II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3714 

To establish the Math and Science Teaching Corps. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2006 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

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

A BILL 

To establish the Math and Science Teaching Corps. 

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 ‘‘Mathematics and 

5 Science Teaching Corps Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Mathematics and science are the bases for 

9 almost every technical competence in the modern 

10 marketplace, including fields as diverse as computer 

11 programming, physics, engineering, manufacturing, 

12 and oil exploration. 


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1 (2) Cultivating a workforce with strong mathe2 matics and science skills is necessary both to keep 

3 the United States competitive in a global economy 

4 and for its national security. China’s long-term 

5 growth rate has surpassed that of the United States 

6 in the time since Chinese economic reform focused 

7 on the development of science and technology. 

8 (3) Secondary school students in the United 

9 States rank near the bottom when compared to their 

10 counterparts in other developed countries. Of the 

11 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Devel12 opment nations participating in the 2003 Program 

13 for International Student Assessment, the United 

14 States ranked 24th of 29 in mathematics and 23rd 

15 of 29 in science, while Korea and Japan ranked in 

16 the top 5 in both categories. 

17 (4) Research shows that teacher quality is the 

18 most important factor in determining student 

19 achievement, especially in the technical fields of 

20 mathematics and science. Researchers from Penn 

21 State, the Urban Institute, and the RAND Corpora22 tion have all found higher student achievement in 

23 secondary school for those students whose teachers 

24 had taken more coursework related to their subject 

25 area. 


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1 (5) According to the Center for Teaching and 

2 Policy, 38 percent of secondary school mathematics 

3 classes, 28 percent of general science classes, 45 per4 cent of life science classes, and 60 percent of phys5 ical science classes are taught by individuals lacking 

6 a major or a minor in such discipline. 

7 (6) College graduates with strong mathematics 

8 or science backgrounds have many career opportuni9 ties that are more financially attractive than teach10 ing. According to the National Science Foundation, 

11 recent college graduates in 2001 were offered be12 tween $10,000 and $20,000 more for their first year 

13 in a technical occupation other than teaching. 

14 (7) Sophisticated mathematics and science 

15 teachers are needed in all classrooms across the Na16 tion in order to raise student achievement and ulti17 mately help the United States maintain its competi18 tiveness in the global economy. 

19 (8) Individuals who are strong in mathematics 

20 and science need financial incentives, peer men21 toring, and professional development for proper re22 cruitment and retainment in the field of teaching. 

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

24 (1) recruit up to 8,000 new, outstanding mathe25 matics and science public secondary school teachers 


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1 each year who might otherwise begin different ca2 reers; and 

3 (2) reward up to 8,000 existing and out4 standing mathematics and science public secondary 

5 school teachers each year who might otherwise leave 

6 the teaching profession. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Director of the Math and Science Teaching 

11 Corps. 

12 (2) HARD-TO-STAFF SCHOOL.—The term 

13 ‘‘hard-to-staff school’’ means a public secondary 

14 school that— 

15 (A) is served by a local educational agency 

16 (as such term is defined in section 9101 of the 

17 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

18 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) for which at least 45 

19 percent of the students enrolled in the schools 

20 served by such agency are eligible for a free or 

21 reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Rus22 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 1751 et seq.); and 

24 (B) is determined by the local educational 

25 agency (and confirmed by the Director), to have 


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1 the greatest difficulty in recruiting and retain2 ing highly qualified teachers (as such term is 

3 defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965), compared 

5 to all of the schools served by such agency. 

6 (3) PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN7 CY.—The term ‘‘participating local educational agen8 cy’’ means a local educational agency that has been 

9 certified by the Director as offering an induction 

10 program for individuals receiving fellowships under 

11 this Act that meets adequate standards, including— 

12 (A) clustering Math and Science Teaching 

13 Corps Fellows in individual or nearby schools; 

14 (B) providing multi-year mentoring and 

15 coaching; 

16 (C) offering new teacher seminars on a 

17 monthly basis; 

18 (D) reducing the course load for such Fel19 lows, except that a local educational agency 

20 may elect not to comply with this subparagraph 

21 if such agency is obligated by contract require22 ments that prohibit teachers from taking a 

23 smaller course load; 

24 (E) allowing time for joint lesson planning 

25 and other constructive collaborative activities; 


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1 (F) providing professional development op2 portunities for such Fellows and Math and 

3 Science Teaching Corps Master Fellows on con4 tent knowledge and pedagogy; and 

5 (G) facilitating relationships between Math 

6 and Science Teaching Corps Fellows and Math 

7 and Science Teaching Corps Master Fellows. 

