[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 990 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 990

              To provide for teacher training facilities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 6, 1999

  Mr. DeWine introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
              To provide for teacher training facilities.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teacher Quality Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) individuals entering a classroom should have a sound 
        grasp of the subject the individuals intend to teach, and the 
        individuals should know how to teach;
            (2) the quality of teachers impacts student achievement;
            (3) people who enter the teaching profession through 
        alternative certification programs can benefit from having the 
        opportunity to attend a teacher training facility;
            (4) teachers need to increase their subject matter 
        knowledge;
            (5) less than 40 percent of the individuals teaching the 
        core subjects (English, mathematics, science, social studies, 
        and foreign languages) majored or minored in the core subjects; 
        and
            (6) according to the Third International Mathematics and 
        Science Study, American high school seniors finished near the 
        bottom of the study in both science and mathematics.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to strengthen teacher 
training programs by establishing a private and public partnership to 
create the best teacher training facilities in the world to ensure that 
teachers receive unlimited access to the most updated technology and 
skills training in education, so that students can benefit from the 
teachers' knowledge and experience.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 4. GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--From amounts appropriated under section 5 for a 
fiscal year the Secretary shall award grants to local educational 
agencies to enable the local educational agencies to establish teacher 
training facilities for elementary and secondary school teachers.
    (b) Competitive Basis.--The Secretary shall award grants under this 
Act on a competitive basis.
    (c) Partnership Contract Required.--In order to receive a grant 
under this Act, a local educational agency shall enter into a contract 
with a nongovernmental organization to establish a teacher training 
facility.
    (d) Applications.--Each local educational agency desiring a grant 
under this Act shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 
time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the 
Secretary may require. Each such application shall contain an assurance 
that the local educational agency--
            (1) will raise matching funds, from public or private 
        sources, for the support of the teacher training facility in an 
        amount equal to the amount of funds provided under the grant;
            (2) will train the teachers employed by the local 
        educational agency at the teacher training facility for a 
        period of 10 years after the date the agency enters into the 
        contract described in subsection (c); and
            (3) will spend not less than 0.5 percent of the local 
        educational agency's total school budget for each fiscal year 
        to support the teacher training facility.
    (e) Amount.--The Secretary shall award each grant under this 
section in an amount that is not less than $1,000,000 and not more than 
$4,000,000.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$8,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, 
$12,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.
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