I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2659
To provide grants to eligible urban local educational agencies to enable the
agencies to recruit and retain qualified teachers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 30, 1999
Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr.
ACKERMAN, and Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide grants to eligible urban local educational agencies
to enable the agencies to recruit and retain qualified
teachers.
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 ‘‘21st Century Urban
Teachers Recruitment and Retention Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Urban and inner city school districts have
greater difficulty attracting and retaining qualified
teachers than their suburban counterparts.
(2) The cost of living is higher in urban and
inner cities than in suburban areas.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
The Secretary is authorized to provide grants to eligi-
ble urban local educational agencies to enable the agencies
to recruit and retain qualified teachers for elementary and
secondary schools.
SEC. 4. GRANT AWARDS.
(a) ELIGIBLE URBAN LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CIES.—To be eligible to receive a grant under this Act,
an eligible urban local educational agency shall—
(1) submit an application to the Secretary at
such time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may reasonably require;
and
(2) demonstrate a need to recruit and retain
additional qualified elementary and secondary teach-
ers.
(b) GRANT AMOUNT.—Each grant award made under
this Act shall be of sufficient size to enable a grantee to
develop incentive programs to recruit and retain qualified
teachers.
SEC. 5. USES OF FUNDS.
An eligible urban local educational agency that re-
ceives a grant award under this Act may use such funds
received to develop incentive programs to recruit and re-
tain qualified teachers which may include—
(1) salary increases;
(2) reimbursement for teacher certification ex-
penses;
(3) assistance to pay college tuition expenses;
(4) assistance to pay graduate school tuition
and training expenses; and
(5) reimbursement for relocation expenses.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the
same meaning given such term in section 14101(18)
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801(18));
(2) the term ‘‘metropolitan statistical area’’ has
the same meaning given such term by the Bureau of
the Census;
(3) the term ‘‘eligible urban local educational
agency’’ means a local educational agency—
(A) that is located in a metropolitan statis-
tical area; and
(B) in which 30 percent or more of the
children, ages 5 through 17, served by such
agency are from families below the poverty
level, determined in accordance with section
1124 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965; and
(4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Education.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 and
2001, $400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 and
2003, and $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.
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