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107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3688
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive demonstration
grant program to provide funds for local educational agencies to experi-
ment with ways to alleviate the substitute teacher shortage, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 6, 2002
Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr.
SKELTON, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CLAY, Mr.
PHELPS, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr.
ETHERIDGE, Mr. FROST, Mr. ENGLISH, and Mr. SANDLIN) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competi-
tive demonstration grant program to provide funds for
local educational agencies to experiment with ways to
alleviate the substitute teacher shortage, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Substitute for
Quality Teaching Demonstration Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Each day about 5 million children walk into
274,000 classrooms nationwide and find a substitute
teacher. Students will spend the equivalent of one
full year with a substitute teacher before they grad-
uate from high school.
(2) Virtually every State in the country is fac-
ing a substitute teacher shortage, a problem that
has been exacerbated by increased demand for pro-
fessional development opportunities for teachers.
(3) In 73 percent of school districts, there is an
immediate, urgent need for substitute teachers.
(4) Nationwide, substitute teacher salaries aver-
age only $65 per day. In rural areas, rates are often
as low as $40. Rarely do substitutes receive benefits.
(5) This shortage is likely to grow to a crisis
level within the next 10 years, as an acute shortage
of substitute teachers develops because an unprece-
dented number of children will enter our schools.
(6) The substitute teacher shortage has lead
schools to relax their requirements and hire sub-
stitute teachers that are often underqualified. In all
but one State, substitute teachers need no teaching
certification.
(7) In 28 States, principals may hire anyone
with a high school diploma or a general equivalency
diploma (GED) who is age 18 years or older.
(8) Nearly 12 percent of districts do not require
substitute teachers to fill out a job application.
(9) Over half (56 percent) of school districts
never have a face-to-face interview with potential
substitutes.
(10) In 30 percent of all school districts, no
background checks are conducted on applicants for
substitute teaching positions, and only half the dis-
tricts check applicants’ references.
(11) Poorly trained substitute teachers have a
negative impact on student academic performance.
(12) States with lower academic achievement
are twice as likely to allow less qualified substitutes
in the classroom. Nine out of the ten lowest-ranked
States in National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) testing allowed substitute teachers
with only a high school diploma to teach in their
schools. In each of those States, education spending
is thousands of dollars below the national average.
(13) Of the top 25 States in education spend-
ing, 9 require at least a college degree for substitute
teachers.
(14) In 77 percent of school districts across the
country, substitute teachers are given no training at
all.
(15) Alleviating the substitute teacher crisis
would free up precious time for other teachers to
spend in professional development programs.
SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Sec-
retary of Education shall establish a competitive dem-
onstration grant program to provide grants for a single
academic year directly to not fewer than 50 nor more than
100 local educational agencies (as that term is defined in
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965), or to regional consortia of such agencies
acting 
together, 
that 
vary 
geographically 
and
socioeconomically, to enable such agencies or consortia to
experiment with ways to alleviate the substitute teacher
shortage described in section 2.
SEC. 4. SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.
In selecting grant recipients under section 3, the Sec-
retary of Education shall select applicants that, collec-
tively, will explore a range of options for addressing the
substitute teacher shortage, such as—
(1) developing a public relations campaign tar-
geted at likely substitute teacher candidates (such as
retired teachers);
(2) establishing permanent substitute teacher
pools;
(3) addressing issues that hinder the ability of
administrators to find qualified substitute teachers;
or
(4) increasing the availability of content and
skills training for substitute teachers.
SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
Not later than 1 year after the date the last grant
made under section 3 expires, the Secretary of Education
shall submit a report to the Congress describing the find-
ings and results of the demonstration program under this
Act, including—
(1) the programs or methods that best allevi-
ated the substitute teacher shortage, and where
those programs or methods worked best; and
(2) the impact of economic conditions on the
quality and availability of substitute teachers.
SEC. 6. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.
The Secretary of Education may prescribe rules to
carry out this Act.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
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