[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2102 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2102
To authorize recruitment and retention incentive programs, student loan
forgiveness, and professional development programs for teachers in
rural areas.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 7, 2001
Mrs. Clayton (for herself, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Pomeroy, Mr.
Ney, Mr. Etheridge, Mrs. Roukema, Mr. Phelps, Mr. Shows, Mrs. Thurman,
Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. John, and Mr. LaHood)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize recruitment and retention incentive programs, student loan
forgiveness, and professional development programs for teachers in
rural areas.
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 ``Rural Teachers Recruitment Act of
2001''.
SEC. 2. TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION GRANTS.
(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to provide
grants to rural eligible local educational agencies to enable the
agencies to recruit and retain qualified teachers for elementary and
secondary schools.
(b) Rural Eligible Local Educational Agencies.--To be eligible to
receive a grant under this section, a rural eligible local educational
agency shall--
(1) submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may reasonably require; and
(2) demonstrate a need to recruit and retain additional
qualified elementary and secondary school teachers.
(c) Grant Amount.--Each grant award made under this section shall
be of sufficient size to enable a grantee to develop incentive programs
to recruit and retain qualified teachers.
(d) Uses of Funds.--A rural eligible local educational agency that
receives a grant award under this section may use such funds received
to develop incentive programs to recruit and retain qualified teachers.
Such incentive programs may include--
(1) salary increases;
(2) reimbursement for teacher certification expenses;
(3) assistance to pay college tuition expenses;
(4) assistance to pay graduate school tuition and training
expenses; and
(5) reimbursement for relocation expenses.
(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) the term ``local educational agency'' has the same
meaning given such term in section 14101(18) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801(18));
(2) the term ``metropolitan statistical area'' has the same
meaning given such term by the Bureau of the Census;
(3) the term ``rural eligible educational agency'' means a
local educational agency--
(A) that is not located in a metropolitan
statistical area; and
(B) in which 20 percent or more of the children,
ages 5 through 17, served by such agency are from
families below the poverty level, as determined by the
Secretary; and
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Education.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section--
(1) $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 and 2003;
(2) $400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 and 2005;
and
(3) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR RURAL TEACHERS.
Section 428J(b)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1078-10(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``teacher for 5 consecutive complete school years--'' and
inserting ``teacher--''; and
(2) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
``(A) in a school--
``(i) for 5 consecutive complete school
years, if the school qualifies under section
465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for Perkins
loan recipients who teach in such schools; or
``(ii) for 3 consecutive complete school
years, if the school is located in a county
with a population density of less than 200
persons per square mile;''.
SEC. 4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE FOR RURAL
TEACHERS.
Part A of title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6621 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``SEC. 2104. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE FOR
RURAL TEACHERS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary may award grants on a competitive
basis to rural eligible local educational agencies to develop and
implement high-quality professional development programs in mathematics
and science for teachers.
``(b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, a rural eligible local educational agency shall submit an
application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Metropolitan statistical area.--The term
`metropolitan statistical area' has the meaning given such term
by the Bureau of the Census.
``(2) Rural eligible local educational agency.--The term
`rural eligible local educational agency' means a local
educational agency--
``(A) that is not located in a metropolitan
statistical area; and
``(B) in which 20 percent or more of the children,
ages 5 through 17, served by such agency are from
families below the poverty level, as determined by the
Secretary.''.
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