II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 227

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend loan forgiveness 

for certain loans to certified or licensed teachers, to provide for grants 

that promote teacher certification and licensing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 28, 2003

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend 

loan forgiveness for certain loans to certified or licensed 

teachers, to provide for grants that promote teacher certification and licensing, 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 section may be cited as the ‘‘Loan Forgiveness 

5 for Certified Teachers Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) effective elementary schools and secondary 

2 schools require competent teachers and strong lead3 ership; 

4 (2) local educational agencies would benefit 

5 greatly by increasing the pool of qualified individuals 

6 from which to recruit teachers; 

7 (3) many talented professionals who have dem8 onstrated a high level of subject matter knowledge 

9 outside the education profession may wish to pursue 

10 careers in education, but have not fulfilled the re11 quirements to be certified or licensed as teachers; 

12 and 

13 (4) loan forgiveness programs and other pro14 grams that encourage such professionals and other 

15 interested persons to become certified or licensed 

16 teachers would allow local educational agencies to 

17 utilize the expertise of such professionals and inter18 ested persons, and improve the pool of qualified indi19 viduals available to local educational agencies. 

20 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

21 The purpose of this Act is to improve the supply of 

22 well-qualified elementary school and secondary school 

23 teachers by encouraging and assisting interested persons 

24 in completing the teacher certification or licensing require25 ments in their States. 
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1 SEC. 4. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CERTIFIED TEACHERS. 

2 (a) FEDERAL FAMILY EDUCATION LOAN FORGIVE3 NESS.—Section 428J of the Higher Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs 

6 (1) and (2) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1)(A)(i) has been employed as a full-time 

8 teacher for 5 consecutive complete school years in a 

9 school that qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for 

10 loan cancellation for Perkins loan recipients who 

11 teach in such a school; and 

12 ‘‘(ii)(I) if employed as a secondary school teach13 er, is teaching a subject that is relevant to the bor14 rower’s academic major, as certified by the chief ad15 ministrative officer of the public or nonprofit private 

16 secondary school in which the borrower is employed; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) if employed as an elementary school 

19 teacher, has demonstrated, as certified by the chief 

20 administrative officer of the public or nonprofit pri21 vate elementary school in which the borrower is em22 ployed, knowledge and teaching skills in reading, 

23 writing, mathematics, and other areas of the elemen24 tary school curriculum; and 

25 ‘‘(B) is not in default on the loan for which the 

26 borrower seeks forgiveness; or 
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1 ‘‘(2) not later than September 1, 2006—

2 ‘‘(A)(i) has been employed as a full-time 

3 teacher for 5 consecutive complete school years 

4 in a school that qualifies under section 

5 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for Perkins 

6 loan recipients who teach in such a school; 

7 ‘‘(ii)(I) if employed as a secondary school 

8 teacher, meets the standards described in sec9 tion 9101(23)(B)(ii) of the Elementary and 

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

11 7801(23)(B)(ii)); and 

12 ‘‘(II) if employed as an elementary school 

13 teacher, meets the standards described in sec14 tion 9101(23)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 7801(23)(B)(i)); and 

17 ‘‘(iii) meets the standards described in sec18 tion 9101(23)(A) of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 7801(23)(A)), or has obtained a 5th year teach21 er certificate (or the equivalent); and 

22 ‘‘(B) is not in default on the loan for 

23 which the borrower seeks forgiveness.’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (c)(1)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$5,000 (for a borrower described in subsection 

3 (b)(1)) or $10,000 (for a borrower described in 

4 subsection (b)(2))’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘(b)’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (g)(1)(A)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘Any teacher’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘Subject to subsection (j), any teacher’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A)’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)(i) or (2)(A)(i) of 

13 subsection (b)’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

17 necessary for fiscal years 2004 through 2006 to carry out 

18 loan repayment under this section for borrowers described 

19 in subsection (b)(2). 

20 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 

21 provided by subsection (b)(2) terminates effective October 

22 1, 2006.’’. 

23 (b) DIRECT STUDENT LOAN CANCELLATION.—Sec24 tion 460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

25 1087j) is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking subpara2 graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(A)(i)(I) has been employed as a full-time 

4 teacher for 5 consecutive complete school years in a 

5 school that qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for 

6 loan cancellation for Perkins loan recipients who 

7 teach in such a school; and 

8 ‘‘(II)(aa) if employed as a secondary school 

9 teacher, is teaching a subject that is relevant to the 

10 borrower’s academic major, as certified by the chief 

11 administrative officer of the public or nonprofit pri12 vate secondary school in which the borrower is em13 ployed; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) if employed as an elementary school 

15 teacher, has demonstrated, as certified by the chief 

16 administrative officer of the public or nonprofit pri17 vate elementary school in which the borrower is em18 ployed, knowledge and teaching skills in reading, 

19 writing, mathematics, and other areas of the elemen20 tary school curriculum; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is not in default on the loan for which the 

22 borrower seeks forgiveness; or 

23 ‘‘(B) not later than September 1, 2006—

24 ‘‘(i)(I) has been employed as a full-time 

25 teacher for 5 consecutive complete school years 
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1 in a school that qualifies under section 

