I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2902 

To establish a grant program to ensure that students in high-need schools 

have equal access to a quality education delivered by an effective, diverse 

workforce. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 

Ms. CHU introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to ensure that students in 

high-need schools have equal access to a quality education delivered by an effective, diverse workforce. 

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 ‘‘Equal Access to Qual5 ity Education Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EQUAL ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

9 make grants on a competitive basis to eligible partnerships 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2902 IH

1 in high-need areas to develop and strengthen high-quality 

2 pathways for the teaching and education leadership pro3 fessions, to create professional induction programs for the 

4 teaching profession, and to provide a stable and collabo5 rative learning environment for educators and students. 

6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the grant program 

7 established under this section shall be to— 

8 (1) increase the percentage of highly qualified 

9 teachers in a State, including teachers from under10 represented minority groups; 

11 (2) close the achievement gap for students with12 in subgroups that are not showing expected perform13 ance; 

14 (3) decrease shortages of highly qualified teach15 ers in poor urban and rural areas; 

16 (4) decrease high turnover rates for educators 

17 in high-need schools; 

18 (5) increase the number of highly qualified 

19 teachers in shortage areas, including special edu20 cation, bilingual education, and education for 

21 English language learners, and in science, mathe22 matics, engineering, and technology; 

23 (6) increase opportunities for enhanced and on24 going professional development that— 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (A) improves the academic content knowl2 edge of teachers in the subject areas in which 

3 teachers are certified or licensed to teach or in 

4 which the teachers are working toward certifi5 cation or licensure to teach; 

6 (B) promotes strong teaching skills, includ7 ing instructional strategies that address diverse 

8 needs, the use of data to inform instruction, 

9 and strategies to improve student achievement; 

10 and 

11 (C) provides time for teachers to share 

12 their knowledge and innovation; and 

13 (7) provide all educators with the knowledge 

14 base and professional skills to meet the needs of di15 verse learners, including English language learners 

16 and students with disabilities. 

17 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 (1) REQUIRED USES.—A partnership that re19 ceives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

20 to— 

21 (A) establish or support a teacher prepara22 tion program that— 

23 (i) requires participants in the pro24 gram to complete at least one year of resi25 dency at a high-need school in the local 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2902 IH

1 educational agency participating in the eli2 gible partnership; 

3 (ii) requires participants in the pro4 gram to teach in a high-need school in 

5 such local educational agency for at least 3 

6 years after completing residency; and 

7 (iii) awards a teaching credential, an 

8 undergraduate degree, or a Masters degree 

9 that meets State requirements for a teach10 ing license or certification upon completion 

11 of the program; 

12 (B) establish or support a teacher induc13 tion and retention program that— 

14 (i) provides high-quality professional 

15 development to teachers to assist them in 

16 improving their knowledge, skills, and 

17 teaching practices in order to help students 

18 to improve their achievement and meet 

19 State academic standards; 

20 (ii) provides teachers with updated in21 formation on developments in curricula, as22 sessments, and educational research, in23 cluding the manner in which the research 

24 and data can be used to improve teaching 

25 skills and practice; 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (iii) provides a mentor teacher and 

2 other support for new teachers; and 

3 (iv) provides leadership opportunities 

4 for teachers, including access to career lad5 ders and roles as curriculum and instruc6 tional leaders, mentors, and coaches; and 

7 (C) otherwise fulfill the purposes described 

8 in subsection (b). 

9 (2) AUTHORIZED USES.—In addition to the ac10 tivities described in paragraph (1), a partnership 

11 that receives a grant under this section may use the 

12 funds for any of the following: 

13 (A) Providing support to each mentor 

14 teacher working with new teachers. 

15 (B) Providing preparation in effective, evi16 dence-based instructional assessment practices 

17 and classroom management strategies for gen18 eral education teachers serving students with 

19 disabilities and students with limited English 

20 proficiency. 

21 (C) Enabling teachers to engage in study 

22 groups, professional learning communities, and 

23 other collaborative activities and collegial inter24 actions regarding instruction assessment. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (D) Paying for release time and substitute 

2 teachers in order to enable teachers to partici3 pate in professional development and mentoring 

4 activities. 

5 (E) Creating libraries of professional mate6 rial, catalogues of expert instruction, and edu7 cation technology. 

8 (F) Providing high-quality professional de9 velopment for other instructional staff, such as 

10 paraprofessionals, librarians, and counselors. 

11 (G) Developing partnerships with busi12 nesses and community-based organizations. 

13 (H) Providing tuition assistance, scholar14 ships, or student loan repayment to teachers. 

15 (I) Providing stipends to participants in 

16 the teacher preparation program under para17 graph (1)(A). 

18 (J) Providing support for home visitation, 

19 parenting education, and family engagement, 

20 especially for parents who have limited English 

21 proficiency. 

