I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4059 
To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to enhance edu-
cational services for persons with autism spectrum disorders, to expand 
loan forgiveness for teachers of autistic children, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 17, 2005 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 
and Mr. WELDON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
to enhance educational services for persons with autism 
spectrum disorders, to expand loan forgiveness for teach-
ers of autistic children, 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 ‘‘Teacher Education for 
Autistic Children Act of 2005’’ or the ‘‘TEACH Act of 
2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:
(1) Autism spectrum disorders (ASD), consid-
ered in 1965 to be a rare disorder, has grown over 
the past 40 years from a prevalence of one in 10,000 
to as many as one in 166 in young children today. 
(2) Autism is a complex developmental dis-
ability that affects an individual in the areas of so-
cial interaction and communication. Because it is a 
spectrum disorder, it affects each individual dif-
ferently and to varying degrees of severity. People 
with autism process and respond to information in 
unique ways. In some cases, aggressive or self-inju-
rious behavior may be present. 
(3) Despite the progress that has been made in 
early diagnosis and intervention of autism spectrum 
disorders, too many children are not being diagnosed 
until after they enter school. 
(4) The increased number of children and 
adults diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder 
is a growing and urgent concern for families, service 
providers, and policy-makers, as existing health, edu-
cation, and social service systems struggle to re-
spond to the service needs of this population in a 
comprehensive manner. 
(5) Though a number of effective services and 
funding options exist, they tend to be scattered,
fragmented, and poorly coordinated, there are no 
widely accepted or implemented service guidelines 
for autism spectrum disorders, and there are signifi-
cant gaps in knowledge about autism. 
(6) Factors that have a major impact on the in-
tensity and types of services for individuals with an 
autism spectrum disorder include the uniqueness of 
the ways individuals with autism process and re-
spond to information, the variability of how autism 
affects each individual, the percentage of time indi-
viduals with autism are successfully taught in a reg-
ular classroom, and the communication and social-
ization deficits of those individuals. 
(7) Children with an autism spectrum disorder 
who receive intensive behavioral therapy and edu-
cational services often make very significant func-
tional improvements. 
(8) The Autism Coordinating Committee, cre-
ated as a result of the Children’s Health Act of 
2000 (Public Law 106–310, 114 Stat. 1101), estab-
lished a Services Subcommittee to develop a national 
action plan for expanding and improving services re-
lated to autism spectrum disorders. The Services 
Subcommittee appointed an Autism Spectrum Dis-
orders Expert Working Group which presented in
May 2005 an ‘‘Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) 
Roadmap’’ to expand, enhance, and coordinate serv-
ices for children, youth, and adults with ASD, and 
their families. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to en-
hance educational services for individuals with autism 
spectrum disorders, in a manner generally consistent with 
and supportive of the ‘‘Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) 
Roadmap’’. 
SEC. 3. AUTISM EARLY SCREENING, DIAGNOSIS, AND 
INTERVENTION. 
(a) OUTREACH PLAN.—The Secretary of Education, 
in cooperation with the Assistant Secretary for Children 
and Families of the Department of Health and Human 
Services, shall award one or more grants, contracts, or co-
operative agreements to an organization or organizations 
to develop a plan to conduct education and outreach activi-
ties for populations and individuals underserved by early 
screening and diagnosis for neurodevelopmental delays, in-
cluding for individuals who may have avoided develop-
mental disability evaluations. 
(b) REPORT.—Section 613 of the Individuals with 
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1413) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(k) REPORT ON AUTISM EARLY INTERVENTION AC-
TIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 
that receives assistance under this part for a fiscal 
year shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a re-
port that contains a description of the activities re-
ferred to in paragraph (2) carried out in the pre-
ceding fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) INFORMATION.—The activities referred to 
in this paragraph are the following: 
‘‘(A) Activities carried out by the agency to 
ensure that students who exhibit symptoms of 
an autism spectrum disorder are referred to ap-
propriate experts for diagnosis. 
‘‘(B) Appropriate training provided by the 
agency, or on behalf of the agency, of personnel 
of the agency and schools of the agency to carry 
out the activities described in subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 
‘autism spectrum disorder’ has the meaning given 
the term by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 
of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM–IV).’’ 
