Strengthening Educator Workforce Data Act

Bill: 118-s-3736
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2024-02-06
Policy area: Education
Latest action: action_date: 2024-02-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S423-424)

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3736 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 6, 2024 Mr. Durbin (for himself and Mr. Booker ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To strengthen Federal data collection regarding the teacher and principal workforce.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Educator Workforce Data Act . 2. Civil rights data collection on the educator workforce (a) Mandatory educator workforce data collection In carrying out the civil rights data collection required under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education Organization Act ( 20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(1) ), the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department shall, as part of the data collection, collect and publish the data described in subsection (b) on the educator workforce with respect to teachers and principals. (b) Metrics (1) In general A civil rights data collection described in subsection (a) shall include the following metrics from each local educational agency and public elementary school or secondary school that is required to respond to such data collection: (A) Principal data For each local educational agency, the following data regarding principals employed at public elementary schools and secondary schools served by the local educational agency: (i) The number of full-time principals employed. (ii) Including the year of the data collection— (I) the median number of years of principal experience of full-time principals employed; and (II) the years of experience of the full-time principals employed, based on the following categories: (aa) Less than 1 year of principal experience. (bb) At least 1 year but less than 3 years of principal experience. (cc) At least 3 years but less than 7 years of principal experience. (dd) At least 7 years but less than 15 years of principal experience. (ee) 15 or more years of principal experience. (B) Teacher data For each local educational agency and public elementary school or secondary school, the following data regarding teachers employed at all public elementary schools and secondary schools served by a local educational agency, and each such school, respectively: (i) The number of full-time teachers employed. (ii) Including the year of the data collection, but excluding student teaching and similar teaching preparation experiences— (I) the median number of years of teaching experience of full-time teachers employed; and (II) the years of experience of the full-time teachers employed, based on the following categories: (aa) Less than 1 year of teaching experience. (bb) At least 1 year but less than 2 years of teaching experience. (cc) At least 2 years but less than 5 years of teaching experience. (dd) At least 5 years but less than 10 years of teaching experience. (ee) At least 10 years but less than 20 years of teaching experience. (ff) 20 or more years of teaching experience. (iii) The number of full-time teachers employed who meet all State licensing and certification requirements. (iv) The number of full-time teachers employed who do not meet all State licensing and certification requirements. (v) The numbers of full-time teachers employed who meet all State license, certificate, and endorsement requirements in each of the following: (I) Mathematics. (II) Science. (III) English as a second language. (IV) Special education. (2) Disaggregation and cross-tabulation The Secretary shall collect the data described in paragraph (1) in a manner that allows the disaggregation and cross-tabulation of each data category (including each subcategory) described in such paragraph by race, ethnicity, and sex, subject to subsection (d). (c) Reporting requirements (1) Special report Upon the conclusion of each civil rights data collection that includes the data required under subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department, shall prepare a special report regarding the educator workforce. (2) Contents The report required under paragraph (1) shall— (A) be accessible through the website of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department; (B) include information on— (i) for each State, the total number of principals in the educator workforce, as calculated in the most recent civil rights data collection that includes the data required under subsection (b), based on a summary of the data collected in accordance with this section; and (ii) for each State, the total number of teachers in the educator workforce, as calculated in such data collection, based on a summary of the data collected in accordance with this section; and (C) for each category described in subparagraph (B), present in an easily accessible manner, such as through percentages or a graph or other visual representation, the— (i) disaggregated results based on race, ethnicity, and sex; and (ii) the disaggregated results based on the years of experience categories under subparagraph (A)(ii)(II) or (B)(ii)(II) of subsection (b)(1), as applicable. (3) Access to data The Secretary shall make the underlying data used for the report under paragraph (1) accessible to the public through the website of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department. (d) Data privacy In carrying out data collection, disaggregation, cross-tabulation, and reporting in accordance with this section and under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education Organization Act ( 20 U.S.C. 3413(c)(1) ), the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department shall coordinate with the Chief Privacy Officer of the Department to ensure that teacher and principal privacy is protected and that individually identifiable information about teachers and principals remains confidential. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) ESEA definitions The terms Department , elementary school , local educational agency , secondary school , and State have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ). (2) Teacher The term teacher means an individual employed as a teacher, including a preschool teacher, at a public elementary school or secondary school. (f) Applicability This section shall apply with respect to each civil rights data collection required under section 203(c)(1) of the Department of Education Organization Act that begins on or after the date of enactment of this Act.