II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1339 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 

improve recruitment, preparation, distribution, and retention of public 

elementary and secondary school teachers and principals, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2007 

Mr. REID (for Mr. KENNEDY) (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965, the Higher Education Act of 1965, and the 

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve recruitment, 

preparation, distribution, and retention of public elementary and secondary school teachers and principals, 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 ‘‘Teacher Excellence 

5 for All Children Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

TITLE I—RECRUITING TALENTED NEW TEACHERS 

Sec. 101. Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

Sec. 102. Expanding teacher loan forgiveness. 

TITLE II—CLOSING THE TEACHER DISTRIBUTION GAP 

Sec. 201. Grants to local educational agencies to provide premium pay to teachers in high-need schools. 

TITLE III—IMPROVING TEACHER PREPARATION 

Sec. 301. Amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965. 

Sec. 302. Amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965: Teacher Quality 

Enhancement Grants. 

Sec. 303. Enforcing NCLB’s teacher equity provision. 

TITLE IV—EQUIPPING TEACHERS, SCHOOLS, LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES, AND STATES WITH THE 21ST CENTURY 

DATA, TOOLS, AND ASSESSMENTS THEY NEED 

Sec. 401. 21st Century Data, Tools, and Assessments. 

Sec. 402. Collecting national data on distribution of teachers. 

TITLE V—RETENTION: KEEPING OUR BEST TEACHERS IN THE 

CLASSROOM 

Sec. 501. Amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

1965. 

Sec. 502. Exclusion from gross income of compensation of teachers and principals in certain high-need schools or teaching high-need subjects. 

Sec. 503. Above-the-line deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers increased and made permanent. 

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 601. Conforming amendments. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) There are not enough qualified teachers in 

6 the Nation’s classrooms, and an unprecedented num7 ber of teachers will retire over the next 5 years. Over 


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1 the next decade, the Nation will need to bring 

2 2,000,000 new teachers into public schools. 

3 (2) Too many teachers and principals do not re4 ceive adequate preparation for their jobs. 

5 (3) More than one-third of children in grades 7 

6 through 12 are taught by a teacher who lacks both 

7 a college major and certification in the subject being 

8 taught. Rates of ‘‘out-of-field teaching’’ are espe9 cially high in high-poverty schools. 

10 (4) Seventy percent of mathematics classes in 

11 high-poverty middle schools are assigned to teachers 

12 without even a minor in mathematics or a related 

13 field. 

14 (5) Teacher turnover is a serious problem, par15 ticularly in urban and rural areas. Over one-third of 

16 new teachers leave the profession within their first 

17 3 years of teaching, and 14 percent of new teachers 

18 leave the field within the first year. After 5 years— 

19 the average time it takes for teachers to maximize 

20 students’ learning—half of all new teachers will have 

21 exited the profession. Rates of teacher attrition are 

22 highest in high-poverty schools. Between 2000 and 

23 2001, 1 out of 5 teachers in the Nation’s high-pov24 erty schools either left to teach in another school or 

25 dropped out of teaching altogether. 


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1 (6) Fourth graders who are poor score dramati2 cally lower on the National Assessment of Edu3 cational Progress (NAEP) than their counterparts 

4 who are not poor. Over 85 percent of fourth graders 

5 who are poor failed to attain NAEP proficiency 

6 standards in 2003. 

7 (7) African-American, Latino, and low-income 

8 students are much less likely than other students to 

9 have highly-qualified teachers. 

10 (8) Research shows that individual teachers 

11 have a great impact on how well their students 

12 learn. The most effective teachers have been shown 

13 to be able to boost their pupils’ learning by a full 

14 grade level relative to students taught by less effec15 tive teachers. 

16 (9) Although nearly half (42 percent) of all 

17 teachers hold a master’s degree, fewer than 1 in 4 

18 secondary teachers have a master’s degree in the 

19 subject they teach. 

20 (10) Young people with high SAT and ACT 

21 scores are much less likely to choose teaching as a 

22 career. Those teachers who have higher SAT or ACT 

23 scores are twice as likely to leave the profession 

24 after only a few years. 


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1 (11) Only 16 States finance new teacher induc2 tion programs, and fewer still require inductees to 

3 be matched with mentors who teach the same sub4 ject. 

5 TITLE I—RECRUITING 

6 TALENTED NEW TEACHERS 

7 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT 

8 OF 1965. 

9 (a) TEACH GRANTS.—Title II of the Higher Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘PART C—TEACH GRANTS 

13 ‘‘SEC. 231. PURPOSES. 

14 ‘‘The purposes of this part are— 

15 ‘‘(1) to improve student academic achievement; 

16 ‘‘(2) to help recruit and prepare teachers to 

17 meet the national demand for a highly qualified 

18 teacher in every classroom; and 

19 ‘‘(3) to increase opportunities for Americans of 

20 all educational, ethnic, class, and geographic back21 grounds to become highly qualified teachers. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 232. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

23 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS REQUIRED.—For each of the 

25 fiscal years 2008 through 2015, the Secretary shall 


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1 pay to each eligible institution such sums as may be 

2 necessary to pay to each eligible student (defined in 

3 accordance with section 484) who files an applica4 tion and agreement in accordance with section 233, 

5 and qualifies under subsection (a)(2) of such section, 

6 a TEACH Grant in the amount of $4,000 for each 

7 academic year during which that student is in at8 tendance at an institution of higher education. 

9 ‘‘(2) REFERENCE.—Grants made under this 

10 part shall be known as ‘Teacher Education Assist11 ance for College and Higher Education Grants’ or 

12 ‘TEACH Grants’. 

13 ‘‘(b) PAYMENT METHODOLOGY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PREPAYMENT.—Not less than 85 percent 

15 of such sums shall be advanced to eligible institu16 tions prior to the start of each payment period and 

17 shall be based upon an amount requested by the in18 stitution as needed to pay eligible students until 

19 such time as the Secretary determines and publishes 

20 in the Federal Register, with an opportunity for 

21 comment, an alternative payment system that pro22 vides payments to institutions in an accurate and 

23 timely manner, except that this sentence shall not be 

24 construed to limit the authority of the Secretary to 


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1 place an institution on a reimbursement system of 

2 payment. 

3 ‘‘(2) DIRECT PAYMENT.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be interpreted to prohibit the Secretary 

5 from paying directly to students, in advance of the 

6 beginning of the academic term, an amount for 

7 which the students are eligible, in cases where the el8 igible institution elects not to participate in the dis9 bursement system required under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS TO STU11 DENTS.—Payments under this part shall be made, in 

12 accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec13 retary for such purpose, in such manner as will best 

14 accomplish the purposes of this part. Any disburse15 ment allowed to be made by crediting the student’s 

16 account shall be limited to tuition and fees and, in 

17 the case of institutionally owned housing, room and 

18 board. The student may elect to have the institution 

19 provide other such goods and services by crediting 

20 the student’s account. 

21 ‘‘(c) REDUCTIONS IN AMOUNT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) PART TIME STUDENTS.—In any case 

23 where a student attends an institution of higher edu24 cation on less than a full-time basis (including a stu25 dent who attends an institution of higher education 


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1 on less than a half-time basis) during any academic 

2 year, the amount of the TEACH Grant for which 

3 that student is eligible shall be reduced in proportion 

4 to the degree to which that student is not so attend5 ing on a full-time basis, in accordance with a sched6 ule of reductions established by the Secretary for the 

7 purpose of this part, computed in accordance with 

8 this part. Such schedule of reductions shall be estab9 lished by regulation and published in the Federal 

10 Register in accordance with section 482. 

11 ‘‘(2) NO EXCEEDING COST.—No TEACH Grant 

12 for a student under this part shall exceed the cost 

13 of attendance (as defined in section 472) at the in14 stitution at which such student is in attendance. If, 

15 with respect to any student, it is determined that 

16 the amount of a TEACH Grant exceeds the cost of 

17 attendance for that year, the amount of the TEACH 

18 Grant shall be reduced until the TEACH Grant does 

19 not exceed the cost of attendance at such institution. 

20 ‘‘(d) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.—The period 

22 during which an undergraduate student may receive 

23 TEACH Grants shall be the period required for the 

24 completion of the first undergraduate baccalaureate 

25 course of study being pursued by that student at the 


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1 institution at which the student is in attendance, ex2 cept that— 

3 ‘‘(A) any period during which the student 

4 is enrolled in a noncredit or remedial course of 

5 study, subject to paragraph (3), shall not be 

6 counted for the purpose of this paragraph; and 

7 ‘‘(B) the total amount that a student may 

8 receive under this part for undergraduate study 

9 shall not exceed $16,000. 

10 ‘‘(2) GRADUATE STUDENTS.—The period dur11 ing which a graduate student may receive TEACH 

12 Grants shall be the period required for the comple13 tion of a master’s degree course of study being pur14 sued by that student at the institution at which the 

15 student is in attendance, except that the total 

16 amount that a student may receive under this part 

17 for graduate study shall not exceed $8,000. 

