(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.
(3) To encourage programs that recognize and
reward the best teachers, and encourage those teach-
ers that need to do better.
SEC. 2. STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER TESTING AND
MERIT PAY.
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Title II of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et
seq.) is amended—
(1) by redesignating part D as part F;
(2) by redesignating sections 2401 and 2402 as
sections 2601 and 2602, respectively; and
(3) by inserting after part C the following:
‘‘PART D—STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER
TESTING AND MERIT PAY
‘‘SEC. 2401. STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER TESTING
AND MERIT PAY.
‘‘(a) STATE AWARDS.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of this title, from funds described in subsection
(b) that are made available for a fiscal year, the Secretary
shall make an award to each State that—
‘‘(1) administers a test to each elementary
school and secondary school teacher in the State,
with respect to the subjects taught by the teacher,
every 3 to 5 years; and
‘‘(2) has an elementary school and secondary
school teacher compensation system that is based on
merit.
‘‘(b) AVAILABLE FUNDING.—The amount of funds
referred to in subsection (a) that are available to carry
out this section for a fiscal year is 50 percent of the
amount of funds appropriated to carry out this title that
are in excess of the amount so appropriated for fiscal year
2000, except that no funds shall be available to carry out
this section for any fiscal year for which—
‘‘(1) the amount appropriated to carry out this
title exceeds $600,000,000; or
‘‘(2) each of the several States is eligible to re-
ceive an award under this section.
‘‘(c) AWARD AMOUNT.—A State shall receive an
award under this section in an amount that bears the
same relation to the total amount available for awards
under this section for a fiscal year as the number of States
that are eligible to receive such an award for the fiscal
year bears to the total number of all States so eligible for
the fiscal year.
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided under this
section may be used by States to carry out the activities
described in section 2207.
‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF STATE.—For the purpose of
this section, the term ‘State’ means each of the 50 States
and the District of Columbia.’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1999.
SEC. 3. TEACHER TESTING AND MERIT PAY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, a State may use Federal education funds—
(1) to carry out a test of each elementary
school or secondary school teacher in the State with
respect to the subjects taught by the teacher; or
(2) to establish a merit pay program for the
teachers.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘ele-
mentary school’’ and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the mean-
ings given the terms in section 14101 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801).
Æ