(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation shall provide technical assistance to local edu-
cational agencies that receive assistance under part B of 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to assist 
such agencies to comply with the reporting requirement 
under section 613(k) of such Act, as added by subsection 
(b). 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO GRANTS TO IM-
PROVE EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH 
DISABILITIES. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Edu-
cation, in making an award of a grant or in entering into 
a contract or cooperative agreement under subpart 2 or 
subpart 3 of part D of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act, shall give special consideration to the in-
creased incidence of autism spectrum disorders among 
children and the increased demands placed on educational 
systems due to the complexity and symptoms of autism, 
including the uniqueness of the ways individuals with au-
tism process and respond to information, the variability 
of how autism affects each individual, and the extreme and 
unusual communication and socialization deficits of those 
individuals. 
SEC. 5. EXPANDED LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM FOR 
TEACHERS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN. 
(a) PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
shall carry out a program of assuming the obligation 
to repay, pursuant to subsection (c), a loan made, 
insured, or guaranteed under part B of title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965, and of canceling 
the obligation to repay a loan made under part D of 
such title (excluding loans made under section 428B 
of such Act or comparable loans made under part D 
of such title) for any borrower who— 
(A) is employed, for three consecutive com-
plete school years, as a full-time special edu-
cation teacher of children with an autism spec-
trum disorder; 
(B) satisfies the requirements of sub-
section (d); and 
(C) is not in default on a loan for which 
the borrower seeks forgiveness. 
(2) AWARD BASIS; PRIORITY.— 
(A) AWARD
BASIS.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), loan repayment under this section 
shall be on a first-come, first-serve basis and 
subject to the availability of appropriations. 
(B) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give 
priority in providing loan repayment under this 
section for a fiscal year to student borrowers
who received loan repayment under this section 
for the preceding fiscal year. 
(3) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is author-
ized to prescribe such regulations as may be nec-
essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 
(b) LOAN REPAYMENT.— 
(1) ELIGIBLE
AMOUNT.—The Secretary may 
assume or cancel the obligation to repay on behalf 
of any individual under this section— 
(A) the sum of the principal amounts out-
standing (not to exceed $5,000) of the individ-
ual’s qualifying loans at the end of three con-
secutive complete school years of service de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B); 
(B) an additional portion of such sum (not 
to exceed $5,000) at the end of each of the next 
two consecutive complete school years of such 
service; and 
(C) a total of not more than $20,000. 
(2) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 
repayment of a loan made under part B or part D 
of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 
(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is repaid 
by the Secretary under this section for any year, the
proportionate amount of interest on such loan which 
accrues for such year shall be repaid by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—The Sec-
retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each 
fiscal year an amount equal to the aggregate amount of 
loans which are subject to repayment pursuant to this sec-
tion for such year. 
(d) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de-
siring loan repayment under this section shall sub-
mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require. 
(2) YEARS OF SERVICE.—An eligible individual 
may apply for loan repayment under this section 
after completing the required number of years of 
qualifying employment. 
(3) FULLY
QUALIFIED
TEACHERS
IN
PUBLIC 
ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOLS.—An appli-
cation for loan repayment under this section shall 
include such information as is necessary to dem-
onstrate that the applicant— 
(A) if teaching in a public pre-kinder-
garten, kindergarten, elementary, middle, or
secondary school (other than as a teacher in a 
public charter school), has obtained State cer-
tification as a teacher (including certification 
obtained through alternative routes to certifi-
cation) or passed the State teacher licensing 
exam and holds a license to teach in such State; 
and 
(B) if teaching in— 
(i) a public pre-kindergarten, kinder-
garten, or elementary school, holds a bach-
elor’s degree and demonstrates knowledge 
and skills for teaching children with an au-
tism spectrum disorder; or 
(ii) a public middle or secondary 
school, holds a bachelor’s degree and dem-
onstrates a high level of competency for 
teaching children with an autism spectrum 
disorder, through— 
(I) a high level of performance on 
a rigorous State or local academic 
subject areas test; or 
(II) completion of an academic 
major specializing in autism or severe 
disabilities with a concentration in au-
tism spectrum disorders.