I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1161 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
grants for innovative teacher retention programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2009 
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, 
Mr. WATT, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 
LEWIS
of Georgia, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. WALZ, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 
ETHERIDGE, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 
Mr. KISSELL, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. SHULER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DON-
NELLY of Indiana, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MEEKS of New York, and 
Ms. HIRONO) 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 provide grants for innovative teacher retention 
programs. 
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 ‘‘Keep Teachers Teach-
ing Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The United States faces an increasing need 
for high-quality educators. 
(2) Approximately 1⁄3 of teachers leave the pro-
fession within 5 years of being hired because of poor 
working conditions, low pay, low morale, or lack of 
a pathway for professional advancement. In some 
schools, the five-year attrition rate reaches 50 per-
cent. 
(3) Effective teacher retention programs to ad-
dress this problem are already at work in school dis-
tricts around the country, and many more innovative 
programs could be advanced if additional resources 
were available. 
(4) Efforts to address the teacher shortage de-
mands a national strategy to support the develop-
ment and implementation of innovative teacher re-
tention programs. 
(5) The United States Department of Edu-
cation can play an important role in facilitating the 
identification of the most promising teacher reten-
tion approaches and disseminating information 
about them to States and local educational agencies. 
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SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHER RETENTION 
PROGRAMS. 
Section 2151 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6651) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) TEACHER RETENTION ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and carry out a teacher retention program to as-
sist State educational agencies and local educational 
agencies in developing and implementing innovative 
teacher retention programs. The program shall sup-
port the development of model programs and best 
practices in retaining quality teachers in the class-
room and shall facilitate the dissemination of inno-
vative teacher retention programs to local edu-
cational agencies throughout the United States. 
‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out 
paragraph (1) by making grants to eligible entities 
to develop and implement innovative teacher reten-
tion programs, including activities such as— 
‘‘(A) professional development programs; 
‘‘(B) teacher mentoring programs; 
‘‘(C) advanced certification or advanced 
credentialing; 
‘‘(D) research, travel, or fellowship oppor-
tunities; and 
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