II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1699 

To amend the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 regarding school library media specialists, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2007 

Mr. REED (for himself and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the provisions of the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965 regarding school library media 

specialists, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Strengthening Kids’ 

5 Interest in Learning and Libraries Act’’ or the ‘‘SKILLs 

6 Act’’. 

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1 TITLE I—SCHOOL LIBRARY 

2 MEDIA SPECIALIST REQUIRE3 MENTS 

4 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 Section 1002(b)(4) of the Elementary and Secondary 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6302) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘2002’’ and inserting ‘‘2008’’. 

8 SEC. 102. STATE PLANS. 

9 Section 1111(b)(8) of the Elementary and Secondary 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(8)) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

13 after the semicolon; 

14 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub15 paragraph (F); and 

16 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(E) how the State educational agency will 

19 meet the goal of ensuring that there is not less 

20 than 1 highly qualified school library media spe21 cialist in each school receiving funds under this 

22 part, as described in section 1119(h)(2); and’’. 

23 SEC. 103. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY PLANS. 

24 Section 1112(b)(1)(N) of the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)(1)(N)) 

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1 is amended by inserting ‘‘, including ensuring that there 

2 is not less than 1 highly qualified school library media spe3 cialist in each school’’ before the semicolon. 

4 SEC. 104. SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS. 

5 Section 1114(b)(1)(D) of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314(b)(1)(D)) 

7 is amended by inserting ‘‘school library media specialists,’’ 

8 after ‘‘teachers,’’. 

9 SEC. 105. TARGETED ASSISTANCE SCHOOLS. 

10 Section 1115(c)(1)(F) of the Elementary and Sec11 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6315(c)(1)(F)) 

12 is amended by inserting ‘‘school library media specialists,’’ 

13 after ‘‘teachers,’’. 

14 SEC. 106. QUALIFICATIONS FOR TEACHERS, PARAPROFES15 SIONALS, AND SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPE16 CIALISTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1119 of the Elementary 

18 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TEACH21 ERS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘TEACHERS, PARAPROFESSIONALS, AND

23 SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS’’; 

24 (2) by redesignating subsections (h) through (l) 

25 as subsections (i) through (m), respectively; 

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1 (3) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(h) SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REQUIRE5 MENT.—Each local educational agency receiving as6 sistance under this part shall ensure, to the extent 

7 feasible, that each school that is served by the local 

8 educational agency and receives funds under this 

9 part employs not less than 1 highly qualified school 

10 library media specialist. 

11 ‘‘(2) STATE GOAL.—Each State educational 

12 agency receiving assistance under this part shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) establish a goal of having not less 

14 than 1 highly qualified school library media spe15 cialist in each public school that is served by 

16 the State educational agency and receives funds 

17 under this part; and 

18 ‘‘(B) specify a date by which the State will 

19 reach this goal, which date shall be not later 

20 than the beginning of the 2010–2011 school 

21 year.’’; and 

22 (4) in subsection (i) (as redesignated by sub23 section (a)(2)), by striking ‘‘and paraprofessionals’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘, paraprofessionals, and school library 

25 and media specialists’’. 

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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1119(l) of 

2 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as 

3 redesignated by subsection (a)(2)) (20 U.S.C. 6319(l)) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub5 section (m)’’. 

6 SEC. 107. IMPROVING LITERACY THROUGH SCHOOL LI7 BRARIES. 

8 Section 1251 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6383) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘well-trained, 

11 professionally certified’’ and inserting ‘‘highly quali12 fied’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (e)(3)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘DISTRIBUTION.—The’’ 

15 and inserting the following: ‘‘DISTRIBUTION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The’’; 

17 and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(B) BALANCE AMONG TYPES OF

20 SCHOOLS.—In awarding grants under this sub21 section, the Secretary shall take into consider22 ation whether funding is proportionally distrib23 uted among projects serving students in ele24 mentary, middle, and high schools.’’; 

25 (3) in subsection (f)(2)— 

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1 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

2 (i) by inserting ‘‘the need for student 

3 literacy improvement at all grade levels,’’ 

4 before ‘‘the need for’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘well-trained, profes6 sionally certified’’ and inserting ‘‘highly 

7 qualified’’; 

8 (4) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(B) a needs assessment of which grade 

11 spans are served, ensuring funding is propor12 tionally distributed to serve students in elemen13 tary, middle, and high schools;’’; 

14 (5) in subsection (g)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking the semi16 colon at the end and inserting ‘‘and reading 

17 materials, such as books and materials that— 

18 ‘‘(A) are appropriate for students in all 

19 grade levels to be served and for students with 

20 special learning needs, including students who 

21 are limited English proficient; and 

22 ‘‘(B) engage the interest of readers at all 

23 reading levels;’’; and 

24 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘profes25 sional development described in section 

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1 1222(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘professional devel2 opment in information literacy instruction that 

3 is appropriate for all grades, including the as4 sessment of student literacy needs, the coordi5 nation of reading and writing instruction across 

6 content areas, and training in literacy strategies 

7 in all content areas’’. 

