II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4027 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an above-the-line 

deduction for certain professional development and other expenses of 

elementary and secondary school teachers and for certain certification 

expenses of individuals becoming science, technology, engineering, or 

math teachers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow an 

above-the-line deduction for certain professional development and other expenses of elementary and secondary 

school teachers and for certain certification expenses of 

individuals becoming science, technology, engineering, or 

math teachers. 

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 ‘‘Tax Equity for School 

5 Teachers Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL DEVEL2 OPMENT EXPENSES AND CLASSROOM SUP3 PLIES OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

4 SCHOOL TEACHERS AND FOR CERTAIN CER5 TIFICATION EXPENSES OF SCIENCE, TECH6 NOLOGY, ENGINEERING, OR MATH TEACH7 ERS. 

8 (a) DEDUCTION ALLOWED WHETHER OR NOT TAX9 PAYER ITEMIZES OTHER DEDUCTIONS.—Subparagraph 

10 (D) of section 62(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 (relating to certain expenses of elementary and sec12 ondary school teachers) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(D) CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP14 MENT EXPENSES, CLASSROOM SUPPLIES, AND

15 OTHER EXPENSES FOR ELEMENTARY AND SEC16 ONDARY TEACHERS.—The sum of the deduc17 tions allowed by section 162 with respect to the 

18 following expenses: 

19 ‘‘(i) Expenses paid or incurred by an 

20 eligible educator in connection with books, 

21 supplies (other than nonathletic supplies 

22 for courses of instruction in health or 

23 physical education), computer equipment 

24 (including related software and services) 

25 and other equipment, and supplementary 


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1 materials used by the eligible educator in 

2 the classroom. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Expenses paid or incurred by an 

4 eligible educator which constitute qualified 

5 professional development expenses. 

6 ‘‘(iii) Expenses which are related to 

7 the initial certification of an individual (in 

8 the individual’s State licensing system) as 

9 a qualified science, technology, engineering 

10 or math teacher.’’. 

11 (b) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—Section 

12 62(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 

13 definitions and special rules is amended by redesignating 

14 paragraph (2) as paragraph (5) and by adding after para15 graph (1) the following new paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

17 EXPENSES.—For purposes of subsection (a)(2)(D)— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

19 professional development expenses’ means ex20 penses for tuition, fees, books, supplies, equip21 ment, and transportation required for the en22 rollment or attendance of an individual in a 

23 qualified course of instruction. 


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1 ‘‘(B) QUALIFIED COURSE OF INSTRUC2 TION.—The term ‘qualified course of instruc3 tion’ means a course of instruction which— 

4 ‘‘(i) is— 

5 ‘‘(I) directly related to the cur6 riculum and academic subjects in 

7 which an eligible educator provides in8 struction, 

9 ‘‘(II) designed to enhance the 

10 ability of an eligible educator to un11 derstand and use State standards for 

12 the academic subjects in which such 

13 teacher provides instruction, or 

14 ‘‘(III) designed to enable an eligi15 ble educator to meet the highly quali16 fied teacher requirements under the 

17 No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 

18 ‘‘(ii) may provide instruction to an eli19 gible educator— 

20 ‘‘(I) in how to teach children 

21 with different learning styles, particu22 larly children with disabilities and 

23 children with special learning needs 

24 (including children who are gifted and 

25 talented), or 


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1 ‘‘(II) in how best to discipline 

2 children in the classroom and identify 

3 early and appropriate interventions to 

4 help children described in subclause 

5 (I) to learn, 

6 ‘‘(iii) is tied to the ability of an eligi7 ble educator to enable students to meet 

8 challenging State or local content stand9 ards and student performance standards, 

10 ‘‘(iv) is tied to strategies and pro11 grams that demonstrate effectiveness in as12 sisting an eligible educator in increasing 

13 student academic achievement and student 

14 performance, or substantially increasing 

15 the knowledge and teaching skills of an eli16 gible educator, and 

17 ‘‘(v) is part of a program of profes18 sional development for eligible educators 

19 which is approved and certified by the ap20 propriate local educational agency as fur21 thering the goals of the preceding clauses. 

22 ‘‘(C) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The 

23 term ‘local educational agency’ has the meaning 

24 given such term by section 14101 of the Ele25 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 


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1 as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 

2 subsection. 

3 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGI4 NEERING, OR MATH TEACHER.—For purposes of 

5 subsection (a)(2)(D), the term ‘qualified science, 

6 technology, engineering, or math teacher’ means, 

7 with respect to a taxable year, an individual who— 

8 ‘‘(A) has a bachelor’s degree or other ad9 vanced degree in a field related to science, tech10 nology, engineering, or math, 

11 ‘‘(B) was employed as a nonteaching pro12 fessional in a field related to science, tech13 nology, engineering, or math for not less than 

14 3 taxable years during the 10-taxable-year pe15 riod ending with the taxable year, 

16 ‘‘(C) is certified as a teacher of science, 

17 technology, engineering, or math in the individ18 ual’s State licensing system for the first time 

19 during such taxable year, and 

20 ‘‘(D) is employed at least part-time as a 

21 teacher of science, technology, engineering, or 

22 math in an elementary or secondary school dur23 ing such taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(4) EXEMPTION FROM MINIMUM EDUCATION

25 OR NEW TRADE OR BUSINESS EXCEPTION.—For 


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1 purposes of applying subsection (a)(2)(D) and this 

2 subsection, the determination as to whether qualified 

3 professional development expenses, or expenses for 

4 the initial certification described in subsection 

5 (a)(2)(D)(iii), are deductible under section 162 shall 

6 be made without regard to any disallowance of such 

7 a deduction under such section for such expenses be8 cause such expenses are necessary to meet the min9 imum educational requirements for qualification for 

10 employment or qualify the individual for a new trade 

11 or business.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2005. 

Æ 


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