2 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for Perkins 

3 loan recipients who teach in such a school; 

4 ‘‘(II)(aa) if employed as a secondary school 

5 teacher, meets the standards described in sec6 tion 9101(23)(B)(ii) of the Elementary and 

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 7801(23)(B)(ii)); and 

9 ‘‘(bb) if employed as an elementary school 

10 teacher, meets the standards described in sec11 tion 9101(23)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 7801(23)(B)(i)); and 

14 ‘‘(III) meets the standards described in 

15 section 9101(23)(A) of the Elementary and 

16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 7801(23)(A)), or has obtained a 5th year teach18 er certificate (or the equivalent); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) is not in default on the loan for which 

20 the borrower seeks forgiveness.’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (c)(1)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘$5,000 (for a borrower described in subsection 

24 (b)(1)(A)) or $10,000 (for a borrower described 

25 in subsection (b)(1)(B))’’; and 
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(b)(1)’’; 

3 (3) in subsection (g)(1)(A)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Any teacher’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘Subject to subsection (j), any teacher’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A)’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)(i)(I) or (B)(i)(I) 

9 of subsection (b)(1)’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

13 necessary for fiscal years 2004 through 2006 to carry out 

14 loan repayment under this section for borrowers described 

15 in subsection (b)(1)(B). 

16 ‘‘(j) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority 

17 provided by subsection (b)(1)(B) terminates effective Oc18 tober 1, 2006.’’. 

19 (c) NO INTERFERENCE WITH EXISTING PROVI20 SIONS.—The Secretary of Education shall ensure that the 

21 implementation of the amendments made by this section 

22 shall not interfere with, and shall be coordinated with, the 

23 implementation of student loan forgiveness provisions ad24 ministered by the States and in existence on the date of 

25 enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO PROMOTE TEACHER CERTIFICATION 

2 AND LICENSING. 

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

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

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘PART C—PROMOTING TEACHER CERTIFICATION 

7 AND LICENSING 

8 ‘‘SEC. 231. GRANTS. 

9 ‘‘The Secretary may make grants to institutions of 

10 higher education to enable the institutions to carry out 

11 programs, projects, and activities to encourage profes12 sionals and other interested persons to become certified 

13 or licensed teachers. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 232. APPLICATIONS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher edu16 cation desiring to receive a grant under this part shall sub17 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

18 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

19 may reasonably require. 

20 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The application shall con21 tain—

22 ‘‘(1) a description of the programs, projects, 

23 and activities to be undertaken by the institution 

24 with funds made available through the grant; and 

25 ‘‘(2) such assurances as the Secretary considers 

26 to be necessary, including assurances that—
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1 ‘‘(A) funds made available to the institu2 tion under this part will be used to develop ap3 propriate curricula and support programs for 

4 students entering teacher preparation programs 

5 that lead to a teaching certificate or license; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(B) the institution will submit to the Sec8 retary, at such time as the Secretary may speci9 fy, a final report describing the programs, 

10 projects, and activities carried out with the 

11 funds, and the results achieved through the pro12 grams, projects, and activities. 

13 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under this 

14 part, the Secretary shall give preference to an institution 

15 that submits an application containing a plan to develop 

16 appropriate curricula and support programs to address 

17 the needs of underserved communities (as such needs are 

18 determined by the State educational agency in the State 

19 in which the institution is located, in conjunction with the 

20 institution). 

21 ‘‘SEC. 233. USE OF FUNDS. 

22 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED USES.—An institution of higher 

23 education that receives a grant under this part may use 

24 the funds made available through the grant for programs, 

25 projects, and activities to develop and implement new, or 
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1 expand and improve existing, programs that enable indi2 viduals to make progress toward meeting teacher certifi3 cation or licensing requirements, including—

4 ‘‘(1) developing appropriate curricula and sup5 port programs for students entering teacher certifi6 cation or licensing programs; 

7 ‘‘(2) developing recruitment strategies necessary 

8 to encourage more individuals to become certified or 

9 licensed teachers; and 

10 ‘‘(3) carrying out other appropriate programs, 

11 projects, and activities designed to meet the objec12 tives of this part. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED USES.—The institution may not 

14 use the funds made available through the grant for con15 struction. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 234. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

17 ‘‘(a) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES AND LOCAL

18 EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—

19 ‘‘(1) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Each 

20 institution receiving a grant under this part shall 

21 provide notice of the programs, projects, and activi22 ties funded with such grant to the State educational 

23 agency in the State in which the institution is lo24 cated. 
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1 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—Each 

2 State educational agency receiving the notification 

3 described in paragraph (1) shall transmit the infor4 mation received in such notification to the appro5 priate local educational agencies. 

6 ‘‘(b) STUDENTS.—Each institution receiving a grant 

7 under this part shall provide notice of the programs, 

8 projects, and activities funded with such grant to the stu9 dents of such institution. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 235. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

12 this part such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

13 years 2004 through 2008.’’.

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