I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4002

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with respect 

to teacher qualifications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2004

Mr. MATHESON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 with respect to teacher qualifications, 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 ‘‘No Qualified Teacher 

5 Left Behind Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ESEA RELATING TO TEACHER 

7 QUALIFICATIONS. 

8 (a) HIGHLY QUALIFIED DEFINITION.—Paragraph 

9 (23) of section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended—
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1 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii)—

2 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

3 the end; and 

4 (B) by striking subclause (II) and insert5 ing the following: 

6 ‘‘(II) successful completion, in 

7 each of the academic subjects in 

8 which the teacher teaches, of an aca9 demic major or minor, a graduate de10 gree, State certification of sufficient 

11 college-level coursework to satisfy this 

12 subclause, or advanced certification; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(III) passing a high objective 

15 uniform State standard of evaluation 

16 described in subparagraph (C)(ii) in 

17 each of the academic subjects in 

18 which the teacher teaches; and’’; and 

19 (2) in clause (ii) of subparagraph (C)—

20 (A) in subclause (V), by striking ‘‘but not 

21 be based primarily on’’ and inserting ‘‘but not 

22 be based solely on’’; 

23 (B) by redesignating subclauses (VI) and 

24 (VII) as subclauses (VII) and (VIII), respec25 tively; and 
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1 (C) by inserting after subclause (V) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(VI) takes into consideration 

4 any professional development being 

5 pursued;’’. 

6 (b) RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS.—

7 (1) EXTENSION.—Subsection (a) of section 

8 1119 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

13 deadline described in paragraphs (2) and (3), a 

14 plan developed by a State educational agency or 

15 a local educational agency under this subsection 

16 shall ensure that all teachers who are described 

17 in such paragraphs, but are teaching in a rural 

18 school district, are highly qualified not later 

19 than the end of the 2008–2009 school year. 

20 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this 

21 paragraph, a rural school district means a local 

22 educational agency that—

23 ‘‘(i) meets the eligibility criteria de24 scribed in section 6211(b), including by ob-
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1 taining a waiver under paragraph (2) of 

2 such section; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) employs a percentage of teachers 

4 who are not highly qualified that is higher 

5 than the corresponding percentage for the 

6 State involved.’’. 

7 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—Section 6234 of 

8 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7355c) is amended—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘There are’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(b) HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS.—For the pur14 pose of making grants under subpart 2 to be used for 

15 teacher recruitment, retention, and professional develop16 ment activities described in section 6222(a) in rural school 

17 districts (as that term is defined in section 1119(a)(4)), 

18 there are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for 

19 fiscal year 2005 and such sums as may be necessary for 

20 each of fiscal years 2006 and 2007. Such authorization 

21 of appropriations is in addition to the authorization of ap22 propriations in subsection (a).’’. 

23 (c) CORE ACADEMIC SUBJECTS ONLY.—Paragraph 

24 (1) of section 1119(a) (20 U.S.C. 6319(a)) is amended 
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1 by inserting ‘‘, teaching in core academic subjects,’’ after 

2 ‘‘hired after such day’’. 

3 (d) PROPORTION OF INEXPERIENCED TEACHERS.—

4 Subparagraph (C) of section 1111(b)(8) (20 U.S.C. 

5 6311(b)(8)) is amended by striking ‘‘inexperienced, un6 qualified, or out-of-field teachers’’ and inserting ‘‘unquali7 fied or out-of-field teachers’’. 

8 (e) OTHER GRANTEES.—Subpart 2 of part E of title 

9 IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 9537. HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS. 

13 ‘‘No entity may receive any funds under this Act un14 less, irrespective of whether the entity has applied for a 

15 grant under part A of title I, the entity ensures that all 

16 elementary school and secondary school teachers employed 

17 by the entity and teaching in core academic subjects are 

18 highly qualified not later than—

19 ‘‘(1) the end of the 2005–2006 school year; or 

20 ‘‘(2) in the case of a teacher in a rural school 

21 district (as that term is defined in section 

22 1119(a)(4)), the end of the 2008–2009 school 

23 year.’’.

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