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106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1223
To provide grants to 10 high-need local educational agencies or eligible consor-
tium to establish or expand National Teachers Academies to serve as
national models for teacher training, development, and recruitment and
to facilitate high-quality curriculum development.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 1999
Mr. BLAGOJEVICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide grants to 10 high-need local educational agencies
or eligible consortium to establish or expand National
Teachers Academies to serve as national models for
teacher training, development, and recruitment and to
facilitate high-quality curriculum development.
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 ‘‘Teachers for the 21st
Century Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The dawn of the 21st century will place in-
creased demands upon our Nation’s students that
can only be met with the proper instruction from
qualified, experienced, and well-trained teachers. The
teachers of the 21st century must not only be well-
versed in increasingly complex subject matters and
technologies, but also highly trained in the best tech-
niques to impart these skills to their students.
(2) Teacher development resources are severely
lacking in the majority of school districts across the
Nation, leaving many teachers ill-prepared to meet
the growing, modern challenges of educating chil-
dren in the age of a global workforce. Spending less
than 3 percent of their resources on teacher develop-
ment, many American schools have fallen far behind
the curve of most corporations and schools in other
industrialized nations.
(3) Over the next 10 years, the Nation will face
a tremendous demand for 2,000,000 additional
teachers resulting from increased student enroll-
ments and teacher attrition, which will place many
school districts in the precarious position of choosing
between quantity and quality. Already, the National
Commission on Teaching and America’s Future has
reported that 50,000 unqualified teachers have been
hired annually on emergency or substandard licenses
to meet this growing demand.
(4) Teacher shortages will unevenly impact
high-need urban and rural communities that have
the most difficulty attracting and retaining qualified
teachers. The National Center for Education Statis-
tics reports that 39 percent of teachers in these
communities have neither a college major or minor
in their primary field of coursework.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to establish or expand
10 National Teachers Academies, one in each of the 10
regions established by the Department of Education and
serving at least 1 high-need local education agency. The
Academies will establish models for local educational agen-
cies to improve teaching and learning by meeting the 21st
century challenges of recruiting and retaining qualified
teachers, and giving teachers the tools they need to pre-
pare their students for competition in a global workforce
by—
(1) assembling a team of ‘‘master’’ teachers to
mentor and train student teachers on how to provide
quality instruction;
(2) increasing the pool of ‘‘master’’ teachers by
partnering with education institutions that offer a
range of professional development opportunities in-
cluding 
seminars, 
institutes, 
or 
mini-research
sabbaticals focused on the knowledge and skills re-
quired in the 21st century;
(3) providing 1 or more demonstration sites for
research-based ‘‘best practices’’ in increasing stu-
dent achievement, classroom management and in-
struction, teacher mentoring, training, and profes-
sional staff development;
(4) increasing collaboration between elementary,
secondary, and university faculty to improve the in-
tensity and quality of clinical experiences for pro-
spective teachers;
(5) working with the regional national edu-
cational labs to provide information obtained
throughout the research and development process to
the Secretary for dissemination to school districts
across the Nation;
(6) entering into a partnership between local
educational agencies, State educational agencies, in-
stitutions of higher education, education founda-
tions, professional development and recruitment cen-
ters, parent groups, corporations, and community
organizations;
(7) providing an opportunity for mid-career
professionals to obtain alternative teaching certifi-
cation;
(8) offering ongoing professional development
opportunities and support and providing opportuni-
ties for teachers to engage in research on specific
issues of teaching and learning, and developing test
curriculum, instruction, and assessment; and
(9) providing students from disadvantaged com-
munities with challenging curriculum, quality in-
struction, and an overall outstanding elementary and
secondary education experience.
SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to
provide grants to not more than 10 high-need local edu-
cational agencies or eligible consortium, one in each of the
10 regions established by the Department of Education,
to establish or expand National Teachers Academies.
(b) NATIONAL TEACHERS ACADEMY.—Each Na-
tional Teachers Academy shall promote teacher training,
professional development and recruitment, and curriculum
development.
