I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4144 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the exclusion 

from gross income of certain wages of a certified master teacher, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2004 

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

Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for the exclusion from gross income of certain wages 

of a certified master teacher, 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. MASTER TEACHER EXCLUSION. 

4 (a) MASTER TEACHER EXCLUSION.—Part III of sub5 chapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 is amended by inserting after section 139 the fol7 lowing new section: 
2 

•HR 4144 IH 

1 ‘‘SEC. 139A. CERTAIN WAGES OF CERTIFIED MASTER 

2 TEACHERS. 

3 ‘‘(a) 25 PERCENT EXCLUSION.—Gross income does 

4 not include 25 percent of wages earned by a certified mas5 ter teacher in remuneration for employment at a qualified 

6 school in need of improvement. 

7 ‘‘(b) CERTIFIED MASTER TEACHER.—For purposes 

8 of this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘certified master 

10 teacher’ means any eligible teacher who is certified 

11 by a State as being eligible for the exclusion from 

12 gross income provided under subsection (a) with re13 spect to wages earned during a 4-year certification 

14 period. A teacher shall not be treated as a certified 

15 master teacher except during the certification period. 

16 ‘‘(2) RECERTIFICATION PROHIBITED.—A teach17 er shall not be certified as a certified master teacher 

18 for more than one certification period. 

19 ‘‘(3) STATE LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF CER20 TIFIED MASTER TEACHERS.—A State may not cer21 tify any teacher if such certification would result (at 

22 the time of such certification) in more than 10 per23 cent of the State’s public school teachers being cer24 tified master teachers. 

25 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED SCHOOL IN NEED OF IMPROVE26 MENT.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 
3 

•HR 4144 IH 

1 school in need of improvement’ means, with respect to any 

2 certified master teacher— 

3 ‘‘(1) the school in need of improvement which 

4 first employs such teacher during the certification 

5 period, 

6 ‘‘(2) any school in need of improvement which 

7 subsequently employs such teacher, but only if each 

8 school in need of improvement which previously em9 ployed such teacher during the certification period 

10 has ceased to be a school in need of improvement, 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(3) any school described in paragraph (1) or 

13 (2) which ceases to be a school in need of improve14 ment, but only if such teacher was employed by such 

15 school (during such teacher’s certification period) at 

16 the time that such school ceased to be a school in 

17 need of improvement. 

18 ‘‘(d) SCHOOL IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT.—For pur19 poses of this section, the term ‘school in need of improve20 ment’ means a public elementary or secondary school 

21 that— 

22 ‘‘(1) is identified for school improvement, cor23 rective action, or restructuring under section 1116 

24 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316), and 
4 

•HR 4144 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) is eligible for a schoolwide program under 

2 section 1114 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314). 

4 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE TEACHER.—For purposes of this sec5 tion, the term ‘eligible teacher’ means a teacher who— 

6 ‘‘(1) has had at least 5 years of teaching experi7 ence in a public elementary or secondary school, 

8 ‘‘(2) is highly qualified, as defined in section 

9 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), 

11 ‘‘(3) has a master’s degree, and 

12 ‘‘(4) has advanced certification in the teacher’s 

13 State licensing system. 

14 ‘‘(f) CERTIFICATION PERIOD.—For purposes of this 

15 section, the term ‘certification period’ means, with respect 

16 to any certified master teacher, the 4-year period de17 scribed in subsection (b). 

18 ‘‘(g) STATE IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED ON RE19 TURN.—With respect to any certified master teacher, no 

20 exclusion shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any 

21 taxable year unless the certified master teacher includes 

22 the State in which the teacher has been certified on the 

23 certified master teacher’s return of tax for such taxable 

24 year. 
5 

•HR 4144 IH 

1 ‘‘(h) TERMINATION.—This section shall not apply to 

2 any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2013.’’. 

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

4 for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

6 item relating to section 139 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139A. Certain wages of certified master teachers.’’. 

7 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of the 

8 Treasury shall transmit to the Congress for each of cal9 endar years 2005 through 2013 an annual report stating, 

10 with respect to each State, the number of individuals cer11 tified by such State as certified master teachers who were 

12 allowed an exclusion from gross income under section 

13 139A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for a taxable 

14 year ending in such calendar year. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2004. 

Æ