Department of Defense Overseas Educators Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Defense Overseas 
Educators Act''.

SEC. 2. TEMPORARY MEASURES TO FACILITATE REEMPLOYMENT OF DISPLACED 
              TEACHERS.

    (a) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
            (1) the term ``agency'' means an Executive agency (as 
        defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code), 
        excluding the General Accounting Office;
            (2) the term ``DoDDS teacher'' means a teacher within the 
        meaning of section 2(2) of the Defense Department Overseas 
        Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901(2)); 
        and
            (3) the term ``displaced employee'' means--
                    (A) a DoDDS teacher who has been given specific 
                notice that such individual is to be separated due to a 
                reduction in force; and
                    (B) any individual who has been involuntarily 
                separated from service as a DoDDS teacher due to a 
                reduction in force.
    (b) Consideration for Vacant Positions.--In accordance with 
regulations which the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe 
(consistent with otherwise applicable provisions of law), an agency 
shall, in filling a vacant position for which a qualified displaced 
employee has applied in timely fashion, give full consideration to the 
application of the displaced employee before selecting any candidate 
from outside the agency for the position.
    (c) Limitation.--A displaced employee shall remain entitled to the 
consideration described in subsection (b) until the end of the 12-month 
period beginning on--
            (1) the date such employee receives the specific notice 
        described in subsection (a)(3)(A); or
            (2) if the employee is involuntarily separated (as 
        described in subsection (a)(3)(B)), the effective date of the 
        separation.
    (d) Applicability.--
            (1) In general.--This section shall apply to any individual 
        who--
                    (A) becomes a displaced employee during the 12-
                month period ending on the day before the date of 
                enactment of this Act; or
                    (B) becomes a displaced employee on or after the 
                date of enactment of this Act and before October 1, 
                1997.
            (2) Rule for applying the 12-month limitation to current 
        displaced employees.--For the purpose of any displaced employee 
        described in paragraph (1)(A), the 12-month period under 
        subsection (c) shall be considered to begin on the date of 
        enactment of this Act, rather than the date which would 
        otherwise be required by subsection (c).
            (3) Positions to which this section shall not apply.--
        Nothing in this section shall be considered to apply with 
        respect to any position--
                    (A) which has been filled as of the date of 
                enactment of this Act; or
                    (B) which has been excepted from the competitive 
                service because of its confidential, policy-
                determining, policy-making or policy-advocating 
                character.

SEC. 3. TEACHER RECRUITMENT.

    (a) Amendment Relating to Benefits for Teachers Recruited Abroad.--
            (1) In general.--Section 5 of the Defense Department 
        Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 
        903) is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
        (e), and by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d)(1) Each individual recruited outside the United States for 
service in a teaching position shall, after such individual completes 1 
full school year of service in a teaching position, be entitled to the 
same benefits as an individual recruited in the United States, to the 
extent that such benefits are based on service in a teaching position.
    ``(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in the case of any 
individual who is the spouse of, and residing in the same household as, 
a member of a uniformed service who is eligible (as such a member) for 
benefits comparable to those described in section 7 or 8 of this Act.
    ``(B) An individual shall not be considered to have ceased to 
reside in the same household as a member if due to a reassignment of 
such member for 90 days or less.''.
            (2) Service to be considered.--In administering the 
        amendment made by paragraph (1), service performed before, on, 
        or after the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered.
    (b) Amendment Relating to the Definition of a ``Teaching 
Position''.--Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the Defense Department 
Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901(1)) is 
amended by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B)(iii) and 
inserting a comma, and by adding at the end of such paragraph the 
following:
        ``including those cases in which such duties and 
        responsibilities are performed--
                    ``(I) in a substitute capacity;
                    ``(II) as a summer school teacher;
                    ``(III) as an instructor for the Junior Reserve 
                Officers' Training Corps;
                    ``(IV) as a paraprofessional or teacher aide;
                    ``(V) for a definite term, not to exceed 1 school 
                year, in the excepted service; or
                    ``(VI) for an indefinite term in the excepted 
                service.''.

SEC. 4. COMPENSATION; LEAVE TRANSFERS; RECERTIF- ICATION.

    (a) Compensation; Leave Transfers.--The Defense Department Overseas 
Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901 and following) 
is amended--
            (1) in sections 4(a)(2) and 5(c) by striking ``urban''; and
            (2) in section 6 by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) The Director of Dependents' Education, in consultation with 
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall establish for 
teachers--
            ``(1) a voluntary leave transfer program similar to the one 
        under subchapter III of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 
        Code; and
            ``(2) a voluntary leave bank program similar to the one 
        under subchapter IV of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 
        Code.''.
    (b) Recertification.--Paragraph (5) of section 1413 of the Defense 
Dependents' Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 931(5)) is amended to read 
as follows:
            ``(5) provide for a recertification program for 
        professional personnel employed in the system to obtain not 
        more than 6 semester-hours of graduate or undergraduate 
        coursework in any discipline or subject area taught by schools 
        of the defense dependents' education system, and''.
    (c) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a)(1)--
            (1) shall apply with respect to compensation for service 
        performed in fiscal years beginning more than 90 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act; and
            (2) shall be deemed not to have been enacted for purposes 
        of determining compensation for service performed before the 
        first fiscal year to which such amendments apply under 
        paragraph (1).

SEC. 5. CONTINUED HEALTH BENEFITS.

    (a) In General.--Section 8905a(d) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking ``Except as provided in 
        paragraph (4),'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
        paragraph (4) or (5),'';
            (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ``in accordance with 
        paragraph (1) or (4),'' and inserting ``in accordance with 
        paragraph (1), (4), or (5),''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5)(A) For the purpose of this paragraph, the term `teaching 
position' has the meaning given such term under section 2(1) of the 
Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act.
    ``(B) If the basis for continued coverage under this section is an 
involuntary separation from a teaching position due to a reduction in 
force--
            ``(i) the individual shall be liable for not more than the 
        employee contributions referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and
            ``(ii) the agency which last employed the individual shall 
        pay the remaining portion of the amount required under 
        paragraph (1)(A).
    ``(C) This paragraph shall apply with respect to any individual 
whose continued coverage is based on a separation occurring on or after 
the date of enactment of this paragraph and before--
            ``(i) October 1, 1997; or
            ``(ii) February 1, 1998, if specific notice of such 
        separation was given to such individual before October 1, 
        1997.''.
    (b) Source of Payments.--Any amount which becomes payable by an 
agency as a result of the enactment of subsection (a) shall be paid out 
of funds or appropriations available for salaries and expenses of such 
agency.

Summary: Department of Defense Overseas Educators Act - Provides for the implementation of temporary measures to facilitate reemployment in Federal agencies of Federal employees separated from teaching positions in schools for overseas Department of Defense dependents (DoDDS teachers). 
Amends the Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act to require that, in certain cases, DoDDS teachers recruited abroad be entitled to the same benefits as teachers recruited in the United States. 
Requires the Director of Dependents' Education to establish for DoDDS teachers a voluntary leave transfer program and a voluntary leave transfer bank program. 
Limits the amount of graduate or undergraduate coursework which may be taken under a recertification program for DoDDS professional personnel. 
Amends Federal law to provide for continued health benefits for DoDDS teachers involuntarily separated from service under a reduction in force.