II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2156

To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enhance teacher 

training programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2004

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

to enhance teacher training programs, 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 ‘‘Community College 

5 Teacher Preparation Enhancement Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Well qualified teachers and paraprofes9 sionals are critical to the success of the Nation’s stu10 dents. 
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1 (2) In order to meet the changing demands of 

2 their jobs and the Federal requirements under the 

3 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 

4 107–110), teachers and prospective teachers must 

5 have access to high-quality teacher training. 

6 (3) The 1,200 community colleges across the 

7 United States play an important role in training 

8 teachers, offering professional development, and con9 tinuing education. 

10 (4) Community colleges enroll more than 

11 6,000,000 credit students or 44 percent of all under12 graduates in the United States. 

13 (5) At least 25 percent of undergraduates re14 ceiving a teaching degree began their postsecondary 

15 education at a community college. 

16 (6) Due to teacher attrition, teacher retirement, 

17 and a growing student population, the Nation will 

18 require an additional 2,400,000 teachers over the 

19 next decade. 

20 (7) If left unchanged, the production rate of 

21 teachers is 200,000 short of meeting the expected 

22 future demand. 

23 (8) In subjects such as mathematics, science, 

24 special education, and bilingual education, the Na25 tion risks a severe teacher shortfall. 
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1 (9) Community colleges offer accessibility and a 

2 link to education opportunities present at 4-year in3 stitutions of higher education. 

4 (10) There is no systematic infrastructure or 

5 resources in place to advance more students from 

6 community colleges to 4-year institutions of higher 

7 education and into the teaching profession. 

8 (11) Many 4-year institutions of higher edu9 cation and community colleges have engaged in col10 laborative agreements for teacher training. 

11 (12) To meet the Nation’s needs for highly 

12 qualified teachers, it is appropriate that the commu13 nity college role in teacher training be enhanced and 

14 that cooperation between community colleges and 4-

15 year institutions of higher education be increased. 

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

17 The purposes of this Act are to—

18 (1) foster collaboration between 4-year institu19 tions of higher education and community colleges to 

20 enhance teacher preparation as required under the 

21 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 

22 107–110); 

23 (2) enhance the opportunity for community col24 lege students in teacher training programs to com-
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1 plete a baccalaureate degree in kindergarten through 

2 grade 12 education; 

3 (3) promote the development of best practices 

4 for coordinating teacher training between community 

5 colleges and 4-year institutions of higher education; 

6 and 

7 (4) expand community college teaching infra8 structure to provide, among other things, profes9 sional development as called for under the No Child 

10 Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107–110) to 

11 existing teachers. 

12 SEC. 4. TEACHER TRAINING ENHANCEMENT. 

13 Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘PART C—TEACHER TRAINING ENHANCEMENT 

17 ‘‘SEC. 231. DEFINITIONS. 

18 ‘‘In this part: 

19 ‘‘(1) 4-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU20 CATION.—The term ‘4-year institution of higher 

21 education’ means an institution of higher education, 

22 as defined in section 101(a), whose highest under23 graduate degree offered is predominantly the bacca24 laureate degree. 
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1 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com2 munity college’ has the meaning given the term ‘jun3 ior or community college’ in section 312(f). 

4 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible en6 tity’ means—

7 ‘‘(i) a statewide governing or coordi8 nating board with jurisdiction over commu9 nity colleges and 4-year institutions of 

10 higher education; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a partnership between a state12 wide governing or coordinating board with 

13 jurisdiction over community colleges and a 

14 statewide governing or coordinating board 

15 with jurisdiction over 4-year institutions of 

16 higher education; 

17 ‘‘(iii) a partnership between 1 or more 

18 community colleges and 1 or more 4-year 

19 institutions of higher education; or

20 ‘‘(iv) a community college offering a 

21 teacher preparation program that provides 

22 all, or a significant portion of, teacher 

23 training, postbaccalaureate certification, 

24 and professional development. 
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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘eligible en2 tity’ under clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

3 (A) may include other institutions with respon4 sibility for teacher preparation or teacher 

5 standards. 

6 ‘‘(4) HIGHLY QUALIFIED.—The term ‘highly 

7 qualified’ has the meaning given the term in section 

8 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

9 Act of 1965. 

10 ‘‘(5) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

11 term ‘professional development’ has the meaning 

12 given the term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 232. GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to award grants to eligi16 ble entities to enable such entities to pay the Federal share 

17 of the costs of carrying out teacher training or preparation 

18 programs. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 233. APPLICATION. 