8 (4) PARTNER INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘part9 ner institution’’ means an institution of higher edu10 cation that has been certified by the Director as 

11 meeting adequate standards for— 

12 (A) offering a teacher preparation program 

13 that— 

14 (i) is modeled on the Master of Arts 

15 in Teaching program, which provides a 

16 full-time, 1-year course of study leading to 

17 teacher certification and a master’s degree; 

18 and 

19 (ii) includes pedagogical courses and a 

20 minimum of 1 semester of student teach21 ing experience; 

22 (B) offering a part-time master’s degree 

23 program in mathematics or science education 

24 for teachers who are certified to teach; 


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1 (C) offering a graduate degree program in 

2 mathematics and science; 

3 (D) establishing an explicit collaboration 

4 between the teacher preparation and mathe5 matics and science departments of the institu6 tion to provide graduate-level mathematics and 

7 science content courses that are appropriate for 

8 secondary school teachers; and 

9 (E) providing follow-up, classroom-based 

10 support for graduates of the program including 

11 professional development. 

12 (5) STANDARDIZED TEST.—The term ‘‘stand13 ardized test’’ means the test required by the Direc14 tor of each individual who applies for a fellowship 

15 under this Act that evaluates each individual’s math16 ematics or science subject area knowledge. The 

17 science subject area tests shall include a section to 

18 assess mathematics skills appropriate to each sub19 ject. The standardized tests shall be approved and 

20 reviewed periodically by the National Academy of 

21 Sciences to ensure that the tests meet rigorous 

22 standards and remain appropriate for the intended 

23 use, and cut-off scores shall be set at the national 

24 level. 


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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MATH AND SCIENCE 

2 TEACHING CORPS. 

3 Title II of the Department of Education Organization 

4 Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

5 the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 221. MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING CORPS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Depart8 ment a Math and Science Teaching Corps to be adminis9 tered by the Director of the Math and Science Teaching 

10 Corps in accordance with the Mathematics and Science 

11 Teaching Corps Act of 2006. 

12 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Director of the Math and 

13 Science Teaching Corps shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) administer the Math and Science Teaching 

15 Corps program established under the Mathematics 

16 and Science Teaching Corps Act of 2006; and 

17 ‘‘(2) report directly to the Secretary and shall 

18 perform such additional functions as the Secretary 

19 may prescribe. 

20 ‘‘(c) PURPOSE.—The Math and Science Teaching 

21 Corps is established in order to significantly improve 

22 mathematics and science achievement among secondary 

23 school students in the United States by ensuring that such 

24 students are taught by well-prepared mathematics and 

25 science teachers with superior subject area knowledge.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING CORPS FELLOW2 SHIPS FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall carry out 

4 a program through which the Director awards— 

5 (1) Math and Science Teaching Corps Fellow6 ships for Prospective Teachers (referred to in this 

7 part as ‘‘MSTC Fellowships’’) to eligible individuals; 

8 (2) grants to partner institutions to pay the tui9 tion and fees and overhead costs at such institutions 

10 of individuals receiving MSTC Fellowships under 

11 this section; and 

12 (3) grants to participating local educational 

13 agencies to pay the costs of the activities described 

14 in subsection (e)(4). 

15 (b) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In this 

16 section, the term ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual 

17 who— 

18 (1) is a recent college graduate or a mid-career 

19 professional outside of the teaching field; and 

20 (2) possesses a strong content area knowledge, 

21 including a baccalaureate (or higher) degree in 

22 mathematics, science, engineering, technology, or a 

23 related field. 

24 (c) APPLICATION.—An individual, partner institu25 tion, or participating local educational agency that desires 

26 to receive a MSTC Fellowship or grant, as applicable, 


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1 under this section shall submit an application to the Direc2 tor at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 

3 such information as the Director may require. 

4 (d) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF INDIVIDUALS

5 FOR MSTC FELLOWSHIPS.— 

6 (1) RECRUITMENT.—The Director shall recruit 

7 eligible individuals for the MSTC Fellowships. 

8 (2) SELECTION.—The Director shall establish 

9 criteria to ensure that— 

10 (A) individuals who receive MSTC Fellow11 ships under this section possess— 

12 (i) a comprehensive knowledge of the 

13 subject area to be taught as evidenced by 

14 performing at a satisfactory level on a 

15 standardized test; 

16 (ii) strong verbal and communication 

17 skills; and 

18 (iii) other attributes that are linked to 

19 effective teaching; and 

20 (B) not less than 30 percent of individuals 

21 selected to receive MSTC Fellowships will teach 

22 in hard-to-staff schools. 