18 ‘‘(3) REMEDIAL COURSE; STUDY ABROAD.— 

19 Nothing in this section shall exclude from eligibility 

20 courses of study that are noncredit or remedial in 

21 nature (including courses in English language acqui22 sition) that are determined by the institution to be 

23 necessary to help the student be prepared for the 

24 pursuit of a first undergraduate baccalaureate de25 gree or certificate or, in the case of courses in 


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1 English language instruction, to be necessary to en2 able the student to utilize already existing knowl3 edge, training, or skills. Nothing in this section shall 

4 exclude from eligibility programs of study abroad 

5 that are approved for credit by the home institution 

6 at which the student is enrolled. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 233. ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS; DEMONSTRATION OF ELIGI9 BILITY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) FILING REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

11 from time to time set dates by which students shall 

12 file applications for TEACH Grants under this part. 

13 Each student desiring a TEACH Grant for any year 

14 shall file an application containing such information 

15 and assurances as the Secretary may deem nec16 essary to enable the Secretary to carry out the func17 tions and responsibilities of this part. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Each 

19 such application shall contain such information as is 

20 necessary to demonstrate that— 

21 ‘‘(A) if the applicant is an enrolled stu22 dent— 

23 ‘‘(i) the student is an eligible student 

24 for purposes of section 484 (other than 

25 subsection (r) of such section); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the student— 

2 ‘‘(I) has a grade point average 

3 that is determined, under standards 

4 prescribed by the Secretary, to be 

5 comparable to a 3.25 average on a 

6 zero to 4.0 scale, except that, if the 

7 student is in the first year of a pro8 gram of undergraduate education, 

9 such grade point average shall be de10 termined on the basis of the student’s 

11 cumulative high school grade point av12 erage; or 

13 ‘‘(II) displayed high academic ap14 titude by receiving a score above the 

15 75th percentile on at least 1 of the 

16 batteries in an undergraduate or 

17 graduate school admissions test; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the student is completing 

19 coursework and other requirements nec20 essary to begin a career in teaching, or 

21 plans to complete such coursework and re22 quirements prior to graduating; or 

23 ‘‘(B) if the applicant is a current or pro24 spective teacher applying for a grant to obtain 

25 a graduate degree— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the applicant is a teacher, or a 

2 retiree from another occupation, with ex3 pertise in a field in which there is a short4 age of teachers, such as mathematics, 

5 science, special education, English lan6 guage acquisition, or another high-need 

7 subject; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) the applicant is or was a teacher 

9 who is using high-quality alternative cer10 tification routes, such as Teach for Amer11 ica, to get certified. 

12 ‘‘(b) AGREEMENTS TO SERVE.—Each application 

13 under subsection (a) shall contain or be accompanied by 

14 an agreement by the applicant that— 

15 ‘‘(1) the applicant will— 

16 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time teacher for a total 

17 of not less than 4 academic years within 8 

18 years after completing the course of study for 

19 which the applicant received a TEACH Grant 

20 under this part; 

21 ‘‘(B) teach— 

22 ‘‘(i) in a school described in section 

23 465(a)(2)(A); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) in the field of mathematics, 

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1 cation, or special education, or as a read2 ing specialist, or in another field docu3 mented as high-need by the Federal Gov4 ernment, State government, or local edu5 cational agency and submitted to the Sec6 retary; 

7 ‘‘(C) submit evidence of such employment 

8 in the form of a certification by the chief ad9 ministrative officer of the school upon comple10 tion of each year of such service; and 

11 ‘‘(D) comply with the requirements for 

12 being a highly qualified teacher as defined in 

13 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965 or, in the case of a spe15 cial education teacher, as defined in section 602 

16 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

17 Act; and 

18 ‘‘(2) in the event that the applicant is deter19 mined to have failed or refused to carry out such 

20 service obligation, the sum of the amounts of such 

21 TEACH Grants will be treated as a loan and col22 lected from the applicant in accordance with sub23 section (c) and the regulations thereunder. 

24 ‘‘(c) REPAYMENT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLETE

25 SERVICE.—In the event that any recipient of a TEACH 


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1 Grant fails or refuses to comply with the service obligation 

2 in the agreement under subsection (b), the sum of the 

3 amounts of such Grants provided to such recipient shall 

4 be treated as a Direct Loan under part D of title IV, and 

5 shall be subject to repayment in accordance with terms 

6 and conditions specified by the Secretary in regulations 

7 promulgated to carry out this part.’’. 

8 (b) RECRUITING TEACHERS WITH MATHEMATICS, 

9 SCIENCE, OR LANGUAGE MAJORS.—Title II of the Higher 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.), as 

11 amended by subsection (a), is further amended by adding 

12 at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘PART D—RECRUITING TEACHERS WITH MATHE14 MATICS, SCIENCE, OR LANGUAGE MAJORS 

15 ‘‘SEC. 241. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

16 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap17 propriated under section 242, the Secretary shall award 

18 competitive grants to institutions of higher education to 

19 improve the availability and recruitment of teachers from 

20 among students majoring in mathematics, science, foreign 

21 languages, special education, or teaching the English lan22 guage to English language learners. In making such 

23 grants, the Secretary shall give priority to programs that 

24 focus on preparing teachers in subjects in which there is 


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1 a shortage of highly qualified teachers and that prepare 

2 students to teach in high-need schools. 

3 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—Any institution of higher edu4 cation desiring to obtain a grant under this part shall sub5 mit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

6 form, and containing such information and assurances as 

7 the Secretary may require, which shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) include reporting on baseline production of 

9 teachers with expertise in mathematics, science, a 

10 foreign language, or teaching English language 

11 learners; and 

12 ‘‘(2) establish a goal and timeline for increasing 

13 the number of such teachers who are prepared by 

14 the institution. 

15 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available by a 

16 grant under this part— 

17 ‘‘(1) shall be used to create new recruitment in18 centives to teaching for students from other majors, 

19 with an emphasis on high-need subjects such as 

20 mathematics, science, foreign languages, and teach21 ing the English language to English language learn22 ers; 

23 ‘‘(2) may be used to upgrade curricula in order 

24 to provide all students studying to become teachers 

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1 ing reading and teaching the English language to 

2 English language learners, and for modifying in3 struction to teach students with special needs; 

4 ‘‘(3) may be used to integrate school of edu5 cation faculty with other arts and science faculty in 

6 mathematics, science, foreign languages, and teach7 ing the English language to English language learn8 ers, through steps such as— 

9 ‘‘(A) dual appointments for faculty be10 tween schools of education and schools of arts 

11 and science; and 

12 ‘‘(B) integrating coursework with clinical 

13 experience; and 

14 ‘‘(4) may be used to develop strategic plans be15 tween schools of education and local educational 

16 agencies to better prepare teachers for high-need 

17 schools, including the creation of professional devel18 opment partnerships for training new teachers in 

19 state-of-the-art practice. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 242. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

22 this part $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

23 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

24 years.’’. 


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1 (c) PART A AUTHORIZATION.—Section 210 of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1030) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘$300,000,000 for fiscal year 

5 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘$400,000,000 for fiscal year 

6 2008’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘4 succeeding’’ and inserting ‘‘5 

8 succeeding’’. 

9 SEC. 102. EXPANDING TEACHER LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

10 (a) INCREASED AMOUNT; APPLICABILITY OF EX11 PANDED PROGRAM TO READING SPECIALIST.—Sections 

12 428J(c)(3) and 460(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10(c)(3), 1087j(c)(3)) are each 

14 amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘$17,500’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘$20,000’’; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara18 graph (A)(ii); 

19 (3) by striking the period at the end of sub20 paragraph (B)(iii) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 

23 school teacher who primarily teaches reading 

24 and who— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has obtained a separate reading 

2 instruction credential from the State in 

3 which the teacher is employed; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is certified by the chief adminis5 trative officer of the public or nonprofit 

6 private elementary school or secondary 

7 school in which the borrower is employed 

8 to teach reading— 

9 ‘‘(I) as being proficient in teach10 ing the essential components of read11 ing instruction, as defined in section 

12 1208 of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965; and 

14 ‘‘(II) as having such credential.’’. 

15 (b) ANNUAL INCREMENTS INSTEAD OF END OF

16 SERVICE LUMP SUMS.— 

17 (1) FFEL LOANS.—Section 428J(c) of the 

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

19 10(c)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL INCREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 

22 paragraph (1), in the case of an individual quali23 fying for loan forgiveness under paragraph (3), the 

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1 gation only upon completion of 5 complete years of 

2 service, assume the obligation to repay— 

3 ‘‘(A) after each of the first and second 

4 years of service by an individual in a position 

5 qualifying under paragraph (3), 15 percent of 

6 the total amount of principal and interest of the 

7 loans described in paragraph (1) to such indi8 vidual that are outstanding immediately pre9 ceding such first year of such service; 

10 ‘‘(B) after each of the third and fourth 

11 years of such service, 20 percent of such total 

12 amount; and 

13 ‘‘(C) after the fifth year of such service, 30 

14 percent of such total amount.’’. 

