I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1794 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
grants for innovative teacher retention programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 6, 2011 
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Mr. KISSELL, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. MILLER of 
North Carolina, Mr. MORAN, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, and Mr. WATT) 
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 provide grants for innovative teacher retention 
programs. 
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 ‘‘Keep Teachers Teach-
ing Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) The United States faces an increasing need 
for high-quality educators. 
(2) Approximately one-third of teachers leave 
the profession within 5 years of being hired because 
of poor working conditions, low pay, low morale, or 
lack of a pathway for professional advancement. In 
some schools, the five-year attrition rate reaches 50 
percent. 
(3) Effective teacher retention programs to ad-
dress this problem are already at work in school dis-
tricts around the country, and many more innovative 
programs could be advanced if additional resources 
were available. 
(4) Efforts to address the teacher shortage de-
mands a national strategy to support the develop-
ment and implementation of innovative teacher re-
tention programs. 
(5) The Department of Education can play an 
important role in facilitating the identification of the 
most promising teacher retention approaches and 
disseminating information about them to States and 
local educational agencies. 
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SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHER RETENTION 
PROGRAMS. 
Section 2151 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6651) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) TEACHER RETENTION ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab-
lish and carry out a teacher retention program to as-
sist State educational agencies and local educational 
agencies in developing and implementing innovative 
teacher retention programs. The program shall sup-
port the development of model programs and best 
practices in retaining quality teachers in the class-
room and shall facilitate the dissemination of inno-
vative teacher retention programs to local edu-
cational agencies throughout the United States. 
‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall carry out 
paragraph (1) by making grants to eligible entities 
to develop and implement innovative teacher reten-
tion programs, including activities such as— 
‘‘(A) professional development programs; 
‘‘(B) teacher mentoring programs; 
‘‘(C) advanced certification or advanced 
credentialing; 
‘‘(D) research, travel, or fellowship oppor-
tunities; and 
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‘‘(E) pairing of teachers with professionals 
in research or industry. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—In this subsection, 
the term ‘eligible entity’ includes— 
‘‘(A) local educational agencies; 
‘‘(B) State educational agencies; and 
‘‘(C) partnerships of local educational 
agencies, nonprofit organizations, and institu-
tions of higher education. 
‘‘(4) GRANT TERMS.—Grants under this sub-
section shall be awarded for periods of not more 
than 5 years and on a competitive basis. Grants 
awarded under this subsection may be renewed. 
‘‘(5) SECRETARY’S
DUTY
TO
IDENTIFY
MOST 
PROMISING
TEACHER
RETENTION
APPROACHES.— 
The Secretary shall identify the most promising 
teacher retention approaches, including those al-
ready working and those developed through grants 
funded under this subsection, and disseminate infor-
mation about those approaches to States and local 
educational agencies around the country. The Sec-
retary shall transmit to the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives 
and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions of the Senate, not later than 9 months 
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after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
and annually thereafter, a report that describes the 
methodology by which the most promising teacher 
retention programs are identified and the Sec-
retary’s efforts to disseminate information regarding 
such programs to State departments of education 
and local educational agencies throughout the 
United States.’’. 
Æ 
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