[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1649 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1649

 To provide incentives for States to establish and administer periodic 
   teacher testing and merit pay programs for elementary school and 
                       secondary school teachers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 1999

   Mr. Abraham (for himelf, Mr. Mack, and Mr. McCain) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide incentives for States to establish and administer periodic 
   teacher testing and merit pay programs for elementary school and 
                       secondary school teachers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Measures to 
Encourage Results in Teaching Act of 1999''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress makes the following finding:
            (1) All students deserve to be taught by well-educated, 
        competent, and qualified teachers.
            (2) More than ever before, education has and will continue 
        to become the ticket not only to economic success but to basic 
        survival. Students will not succeed in meeting the demands of a 
        knowledge-based, 21st century society and economy if the 
        students do not encounter more challenging work in school. For 
        future generations to have the opportunities to achieve success 
        the future generations will need to have an education and a 
        teacher workforce second to none.
            (3) No other intervention can make the difference that a 
        knowledgeable, skillful teacher can make in the learning 
        process. At the same time, nothing can fully compensate for 
        weak teaching that, despite good intentions, can result from a 
        teacher's lack of opportunity to acquire the knowledge and 
        skill needed to help students master the curriculum.
            (4) The Federal Government established the Dwight D. 
        Eisenhower Professional Development Program in 1985 to ensure 
        that teachers and other educational staff have access to 
        sustained and high-quality professional development. This 
        ongoing development must include the ability to demonstrate and 
        judge the performance of teachers and other instructional 
        staff.
            (5) States should evaluate their teachers on the basis of 
        demonstrated ability, including tests of subject matter 
        knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skill. States 
        should develop a test for their teachers and other 
        instructional staff with respect to the subjects taught by the 
        teachers and staff, and should administer the test every 3 to 5 
        years.
            (6) Evaluating and rewarding teachers with a compensation 
        system that supports teachers who become increasingly expert in 
        a subject area, are proficient in meeting the needs of students 
        and schools, and demonstrate high levels of performance 
        measured against professional teaching standards, will 
        encourage teachers to continue to learn needed skills and 
        broaden teachers' expertise, thereby enhancing education for 
        all students.
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To provide incentives for States to establish and 
        administer periodic teacher testing and merit pay programs for 
        elementary school and secondary school teachers.
            (2) To encourage States to establish merit pay programs 
        that have a significant impact on teacher salary scales.
            (3) To encourage programs that recognize and reward the 
        best teachers,and encourage those teachers that need to do 
        better.

SEC. 2. STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER TESTING AND MERIT PAY.

    (a) Amendments.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating part E as part F;
            (2) by redesignating sections 2401 and 2402 as sections 
        2501 and 2502, respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after part D the following:

      ``PART E--STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER TESTING AND MERIT PAY

``SEC. 2401. STATE INCENTIVES FOR TEACHER TESTING AND MERIT PAY.

    ``(a) State Awards.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
title, from funds described in subsection (b) that are made available 
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall make an award to each State 
that--
            ``(1) administers a test to each elementary school and 
        secondary school teacher in the State, with respect to the 
        subjects taught by the teacher, every 3 to 5 years; and
            ``(2) has an elementary school and secondary school teacher 
        compensation system that is based on merit.
    ``(b) Available Funding.--The amount of funds referred to in 
subsection (a) that are available to carry out this section for a 
fiscal year is 50 percent of the amount of funds appropriated to carry 
out this title that are in excess of the amount so appropriated for 
fiscal year 2000, except that no funds shall be available to carry out 
this section for any fiscal year for which--
            ``(1) the amount appropriated to carry out this title 
        exceeds $600,000,000; or
            ``(2) each of the several States is eligible to receive an 
        award under this section.
    ``(c) Award Amount.--A State shall receive an award under this 
section in an amount that bears the same relation to the total amount 
available for awards under this section for a fiscal year as the number 
of States that are eligible to receive such an award for the fiscal 
year bears to the total number of all States so eligible for the fiscal 
year.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--Funds provided under this section may be used 
by the States to carry out the activities described in section 2207.
    ``(e) Definition of State.--For the purpose of this section, the 
term `State' means each of the 50 States and the District of 
Columbia.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on October 1, 2000.

SEC. 3. TEACHER TESTING AND MERIT PAY.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 
State may use Federal education funds--
            (1) to carry out a test of each elementary school or 
        secondary school teacher in the State with respect to the 
        subjects taught by the teacher; or
            (2) to establish a merit pay program for the teachers.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``elementary school'' 
and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given the terms in section 
14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
8801).
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