15 (2) DIRECT LOANS.—Section 460(c) of the 

16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j(c)) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL INCREMENTS.—Notwithstanding 

19 paragraph (1), in the case of an individual quali20 fying for loan cancellation under paragraph (3), the 

21 Secretary shall, in lieu of waiting to assume an obli22 gation only upon completion of 5 complete years of 

23 service, assume the obligation to repay— 

24 ‘‘(A) after each of the first and second 

25 years of service by an individual in a position 


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1 qualifying under paragraph (3), 15 percent of 

2 the total amount of principal and interest of the 

3 loans described in paragraph (1) to such indi4 vidual that are outstanding immediately pre5 ceding such first year of such service; 

6 ‘‘(B) after each of the third and fourth 

7 years of such service, 20 percent of such total 

8 amount; and 

9 ‘‘(C) after the fifth year of such service, 30 

10 percent of such total amount.’’. 

11 TITLE II—CLOSING THE 

12 TEACHER DISTRIBUTION GAP 

13 SEC. 201. GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO 

14 PROVIDE PREMIUM PAY TO TEACHERS IN 

15 HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS. 

16 Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add18 ing at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘PART E—TEACHER EXCELLENCE FOR ALL 

20 CHILDREN 

21 ‘‘SEC. 2500. DEFINITIONS. 

22 ‘‘In this part: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘high-need local educational 

24 agency’ means a local educational agency— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 

2 children from families with incomes below the 

3 poverty line, or for which not less than 20 per4 cent of the children served by the agency are 

5 from families with incomes below the poverty 

6 line; and 

7 ‘‘(B) that is having or expected to have 

8 difficulty filling teacher vacancies or hiring new 

9 teachers who are highly qualified. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘value-added longitudinal data 

11 system’ means a longitudinal data system for deter12 mining value-added student achievement gains. 

13 ‘‘(3) The term ‘value-added student achieve14 ment gains’ means student achievement gains deter15 mined by means of a system that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is sufficiently sophisticated and 

17 valid— 

18 ‘‘(i) to deal with the problem of stu19 dents with incomplete records; 

20 ‘‘(ii) to enable estimates to be precise 

21 and to use all the data for all students in 

22 multiple years, regardless of sparseness, in 

23 order to avoid measurement error in test 

24 scores (such as by using multivariate, lon25 gitudinal analyses); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to protect against inappropriate 

2 testing practices or improprieties in test 

3 administration; 

4 ‘‘(B) includes a way to acknowledge the ex5 istence of influences on student growth, such as 

6 pull-out programs for support beyond the 

7 standard delivery of instruction, so that af8 fected teachers do not receive an unfair advan9 tage; and 

10 ‘‘(C) has the capacity to assign various 

11 proportions of student growth to multiple teach12 ers when the classroom reality, such as team 

13 teaching and departmentalized instruction, 

14 makes such type of instruction an issue. 

15 ‘‘Subpart 1—Distribution 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2501. PREMIUM PAY; LOAN REPAYMENT. 

17 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 

18 local educational agencies to provide higher salaries to ex19 emplary, highly qualified principals and exemplary, highly 

20 qualified teachers with at least 3 years of experience, in21 cluding teachers certified by the National Board for Pro22 fessional Teaching Standards, if the principal or teacher 

23 agrees to serve full-time for a period of 4 consecutive 

24 school years at a public high-need elementary school or 

25 a public high-need secondary school. 


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1 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency 

2 that receives a grant under this section may use funds 

3 made available through the grant— 

4 ‘‘(1) to provide to exemplary, highly qualified 

5 principals up to $15,000 as an annual bonus for 

6 each of 4 consecutive school years if the principal 

7 commits to work full-time for such period in a public 

8 high-need elementary school or a public high-need 

9 secondary school; and 

10 ‘‘(2) to provide to exemplary, highly qualified 

11 teachers— 

12 ‘‘(A) up to $10,000 as an annual bonus for 

13 each of 4 consecutive school years if the teacher 

14 commits to work full-time for such period in a 

15 public high-need elementary school or a public 

16 high-need secondary school; or 

17 ‘‘(B) up to $12,500 as an annual bonus 

18 for each of 4 consecutive school years if the 

19 teacher commits to work full-time for such pe20 riod teaching a subject for which there is a doc21 umented shortage of teachers in a public high22 need elementary school or a public high-need 

23 secondary school. 

24 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF PAYMENT.—A local educational 

25 agency providing an annual bonus to a principal or teacher 


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1 under subsection (b) shall pay the bonus on completion 

2 of the service requirement by the principal or teacher for 

3 the applicable year. 

4 ‘‘(d) GRANT PERIOD.—The Secretary shall make 

5 grants under this section in yearly installments for a total 

6 period of 4 years. 

7 ‘‘(e) OBSERVATION, FEEDBACK, AND EVALUA8 TION.—The Secretary may make a grant to a local edu9 cational agency under this section only if the State in 

10 which the agency is located or the agency has in place 

11 or proposes a plan, developed on a collaborative basis with 

12 the local teacher organization, to develop a system in 

13 which principals and, if available, master teachers rate 

14 teachers as exemplary. Such a system shall be— 

15 ‘‘(1) based on strong learning gains for stu16 dents; 

17 ‘‘(2) based on classroom observation and feed18 back at least 4 times annually; 

19 ‘‘(3) conducted by multiple sources, including 

20 master teachers and principals; and 

21 ‘‘(4) evaluated against research-validated ru22 brics that use planning, instructional, and learning 

23 environment standards to measure teaching perform24 ance. 


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1 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To seek a grant 

2 under this section, a local educational agency shall submit 

3 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man4 ner, and containing such information as the Secretary rea5 sonably requires. At a minimum, the application shall in6 clude the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) A description of the agency’s proposed new 

8 teacher hiring timeline, including interim goals for 

9 any phase-in period. 

10 ‘‘(2) An assurance that the agency will— 

11 ‘‘(A) pay matching funds for the program 

12 carried out with the grant, which matching 

13 funds may be derived from funds received under 

14 other provisions of this title; 

15 ‘‘(B) commit to making the program sus16 tainable over time; 

17 ‘‘(C) create incentives to bring a critical 

18 mass of exemplary, highly qualified teachers to 

19 each school whose teachers will receive assist20 ance under this section; 

21 ‘‘(D) improve the school’s working condi22 tions through activities that may include— 

23 ‘‘(i) reducing class size; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ensuring the availability of class2 room materials, textbooks, and other sup3 plies; 

4 ‘‘(iii) improving or modernizing facili5 ties; and 

6 ‘‘(iv) upgrading safety; and 

7 ‘‘(E) accelerate the timeline for hiring new 

8 teachers in order to minimize the withdrawal of 

9 high-quality teacher applicants and secure the 

10 best new teacher talent for the local educational 

11 agency’s hardest-to-staff schools. 

12 ‘‘(3) An assurance that, in identifying exem13 plary teachers, the system described in subsection 

14 (e) will take into consideration— 

15 ‘‘(A) the growth of the teacher’s students 

16 on any tests required by the State educational 

17 agency; 

18 ‘‘(B) value-added student achievement 

19 gains if such teacher is in a State that uses a 

20 value-added longitudinal data system; 

21 ‘‘(C) National Board for Professional 

22 Teaching Standards certification; and 

23 ‘‘(D) evidence of teaching skill documented 

24 in performance-based assessments. 


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1 ‘‘(g) HIRING HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS EARLY

2 AND IN A TIMELY MANNER.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require4 ments of subsection (f), an application under such 

5 subsection shall include a description of the steps 

6 the local educational agency will take to enable all 

7 or a subset of the agency’s schools to hire new high8 ly qualified teachers early and in a timely manner, 

9 including— 

10 ‘‘(A) requiring a clear and early notifica11 tion date for retiring teachers that is no later 

12 than March 15 each year; 

13 ‘‘(B) providing schools with their staffing 

14 allocations for a school year no later than April 

15 of the preceding school year; 

16 ‘‘(C) enabling schools to consider external 

17 candidates at the same time as internal can18 didates for available positions; 

19 ‘‘(D) moving up the teacher transfer pe20 riod to April and not requiring schools to hire 

21 transferring or ‘excessed’ teachers from other 

22 schools without selection and consent; and 

23 ‘‘(E) establishing and implementing a new 

24 principal accountability framework to ensure 


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1 that principals with increased hiring authority 

2 are improving teacher quality. 

3 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this subsection shall be construed to alter or other5 wise affect the rights, remedies, and procedures af6 forded school or district employees under Federal, 

7 State, or local laws (including applicable regulations 

8 or court orders) or under the terms of collective bar9 gaining agreements, memoranda of understanding, 

10 or other agreements between such employees and 

11 their employers. 

12 ‘‘(h) PRIORITY.—In providing higher salaries to prin13 cipals and teachers under this section, a local educational 

14 agency shall give priority to principals and teachers at 

15 schools identified under section 1116 for school improve16 ment, corrective action, or restructuring. 

