I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4143
To establish a national teaching fellowship program to encourage individuals
to enter and remain in the field of teaching at public schools.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 30, 2000
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To establish a national teaching fellowship program to en-
courage individuals to enter and remain in the field
of teaching at public schools.
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 ‘‘Teaching Fellows Act
of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States faces an increasing need
for high-quality educators.
(2) Up to 1,000,000 of the country’s 3,000,000
teachers will retire in the next 5 years. American
schools will have to hire 2,200,000 teachers by 2010.
(3) The Congress desires to inspire promising
high school seniors and accomplished persons cur-
rently involved in the field of education to become
certified teachers.
(4) The opportunity created by a fellowship
program would allow persons in the field of edu-
cation the financial opportunity to obtain a quality
education which they would use to teach America’s
youth.
(5) The Congress desires to motivate those who
go into the field of teaching to become career edu-
cators.
(6) Many teacher assistants have received their
training at community colleges and have the poten-
tial and desire to obtain degrees in education and
certification as teachers.
(7) Rural communities could greatly benefit
from encouraging those in the community who al-
ready have an interest in teaching to pursue a de-
gree in education and become career educators.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by striking out the head of such title and
inserting the following:
‘‘TITLE II—TEACHER QUALITY
‘‘Part A—Teacher Quality Enhance-
ment Grants for States and
Partnerships’’;
(2) by striking out ‘‘this title’’ each place it ap-
pears in section 201 through 209 and inserting ‘‘this
part’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new part:
‘‘Part B—Federal Teaching and
Partnership Fellows
‘‘SEC. 211. FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM BENEFITING HIGH
SCHOOL SENIORS.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
courage promising high school seniors to enter the field
of teaching and become career educators.
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL TEACHING FEL-
LOWS PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS.—
‘‘(1) USE
OF
FUNDS
FOR
SCHOLARSHIPS.—
From the funds appropriated under subsection (g),
the Secretary shall make grants available to States
for the purpose of establishing State Teaching Fel-
lows Program to provide scholarships for Teaching
Fellows. Such scholarships shall be used to pay for
higher education tuition, fees, and other costs of at-
tendance.
‘‘(2) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—Teaching Fel-
lows shall be selected from individuals who—
‘‘(A) at the time of application, are high
school seniors;
‘‘(B) are United States citizens or legal
aliens;
‘‘(C) are residents of the State sponsoring
the Fellows Program to which they are apply-
ing; and
‘‘(D) meet the criteria established under
subsection (d)(1)(B).
‘‘(c) COMPETITION FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) STATE APPLICATION TO PROGRAM.—The
governor of each State desiring to participate in the
Partnership Program shall designate a single State
agency to submit an application to the Secretary and
to administer the State Fellows Program. Such
agency shall have a full-time staff and may be a di-
vision of the State’s education department, an inde-
pendent government agency, or a non-profit organi-
zation. Any such application shall be submitted to
the Secretary at such time, and contain such infor-
mation, as the Secretary shall require.
‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—From the ap-
plications submitted by State agencies, the Secretary
shall approve those applications that the Secretary
determines to be the most promising in carrying out
the purposes of the Fellows Program. Each State
whose application is selected by the Secretary to par-
ticipate in the Fellows Program shall receive funds
to offer scholarships in an amount determined by
the Secretary in light of the amount of the total ap-
propriation for the Fellows Program, the relative
size of the State’s student population, and the fund-
ing necessary to administer a viable State Fellows
Program. Such funds shall go to the State agency
designated in subsection (c)(1).
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF FED-
ERAL FUNDS.—Each State participating in the Fellows
Program shall—
‘‘(1) provide information and assurances—
‘‘(A) identifying the institutions of higher
education within the State, either private or
public, that will participate in the Fellows Pro-
gram;
‘‘(B) establishing specific, rigorous criteria
to be used in selecting Teaching Fellows;
‘‘(C) providing that the State will offer no
less than $6,500 per year in scholarships to
each Fellow;
‘‘(D) providing that each participating in-
stitution will provide a full-time faculty member
to serve as the Fellows Program director and to
work closely with the State agency to admin-
ister the campus program and create and exe-
cute the extra-curricular enrichment programs;
‘‘(E) describing mandatory extra-curricular
enrichment programs and activities as part of
the State’s Fellows Program that—
‘‘(i) are designed to motivate students
to become career educators;
‘‘(ii) provide Teaching Fellows with a
multidisciplinary education;
‘‘(iii) are offered regularly during each
year of schooling (including during inter-
vals between periods of enrollment); and
‘‘(iv) expose Fellows to the State’s
business, political, demographic, and eco-
nomic climate and help Fellows develop
leadership qualities; and
‘‘(F) establishing procedures for the dis-
tribution of scholarships and administration of
service obligation oversight;
‘‘(2) provide an assurance that the State agency
shall match the Federal funds provided under this
section by providing at least 25 percent of the total
cost of the Fellows Program;
‘‘(3) use funds received under this section only
to supplement the amount of funds that would, in
the absence of such Federal funds, be made avail-
able from non-Federal sources for the purposes of
this section, and not to supplant such funds; and
‘‘(4) provide an assurance that Teaching Fel-
lows fulfill their teaching commitments at United
States public schools within that State only.