20 ‘‘An eligible entity that desires to receive a grant 

21 under this part shall submit to the Secretary an applica22 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

23 information or assurances as the Secretary may require. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 234. AWARDING OF GRANTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this part, 

3 the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that 

4 propose any of the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) Grant funds will be used to provide for 

6 teacher preparation in geographic areas with short7 ages of highly qualified teachers. 

8 ‘‘(2) Grant funds will be used to prepare teach9 ers in kindergarten through grade 12 subject con10 tent areas that have a shortage of highly qualified 

11 teachers. 

12 ‘‘(3) Grant funds will be used to carry out inno13 vative programs to address teacher training or 

14 teacher preparation. 

15 ‘‘(4) Grant funds will be used to conduct out16 reach into secondary schools. 

17 ‘‘(5) Grant funds will be used to carry out a 

18 plan to disseminate information. 

19 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—The Secretary shall 

20 ensure that grants are awarded in a geographically diverse 

21 manner. 

22 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—Grants awarded under this part 

23 shall be for 5 years in duration. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 235. USES OF FUNDS. 

2 ‘‘(a) MANDATORY USE.—An eligible entity that re3 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 

4 to carry out not less than 1 of the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) Enhancing the collaboration of teacher 

6 training between community colleges and 4-year in7 stitutions of higher education. 

8 ‘‘(2) The development of programs that provide 

9 opportunities for community college students to com10 plete a baccalaureate degree in kindergarten through 

11 grade 12 education. 

12 ‘‘(3) The establishment of partnerships in 

13 teacher training between community colleges and 4-

14 year institutions of higher education. 

15 ‘‘(4) The establishment of programs at commu16 nity colleges that prepare students to enter teacher 

17 preparation programs at 4-year institutions of high18 er education. 

19 ‘‘(5) Developing programs to provide pathways 

20 for secondary school students to pursue careers in 

21 teaching. 

22 ‘‘(6) Establishing postbaccalaureate teacher cer23 tification programs. 

24 ‘‘(b) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

25 that receives a grant under this section may use the grant 

26 funds to carry out any of the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) The creation of kindergarten through 

2 grade 12 teacher education programs and teacher 

3 aid programs to meet requirements under the Ele4 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 

5 ‘‘(2) The coordination of teacher and para6 professional curricula for use at community colleges 

7 and 4-year institutions of higher education. 

8 ‘‘(3) The establishment of curricula and pro9 grams for professional development for teachers. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 236. REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

11 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORT.—An eligible entity that re12 ceives a grant under this section shall submit an annual 

13 report to the Secretary on—

14 ‘‘(1) the progress made toward the goals of the 

15 grant; 

16 ‘‘(2) the activities supported by the grant; 

17 ‘‘(3) the number of students served; 

18 ‘‘(4) when applicable, the ability to place stu19 dents graduating from schools supported by a grant 

20 under this part; and 

21 ‘‘(5) when applicable, the number of students 

22 graduating from schools supported by a grant under 

23 this part who meet the requirements for highly 

24 qualified teachers under the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965. 
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1 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall review and 

2 evaluate the reports submitted under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 237. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the costs 

5 of carrying out a teacher training or preparation program 

6 shall be—

7 ‘‘(1) 65 percent for the first year of the grant; 

8 ‘‘(2) 60 percent for the second year of the 

9 grant; 

10 ‘‘(3) 55 percent for the third year of the grant; 

11 ‘‘(4) 50 percent for the fourth year of the 

12 grant; and 

13 ‘‘(5) 45 percent for the fifth year of the grant. 

14 ‘‘(b) IN CASH OR IN-KIND.—The non-Federal share 

15 of the costs of carrying out a teacher training or prepara16 tion program may be provided in cash or in the form of 

17 in-kind contributions. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 238. REPORT BY THE SECRETARY. 

19 ‘‘The Secretary shall review and submit an annual 

20 report to Congress on the activities supported under this 

21 part and the impact of this part with respect to—

22 ‘‘(1) producing highly qualified teachers and 

23 teachers aids; 

24 ‘‘(2) helping address teacher shortages, particu25 larly in rural and urban areas; and 
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1 ‘‘(3) enhancing the diversity of the Nation’s 

2 teaching force. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 239. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

5 this part $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and such sums 

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

7 years.’’.

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