I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 949
To provide funds to States to establish and administer periodic teacher
testing and merit pay programs for elementary and secondary school teachers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 8, 2001
Mr. FOSSELLA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide funds to States to establish and administer peri-
odic teacher testing and merit pay programs for elemen-
tary and secondary school 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; FINDINGS; AND PURPOSES.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Measures to Encourage Results in Teaching Act of
2001’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) All students deserve to be taught by well-
educated, competent, and qualified teachers.
(2) More than ever before, education has and
will continue to become the ticket not only to eco-
nomic success but to basic survival. Students will
not succeed in meeting the demands of a knowledge-
based, 21st century society and economy if the stu-
dents do not encounter more challenging work in
school. For future generations to have the opportu-
nities to achieve success the future generations will
need to have an education and a teacher workforce
second to none.
(3) No other intervention can make the dif-
ference that a knowledgeable, skillful teacher can
make in the learning process. At the same time,
nothing can fully compensate for weak teaching that,
despite good intentions, can result from a teacher’s
lack of opportunity to acquire the knowledge and
skill needed to help students master the curriculum.
(4) The Federal Government established the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development
Program in 1985 to ensure that teachers and other
educational staff have access to sustained and high-
quality professional development. This ongoing de-
velopment must include the ability to demonstrate
and judge the performance of teachers and other in-
structional staff.
(5) States should evaluate their teachers on the
basis of demonstrated ability, including tests of sub-
ject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and
teaching skill. States should develop a test for their
teachers and other instructional staff with respect to
the subjects taught by the teachers and staff, and
should administer the test every 3 to 5 years.
(6) Evaluating and rewarding teachers with a
compensation system that supports teachers who be-
come increasingly expert in a subject area, are pro-
ficient in meeting the needs of students and schools,
and demonstrate high levels of performance meas-
ured against professional teaching standards, will
encourage teachers to continue to learn needed skills
and broaden teachers’ expertise, thereby enhancing
education for all students.
(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol-
lows:
(1) To provide incentives for States to establish
and administer periodic teacher testing and merit
pay programs for elementary school and secondary
school teachers.
(2) To encourage States to establish merit pay
programs that have a significant impact on teacher
salary scales.