Diversify Act

To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For Youth Act Diversify Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Schools predominantly enrolling historically underserved students are often disproportionately impacted by teacher shortages. (2) According to Department of Education data for the 2020–2021 school year, to date 43 States are reporting shortages in mathematics teachers, 42 in science teachers, and 44 in special education teachers. (3) Data shows that, between 2009 and 2017, teacher education enrollments dropped from 691,000 to 444,000, a 38-percent reduction. This amounts to a decrease of about 340,000 professionals on their way to becoming teachers in the year 2017, as compared to 2009. (4) Current data show that the impacts of COVID–19 may be further exacerbating student access to well-prepared and diverse teachers through declining higher education enrollments and potential increased turnover due to pandemic teaching conditions, among other factors. (5) About 80 percent of educators begin teaching with a bachelor’s degree, yet the latest Federal data show a nearly 6-percent decline in undergraduate enrollment in the Spring of 2021. Enrollment declines have inequitably impacted students of color. (6) In an August 2020 Census Bureau survey, respondents cited their inability to pay as a factor in their decision to forgo college. (7) Research suggests that service scholarship programs like the TEACH Grant Program are successful when they are both administratively manageable and when subsidies are large enough to substantially offset training costs. Efforts to increase the TEACH Grant award amount must be combined with efforts to ensure that the program is administratively manageable. In order for the TEACH Grant Program to meet its full potential, the research is clear that both criteria need to be addressed. (8) The TEACH Grant’s award amount has not increased since its creation in the bipartisan College Cost Reduction and Access Act ( Public Law 110–84 Public Law 112–25 (9) Grant programs can eliminate or reduce the need to borrow student loans in order to afford a college education. This is important because a college student’s potential debt burden influences the student’s decisions about what profession to enter, with the result that the student is less likely to pursue a career in education or take other low-paying jobs after graduation if the student expects to incur more debt. This is especially true for students of color, who, according to a recent report, are more likely to come from families that are unable to contribute financially to their higher education. (10) Students with disabilities, including students of color with disabilities, are also likely to accrue significant student loan debt. This often results from limited ability to work while in school due to the increased time needed for coursework. (11) Teachers of color face unique barriers to entering and staying in the profession. For example, teachers of color are more likely to enter teaching through alternative pathways due to the high cost of traditional teacher preparation programs and the debt burden faced by college students of color. Lower quality pathways can result in less effective teaching and high turnover rates. Research shows that candidates who receive comprehensive preparation are 2 to 3 times more likely to stay in teaching than those who receive little training. In many cases, however, teachers of color are more likely to begin teaching without having completed comprehensive preparation and entering instead through alternative routes that often skip student teaching and key coursework, leaving teachers to learn on the job. (12) Research shows that recruiting and retaining a diverse teacher workforce is key to improving outcomes for all students and for closing achievement gaps. While White students also benefit by learning from teachers of color, the impact is especially significant for students of color, who have higher test scores, are more likely to graduate from high school, and more likely to succeed in college when they have had teachers of color who serve as role models and support their attachment to school and learning. 3. Amendments to the TEACH Grants program under the Higher Education Act of 1965 Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq. (1) in section 420L(1), by inserting (except that such term does not include an institution described in subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 102) 102 (2) in section 420M— (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking $4,000 $8,000 (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the second and third sentences and inserting the following: Any disbursement allowed to be made by crediting the teacher candidate's account shall be used for the full cost of attendance (as defined in section 472). (C) in subsection (d)— (i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking $16,000 $32,000 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking $8,000 $16,000 (3) in section 420N— (A) in subsection (b)— (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); (ii) by striking an agreement the applicant will an agreement by the applicant that the applicant will (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (E) as paragraphs (1) through (5), respectively, and moving the margins of such paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the left; (iv) by redesignating clauses (i) through (vii) as subparagraphs (A) through (G), respectively, and moving the margins of such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the left; (v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by clause (iii), by striking teach in a school described in section 465(a)(2)(A) teach in a school described in section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high-need early childhood education program (defined in section 200(9)) (vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by clause (iii)— (I) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated by clause (iv), by striking or (II) in subparagraph (G), as redesignated by clause (iv), by inserting or (III) by adding at the end the following: (H) early childhood education; ; and (B) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: (c) Certificate Upon the completion of the service requirement in subsection (b), the Secretary shall send to the recipient of a grant under this subpart an electronic certificate documenting the completion of such service. ; (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) Prohibition The Secretary may not institute or create a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service requirement under subsection (b). ; and (E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by subparagraph (C)— (i) by striking subsection (b)(1)(C)(vii) subsection (b)(3)(G) (ii) by striking subsection (b)(1) subsection (b) 4. Amendment to the balanced budget and deficit control act (a) Exemption of program from sequestration Section 255(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 905(h) Supplemental Security Income Program (28–0406–0–1–609). TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. . (b) Applicability The amendment made by this section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.

Summary: Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For Youth Act or the Diversify Act This bill revises the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grant program. The TEACH program awards grants to undergraduate and graduate students who commit to teaching in a high-need field and in an elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students. First, the bill raises the maximum amount for TEACH grants. Second, the bill allows TEACH grants to cover the full cost of attendance. Currently, these grants may be used only for tuition, fees, and on-campus housing. The bill allows teaching in a high-need early childhood education program to count toward service requirements for the program. Next, the bill eliminates the process for converting a TEACH grant to a loan if a recipient does not complete the requirements of the program. Further, the bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from instituting or creating a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service requirement. In addition, the bill requires ED to send an electronic certificate to grant recipients who have completed their service requirement. The bill also exempts the TEACH program from sequestration, which is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.