Diversify Act

Bill: 118-s-1581
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2023-05-11
Policy area: Education
Latest action: action_date: 2023-05-11
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-05-11
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students To Improve Outcomes For Youth Act or the Diversify Act</b></p> <p>This bill revises the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grant program. The TEACH program awards grants to undergraduate and graduate students who commit to teaching in a high-need field and in an elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students. </p> <p>First, the bill raises the maximum amount for TEACH grants.</p> <p>Second, the bill allows TEACH grants to cover the full cost of attendance. Currently, these grants may be used only for tuition, fees, and on-campus housing. </p> <p>The bill allows teaching in a high-need early education program to count toward service requirements for the program.</p> <p>Next, the bill eliminates the process for converting a TEACH grant to a loan if a recipient does not complete the requirements of the program. Further, the bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from instituting or creating a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service requirement.</p> <p>In addition, the bill requires ED to send an electronic certificate to grant recipients who have completed their service requirement.</p> <p>The bill also exempts the TEACH program from sequestration, which is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1581 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 11, 2023 Mr. Booker (for himself, Ms. Cortez Masto , Mr. Merkley , Mr. Durbin , Mr. Kaine , Mrs. Gillibrand , Mr. Padilla , Mr. Blumenthal , Ms. Hirono , Ms. Warren , Ms. Klobuchar , Mr. Markey , and Mr. Murphy ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students To Improve Outcomes For Youth Act or the Diversify Act . 2. Amendments to the TEACH Grants program under the Higher Education Act of 1965 Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq. ) is amended— (1) in section 420L(1), by inserting (except that such term does not include an institution described in subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 102) after 102 ; (2) in section 420M— (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking $4,000 and inserting $8,000 ; (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the second and third sentences and inserting the following: Any disbursement allowed to be made by crediting the teacher candidate's account shall be used for the full cost of attendance (as defined in section 472). ; and (C) in subsection (d)— (i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking $16,000 and inserting $32,000 ; and (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking $8,000 and inserting $16,000 ; and (3) in section 420N— (A) in subsection (b)— (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); (ii) by striking an agreement and all that follows through the applicant will and inserting an agreement by the applicant that the applicant will ; (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (E) as paragraphs (1) through (5), respectively, and moving the margins of such paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the left; (iv) by redesignating clauses (i) through (vii) as subparagraphs (A) through (G), respectively, and moving the margins of such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the left; (v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by clause (iii), by striking teach in a school described in section 465(a)(2)(A) and inserting teach in a school described in section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high-need early education program ; and (vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by clause (iii)— (I) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated by clause (iv), by striking or after the semicolon; (II) in subparagraph (G), as redesignated by clause (iv), by inserting or after the semicolon; and (III) by adding at the end the following: (H) early childhood education; ; and (B) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: (c) Certificate Upon the completion of the service requirement in subsection (b), the Secretary shall send to the recipient of a grant under this subpart an electronic certificate documenting the completion of such service. ; (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the following: (d) Prohibition The Secretary may not institute or create a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service requirement under subsection (b). ; and (E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by subparagraph (C)— (i) by striking subsection (b)(1)(C)(vii) and inserting subsection (b)(3)(G) ; and (ii) by striking subsection (b)(1) and inserting subsection (b) . 3. Amendment to the balanced budget and deficit control act (a) Exemption of program from sequestration Section 255(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 905(h) ) is amended by inserting after the item relating to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (75–1552–0–1–609). the following new item: TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. . (b) Applicability The amendment made by this section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 ( 2 U.S.C. 900 et seq. ) on or after the date of enactment of this Act.