17 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘high-need’ means, with respect 

19 to an elementary school or a secondary school, a 

20 school that serves an eligible school attendance area 

21 in which not less than 65 percent of the children are 

22 from low-income families, based on the number of 

23 children eligible for free and reduced priced lunches 

24 under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 


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1 Act, or in which not less than 65 percent of the chil2 dren enrolled are from such families. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘documented shortage of teach4 ers’— 

5 ‘‘(A) means a shortage of teachers docu6 mented in the needs assessment submitted 

7 under section 2122 by the local educational 

8 agency involved or some other official dem9 onstration of shortage by the local educational 

10 agency; and 

11 ‘‘(B) may include such a shortage in math12 ematics, science, a foreign language, special 

13 education, bilingual education, or reading. 

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘exemplary, highly qualified prin15 cipal’ means a principal who— 

16 ‘‘(A) demonstrates a belief that every stu17 dent can achieve at high levels; 

18 ‘‘(B) demonstrates an ability to drive sub19 stantial gains in academic achievement for all 

20 students while closing the achievement gap for 

21 those farthest from meeting standards; 

22 ‘‘(C) uses data to drive instructional im23 provement; 

24 ‘‘(D) provides ongoing support and devel25 opment for teachers; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) builds a positive school community, 

2 treating every student with respect and rein3 forcing high expectations for all. 

4 ‘‘(4) The term ‘exemplary, highly qualified 

5 teacher’ means a highly qualified teacher who is 

6 rated as exemplary pursuant to a system described 

7 in subsection (e). 

8 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

9 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro10 priated $2,200,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such 

11 sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding 

12 fiscal years. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2502. CAREER LADDERS FOR TEACHERS PROGRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to 

15 local educational agencies to establish and implement a 

16 Career Ladders for Teachers Program in which the agen17 cy— 

18 ‘‘(1) augments the salary of teachers in high19 need elementary schools and high-need secondary 

20 schools to correspond to the increasing responsibil21 ities and leadership roles assumed by the teachers as 

22 they take on new professional roles (such as serving 

23 on school leadership teams, serving as instructional 

24 coaches, and serving in hybrid roles), including by— 


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1 ‘‘(A) providing not more than $10,000 as 

2 an annual augmentation to master teachers (in3 cluding teachers serving as master teachers as 

4 part of a state-of-the-art teacher induction pro5 gram under section 2511); and 

6 ‘‘(B) providing not more than $5,000 as 

7 an annual augmentation to mentor teachers (in8 cluding teachers serving as mentor teachers as 

9 part of a state-of-the-art teacher induction pro10 gram under section 2511); 

11 ‘‘(2) provides not more than $4,000 as an an12 nual bonus to all career teachers, master teachers, 

13 and mentor teachers in high-need elementary schools 

14 and high-need secondary schools based on a com15 bination of— 

16 ‘‘(A) at least 3 classroom evaluations over 

17 the course of the year that shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) be conducted by multiple eval19 uators, including master teachers and the 

20 principal; 

21 ‘‘(ii) be based on classroom observa22 tion at least 3 times annually; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) be evaluated against research24 validated benchmarks that use planning, 

25 instructional, and learning environment 


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1 standards to measure teacher performance; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) the performance of the teacher’s stu4 dents as determined by— 

5 ‘‘(i) student growth on any test that is 

6 required by the State educational agency 

7 or local educational agency and is adminis8 tered to the teacher’s students; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) in States or local educational 

10 agencies with value-added longitudinal 

11 data systems, whole-school value-added 

12 student achievement gains and classroom13 level value-added student achievement 

14 gains; or 

15 ‘‘(3) provides not more than $4,000 as an an16 nual bonus to principals in elementary schools and 

17 secondary schools based on the performance of the 

18 school’s students, taking into consideration whole19 school value-added student achievement gains in 

20 States that have value-added longitudinal data sys21 tems and in which information on whole-school 

22 value-added student achievement gains is available. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT.—A local edu24 cational agency may not use any funds under this section 


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1 to establish or implement a Career Ladders for Teachers 

2 Program unless— 

3 ‘‘(1) the percentage of teachers required by pre4 vailing union rules votes affirmatively to adopt the 

5 program; or 

6 ‘‘(2) in States that do not recognize collective 

7 bargaining between local educational agencies and 

8 teacher organizations, at least 75 percent of the 

9 teachers in the local educational agency vote affirm10 atively to adopt the program. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) The term ‘career teacher’ means a teacher 

13 who has a baccalaureate degree and full credentials 

14 or alternative certification including a passing level 

15 on elementary or secondary subject matter assess16 ments and professional knowledge assessments. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘mentor teacher’ means a teach18 er who— 

19 ‘‘(A) has a baccalaureate degree and full 

20 credentials or alternative certification including 

21 a passing level on any applicable elementary or 

22 secondary subject matter assessments and pro23 fessional knowledge assessments; 

24 ‘‘(B) has a portfolio and a classroom dem25 onstration showing instructional excellence; 


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1 ‘‘(C) has an ability, as demonstrated by 

2 student data, to increase student achievement 

3 through utilizing specific instructional strate4 gies; 

5 ‘‘(D) has a minimum of 3 years of teach6 ing experience; 

7 ‘‘(E) is recommended by the principal and 

8 other current master and mentor teachers; 

9 ‘‘(F) is an excellent instructor and commu10 nicator with an understanding of how to facili11 tate growth in the teachers the teacher is men12 toring; and 

13 ‘‘(G) performs well as a mentor in estab14 lished induction and peer review and mentoring 

15 programs. 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘master teacher’ means a teacher 

17 who— 

18 ‘‘(A) holds a master’s degree in the rel19 evant academic discipline; 

20 ‘‘(B) has a minimum of 5 years of success21 ful teaching experience, as measured by per22 formance evaluations, a portfolio of work, or 

23 National Board for Professional Teaching 

24 Standards certification; 


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1 ‘‘(C) demonstrates expertise in content, 

2 curriculum development, student learning, test 

3 analysis, mentoring, and professional develop4 ment, as demonstrated by an advanced degree, 

5 advanced training, career experience, or Na6 tional Board for Professional Teaching Stand7 ards certification; 

8 ‘‘(D) presents student data that illustrates 

9 the teacher’s ability to increase student achieve10 ment through utilizing specific instructional 

11 interventions; 

12 ‘‘(E) has instructional expertise dem13 onstrated through model teaching, team teach14 ing, video presentations, student achievement 

15 gains, or National Board for Professional 

16 Teaching Standards certification; 

17 ‘‘(F) may hold a valid National Board for 

18 Professional Teaching Standards certificate, 

19 may have passed another rigorous standard, or 

20 may have been selected as a school, district, or 

21 State teacher of the year; and 

22 ‘‘(G) is currently participating, or has pre23 viously participated, in a professional develop24 ment program that supports classroom teachers 

25 as mentors. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘high-need’, with respect to an 

2 elementary school or a secondary school, has the 

3 meaning given to that term in section 2501(i). 

4 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

5 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro6 priated $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

7 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

8 years.’’. 

9 TITLE III—IMPROVING TEACHER 

10 PREPARATION 

11 SEC. 301. AMENDMENT TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC12 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

13 Part E of title II of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965, as added by title II of this Act, 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘Subpart 2—Preparation 

17 ‘‘SEC. 2511. ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART TEACHER IN18 DUCTION PROGRAMS. 

19 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to 

20 States and eligible local educational agencies for the pur21 pose of developing state-of-the-art teacher induction pro22 grams. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

24 this section, the term ‘eligible local educational agency’ 

25 means— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a high-need local educational agency; or 

2 ‘‘(2) a partnership between a high-need local 

3 educational agency and an institution of higher edu4 cation, a teacher organization, or any other non5 profit education organization. 

6 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or an eligible local 

7 educational agency that receives a grant under subsection 

8 (a) shall use the funds made available through the grant 

9 to develop a state-of the-art teacher induction program 

10 that— 

11 ‘‘(1) provides new teachers a minimum of 3 

12 years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive in13 duction into the field of teaching; and 

14 ‘‘(2) includes— 

15 ‘‘(A) structured mentoring for new teach16 ers from highly qualified master or mentor 

17 teachers who are certified, have teaching experi18 ence similar to the grade level or subject assign19 ment of the new teacher, and are trained to 

20 mentor new teachers; 

21 ‘‘(B) at least 90 minutes each week of 

22 common meeting time for a new teacher to dis23 cuss student work and teaching under the direc24 tor of a master or mentor teacher; 


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1 ‘‘(C) regular classroom observation in the 

2 new teacher’s classroom; 

3 ‘‘(D) observation by the new teacher of the 

4 mentor teacher’s classroom; 

5 ‘‘(E) intensive professional development ac6 tivities for new teachers that result in improved 

7 teaching leading to student achievement, includ8 ing lesson demonstration by master and mentor 

9 teachers in the classroom, observation, and 

10 feedback; 

11 ‘‘(F) training in effective instructional 

12 services and classroom management strategies 

13 for mainstream teachers serving students with 

14 disabilities and students with limited English 

15 proficiency; 

16 ‘‘(G) observation of teachers and feedback 

17 at least 4 times each school year by multiple 

18 evaluators, including master teachers and the 

19 principals, using research-validated benchmarks 

20 of teaching skills and standards that are devel21 oped with input from teachers; 

22 ‘‘(H) paid release time for the mentor 

23 teacher for mentoring, or salary supplements 

24 under section 2502, for mentoring new teachers 


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1 at a ratio of one full-time mentor to every 12 

2 new teachers; 

3 ‘‘(I) a transition year to the classroom that 

4 includes a reduced workload for beginning 

5 teachers; and 

6 ‘‘(J) a standards-based assessment of 

7 every beginning teacher to determine whether 

8 the teacher should move forward in the teach9 ing profession, which assessment may include 

10 examination of practice and a measure of gains 

11 in student learning. 

