I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5833 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve 
retention of public elementary and secondary school teachers, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2006 
Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to improve retention of public elementary and 
secondary school teachers, 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 Centers Act 
of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) There are not enough qualified teachers in 
the Nation’s classrooms, and an unprecedented num-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
ber of teachers will retire over the next 5 years. Over 
the next decade, the Nation will need to bring 
2,000,000 new teachers into public schools. 
(2) Too many teachers do not receive adequate 
preparation for their jobs. 
(3) Teacher turnover is a serious problem, par-
ticularly in urban and rural areas. Over one-third of 
new teachers leave the profession within their first 
3 years of teaching, and 14 percent of new teachers 
leave the field within the first year. After 5 years— 
the average time it takes for teachers to maximize 
students’ learning—half of all new teachers will have 
exited the profession. Rates of teacher attrition are 
highest in high-poverty schools. Between 2000 and 
2001, 1 out of 5 teachers in the Nation’s high-pov-
erty schools either left to teach in another school or 
dropped out of teaching altogether. 
(4) Research shows that individual teachers 
have a great impact on how well their students 
learn. The most effective teachers have been shown 
to be able to boost their pupils’ learning by a full 
grade level relative to students taught by less effec-
tive teachers. 
(5) Only 16 States finance new teacher induc-
tion programs, and fewer still require inductees to 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
be matched with mentors who teach the same sub-
ject. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVING RETENTION OF PUBLIC ELEMENTARY 
AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘PART E—TEACHER RETENTION 
‘‘SEC. 2501. TEACHER CENTERS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make grants to 
eligible entities for the establishment and operation of new 
teacher centers or the support of existing teacher centers. 
‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In making grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid-
eration to any application submitted by an eligible entity 
that is— 
‘‘(1) a high-need local educational agency; or 
‘‘(2) a consortium that includes at least one 
high-need local educational agency. 
‘‘(c) DURATION.—Each grant under this section shall 
be for a period of 3 years. 
‘‘(d) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A teacher center re-
ceiving assistance under this section shall carry out each 
of the following activities: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(1) Providing high-quality professional devel-
opment to teachers to assist them in improving their 
knowledge, skills, and teaching practices in order to 
help students to improve their achievement and meet 
State academic standards. 
‘‘(2) Providing teachers with information on de-
velopments in curricula, assessments, and edu-
cational research, including the manner in which the 
research and data can be used to improve teaching 
skills and practice. 
‘‘(3) Providing training and support for new 
teachers. 
‘‘(e) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A teacher center 
may use assistance under this section for any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Assessing the professional development 
needs of the teachers and other instructional school 
employees, such as librarians, counselors, and para-
professionals, to be served by the center. 
‘‘(2) Providing intensive support to staff to im-
prove instruction in literacy, math, science, and 
other curricular areas necessary to provide a well- 
rounded education to students. 
‘‘(3) Providing support to mentors working with 
new teachers. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(4) Providing training in effective instructional 
services and classroom management strategies for 
mainstream teachers serving students with disabil-
ities and students with limited English proficiency. 
‘‘(5) Enabling teachers to engage in study 
groups and other collaborative activities and collegial 
interactions regarding instruction. 
‘‘(6) Paying for release time and substitute 
teachers in order to enable teachers to participate in 
the activities of the teacher center. 
‘‘(7) Creating libraries of professional materials 
and educational technology. 
‘‘(8) Providing high-quality professional devel-
opment for other instructional staff, such as para-
professionals, librarians, and counselors. 
‘‘(9) Assisting teachers to become highly quali-
fied and paraprofessionals to become teachers. 
‘‘(10) Assisting paraprofessionals to meet the 
requirements of section 1119. 
‘‘(11) Developing curricula. 
‘‘(12) Incorporating additional on-line profes-
sional development resources for participants. 
‘‘(13) Providing funding for individual- or 
group-initiated classroom projects. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(14) Developing partnerships with businesses 
and community-based organizations. 
‘‘(15) Establishing a teacher center site. 
‘‘(f) TEACHER CENTER POLICY BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A teacher center receiving 
assistance under this section shall be operated under 
the supervision of a teacher center policy board. 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(A) TEACHER
REPRESENTATIVES.—The 
majority of the members of a teacher center 
policy board shall be representatives of, and se-
lected by, the elementary and secondary school 
teachers to be served by the teacher center. 
Such representatives shall be selected through 
the teacher organization, or if there is no teach-
er organization, by the teachers directly. 
‘‘(B) 
OTHER
REPRESENTATIVES.—The 
members of a teacher center policy board— 
‘‘(i) shall include at least two mem-
bers who are representatives of, or des-
ignated by, the school board of the local 
educational agency to be served by the 
teacher center; 
‘‘(ii) shall include at least one member 
who is a representative of, and is des-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
ignated by, the institutions of higher edu-
cation (with departments or schools of edu-
cation) located in the area; and 
‘‘(iii) may include paraprofessionals. 
‘‘(g) APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To seek a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall submit an application 
at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 
such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
require. 
‘‘(2) ASSURANCE OF COMPLIANCE.—An appli-
cation under paragraph (1) shall include an assur-
ance that the applicant will require any teacher cen-
ter receiving assistance through the grant to comply 
with the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(3) TEACHER
CENTER
POLICY
BOARD.—An 
application under paragraph (1) shall include the 
following: 
‘‘(A) An assurance that— 
‘‘(i) the applicant has established a 
teacher center policy board; 
‘‘(ii) the board participated fully in 
the preparation of the application; and 
‘‘(iii) the board approved the applica-
tion as submitted. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(B) A description of the membership of 
the board and the method of its selection. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a local 
educational agency or a consortium of 2 or more 
local educational agencies. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘high-need’ means, with respect 
to an elementary school or a secondary school, a 
school that serves an eligible school attendance area 
in which not less than 65 percent of the children are 
from low-income families, based on the number of 
children eligible for free and reduced priced lunches 
under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act, or in which not less than 65 percent of the chil-
dren enrolled are from such families. 
‘‘(3) The term ‘high-need local educational 
agency’ means a local educational agency— 
‘‘(A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 
children from families with incomes below the 
poverty line, or for which not less than 20 per-
cent of the children served by the agency are 
from families with incomes below the poverty 
line; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS
‘‘(B) that is having or expected to have 
difficulty filling teacher vacancies or hiring new 
teachers who are highly qualified. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘teacher center policy board’ 
means a teacher center policy board described in 
subsection (f). 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—To 
carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro-
priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and such sums 
as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 
years.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents at section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after the items relating to part D of title II 
of such Act the following new items: 
‘‘PART E—TEACHER RETENTION 
‘‘Sec. 2501. Teacher Centers.’’. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:03 Jul 22, 2006
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5833.IH
H5833
bajohnson on PROD1PC77 with BILLS