23 (e) ACTIVITIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual who receives a 

25 MSTC Fellowship under this section shall— 


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1 (A) receive pedagogical training as de2 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

3 (B) for 4 years, within a 7-year period of 

4 first receiving the Fellowship, teach mathe5 matics or science in a secondary school, as de6 scribed in paragraph (3). 

7 (2) PEDAGOGICAL TRAINING.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who re9 ceives a MSTC Fellowship under this section 

10 shall— 

11 (i) if the individual is not certified to 

12 teach— 

13 (I) attend, during the first year 

14 of the MSTC Fellowship, a 1-year, 

15 full-time graduate education program 

16 of a partner institution that receives a 

17 grant under this section; and 

18 (II) receive, during that 1 year, a 

19 stipend that is in an amount that is 

20 equal to the Graduate Research Fel21 lowship stipend awarded by the Na22 tional Science Foundation; or 

23 (ii) if the individual holds appropriate 

24 teacher certification credentials when 

25 granted the MSTC Fellowship, then during 


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1 any of the 4 years of the MSTC Fellow2 ship— 

3 (I) attend a part-time graduate 

4 education program leading to a mas5 ter’s degree in mathematics or science 

6 education; or 

7 (II) enroll at an institution of 

8 higher education in not more than 24 

9 credit hours of courses in mathe10 matics, science, or education. 

11 (B) GRANTS TO PARTNER INSTITU12 TIONS.—A partner institution that receives a 

13 grant under this section— 

14 (i) shall use the grant funds to pay 

15 the tuition and fees at such institution of 

16 individuals receiving MSTC Fellowships 

17 under this section; and 

18 (ii) may use not more than 10 percent 

19 of the grant funds for overhead costs in20 curred by the partner institution in admin21 istering the grant. 

22 (3) TEACHING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, 

23 AND MENTOR TRAINING.—An individual who re24 ceives a MSTC Fellowship under this section shall— 


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1 (A) for 4 years, teach mathematics or 

2 science in a public secondary school served by 

3 a participating local educational agency; 

4 (B) for such 4 years, participate in induc5 tion and professional development programs of6 fered by the participating local educational 

7 agency; 

8 (C) perform additional duties as follows: 

9 (i) for the first two years of teaching, 

10 participate in 60 hours each year of addi11 tional high quality professional develop12 ment by attending approved institutes, 

13 seminars, or conferences on their subject 

14 matter area or on pedagogy, held on week15 ends or during the summer break; 

16 (ii) during the third year of teaching, 

17 attend 60 hours of approved mentoring 

18 training during the academic year or sum19 mer; 

20 (iii) during the fourth year of teach21 ing, provide 60 hours of mentoring or 

22 other training/coaching for teachers in 

23 their school; 

24 (D) for such 4 years, receive a stipend that 

25 is equal to— 


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1 (i) for the first year of teaching de2 scribed in subparagraph (A), $11,000; 

3 (ii) for the second year of teaching de4 scribed in subparagraph (A), $14,000; 

5 (iii) for the third year of teaching de6 scribed in subparagraph (A), $17,000; and 

7 (iv) for the fourth year of teaching de8 scribed in subparagraph (A), $20,000; and 

9 (E) if the school in which the individual is 

10 teaching is a hard-to-staff school, for each year 

11 of teaching described in subparagraph (A), re12 ceive a bonus stipend in addition to the stipend 

13 described in subparagraph (D), that is equal to 

14 50 percent of the stipend described in subpara15 graph (D) for that year. 

16 (4) GRANTS TO PARTICIPATING LOCAL EDU17 CATIONAL AGENCIES.—A participating local edu18 cational agency that receives a grant under this sec19 tion— 

20 (A) shall use the grant funds to pay the 

21 expenses associated with facilitating the induc22 tion and professional development services for 

23 individuals receiving fellowships under this Act; 

24 and 


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1 (B) may not reduce the salary of an indi2 vidual who receives a MSTC Fellowship under 

3 this section and is employed in a secondary 

4 school served by such agency below the salary 

5 normally paid for an individual with a similar 

6 background and experience solely because such 

7 individual receives a stipend under this Act. 

8 (f) REPORTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

11 submit a report to Congress that evaluates the effec12 tiveness of the program under this section. 

13 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The Director 

14 shall submit an updated report every 5 years after 

15 the date the first report is submitted under para16 graph (1). 

17 (g) REPAYMENT.—In the event that an individual re18 ceiving a MSTC Fellowship under this section does not 

19 complete the activities described in subsection (e), the Di20 rector shall require repayment of the stipends granted to 

21 the individual under this section according to the regula22 tions established by the Math and Science Teaching 

23 Corps, except that the Director may, in the case of the 

24 death or permanent and total disability of the individual, 


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1 or other crisis situation, forgive such obligation to repay 

2 in whole or in part. 