8 TITLE II—PREPARING, TEACH9 ING, AND RECRUITING HIGH 

10 QUALITY TEACHERS, SCHOOL 

11 LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIAL12 ISTS, AND PRINCIPALS 

13 SEC. 201. TEACHER, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST, 

14 AND PRINCIPAL TRAINING AND RECRUITING 

15 FUND. 

16 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended— 

18 (1) in the title heading, by striking ‘‘HIGH 

19 QUALITY TEACHERS AND PRIN20 CIPALS’’ and inserting ‘‘HIGH QUALITY 

21 TEACHERS, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA 

22 SPECIALISTS, AND PRINCIPALS ’’; and 

23 (2) in the part heading, by striking ‘‘TEACH24 ER AND PRINCIPAL’’ and inserting 

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1 ‘‘TEACHER, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA 

2 SPECIALIST, AND PRINCIPAL’’. 

3 SEC. 202. PURPOSE. 

4 Section 2101(1) of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601(1)) is amended 

6 to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) increase student academic achievement 

8 through strategies such as— 

9 ‘‘(A) improving teacher, school library 

10 media specialist, and principal quality; and 

11 ‘‘(B) increasing the number of highly 

12 qualified teachers in the classroom, highly 

13 qualified school library media specialists in the 

14 library, and highly qualified principals and as15 sistant principals in schools; and’’. 

16 SEC. 203. STATE APPLICATIONS. 

17 Section 2112(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6612(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘, school li20 brary media specialists,’’ before ‘‘and principals’’; 

21 and 

22 (2) in paragraph (10), by inserting ‘‘, school li23 brary media specialist,’’ before ‘‘and paraprofes24 sional’’. 

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1 SEC. 204. STATE USE OF FUNDS. 

2 Section 2113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (4)— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

6 (A), by inserting ‘‘highly qualified school library 

7 media specialists,’’ before ‘‘principals’’; and 

8 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, 

9 highly qualified school library media special10 ists,’’ before ‘‘and principals’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘teachers and 

12 principals’’ each place the term appears and insert13 ing ‘‘teachers, school library media specialists, and 

14 principals’’. 

15 SEC. 205. LOCAL USES OF FUNDS. 

16 Section 2123(a) of the Elementary and Secondary 

17 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6623(a)) is amended 

18 by inserting after paragraph (8) the following: 

19 ‘‘(9)(A) Developing and implementing strategies 

20 to assist in recruiting and retaining highly qualified 

21 school library media specialists; and 

22 ‘‘(B) providing appropriate professional devel23 opment for such specialists, particularly related to 

24 skills necessary to assist students to improve the 

25 students’ academic achievement, including skills re26 lated to information literacy.’’. 

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1 TITLE III—GENERAL 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

4 Section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(23)) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(II), by striking 

8 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

9 (2) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(VII), by striking 

10 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(D) when used with respect to a school li13 brary media specialist employed in an elemen14 tary school or secondary school in a State, 

15 means that the school library media specialist— 

16 ‘‘(i) holds at least a bachelor’s degree; 

17 ‘‘(ii) has obtained full State certifi18 cation as a school library media specialist 

19 or passed the State teacher licensing exam20 ination, with State certification in library 

21 media, in such State, except that when 

22 used with respect to any school library 

23 media specialist teaching in a public char24 ter school, the term means that the school 

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1 ments set forth in the State’s public char2 ter school law; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) has not had certification or li4 censure requirements waived on an emer5 gency, temporary, or provisional basis.’’. 

6 SEC. 302. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

7 (a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

8 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

9 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 note) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the item relating to section 1119 

11 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1119. Qualifications for teachers, paraprofessionals, and school library 

media specialists.’’; 

12 (2) by striking the item relating to title II and 

13 inserting the following: 

‘‘TITLE II—PREPARING, TRAINING, AND RECRUITING HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS, AND 

PRINCIPALS’’; 

14 and 

15 (3) by striking the item relating to part A of 

16 title II and inserting the following: 

‘‘PART A—TEACHER, SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALIST, AND PRINCIPAL

TRAINING AND RECRUITING FUND’’. 

Æ 

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