I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 647

To increase the amount of student loan forgiveness and loan cancellation 

available to qualified teachers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To increase the amount of student loan forgiveness and 

loan cancellation available to qualified teachers, 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 ‘‘Canceling Loans to 

5 Allow School Systems to Attract Classroom Teachers 

6 Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNTS FOR STU2 DENT LOAN FORGIVENESS AND LOAN CAN3 CELLATION. 

4 (a) FFEL LOANS.—Section 428J of the Higher Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (c)—

7 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘$17,500’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall repay the 

11 loan obligations for elementary school or secondary 

12 school teachers who meet the requirements of sub13 section (b) on a first-come first-served basis, subject 

14 to the availability of appropriations, but shall give 

15 priority in providing loan repayment under this 

16 paragraph for a fiscal year to teachers who—

17 ‘‘(A)(i) are employed as special education 

18 teachers whose primary responsibility is to 

19 teach or support children with disabilities (as 

20 defined in section 602 of the Individuals with 

21 Disabilities Act); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) as certified by the chief administrative 

23 officer of the public or nonprofit private elemen24 tary school or secondary school in which the 

25 borrower is employed, are teaching children 

26 with disabilities (as defined in section 602 of 
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1 the Individuals with Disabilities Act) that cor2 respond with the borrower’s training and have 

3 demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in 

4 the content areas of the elementary school or 

5 secondary school curriculum that the borrower 

6 is teaching; or 

7 ‘‘(B) are employed as teachers of mathe8 matics or science in local educational agencies 

9 that are determined by a State educational 

10 agency under section 2141 of the Elementary 

11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to have 

12 failed to make progress toward meeting the an13 nual measurable objectives described in section 

14 1119(a)(2) of such Act for 2 consecutive 

15 years.’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

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

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003 and 

20 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

21 (b) DIRECT LOANS.—Section 460 of the Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (c)—

24 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘$17,500’’; and 
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall cancel 

3 loan obligations under this section for elementary 

4 school or secondary school teachers who meet the re5 quirements of subsection (b) on a first-come first6 served basis, subject to the availability of appropria7 tions, but shall give priority in canceling loan obliga8 tions under this section for a fiscal year to teachers 

9 who—

10 ‘‘(A)(i) are employed as special education 

11 teachers whose primary responsibility is to 

12 teach or support children with disabilities (as 

13 defined in section 602 of the Individuals with 

14 Disabilities Act); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) as certified by the chief administrative 

16 officer of the public or nonprofit private elemen17 tary school or secondary school in which the 

18 borrower is employed, are teaching children 

19 with disabilities (as defined in section 602 of 

20 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) 

21 that correspond with the borrower’s training 

22 and have demonstrated knowledge and teaching 

23 skills in the content areas of the elementary 

24 school or secondary school curriculum that the 

25 borrower is teaching; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) are employed as teachers of mathe2 matics or science in local educational agencies 

3 that are determined by a State educational 

4 agency under section 2141 of the Elementary 

5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to have 

6 failed to make progress toward meeting the an7 nual measurable objectives described in section 

8 1119(a)(2) of such Act for 2 consecutive 

9 years.’’; and 

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

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

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003 and 

14 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

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