12 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

13 shall commission an independent evaluation of state-of 

14 the-art teacher induction programs supported under this 

15 section in order to compare the design and outcome of 

16 various models of induction programs. 

17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

18 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro19 priated $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

20 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

21 years. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 2512. PEER MENTORING AND REVIEW PROGRAMS. 

23 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make grants to 

24 local educational agencies for peer mentoring and review 

25 programs. 


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1 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency 

2 that receives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

3 made available through the grant to establish and imple4 ment a peer mentoring and review program. Such a pro5 gram shall be established through collective bargaining 

6 agreements or, in States that do not recognize collective 

7 bargaining between local educational agencies and teacher 

8 organizations, through joint agreements between the local 

9 educational agency and affected teacher organizations. 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec11 tion, a local educational agency shall submit an application 

12 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor13 mation as the Secretary may reasonably require. The Sec14 retary shall require each such application to include the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(1) Data from the applicant on recruitment 

17 and retention prior to implementing the induction 

18 program. 

19 ‘‘(2) Measurable goals for increasing retention 

20 after the induction program is implemented. 

21 ‘‘(3) Measures that will be used to determine 

22 whether teacher effectiveness is improved through 

23 participation in the induction program. 

24 ‘‘(4) A plan for evaluating and reporting 

25 progress toward meeting the applicant’s goals. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PROGRESS REPORTS.—The Secretary shall re2 quire each grantee under this section to submit progress 

3 reports on an annual basis. 

4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

5 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro6 priated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

7 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

8 years. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2513. ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART PRINCIPAL 

10 TRAINING AND INDUCTION PROGRAMS AND 

11 PERFORMANCE-BASED PRINCIPAL CERTIFI12 CATION. 

13 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to 

14 not more than 10 States to develop, implement, and evalu15 ate pilot programs for performance-based certification and 

16 training of exemplary, highly qualified principals who can 

17 drive gains in academic achievement for all children. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—A pilot program 

19 developed under this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall pilot the development, implementa21 tion, and evaluation of a statewide performance22 based system for certifying principals; 

23 ‘‘(2) shall pilot and demonstrate the effective24 ness of statewide performance-based certification 


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1 through support for innovative performance-based 

2 programs on a smaller scale; 

3 ‘‘(3) shall provide for certification of principals 

4 by institutions with strong track records, such as a 

5 local educational agency, nonprofit organization, or 

6 business school, that is approved by the State for 

7 purposes of such certification and has formalized 

8 partnerships with in-State local educational agencies; 

9 ‘‘(4) may be used to develop, sustain, and ex10 pand model programs for recruiting and training as11 piring and new principals in both instructional lead12 ership and general management skills; 

13 ‘‘(5) shall include evaluation of the results of 

14 the pilot program and other in-State programs of 

15 principal preparation (which evaluation may include 

16 value-added assessment scores of all children in a 

17 school and should emphasize the correlation of aca18 demic achievement gains in schools led by partici19 pating principals and the characteristics and skills 

20 demonstrated by those individuals when applying to 

21 and participating in the program) to inform the de22 sign of certification of individuals to become school 

23 leaders in the State; and 


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1 ‘‘(6) shall make possible interim certification 

2 for up to 2 years for aspiring principals partici3 pating in the pilot program who— 

4 ‘‘(A) have not yet attained full certifi5 cation; 

6 ‘‘(B) are serving as assistant principals or 

7 principal residents, or in positions of similar re8 sponsibility; and 

9 ‘‘(C) have met clearly defined criteria for 

10 entry into the program that are approved by 

11 the applicable local educational agency. 

12 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 

13 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to States that 

14 will use the grants for 1 or more high-need local edu15 cational agencies and schools. 

16 ‘‘(d) TERMS OF GRANT.—A grant under this sec17 tion— 

18 ‘‘(1) shall be for not more than 5 years; and 

19 ‘‘(2) shall be performance-based, permitting the 

20 Secretary to discontinue funding based on failure of 

21 the State to meet the benchmarks identified by the 

22 State. 

23 ‘‘(e) USE OF EVALUATION RESULTS.—A State re24 ceiving a grant under this section shall use the evaluation 

25 results of the pilot program conducted pursuant to the 


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1 grant and similar evaluations of other in-State programs 

2 of principal preparation (especially the correlation of aca3 demic achievement gains in schools led by participating 

4 principals and the characteristics and skills demonstrated 

5 by those individuals when applying to and participating 

6 in the pilot program) to inform the design of the certifi7 cation of individuals to become school leaders in the State. 

8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘exemplary, highly qualified prin10 cipal’ has the meaning given to that term in section 

11 2501. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘performance-based certification 

13 system’ means a certification system that— 

14 ‘‘(A) is based on a clearly defined set of 

15 standards for skills and knowledge needed by 

16 new principals; 

17 ‘‘(B) is not based on the numbers of hours 

18 enrolled in particular courses; 

19 ‘‘(C) certifies participating individuals to 

20 become school leaders primarily based on— 

21 ‘‘(i) their demonstration of those skills 

22 through a formal assessment aligned to 

23 these standards; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) academic achievement results in 

2 a school leadership role such as a residency 

3 or an assistant principalship; and 

4 ‘‘(D) awards certification to individuals 

5 who successfully complete programs at institu6 tions that include local educational agencies, 

7 nonprofit organizations, and business schools 

8 approved by the State for purposes of such cer9 tification and have formalized partnerships with 

10 in-State local educational agencies. 

11 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

12 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro13 priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

14 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

15 years. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 2514. STUDY ON DEVELOPING A PORTABLE PER17 FORMANCE-BASED TEACHER ASSESSMENT. 

18 ‘‘(a) STUDY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

20 into an arrangement with an objective evaluation 

21 firm to conduct a study to assess the validity of any 

22 test used for teacher certification or licensure by 

23 multiple States, taking into account the passing 

24 scores adopted by multiple States. The study shall 

25 determine the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The extent to which tests of content 

2 knowledge represent subject mastery at the bac3 calaureate level. 

4 ‘‘(B) Whether tests of pedagogy reflect the 

5 latest research on teaching and learning. 

6 ‘‘(C) The relationship, if any, between 

7 teachers’ scores on licensure and certification 

8 examinations and other measures of teacher ef9 fectiveness, including learning gains achieved by 

10 the teachers’ students. 

11 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a 

12 report to the Congress on the results of the study 

13 conducted under this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANT TO CREATE A MODEL PERFORMANCE15 BASED ASSESSMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) GRANT.—The Secretary may make 1 

17 grant to an eligible partnership to create a model 

18 performance-based assessment of teaching skills that 

19 reliably evaluates teaching skills in practice and can 

20 be used to facilitate the portability of teacher cre21 dentials and licensing from one State to another. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF STUDY.—In creating a 

23 model performance-based assessment of teaching 

24 skills, the recipient of a grant under this section 


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1 shall take into consideration the results of the study 

2 conducted under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—In this section, 

4 the term ‘eligible partnership’ means a partnership 

5 of— 

6 ‘‘(A) an independent professional organiza7 tion; and 

8 ‘‘(B) an organization that represents ad9 ministrators of State educational agencies.’’. 

10 SEC. 302. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT 

11 OF 1965: TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT 

12 GRANTS. 

13 Part A of title II of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 is amended by striking sections 206 through 209 

15 (20 U.S.C. 1026–1029) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 206. ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATION. 

17 ‘‘(a) STATE GRANT ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT.—An 

18 eligible State that receives a grant under section 202 shall 

19 submit an annual accountability report to the Secretary, 

20 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen21 sions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 

22 the Workforce of the House of Representatives. Such re23 port shall include a description of the degree to which the 

24 eligible State, in using funds provided under such section, 


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1 has made substantial progress in meeting the following 

2 goals: 

3 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED

4 TEACHERS.—Increasing the percentage of highly 

5 qualified teachers in the State as required by section 

6 1119 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

7 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319). 

8 ‘‘(2) STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.—In9 creasing student academic achievement for all stu10 dents, which may be measured through the use of 

11 value-added assessments, as defined by the eligible 

12 State. 

13 ‘‘(3) RAISING STANDARDS.—Raising the State 

14 academic standards required to enter the teaching 

15 profession as a highly qualified teacher. 

16 ‘‘(4) INITIAL CERTIFICATION OR LICENSURE.— 

17 Increasing success in the pass rate for initial State 

18 teacher certification or licensure, or increasing the 

19 numbers of qualified individuals being certified or li20 censed as teachers through alternative routes to cer21 tification and licensure. 