3 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

5 $137,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $410,000,000 for fis6 cal year 2008, $683,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, 

7 $956,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and $1,092,000,000 

8 for fiscal year 2011. 

9 SEC. 6. MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHING CORPS FELLOW10 SHIPS FOR EXPERIENCED TEACHERS. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall carry out 

12 a program in which the Director awards Math and Science 

13 Teaching Corps Fellowships for Experienced Teachers (re14 ferred to in this part as ‘‘MSTC Master Fellowships’’) to 

15 eligible individuals. 

16 (b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In this section, the term 

17 ‘‘eligible individual’’ means an individual who— 

18 (1) has been teaching mathematics or science in 

19 a public secondary school for not less than 3 years; 

20 (2) possessed certification in the field and level 

21 in which the individual primarily taught during the 

22 3 years preceding the year for which the determina23 tion is made; and 


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1 (3) is employed as a full-time, secondary mathe2 matics, or science teacher in a participating local 

3 educational agency. 

4 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible individual who de5 sires to receive a MSTC Master Fellowship under this sec6 tion shall submit an application to the Director at such 

7 time, in such manner, and accompanied by such informa8 tion as the Director may require. 

9 (d) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF MSTC MAS10 TER FELLOWS.— 

11 (1) RECRUITMENT.—The Director shall recruit 

12 eligible individuals for MSTC Master Fellowships. 

13 (2) SELECTION.—The Director shall establish 

14 criteria to ensure that— 

15 (A) individuals who receive MSTC Master 

16 Fellowships under this section— 

17 (i) demonstrate expertise in mathe18 matics or science content by taking a 

19 standardized test; 

20 (ii) demonstrate mastery of mathe21 matics or science pedagogy and have a 

22 strong record of positively affecting aca23 demic achievement, as demonstrated by ob24 servations from supervisors, student data 


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1 (as available), or other information as de2 termined by the Director; and 

3 (iii) demonstrate other attributes that 

4 are linked to effective teaching; and 

5 (B) not less than 30 percent of individuals 

6 selected to receive MSTC Master Fellowships 

7 will teach in hard-to-staff schools. 

8 (e) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible individual who receives 

9 a MSTC Master Fellowship under this section shall— 

10 (1) continue to teach mathematics or science in 

11 a public secondary school in a participating local 

12 educational agency for not less than an additional 5 

13 years during the subsequent 7 years after receiving 

14 such a MSTC Master Fellowship under this section; 

15 (2) serve as a leader and mentor within the in16 dividual’s department and school; 

17 (3) receive a stipend of $20,000 for each year 

18 the eligible individual continues to teach, as de19 scribed in paragraph (1), but not for more than 5 

20 years; 

21 (4) attend lectures, seminars, or workshops on 

22 content area knowledge or pedagogy provided or ap23 proved by the participating local educational agency 

24 that employs such eligible individual; and 


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1 (5) if the school in which the individual is 

2 teaching is a hard-to-staff school, receive a bonus 

3 stipend of $10,000, in addition to the stipend de4 scribed in paragraph (3), for each year the indi5 vidual continues to teach as described in paragraph 

6 (1), but not for more than 5 years. 

7 (f) RENEWAL OF MSTC MASTER FELLOWSHIPS.— 

8 An individual who has received a MSTC Fellowship or 

9 MSTC Master Fellowships and has completed the require10 ments associated with such fellowship may re-apply for a 

11 MSTC Master Fellowship (or apply for a MSTC Master 

12 Fellowship in the case of an individual who has received 

13 a MSTC Fellowship) if such individual is an eligible indi14 vidual under this section. 

15 (g) REPAYMENT.—In the event that an individual re16 ceiving a MSTC Master Fellowship under this section does 

17 not complete the activities described in subsection (e), the 

18 Director shall require repayment of the stipends granted 

19 to the individual under this section according to the regu20 lations established by the Math and Science Teaching 

21 Corps, except that the Director may, in the case of the 

22 death or permanent and total disability of the individual, 

23 or other crisis situation, forgive such obligation to repay 

24 in whole or in part. 

25 (h) REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

3 submit a report to Congress that evaluates the effec4 tiveness of the program under this section. 

5 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—The Director 

6 shall submit an updated report every 5 years after 

7 the date the first report is submitted under para8 graph (1). 

9 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

11 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $300,000,000 for fis12 cal year 2008, $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, 

13 $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and $800,000,000 for 

14 fiscal year 2011. 

Æ 


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