‘‘(e) CONVERSION TO LOAN.—
‘‘(1) OBLIGATION
TO
REPAY.—The Fellows
Program shall require that a Teaching Fellow agree
to repay a pro rata amount, as determined by the
State agency, of the scholarship received from the
Fellows Program, and to pay interest on such pro
rata amount at an annual rate of 10 percent until
such pro rata amount is repaid, if the recipient fails
to comply with one of the following:
‘‘(A) Within 7 years after graduation the
recipient of the scholarship teaches for 4 years
at a public school.
‘‘(B) Within 7 years after graduation the
recipient teaches for 3 consecutive years, unless
the recipient takes an approved leave of ab-
sence, a public school that at the time the re-
cipient accepts employment is a low-performing
school system as defined by the United States
Department of Education.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply if the State agency finds that it is impossible
for the recipient to teach for 4 years, within 7 years
after the recipient graduates, at a public school be-
cause of the death or permanent disability of the re-
cipient.
‘‘(f) REVOLVING FUNDING.—Any funds repaid by a
Teaching Fellow pursuant to subsection (e) may be re-
tained by the State agency for making available additional
scholarships under this section.
‘‘(g) FUNDS.—There is authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2001
and such sums as may be necessary for the 4 succeeding
fiscal years.
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section:
‘‘(1) FELLOWS PROGRAM.—The term ‘Fellows
Program’ means the program established under this
section.
‘‘(2) TEACHING FELLOWS.—The term ‘Teach-
ing Fellow’ means an individual selected for an
award of financial assistance under this section.
‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes the
several States, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
‘‘(4) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘State agency’
means the agency designated pursuant to subsection
(c)(1).
‘‘SEC. 212. FEDERAL TEACHING FELLOWS PARTNERSHIP
PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to en-
courage members of the education community, such as
teaching assistants and other public employees, who are
not yet certified teachers to obtain a degree in education.
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL TEACHING FEL-
LOWS PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS.—
‘‘(1) USE
OF
FUNDS
FOR
SCHOLARSHIPS.—
From the funds appropriated under subsection (h),
the Secretary shall make grants available to States
for the purpose of establishing Partnership Pro-
grams between associate-degree-granting institutions
and bachelor-degree-granting institutions.
‘‘(2) SELECTION
OF
FELLOWS.—Partnership
Fellows shall be selected from individuals who—
‘‘(A) are United States citizens or legal
aliens;
‘‘(B) are residents of the State sponsoring
the partnership program to which they are ap-
plying; and
‘‘(C) meet the criteria established under
subsection (e)(1).
‘‘(c) COMPETITION FOR FEDERAL FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) STATE
REVIEW
AND
SUBMISSION.—The
governor of each State desiring to participate in the
Partnership Program shall designate a single State
education department or agency—
‘‘(A) to receive and review partnership pro-
posals from associate-degree-granting institu-
tions and bachelor-degree-granting institutions
within the State;
‘‘(B) to determine which proposals delin-
eate Partnership Programs to be created be-
tween associate-degree-granting institutions and
bachelor-degree-granting institutions that are
the most promising in carrying out the pur-
poses of this section;
‘‘(C) to submit the partnership proposals
that are approved by the State agency to the
Secretary for competitive selection in the form
of one single partnership proposal application;
and
‘‘(D) to administer the funds available
under this section.
‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE
SELECTION.—From the
partnership proposal applications submitted by State
agencies under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
select for funding under this section those applica-
tions that the Secretary determines to be the most
promising in carrying out the purposes of the Part-
nership Program. The Secretary shall distribute the
awards for each selected application to the State
agency that submitted the application.
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE RECEIPT OF FED-
ERAL FUNDS.—A State agency that submits a partnership
proposal application to the Secretary under subsection (c)
shall provide to the Secretary such information and assur-
ances as the Secretary may require to demonstrate that
the State will comply with the following requirements:
‘‘(1) Any State whose partnership proposal ap-
plication is selected to receive Federal funds as au-
thorized by this section shall match the Federal
funding by providing at least 25 percent of the total
cost of the Partnership Program or Programs.
‘‘(2) The State agency may reserve up to 20
percent of its Federal funding to be used for admin-
istrative costs associated with the creation of articu-
lation agreements between one or more associate-de-
gree-granting institutions and one or more bachelor-
degree-granting institutions that detail the partner-
ship arrangement between the institutions. Such re-
served administrative funds shall be made available
to the associate-degree-granting institution in order
to make its curricula compatible with the bachelor-
degree-granting institution’s requirements and to
allow the associate-degree-granting institution to
sponsor extra-curricular activities for its Fellows as
specified in subsection (e)(3).
‘‘(3) The State agency shall be responsible for
determining how the funds provided under this sec-
tion are allocated among specific partnership pro-
posals.
‘‘(4) The State agency shall be responsible for
assuring such funds are used to provide full-time