22 ‘‘(5) DECREASING TEACHER SHORTAGES.—De23 creasing shortages of highly qualified teachers in 

24 poor urban and rural areas. 


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1 ‘‘(6) INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR RE2 SEARCH-BASED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—In3 creasing opportunities for enhanced and ongoing 

4 professional development that— 

5 ‘‘(A) improves the academic content knowl6 edge of teachers in the subject areas in which 

7 the teachers are certified or licensed to teach or 

8 in which the teachers are working toward cer9 tification or licensure to teach; and 

10 ‘‘(B) promotes strong teaching skills. 

11 ‘‘(7) TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION.—Increasing 

12 the number of teachers prepared effectively to inte13 grate technology into curricula and instruction and 

14 who use technology to collect, manage, and analyze 

15 data to improve teaching, learning, and parental in16 volvement decisionmaking for the purpose of increas17 ing student academic achievement. 

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP EVALUATION.—Each 

19 eligible partnership applying for a grant under section 203 

20 shall establish, and include in the application submitted 

21 under section 203(c), an evaluation plan that includes 

22 strong performance objectives. The plan shall include ob23 jectives and measures for— 

24 ‘‘(1) increased student achievement for all stu25 dents, as measured by the partnership; 


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1 ‘‘(2) increased teacher retention in the first 3 

2 years of a teacher’s career; 

3 ‘‘(3) increased success in the pass rate for ini4 tial State certification or licensure of teachers; 

5 ‘‘(4) increased percentage of highly qualified 

6 teachers; and 

7 ‘‘(5) increasing the number of teachers trained 

8 effectively to integrate technology into curricula and 

9 instruction and who use technology to collect, man10 age, and analyze data to improve teaching, learning, 

11 and decisionmaking for the purpose of improving 

12 student academic achievement. 

13 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION OF GRANT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Each eligible State or eligible 

15 partnership receiving a grant under section 202 or 

16 203 shall report annually on the progress of the eli17 gible State or eligible partnership toward meeting 

18 the purposes of this part and the goals, objectives, 

19 and measures described in subsections (a) and (b). 

20 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE STATES AND ELIGIBLE AP22 PLICANTS.—If the Secretary determines that an 

23 eligible State or eligible applicant is not making 

24 substantial progress in meeting the purposes, 

25 goals, objectives, and measures, as appropriate, 


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1 by the end of the second year of a grant under 

2 this part, then the grant payment shall not be 

3 made for the third year of the grant. 

4 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—If the 

5 Secretary determines that an eligible partner6 ship is not making substantial progress in 

7 meeting the purposes, goals, objectives, and 

8 measures, as appropriate, by the end of the 

9 third year of a grant under this part, then the 

10 grant payments shall not be made for any suc11 ceeding year of the grant. 

12 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION AND DISSEMINATION.—The Sec13 retary shall evaluate the activities funded under this part 

14 and report annually the Secretary’s findings regarding the 

15 activities to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

16 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu17 cation and the Workforce of the House of Representatives. 

18 The Secretary shall broadly disseminate successful prac19 tices developed by eligible States and eligible partnerships 

20 under this part, and shall broadly disseminate information 

21 regarding such practices that were found to be ineffective. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 207. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PROGRAMS THAT PRE23 PARE TEACHERS. 

24 ‘‘(a) STATE REPORT CARD ON THE QUALITY OF

25 TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL PREPARATION.—Each State 


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1 that receives funds under this Act shall provide to the Sec2 retary annually, in a uniform and comprehensible manner 

3 that conforms with the definitions and methods estab4 lished by the Secretary, a State report card on the quality 

5 of teacher preparation in the State, both for traditional 

6 certification or licensure programs and for alternative cer7 tification or licensure programs, which shall include at 

8 least the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) A description of the teacher and principal 

10 certification and licensure assessments, and any 

11 other certification and licensure requirements, used 

12 by the State. 

13 ‘‘(2) The standards and criteria that prospec14 tive teachers and principals must meet in order to 

15 attain initial teacher and principal certification or li16 censure and to be certified or licensed to teach par17 ticular subjects or in particular grades within the 

18 State. 

19 ‘‘(3) A demonstration of the extent to which the 

20 assessments and requirements described in para21 graph (1) are aligned with the State’s standards and 

22 assessments for students. 

23 ‘‘(4) The percentage of students who have com24 pleted the clinical coursework for a teacher prepara25 tion program at an institution of higher education or 


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1 alternative certification program and who have taken 

2 and passed each of the assessments used by the 

3 State for teacher certification and licensure, and the 

4 passing score on each assessment that determines 

5 whether a candidate has passed that assessment. 

6 ‘‘(5) For students who have completed the clin7 ical coursework for a teacher preparation program 

8 at an institution of higher education or alternative 

9 certification program, and who have taken and 

10 passed each of the assessments used by the State for 

11 teacher certification and licensure, each such institu12 tion’s and each such program’s average raw score, 

13 ranked by teacher preparation program, which shall 

14 be made available widely and publicly. 

15 ‘‘(6) A description of each State’s alternative 

16 routes to teacher certification, if any, and the num17 ber and percentage of teachers certified through 

18 each alternative certification route who pass State 

19 teacher certification or licensure assessments. 

20 ‘‘(7) For each State, a description of proposed 

21 criteria for assessing the performance of teacher and 

22 principal preparation programs in the State, includ23 ing indicators of teacher and principal candidate 

24 skills, placement, and retention rates (to the extent 


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1 feasible), and academic content knowledge and evi2 dence of gains in student academic achievement. 

3 ‘‘(8) For each teacher preparation program in 

4 the State, the number of students in the program, 

5 the number of minority students in the program, the 

6 average number of hours of supervised practice 

7 teaching required for those in the program, and the 

8 number of full-time equivalent faculty, adjunct fac9 ulty, and students in supervised practice teaching. 

10 ‘‘(9) For the State as a whole, and for each 

11 teacher preparation program in the State, the num12 ber of teachers prepared, in the aggregate and re13 ported separately by— 

14 ‘‘(A) level (elementary or secondary); 

15 ‘‘(B) academic major; 

16 ‘‘(C) subject or subjects for which the stu17 dent has been prepared to teach; and 

18 ‘‘(D) teacher candidates who speak a lan19 guage other than English and have been trained 

20 specifically to teach English-language learners. 

21 ‘‘(10) The State shall refer to the data gen22 erated for paragraphs (8) and (9) to report on the 

23 extent to which teacher preparation programs are 

24 helping to address shortages of qualified teachers, by 

25 level, subject, and specialty, in the State’s public 


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1 schools, especially in poor urban and rural areas as 

2 required by section 206(a)(5). 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT OF THE SECRETARY ON THE QUALITY

4 OF TEACHER PREPARATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) REPORT CARD.—The Secretary shall pro6 vide to Congress, and publish and make widely avail7 able, a report card on teacher qualifications and 

8 preparation in the United States, including all the 

9 information reported in paragraphs (1) through (10) 

10 of subsection (a). Such report shall identify States 

11 for which eligible States and eligible partnerships re12 ceived a grant under this part. Such report shall be 

13 so provided, published, and made available annually. 

14 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

15 shall report to Congress— 

16 ‘‘(A) a comparison of States’ efforts to im17 prove teaching quality; and 

18 ‘‘(B) regarding the national mean and me19 dian scores on any standardized test that is 

20 used in more than 1 State for teacher certifi21 cation or licensure. 

22 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of programs 

23 with fewer than 10 students who have completed the 

24 clinical coursework for a teacher preparation pro25 gram taking any single initial teacher certification or 


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1 licensure assessment during an academic year, the 

2 Secretary shall collect and publish information with 

3 respect to an average pass rate on State certification 

4 or licensure assessments taken over a 3-year period. 

5 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, to the extent 

6 practicable, shall coordinate the information collected and 

7 published under this part among States for individuals 

8 who took State teacher certification or licensure assess9 ments in a State other than the State in which the indi10 vidual received the individual’s most recent degree. 

11 ‘‘(d) INSTITUTION AND PROGRAM REPORT CARDS ON

12 QUALITY OF TEACHER PREPARATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) REPORT CARD.—Each institution of higher 

14 education or alternative certification program that 

15 conducts a teacher preparation program that enrolls 

16 students receiving Federal assistance under this Act 

17 shall report annually to the State and the general 

18 public, in a uniform and comprehensible manner 

19 that conforms with the definitions and methods es20 tablished by the Secretary, both for traditional cer21 tification or licensure programs and for alternative 

22 certification or licensure programs, the following in23 formation, disaggregated by major racial and ethnic 

24 groups: 


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1 ‘‘(A) PASS RATE.—(i) For the most recent 

2 year for which the information is available, the 

3 pass rate of each student who has completed 

4 the clinical coursework for the teacher prepara5 tion program on the teacher certification or li6 censure assessments of the State in which the 

7 institution is located, but only for those stu8 dents who took those assessments within 3 

9 years of receiving a degree from the institution 

10 or completing the program. 

11 ‘‘(ii) A comparison of the institution or 

12 program’s pass rate for students who have com13 pleted the clinical coursework for the teacher 

14 preparation program with the average pass rate 

15 for institutions and programs in the State. 

