Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2015

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants for innovative teacher retention programs. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2015 2. Findings The Congress makes the following findings: (1) The United States faces an increasing need for high-quality educators. The Department of Education estimates the United States will need about 430,000 new elementary and secondary teachers by 2020. (2) For the first time since the 1960s, teachers with 10 years of experience or less now constitute more than half of our teaching force. (3) Research shows that a key reason for teacher turnover is job dissatisfaction, which may result from poor working conditions, inadequate administrative support, low salary, low morale, or lack of a pathway for professional advancement. (4) The National Center for Education Statistics found a correlation between the level of support and training provided to new teachers and the likelihood of a teacher leaving after their first year, with teachers who are assigned a mentor teacher more likely to continue their teaching careers than those who did not. (5) Efforts to address the teacher shortage demands a national strategy to support the development and implementation of innovative teacher retention programs. (6) Effective teacher retention programs to address this problem are already at work in local educational agencies around the country, and many more innovative programs could be advanced if additional resources were available. (7) The Department of Education has made teacher recruitment and retention a priority, and can play an important role in facilitating the identification of the most promising teacher retention approaches and disseminating information about them to State educational agencies and local educational agencies. 3. Grants for innovative teacher retention programs Section 2151 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 6651 (g) Teacher retention activities (1) In general The Secretary shall establish and carry out a teacher retention program to— (A) assist State educational agencies and local educational agencies in developing and implementing innovative teacher retention programs, and support the development of model programs and best practices in retaining quality teachers in the classroom; and (B) facilitate the dissemination of innovative teacher retention programs to State educational agencies and local educational agencies. (2) Grants The Secretary shall carry out paragraph (1)(A) (A) professional development programs; (B) teacher mentoring programs; (C) advanced certification or advanced credentialing; (D) research, travel, or fellowship opportunities; and (E) pairing of teachers with professionals in research or industry. (3) Eligible entities In this subsection, the term eligible entity (A) local educational agencies; (B) State educational agencies; and (C) partnerships of local educational agencies, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education. (4) Grant terms Grants under this subsection shall be awarded for periods of not more than 5 years and on a competitive basis. Grants awarded under this subsection may be renewed. (5) Secretary’s duty to identify most promising teacher retention approaches In carrying out paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall— (A) identify the most promising teacher retention approaches, including the approaches already working and the approaches developed through grants funded under this subsection, and make information about such approaches publicly available and easily accessible to State educational agencies and local educational agencies; and (B) not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, transmit to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report that describes— (i) the methodology by which the most promising teacher retention programs are identified under subparagraph (A); and (ii) the Secretary’s efforts to disseminate information regarding such programs to State educational agencies and local educational agencies. .

Summary: Keep Teachers Teaching Act of 2015 This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education (ED) to award competitive, renewable grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), states, and partnerships of LEAs, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education for the development and implementation of innovative teacher retention programs that include: (1) professional development; (2) teacher mentoring; (3) advanced certification or credentialing; (4) research, travel, or fellowship opportunities; and (5) pairing teachers with research or industry professionals. ED must: (1) identify the most promising teacher retention strategies, and (2) make information about those strategies publicly available and easily accessible to states and LEAs.