SEC. 5. GRANT AWARDS AND RENEWALS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a grant
award under this Act, a high-need local educational agency
or eligible consortium shall—
(1) submit an application to the Secretary at
such time, in such manner, and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary may reasonably require;
(2) describe how the agency—
(A) will recruit and hire a team of ‘‘mas-
ter’’ teachers to mentor and train student
teachers regarding the provision of quality in-
struction in high-need urban and rural areas;
(B) will increase the pool of ‘‘master’’
teachers by partnering with education institu-
tions that offer a range of professional develop-
ment opportunities including seminars, insti-
tutes, or mini-research sabbaticals focused on
the knowledge and skills required in the 21st
century;
(C) serve as a demonstration site for ‘‘best
practices’’ in classroom management and in-
struction, teacher mentoring, training, and pro-
fessional staff development;
(D) increase collaboration between elemen-
tary, secondary, and university faculty to im-
prove the intensity and quality of clinical expe-
riences for prospective teachers;
(E) make available knowledge obtained
throughout the research and development proc-
ess to school districts across the Nation;
(F) establish a consortium between local
educational agencies, State educational agen-
cies, institutions of higher education, education
foundations, professional development and re-
cruitment centers, parent groups, corporations,
or community organizations;
(G) provide an opportunity for mid-career
professionals to obtain alternative teaching cer-
tification; and
(H) offer ongoing professional development
opportunities and support and provide opportu-
nities for teachers to engage in action research
on specific issues of teaching and learning, and
develop test curriculum, instruction, and assess-
ment; and
(2) provide an assurance that, either directly or
through private contributions, the agency will pro-
vide non-Federal matching funds equal to not less
than 25 percent of the amount of the award for the
first 2 years, 35 percent for the 3d and 4th years,
and 50 percent for the 5th year.
(b) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may award each
grant for a period not to exceed 5 years. These awards
may be renewed annually on a noncompetitive basis if the
Secretary determines that—
(1) the goals set forth in the application for the
initial grant request have been achieved;
(2) there is promise of continuing progress;
(3) the non-Federal share of project costs have
been met; and
(4) a plan has been developed for continuing
the Academy after Federal funding is no longer
available.
SEC. 6. USE OF FUNDS.
(a) PERMITTED
USES.—A high-need local edu-
cational agency or eligible consortium that receives a grant
award under this Act shall use funds to establish or ex-
pand a National Teachers Academy in new or existing
school facilities and to meet the operating costs of estab-
lishing such Academy, which may include—
(1) reasonable startup and initial operating
costs;
(2) training costs related to staff development;
(3) the costs to purchase books, materials and
other equipment, including new technology;
(4) payment of personnel directly related to the
operation of the Academy;
(5) recruitment costs including scholarship in-
centives;
(6) participation in the activities of the consor-
tium; and
(7) any costs related to the construction, re-
modeling, or renovation of the facilities to house
each National Teachers Academy.
(b) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may limit the
amounts of funds that may be used for remodeling and
construction costs as such costs relate to the creation or
expansion of each National Teachers Academy.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘high-need local educational agen-
cy’’ means a local educational agency that serves an
elementary or secondary school located in an area in
which there is—
(A) a high percentage of individuals from
families with incomes below the poverty line as
defined by the Office of Management and
Budget, and revised annually in accordance
with section 673(2) of the Community Services
Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) applica-
ble to a family of the size involved;
(B) a high percentage of secondary school
teachers who have neither a college major or
minor in their primary field of coursework; or
(C) a high teacher turnover rate.
(2) The term ‘‘National Teachers Academy’’
means a teacher training and professional develop-
ment program conducted in at least one elementary
or secondary school that provides prospective and
novice teachers an opportunity to work under the
mentorship of master teachers in a laboratory-style
setting, and provides professional development op-
portunities for veteran teachers and curriculum de-
velopment services.
(3) The term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has
the same meaning given such term in section 14101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
(4) The term ‘‘master teacher’’ means a teacher
of exceptional expertise and accomplishment who
meets high standards as defined by State law, the
National Board for Professional Teaching Stand-
ards, or the local educational agency in its applica-
tion for a grant under this Act.
(5) The term ‘‘eligible consortium’’ means a
consortium of one or more high-need local edu-
cational agencies and one or more institutions of
higher education.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this Act $75,000,000 for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, and
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002, 2003, and
2004.
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