16 ‘‘(iii) In the case of programs with fewer 

17 than 10 students who have completed the clin18 ical coursework for a teacher preparation pro19 gram taking any single initial teacher certifi20 cation or licensure assessment during an aca21 demic year, the institution shall collect and 

22 publish information with respect to an average 

23 pass rate on State certification or licensure as24 sessments taken over a 3-year period. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM INFORMATION.—The num2 ber of students in the program, the average 

3 number of hours of supervised practice teaching 

4 required for those in the program, and the 

5 number of full-time equivalent faculty and stu6 dents in supervised practice teaching. 

7 ‘‘(C) STATEMENT.—In States that require 

8 approval or accreditation of teacher education 

9 programs, a statement of whether the institu10 tion’s program is so approved or accredited, 

11 and by whom. 

12 ‘‘(D) DESIGNATION AS LOW-PER13 FORMING.—Whether the program has been des14 ignated as low-performing by the State under 

15 section 208(a). 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The information de17 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be reported through 

18 publications such as school catalogs and promotional 

19 materials sent to potential applicants, secondary 

20 school guidance counselors, and prospective employ21 ers of the institution’s program graduates, including 

22 materials sent by electronic means. 

23 ‘‘(3) FINES.—In addition to the actions author24 ized in section 487(c), the Secretary may impose a 

25 fine not to exceed $25,000 on an institution of highVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:41 May 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339

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1 er education for failure to provide the information 

2 described in this subsection in a timely or accurate 

3 manner. 

4 ‘‘(e) DATA QUALITY.—Either— 

5 ‘‘(1) the Governor of the State; or 

6 ‘‘(2) in the case of a State for which the con7 stitution or law of such State designates another in8 dividual, entity, or agency in the State to be respon9 sible for teacher certification and preparation activ10 ity, such individual, entity, or agency; 

11 shall attest annually, in writing, as to the reliability, valid12 ity, integrity, and accuracy of the data submitted pursuant 

13 to this section. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 208. STATE FUNCTIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) STATE ASSESSMENT.—In order to receive funds 

16 under this Act, a State shall have in place a procedure 

17 to identify and assist, through the provision of technical 

18 assistance, low-performing programs of teacher prepara19 tion within institutions of higher education. Such State 

20 shall provide the Secretary an annual list of such low-per21 forming institutions that includes an identification of 

22 those institutions at risk of being placed on such list. Such 

23 levels of performance shall be determined solely by the 

24 State and may include criteria based upon information col25 lected pursuant to this part. Such assessment shall be deVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:41 May 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1339.IS S1339

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1 scribed in the report under section 207(a). A State receiv2 ing Federal funds under this title shall develop plans to 

3 close or reconstitute underperforming programs of teacher 

4 preparation within institutions of higher education. 

5 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Any institu6 tion of higher education that offers a program of teacher 

7 preparation in which the State has withdrawn the State’s 

8 approval or terminated the State’s financial support due 

9 to the low performance of the institution’s teacher prepa10 ration program based upon the State assessment described 

11 in subsection (a)— 

12 ‘‘(1) shall be ineligible for any funding for pro13 fessional development activities awarded by the De14 partment of Education; and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall not be permitted to accept or enroll 

16 any student who receives aid under title IV of this 

17 Act in the institution’s teacher preparation program. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 209. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

19 ‘‘In complying with sections 207 and 208, the Sec20 retary shall ensure that States and institutions of higher 

21 education use fair and equitable methods in reporting and 

22 that the reporting methods do not allow identification of 

23 individuals.’’. 


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1 SEC. 303. ENFORCING NCLB’S TEACHER EQUITY PROVI2 SION. 

3 Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary 

4 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9537. ASSURANCE OF REASONABLE PROGRESS TO7 WARD EQUITABLE ACCESS TO TEACHER 

8 QUALITY. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not provide 

10 any assistance to a State under this Act unless, in the 

11 State’s application for such assistance, the State— 

12 ‘‘(1) provides the plan required by section 

13 1111(b)(8)(C) and at least one public report pursu14 ant to that section; 

15 ‘‘(2) clearly articulates the measures the State 

16 is using to determine whether poor and minority stu17 dents are being taught disproportionately by inexpe18 rienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers; 

19 ‘‘(3) includes an evaluation of the success of the 

20 State’s plan required by section 1111(b)(8)(C) in 

21 addressing any such disparities; 

22 ‘‘(4) with respect to any such disparities, pro23 poses modifications to such plan; and 

24 ‘‘(5) includes a description of the State’s activi25 ties to monitor the compliance of local educational 

26 agencies in the State with section 1112(c)(1)(L). 


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1 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section applies with 

2 respect to any assistance under this Act for which an ap3 plication is submitted after the date of the enactment of 

4 this section.’’. 

5 TITLE IV—EQUIPPING TEACH6 ERS, SCHOOLS, LOCAL EDU7 CATIONAL AGENCIES, AND 

8 STATES WITH THE 21ST CEN9 TURY DATA, TOOLS, AND AS10 SESSMENTS THEY NEED 

11 SEC. 401. 21ST CENTURY DATA, TOOLS, AND ASSESSMENTS. 

12 Part E of title II of the Elementary and Secondary 

13 Education Act of 1965, as added by titles II and III of 

14 this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘Subpart 3—21st Century Data, Tools, and 

16 Assessments 

17 ‘‘SEC. 2521. DEVELOPING VALUE-ADDED DATA SYSTEMS. 

18 ‘‘(a) TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL EVALUATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make 

20 grants to States to develop and implement statewide 

21 data systems to collect and analyze data on the ef22 fectiveness of elementary school and secondary 

23 school teachers and principals, based on value-added 

24 student achievement gains, for the purposes of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) determining the distribution of effec2 tive teachers and principals in schools across 

3 the State; 

4 ‘‘(B) developing measures for helping 

5 teachers and principals to improve their in6 struction; and 

7 ‘‘(C) evaluating the effectiveness of teacher 

8 and principal preparation programs. 

9 ‘‘(2) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—At a minimum, a 

10 statewide data system under this section shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) track student course-taking patterns 

12 and teacher characteristics, such as certification 

13 status and performance on licensure exams; and 

14 ‘‘(B) allow for the analysis of gains in 

15 achievement made by individual students over 

16 time, including gains demonstrated through stu17 dent academic assessments under section 1111 

18 and tests required by the State for course com19 pletion. 

20 ‘‘(3) STANDARDS.—The Secretary shall develop 

21 standards for the collection of data with grant funds 

22 under this section to ensure that such data are sta23 tistically valid and reliable. 

24 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this 

25 section, a State shall submit an application at such 


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1 time, in such manner, and containing such informa2 tion as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, 

3 each such application shall demonstrate to the Sec4 retary’s satisfaction that the assessments used by 

5 the State to collect and analyze data for purposes of 

6 this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) are aligned to State standards; 

8 ‘‘(B) have the capacity to assess the 

9 highest- and lowest-performing students; and 

10 ‘‘(C) are statistically valid and reliable. 

11 ‘‘(b) TEACHER TRAINING.—The Secretary may make 

12 grants to institutions of higher education, local edu13 cational agencies, nonprofit organizations, and teacher or14 ganizations to develop and implement innovative programs 

15 to provide preservice and in-service training to elementary 

16 and secondary schools on— 

17 ‘‘(1) understanding increasingly sophisticated 

18 student achievement data, especially data derived 

19 from value-added longitudinal data systems; and 

20 ‘‘(2) using such data to improve classroom in21 struction. 

22 ‘‘(c) STUDY.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

23 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences— 

24 ‘‘(1) to evaluate the quality of data on the ef25 fectiveness of elementary school and secondary 


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1 school teachers, based on value-added student 

2 achievement gains; and 

3 ‘‘(2) to compare a range of models for collecting 

4 and analyzing such data. 

5 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

6 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro7 priated $200,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2008 

8 and 2009 and such sums as may be necessary for each 

9 of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

10 SEC. 402. COLLECTING NATIONAL DATA ON DISTRIBUTION 

11 OF TEACHERS. 

12 Section 155 of the Education Sciences Reform Act 

13 of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9545) is amended by adding at the 

14 end the following: 

15 ‘‘(d) SCHOOLS AND STAFFING SURVEY.—Not later 

16 than the end of fiscal year 2008, and every 3 years there17 after, the Statistics Commissioner shall publish the results 

18 of the Schools and Staffing Survey (or any successor sur19 vey).’’. 


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1 TITLE V—RETENTION: KEEPING 

2 OUR BEST TEACHERS IN THE 

3 CLASSROOM 

4 SEC. 501. AMENDMENT TO THE ELEMENTARY AND SEC5 ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

6 Part E of title II of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965, as added by titles II, III, and IV 

8 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘Subpart 4—Retention and Working Conditions 

10 ‘‘SEC. 2531. IMPROVING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OP11 PORTUNITIES. 

12 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to 

13 eligible entities for the establishment and operation of new 

14 teacher centers or the support of existing teacher centers. 

15 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In making grants 

16 under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid17 eration to any application submitted by an eligible entity 

18 that is— 

19 ‘‘(1) a high-need local educational agency; or 

20 ‘‘(2) a consortium that includes at least one 

21 high-need local educational agency. 

22 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 

23 be for a period of 3 years. 


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1 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A teacher center re2 ceiving assistance under this section shall carry out each 

3 of the following activities: 

4 ‘‘(1) Providing high-quality professional devel5 opment to teachers to assist them in improving their 

6 knowledge, skills, and teaching practices in order to 

7 help students to improve their achievement and meet 

8 State academic content standards. 

9 ‘‘(2) Providing teachers with information on de10 velopments in curricula, assessments, and edu11 cational research, including the manner in which the 

12 research and data can be used to improve teaching 

13 skills and practice. 

14 ‘‘(3) Providing training and support for new 

15 teachers. 

16 ‘‘(e) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A teacher center 

17 may use assistance under this section for any of the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(1) Assessing the professional development 

20 needs of the teachers and other instructional school 

21 employees, such as librarians, counselors, and para22 professionals, to be served by the center. 

23 ‘‘(2) Providing intensive support to staff to im24 prove instruction in literacy, mathematics, science, 


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1 and other curricular areas necessary to provide a 

2 well-rounded education to students. 

3 ‘‘(3) Providing support to mentors working with 

4 new teachers. 

5 ‘‘(4) Providing training in effective instructional 

6 services and classroom management strategies for 

7 mainstream teachers serving students with disabil8 ities and students with limited English proficiency. 

9 ‘‘(5) Enabling teachers to engage in study 

10 groups and other collaborative activities and collegial 

11 interactions regarding instruction. 

12 ‘‘(6) Paying for release time and substitute 

13 teachers in order to enable teachers to participate in 

14 the activities of the teacher center. 

15 ‘‘(7) Creating libraries of professional materials 

16 and educational technology. 

17 ‘‘(8) Providing high-quality professional devel18 opment for other instructional staff, such as para19 professionals, librarians, and counselors. 

20 ‘‘(9) Assisting teachers to become highly quali21 fied and paraprofessionals to become teachers. 

22 ‘‘(10) Assisting paraprofessionals to meet the 

23 requirements of section 1119. 

24 ‘‘(11) Developing curricula. 


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1 ‘‘(12) Incorporating additional on-line profes2 sional development resources for participants. 

3 ‘‘(13) Providing funding for individual- or 

4 group-initiated classroom projects. 

5 ‘‘(14) Developing partnerships with businesses 

6 and community-based organizations. 

7 ‘‘(15) Establishing a teacher center site. 

8 ‘‘(f) TEACHER CENTER POLICY BOARD.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A teacher center receiving 

10 assistance under this section shall be operated under 

11 the supervision of a teacher center policy board. 

12 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 ‘‘(A) TEACHER REPRESENTATIVES.—The 

14 majority of the members of a teacher center 

15 policy board shall be representatives of, and se16 lected by, the elementary and secondary school 

17 teachers to be served by the teacher center. 

18 Such representatives shall be selected through 

19 the teacher organization, or if there is no teach20 er organization, by the teachers directly. 

21 ‘‘(B) OTHER REPRESENTATIVES.—The 

22 members of a teacher center policy board— 

23 ‘‘(i) shall include at least two mem24 bers who are representative of, or des25 ignated by, the school board of the local 


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1 educational agency to be served by the 

2 teacher center; 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall include at least one member 

4 who is a representative of, and is des5 ignated by, the institutions of higher edu6 cation (with departments or schools of edu7 cation) located in the area; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) may include paraprofessionals. 

9 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To seek a grant under this 

11 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application 

12 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

13 accompanied by such information as the Secretary 

14 may reasonably require. 

15 ‘‘(2) ASSURANCE OF COMPLIANCE.—An appli16 cation under paragraph (1) shall include an assur17 ance that the applicant will require any teacher cen18 ter receiving assistance through the grant to comply 

19 with the requirements of this section. 

20 ‘‘(3) TEACHER CENTER POLICY BOARD.—An 

21 application under paragraph (1) shall include the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(A) An assurance that— 

24 ‘‘(i) the applicant has established a 

25 teacher center policy board; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the board participated fully in 

2 the preparation of the application; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the board approved the applica4 tion as submitted. 

5 ‘‘(B) A description of the membership of 

6 the board and the method of its selection. 

7 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a local 

9 educational agency or a consortium of 2 or more 

10 local educational agencies. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘teacher center policy board’ 

12 means a teacher center policy board described in 

13 subsection (f). 

14 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

15 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro16 priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums 

17 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

18 years.’’. 

19 SEC. 502. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF COMPENSA20 TION OF TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS IN CER21 TAIN HIGH-NEED SCHOOLS OR TEACHING 

22 HIGH-NEED SUBJECTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap24 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

25 by inserting after section 139A the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 139B. COMPENSATION OF CERTAIN TEACHERS AND 

2 PRINCIPALS. 

3 ‘‘(a) TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS IN HIGH-NEED

4 SCHOOLS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

6 employed as a teacher or principal in a high-need 

7 school during the taxable year, gross income does 

8 not include so much remuneration for such employ9 ment (which would but for this paragraph be includ10 ible in gross income) as does not exceed $15,000. 

11 ‘‘(2) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—For purposes of 

12 this subsection, the term ‘high-need school’ means 

13 any public elementary school or public secondary 

14 school eligible for assistance under section 1114 of 

15 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314). 

17 ‘‘(b) TEACHERS OF HIGH-NEED SUBJECTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

19 employed as a teacher of high-need subjects during 

20 the taxable year, gross income does not include so 

21 much remuneration for such employment (which 

22 would but for this paragraph be includible in gross 

23 income) as does not exceed $15,000. 

24 ‘‘(2) TEACHER OF HIGH-NEED SUBJECTS.—For 

25 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘teacher of 


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1 high-need subjects’ means any teacher in a public el2 ementary or secondary school who— 

3 ‘‘(A)(i) teaches primarily 1 or more high4 need subjects in 1 or more grades 9 through 

5 12, or 

6 ‘‘(ii) teaches 1 or more high-need subjects 

7 in 1 or more grades kindergarten through 8, 

8 ‘‘(B) received a baccalaureate or similar 

9 degree from an eligible educational institution 

10 (as defined in section 25A(f)(2)) with a major 

11 in a high-need subject, and 

12 ‘‘(C) is highly qualified (as defined in sec13 tion 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary 

14 Education Act of 1965). 

15 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED SUBJECTS.—For purposes of 

16 this subsection, the term ‘high-need subject’ means 

17 mathematics, science, engineering, technology, spe18 cial education, teaching English language learners, 

19 or any other subject identified as a high-need subject 

20 by the Secretary of Education for purposes of this 

21 section. 

22 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON TOTAL REMUNERATION TAKEN

23 INTO ACCOUNT.—In the case of any individual whose em24 ployment is described in subsections (a)(1) and (b)(1), the 

25 total amount of remuneration which may be taken into 


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1 account with respect to such employment under this sec2 tion for the taxable year shall not exceed $25,000.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of section of 

4 such part is amended by inserting after the item relating 

5 to section 139A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139B. Compensation of certain teachers and principals.’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to remuneration received in taxable 

8 years beginning after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act. 

10 SEC. 503. ABOVE-THE-LINE DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN EX11 PENSES OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

12 SCHOOL TEACHERS INCREASED AND MADE 

13 PERMANENT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (D) of section 

15 62(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

16 by striking ‘‘In the case of’’ and all that follows through 

17 ‘‘$250’’ and inserting ‘‘The deductions allowed by section 

18 162 which consist of expenses, not in excess of $500’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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75 

•S 1339 IS

1 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 601. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

4 The table of contents at section 2 of the Elementary 

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 

6 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting after the items relating to part 

8 D of title II of such Act the following new items: 

‘‘PART E—TEACHER EXCELLENCE FOR ALL CHILDREN

‘‘Sec. 2500. Definitions. 

‘‘SUBPART 1—DISTRIBUTION

‘‘Sec. 2501. Premium pay; loan repayment. 

‘‘Sec. 2502. Career ladders for teachers program. 

‘‘SUBPART 2—PREPARATION

‘‘Sec. 2511. Establishing state-of-the-art teacher induction programs. 

‘‘Sec. 2512. Peer mentoring and review programs. 

‘‘Sec. 2513. Establishing state-of-the-art principal training and induction programs and performance-based principal certification. 

‘‘Sec. 2514. Study on developing a portable performance-based teacher assessment. 

‘‘SUBPART 3—21ST CENTURY DATA, TOOLS, AND ASSESSMENTS

‘‘Sec. 2521. Developing value-added data systems. 

‘‘SUBPART 4—RETENTION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

‘‘Sec. 2531. Improving professional development opportunities.’’; and 

9 (2) by inserting after the items relating to sub10 part 2 of part E of title IX of the Elementary and 

11 Secondary Education Act of 1965 the following new 

12 item: 

‘‘Sec. 9537. Assurance of reasonable progress toward equitable access to teacher quality.’’. 

Æ 


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