II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1727 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a credit against 

income tax for certain educator expenses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. COLEMAN, and Mr. VOINOVICH) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for a credit against income tax for certain educator expenses, 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 Tax Credit 

5 Act of 2007’’. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•S 1727 IS

1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR EDUCATION EXPENSES OF ELEMEN2 TARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub4 chapter A of chapter 1 (relating to refundable credits) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 36 as section 37, 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 35 the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 36. CREDIT FOR EDUCATION EXPENSES OF ELEMEN11 TARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 

12 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli13 gible teacher, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

14 the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year, an 

15 amount equal to 50 percent of so much of the qualified 

16 elementary and secondary education expenses and quali17 fied professional development expenses paid or incurred by 

18 such eligible teacher during the taxable year as does not 

19 exceed $300. 

20 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

21 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—The term ‘eligible 

22 teacher’ means an individual who is a kindergarten 

23 through grade 12 classroom teacher, instructor, 

24 counselor, aide, or principal in an elementary or sec25 ondary school on a full-time basis for an academic 

26 year ending during a taxable year. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•S 1727 IS

1 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

2 EDUCATION EXPENSES.—The term ‘qualified ele3 mentary and secondary education expenses’ means 

4 expenses for books, supplies (other than nonathletic 

5 supplies for courses of instruction in health or phys6 ical education), computer equipment (including re7 lated software and services) and other equipment, 

8 and supplementary materials used by an eligible 

9 teacher in the classroom. 

10 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

11 EXPENSES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

13 professional development expenses’ means ex14 penses for tuition, fees, books, supplies, equip15 ment, and transportation required for the en16 rollment or attendance of an individual in a 

17 qualified course of instruction. 

18 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED COURSE OF INSTRUC19 TION.—The term ‘qualified course of instruc20 tion’ means a course of instruction which— 

21 ‘‘(i) is— 

22 ‘‘(I) directly related to the cur23 riculum and academic subjects in 

24 which an eligible teacher provides in25 struction, or 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•S 1727 IS

1 ‘‘(II) designed to enhance the 

2 ability of an eligible teacher to under3 stand and use State standards for the 

4 academic subjects in which such 

5 teacher provides instruction, 

6 ‘‘(ii) may— 

7 ‘‘(I) provide instruction in how to 

8 teach children with different learning 

9 styles, particularly children with dis10 abilities and children with special 

11 learning needs (including children who 

12 are gifted and talented), or 

13 ‘‘(II) provide instruction in how 

14 best to discipline children in the class15 room and identify early and appro16 priate interventions to help children 

17 described in subclause (I) to learn, 

18 ‘‘(iii) is tied to challenging State or 

19 local content standards and student per20 formance standards. 

21 ‘‘(iv) is tied to strategies and pro22 grams that demonstrate effectiveness in in23 creasing student academic achievement 

24 and student performance, or substantially 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•S 1727 IS

1 increasing the knowledge and teaching 

2 skills of an eligible teacher, 

3 ‘‘(v) is of sufficient intensity and du4 ration to have a positive and lasting im5 pact on the performance of an eligible 

6 teacher in the classroom (which shall not 

7 include 1-day or short-term workshops and 

8 conferences), except that this clause shall 

9 not apply to an activity if such activity is 

10 1 component described in a long-term com11 prehensive professional development plan 

12 established by an eligible teacher and the 

13 teacher’s supervisor based upon an assess14 ment of the needs of the teacher, the stu15 dents of the teacher, and the local edu16 cational agency involved, and 

17 ‘‘(vi) is part of a program of profes18 sional development which is approved and 

19 certified by the appropriate local edu20 cational agency as furthering the goals of 

21 the preceding clauses. 

22 ‘‘(C) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The 

23 term ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning 

24 given such term by section 9101(26) of the Ele25 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
6 

•S 1727 IS

1 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26)), as in effect on the date 

2 of the enactment of this section. 

3 ‘‘(4) ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL.— 

4 The term ‘elementary or secondary school’ means 

5 any school which provides elementary education or 

6 secondary education (through grade 12), as deter7 mined under State law. 

8 ‘‘(c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

9 shall be allowed under this chapter for any expense for 

10 which a credit is allowed under this section. 

11 ‘‘(d) ELECTION TO HAVE CREDIT NOT APPLY.—A 

12 taxpayer may elect to have this section not apply for any 

13 taxable year.’’. 

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

15 for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

16 is amended by striking the item relating to section 36 and 

17 inserting after the item relating to section 35 the following 

18 new items: 

‘‘Sec. 36. Credit for education expenses of elementary and secondary school 

teachers. 

‘‘Sec. 37. Overpayments of tax.’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 December 31, 2007. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS