I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2755 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to assist 

underperforming schools to recruit, support, and retain highly qualified 

and effective teachers by providing grants for participation in the Targeted High Need Initiative program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 8, 2009 

Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

and Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to assist underperforming schools to recruit, 

support, and retain highly qualified and effective teachers 

by providing grants for participation in the Targeted 

High Need Initiative program of the National Board 

for Professional Teaching Standards. 

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 ‘‘High Quality Teaching 

5 Act of 2009’’. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2755 IH

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO 

2 PROVIDE TARGETED ASSISTANCE TO HIGH 

3 NEED SCHOOLS TO RECRUIT, SUPPORT, AND 

4 RETAIN HIGHLY QUALIFIED AND EFFECTIVE 

5 TEACHERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title II of the Elemen7 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subpart: 

10 ‘‘Subpart 6—Targeted High Need Initiative 

11 ‘‘SEC. 2161. GRANTS TARGETING SCHOOLS HAVING HIGH12 EST NEED FOR HIGHLY QUALIFIED AND EF13 FECTIVE TEACHERS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make com15 petitive grants to selected local educational agencies to re16 cruit, support, and retain highly qualified and effective 

17 teachers through participation in the Targeted High Need 

18 Initiative program of the National Board for Professional 

19 Teaching Standards. 

20 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF ASSISTED AGEN21 CIES.—Not more than 250 local educational agencies shall 

22 be selected by the Secretary to receive grants under this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIES.—In making such grants, the Sec25 retary shall give priority to local educational agencies— 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2755 IH

1 ‘‘(1) having the highest number of students 

2 from a traditionally disadvantaged background, in3 cluding students who receive free or reduced priced 

4 meals, students belonging to a minority subgroup, 

5 students with limited English proficiency, or migra6 tory children; 

7 ‘‘(2) having the highest number of schools iden8 tified for school improvement, corrective action, or 

9 restructuring under section 1116(b); and 

10 ‘‘(3) having the lowest number of teachers who 

11 are certified by the National Board of Professional 

12 Teaching Standards. 

13 ‘‘(d) SELECTION PROCESS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

15 grant under this section, a local educational agency 

16 shall submit an application to the State educational 

17 agency at such time, in such manner, and containing 

18 such information as the Secretary may require. 

19 ‘‘(2) REVIEW BY STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN20 CY.—Applications received by a State educational 

21 agency under paragraph (1) shall be submitted to 

22 the Secretary (at such time, in such manner, and 

23 containing such information as the Secretary may 

24 require) together with recommendations by the State 

25 educational agency as to— 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2755 IH

1 ‘‘(A) which local educational agencies have 

2 the highest need; and 

3 ‘‘(B) which should be given preference 

4 based on criteria specified by the State edu5 cational agency. 

6 Such criteria may include the distribution of such 

7 grants between urban and rural areas, the number 

8 of limited English proficient children, and the num9 ber of schools needing assistance. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—The appli11 cation under paragraph (1) shall describe the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(A) The partnership that such agency will 

14 form with an institution of higher education or 

15 other appropriate entity to carry out the activi16 ties described in subsection (e). 

17 ‘‘(B) How such agency will use funds re18 ceived under this section to participate in the 

19 Targeted High Need Initiative program of the 

20 National Board for Professional Teaching 

21 Standards. 

22 ‘‘(C) Identify the initial 25 classroom 

23 teachers, and at least 1 superintendent, prin24 cipal, or vice principal, who have agreed to be 

25 mentors under such program. 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2755 IH

1 ‘‘(e) USE OF FUNDS.—A local educational agency 

2 that receives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

3 made available through the grant for the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Establish the partnership referred to sub5 section (d)(3)(A). 

6 ‘‘(2) Support teachers through the Targeted 

7 High Need Initiative program of the National Board 

8 for Professional Teaching Standards through train9 ing, professional development, mentoring and tech10 nological resources. 

11 ‘‘(3) Fully fund the assessment fee for all eligi12 ble teachers who apply to be certified by such Board 

13 and who agree to remain at the participating school 

14 for at least 3 years after completing the certifi15 cation. 

16 ‘‘(4) Provide a $1,000 award to each teacher 

17 who is certified by such Board after completing par18 ticipation in such a Targeted High Need Initiative 

19 program. 

20 ‘‘(5) Provide sponsoring schools with a $500 

21 award for each teacher described in paragraph (4). 

22 ‘‘(6) Conduct an independent evaluation of the 

23 impact of participation in such Targeted High Need 

24 Initiative program on teaching quality and student 

25 learning and achievement. Such evaluation may inVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:57 Jun 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2755.IH H2755

hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2755 IH

1 clude incorporating multiple sources of data over 

2 time to assess immediate and long-term impacts of 

3 such participation. 

4 ‘‘(f) DURATION OF GRANT.—The Secretary shall 

5 make grants under this section for period of 5 years. 

6 ‘‘(g) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To the extent 

7 practicable, the Secretary shall ensure an equitable geo8 graphic distribution of grants under this section among 

9 the regions of the United States.’’. 

10 (b) FUNDING.— 

11 (1) Section 2103 of the Elementary and Sec12 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6603) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 subsection: 

15 ‘‘(c) TARGETED HIGH NEED INITIATIVE.—There are 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out subpart 6 

17 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and each of the 5 suc18 ceeding fiscal years.’’. 

19 (2) Subsection (a) of section 2103 of such Act 

20 is amended by striking ‘‘subpart 5’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘subparts 5 and 6’’. 

Æ 


hsrobinson on PROD1PC76 with BILLS