I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1390
To establish a pilot program to encourage certification of teachers in low-
income, low-performing public elementary and secondary schools by the 
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 20, 2003
Mrs. DAVIS of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish a pilot program to encourage certification of 
teachers in low-income, low-performing public elementary 
and secondary schools by the National Board for Profes-
sional Teaching Standards, 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 ‘‘National Board-Cer-
tified Teachers in Low-Performing Schools Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. PILOT STIPEND INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR CER-
TIFICATION BY THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR 
PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation shall establish a 5-year pilot program under which 
Board-certified teachers in low-income, low-performing 
schools receive stipends under this section. The Secretary 
may provide stipends for up to 100 teachers annually 
under this section. The Secretary shall seek the coopera-
tion and assistance of the National Board for Professional 
Teaching Standards in carrying out this section. 
(b) ANNUAL BASE STIPEND REQUIREMENTS.—A 
Board-certified teacher shall receive an annual base sti-
pend of $5,000 under this section, for up to 4 years, if, 
for each year the teacher receives a stipend, the teacher—
(1) is employed in a school that is a low-income, 
low-performing school in the first year the teacher 
receives the stipend; 
(2) acts as the resident facilitator for the 
school, including by—
(A) conducting outreach among teachers 
who may seek to become, or are in the process 
of becoming, Board-certified (including by hold-
ing a minimum number of events or contacts 
within the faculty of the school); and
(B) facilitating participation in a support 
program for teachers who are in the process of 
becoming Board-certified; and 
(3) serves as a liaison with the National Board 
for Professional Teaching Standards, to recommend 
ways to encourage teachers to aspire to receive 
Board certification. 
(c) BONUS STIPENDS.—A recipient of an annual base 
stipend under subsection (b) may receive a bonus stipend 
of $1,000 for each teacher who completes the process for 
becoming Board-certified at the school for which the re-
cipient is the resident facilitator (even though such teacher 
may not necessarily become Board-certified at the comple-
tion of such process). 
(d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation shall submit to the Congress not earlier than the 
end of the fourth year, nor later than the end of the pilot 
program under this section, a report on the effectiveness 
of the program in increasing the number of Board-cer-
tified teachers in the low-income, low-performing schools 
in which the program’s stipend recipients teach, including 
any appropriate findings or recommendations. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) The term ‘‘Board-certified’’, with respect to 
a teacher, means certified by the National Board for 
Professional Teaching Standards. 
(2) The term ‘‘low-income, low-performing 
school’’ means a public elementary school or sec-
ondary school—
(A) served by a local educational agency in 
which at least 50 percent of the students are 
counted under section 1124(c) of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6333(c)); and 
(B) identified for improvement under sec-
tion 1116(b)(1)(A) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
6316(b)(1)(A)). 
(3) The terms ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘secondary 
school’’, and ‘‘local educational agency’’ have the 
meanings given those terms in section 9101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7801).
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