22 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec23 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible partner24 ships that— 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (1) demonstrate a plan to recruit teachers from 

2 among minority and local candidates and from indi3 viduals with disabilities; 

4 (2) demonstrate the use of a valid and reliable 

5 teacher performance assessment; or 

6 (3) include— 

7 (A) an institution of higher education that 

8 is an ‘‘eligible institution’’ for purposes of the 

9 TEACH Grant program under subpart 9 of 

10 part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.); 

12 (B) a Tribal College or University, as de13 fined in section 316(b)(3) of such Act (20 

14 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)); 

15 (C) an Asian American and Native Amer16 ican Pacific Islander-serving institution, as de17 fined in section 320(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

18 1059g(a)); 

19 (D) a Hispanic-serving institution, as de20 fined in section 502(a)(5) of such Act (20 

21 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)); or 

22 (E) a historically Black college and univer23 sity, as defined in section 631(a)(5) of such Act 

24 (20 U.S.C. 1132(a)). 

25 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.— 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

2 the cost of any activities funded by a grant received 

3 under this section shall not exceed 75 percent. 

4 (2) PAYMENT OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The 

5 non-Federal share may be paid in cash or in kind, 

6 fairly evaluated, including services. 

7 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi9 ble partnership’’ means a partnership— 

10 (A) between a high-need local educational 

11 agency and an institution of higher education; 

12 and 

13 (B) that may include a teacher organiza14 tion or a nonprofit educational organization. 

15 (2) FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.—The term ‘‘family 

16 engagement’’ means a shared responsibility of fami17 lies and schools for student success, in which schools 

18 and community-based organizations are committed 

19 to reaching out to engage families, especially parents 

20 of non-Native English speakers, in meaningful ways 

21 that encourage the families to actively support their 

22 children’s learning and development, as well as the 

23 learning and development of other children. The 

24 shared responsibility is continuous from birth 

25 through young adulthood and reinforces learning 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2902 IH

1 that takes place in the home, school, and commu2 nity. 

3 (3) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN4 CY.—The term ‘‘high-need local educational agency’’ 

5 means a local educational agency— 

6 (A)(i) that serves not fewer than 10,000 

7 low-income children; 

8 (ii) for which not less than 20 percent of 

9 the children served by the agency are low-in10 come children; or 

11 (iii) that has a percentage of low-income 

12 children that is above the highest quartile 

13 among such agencies in the State; and 

14 (B)(i) for which one or more schools served 

15 by the agency has a high percentage of teachers 

16 who are not highly qualified; or 

17 (ii) for which one or more schools served 

18 by the agency has a high teacher turnover rate. 

19 (4) HIGHLY QUALIFIED.—The term ‘‘highly 

20 qualified’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu22 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 7801(23)). The definition 

23 given the term ‘‘highly qualified teacher’’ in section 

24 163 of Public Law 111–242 shall not apply with re25 spect to this section. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965. 

5 (6) LOW-INCOME CHILDREN.—The term ‘‘low6 income children’’ means— 

7 (A) children from families with incomes 

8 below the poverty line (as defined by the Office 

9 of Management and Budget and revised annu10 ally in accordance with section 673(2) of the 

11 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981) 

12 applicable to a family of the size involved; or 

13 (B) children who are eligible for free or re14 duced price lunches under the Richard B. Rus15 sell National School Lunch Act. 

16 (7) MENTOR TEACHER.—The term ‘‘mentor 

17 teacher’’ means a teacher who— 

18 (A) is highly qualified; 

19 (B) has a minimum of 3 years of teaching 

20 experience; and 

21 (C) is recommended by the principal and 

22 other current master and mentor teachers on 

23 the basis of— 

24 (i) instructional excellence through ob25 servations and other evidence of classroom 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2902 IH

1 practice, including standards-based evalua2 tions, such as certification by the National 

3 Board for Professional Teaching Stand4 ards; 

5 (ii) an ability, as demonstrated by evi6 dence of student learning in high-need 

7 schools, to increase student learning; and 

8 (iii) excellent instruction and commu9 nication with an understanding of how to 

10 facilitate growth in other teachers, includ11 ing new teachers. 

12 (8) TEACHER PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.— 

13 The term ‘‘teacher performance assessment’’ means 

14 a program, based on State or national professional 

15 teaching standards, that will measure teachers’ cur16 riculum planning, instruction, and assessment of 

17 students, including appropriate plans and adapta18 tions for English language learners and students 

19 with disabilities, and multiple sources of evidence 

20 about student learning. Such assessment will be vali21 dated against professional assessment standards and 

22 reliably scored by trained external evaluators with 

23 appropriate auditing of scoring to ensure consist24 ency. 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 2902 IH

1 (9) TEACHING CREDENTIAL.—The term ‘‘teach2 ing credential’’ means a program of instruction for 

3 individuals who have completed a baccalaureate de4 gree, that does not lead to a graduate degree, and 

5 that consists of courses required by a State for a 

6 teacher candidate to receive a professional certifi7 cation or license that is required for employment as 

8 a teacher in an elementary school or secondary 

9 school in that State. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS