[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1703 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1703

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
                  technology for tomorrow's teachers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 3, 2001

 Mr. Wu (for himself, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Pomeroy, Ms. McCollum, and Mr. 
Weldon of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
              the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
                  technology for tomorrow's teachers.

    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 ``__________ Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. TECHNOLOGY FOR TOMORROW'S TEACHERS.

    Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6801 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
part:

              ``PART G--TEACHING TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE

``SEC. 3701. PURPOSE; PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this part is to assist consortia of 
public and private entities in carrying out programs that prepare 
prospective teachers to use advanced technology to enable all students 
to achieve to challenging State and local content and student 
performance standards.
    ``(b) Program Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized, through the 
        Office of Educational Technology, to award grants, contracts, 
        or cooperative agreements on a competitive basis to eligible 
        applicants in order to assist them in developing or redesigning 
        teacher preparation programs to enable prospective teachers to 
        use technology effectively in their classrooms.
            ``(2) Period of award.--The Secretary may award grants, 
        contracts, or cooperative agreements under this part for a 
        period of not more than 5 years.

``SEC. 3702. ELIGIBILITY.

    ``(a) Eligible Applicants.--In order to receive an award under this 
part, an eligible applicant shall be a consortium that includes--
            ``(1) at least one institution of higher education that 
        offers a baccalaureate degree and prepares teachers for their 
        initial entry into teaching, is in full compliance with all of 
        the reporting requirements of section 207(f) of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1027(f)), and has not been 
        identified by the State as low performing under section 208 of 
        such Act (20 U.S.C. 1028);
            ``(2) at least one State educational agency or local 
        educational agency with a high number or percentage of children 
        in poverty; and
            ``(3) one or more of the following entities:
                    ``(A) An institution of higher education (other 
                than the institution described in paragraph (1)).
                    ``(B) A school or department of education at an 
                institution of higher education that is in full 
                compliance with all of the reporting requirements of 
                section 207 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1027) and has not been identified by their State 
                as low performing under section 208 of such Act (20 
                U.S.C. 1028).
                    ``(C) A school or college of arts and sciences at 
                an institution of higher education that is in full 
                compliance with the reporting requirements of section 
                207(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                1027(f)) and has not bee identified by its State as low 
                performing under section 208 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
                1028).
                    ``(D) A professional association, foundation, 
                museum, library, for-profit business, public or private 
                nonprofit organization, community-based organization, 
                or other entity with the demonstrated capacity to 
                contribute to the technology-related reform of teacher 
                preparation programs.
    ``(b) Application Requirements.--In order to receive an award under 
this part, an eligible applicant shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, and containing such information, as the 
Secretary may require. Such application shall include--
            ``(1) a description of the proposed project and how the 
        project shall--
                    ``(A) ensure that individuals participating in the 
                project would be prepared to use technology to enable 
                all students to achieve to challenging State and local 
                content and student performance standards, and 
                integrate such technology into their instructional 
                practices; and
                    ``(B) include the adoption of specific, 
                quantifiable objectives that the program will achieve 
                over the duration of the award;
            ``(2) a demonstration of--
                    ``(A) the commitment, including the financial 
                commitment, of each of the members of the consortium; 
                and
                    ``(B) the active support of the leadership of each 
                member of the consortium for the proposed project;
            ``(3) a description of how each member of the consortium 
        would be included in project activities;
            ``(4) a description of how the proposed project would be 
        continued once the Federal funds awarded under this part end; 
        and
            ``(5) a plan for the evaluation of the program, which shall 
        include annual measurable benchmarks to monitor progress toward 
        specific project objectives, as described in paragraph (1)(B).
    ``(c) Matching Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of any 
        project funded under this part shall not exceed 50 percent. 
        Except as provided in paragraph (2), the non-Federal share of 
        such project may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 
        including services.
            ``(2) Acquisition of equipment.--Not more than 10 percent 
        of the funds awarded for a project under this part may be used 
        to acquire equipment, networking capabilities or 
        infrastructure, and the non-Federal share of the cost of any 
        such acquisition shall be in cash.

``SEC. 3703. USES OF FUNDS.

    ``(a) Required Uses.--A recipient shall use funds under this part 
for--
            ``(1) creating programs that enable prospective teachers to 
        use advanced technology to prepare all students to achieve to 
        challenging State and local content and student performance 
        standards in the core academic subjects and integrate such 
        technology into their instructional practices; and
            ``(2) evaluating the effectiveness of the project.
    ``(b) Permissible Uses.--A recipient may use funds under this part 
for activities, described in its application, that carry out the 
purpose of this part, such as--
            ``(1) developing and implementing high-quality teacher 
        preparation programs that enable educators to--
                    ``(A) learn the full range of resources that can be 
                accessed through the use of technology;
                    ``(B) integrate a variety of technologies into the 
                classroom in order to expand students' knowledge;
                    ``(C) evaluate educational technologies and their 
                potential for use in instruction; and
                    ``(D) help students develop their own technical 
                skills and digital learning environments;
            ``(2) developing alternative teacher development paths that 
        provide elementary and secondary schools with well-prepared, 
        technology-proficient educators;
            ``(3) developing performance-based standards and aligned 
        assessments to measure the capacity of prospective teachers to 
        use technology effectively in their classrooms;
            ``(4) providing technical assistance to other teacher 
        preparation programs;
            ``(5) developing and disseminating resources and 
        information in order to assist institutions of higher education 
        to prepare teachers to use technology effectively in their 
        classrooms; and
            ``(6) subject to section 3702(c)(2), acquiring equipment, 
        networking capabilities, and infrastructure to carry out the 
        project.''.
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