsection (a) with re15 spect to wages earned during a 4-year certification 

16 period. A teacher shall not be treated as a certified 

17 master teacher except during the certification period. 

18 ‘‘(2) RECERTIFICATION PROHIBITED.—A teach19 er shall not be certified as a certified master teacher 

20 for more than one certification period. 

21 ‘‘(3) STATE LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF CER22 TIFIED MASTER TEACHERS.—A State may not cer23 tify any teacher if such certification would result (at 

24 the time of such certification) in more than 10 per25 cent of the State’s public school teachers being cer26 tified master teachers. 


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1 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED SCHOOL IN NEED OF IMPROVE2 MENT.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 

3 school in need of improvement’ means, with respect to any 

4 certified master teacher— 

5 ‘‘(1) the school in need of improvement which 

6 first employs such teacher during the certification 

7 period, 

8 ‘‘(2) any school in need of improvement which 

9 subsequently employs such teacher, but only if each 

10 school in need of improvement which previously em11 ployed such teacher during the certification period 

12 has ceased to be a school in need of improvement, 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(3) any school described in paragraph (1) or 

15 (2) which ceases to be a school in need of improve16 ment, but only if such teacher was employed by such 

17 school (during such teacher’s certification period) at 

18 the time that such school ceased to be a school in 

19 need of improvement. 

20 ‘‘(d) SCHOOL IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT.—For pur21 poses of this section, the term ‘school in need of improve22 ment’ means a public elementary or secondary school 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(1) is identified for school improvement, cor25 rective action, or restructuring under section 1116 


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1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316), and 

3 ‘‘(2) is eligible for a schoolwide program under 

4 section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314). 

6 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—For purposes of this sec7 tion, the term ‘eligible teacher’ means a teacher who— 

8 ‘‘(1) has had at least 5 years of teaching experi9 ence in a public elementary or secondary school, 

10 ‘‘(2) is highly qualified, as defined in section 

11 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 

13 ‘‘(3) has a master’s degree, and 

14 ‘‘(4) has earned— 

15 ‘‘(A) advanced certification in the teacher’s 

16 State licensing system, or 

17 ‘‘(B) in the case of a teacher in a State 

18 that does not offer advanced certification, cer19 tification from the National Board for Profes20 sional Teaching Standards. 

21 ‘‘(f) CERTIFICATION PERIOD.—For purposes of this 

22 section, the term ‘certification period’ means, with respect 

23 to any certified master teacher, the 4-year period de24 scribed in subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(g) STATE IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED ON RE2 TURN.—With respect to any certified master teacher, no 

3 exclusion shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any 

4 taxable year unless the certified master teacher includes 

5 the State in which the teacher has been certified on the 

6 certified master teacher’s return of tax for such taxable 

7 year. 

8 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

9 any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2013.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal 

12 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

13 item relating to section 139A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139B. Certain wages of certified master teachers.’’. 

14 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of the 

15 Treasury shall transmit to the Congress for each of cal16 endar years 2007 through 2013 an annual report stating, 

17 with respect to each State, the number of individuals cer18 tified by such State as certified master teachers who were 

19 allowed an exclusion from gross income under section 

20 139B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for a taxable 

21 year ending in such calendar year. 

22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 December 31, 2006. 

Æ 


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