[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5718 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5718

  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand and improve the 
 program of loan forgiveness for teachers, and to amend the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to focus the expenditure of certain 
   recruitment and professional development funds on high-need local 
                         educational agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 13, 2002

  Mr. Graves introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand and improve the 
 program of loan forgiveness for teachers, and to amend the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to focus the expenditure of certain 
   recruitment and professional development funds on high-need local 
                         educational agencies.

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

SECTION 1. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS.

    (a) Elimination of New Borrower Restrictions.--
            (1) FFEL program.--Section 428J(b) of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(b)) is amended by striking ``for 
        any new borrower on or after October 1, 1998, who'' and 
        inserting ``for any borrower who''.
            (2) Federal direct loan program.--Section 460(b)(1) of such 
        Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``for any 
        new borrower on or after October 1, 1998, who'' and inserting 
        ``for any borrower who''.
    (b) Expansion of Eligible Teaching Locations and Subjects; 
Eliminating Delay in Service Benefit.--
            (1) FFEL program.--Section 428J(b)(1) of such Act is 
        amended by striking everything preceding subparagraph (B) and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(1) has been employed--
                    ``(A)(i) as a full-time teacher in a school that 
                qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan 
                cancellation for Perkins loan recipients who teach in 
                such schools;
                    ``(ii) as a full-time special education teacher, as 
                described in section 465(a)(2)(C);
                    ``(iii) as a full-time teacher in the fields of 
                mathematics or science; or
                    ``(iv) as a full-time teacher in a school that is 
                located in a high-need local educational agency, as 
                that term is defined in section 2102 of the Elementary 
                and Secondary Education Act of 1965;''.
            (2) Federal direct loan program.--Section 460(b)(1)(A) of 
        such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
        everything preceding clause (ii) and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) has been employed--
                            ``(i)(I) as a full-time teacher in a school 
                        that qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for 
                        loan cancellation for Perkins loan recipients 
                        who teach in such schools;
                            ``(II) as a full-time special education 
                        teacher, as described in section 465(a)(2)(C);
                    ``(III) as a full-time teacher in the fields of 
                mathematics or science; or
                    ``(IV) as a full-time teacher in a school that is 
                located in a high-need local educational agency, as 
                that term is defined in section 2102 of the Elementary 
                and Secondary Education Act of 1965;''.
    (c) Amounts Subject to Forgiveness.--
            (1) FFEL program.--Section 428J(c) of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(c)) is amended by striking 
        paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Amount and rate of repayment.--The Secretary shall 
        repay an amount that is not more than $20,000 in the aggregate 
        of the loan obligation on a loan made under section 428 or 428H 
        that is outstanding after the completion of the first complete 
        school year of teaching described in subsection (b)(1) for 
        which the borrower seeks repayment under this section. Such 
        amount shall be repaid at the rate of 15 percent for the first 
        or second year of such service, 20 percent for the third or 
        fourth year of such service, and 30 percent for the fifth year 
        of such service. No borrower may receive a reduction of loan 
        obligations under both this section and section 460.''.
            (2) Federal direct loan program.--Section 460(c) of such 
        Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) 
        and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Amount and rate of repayment.--The Secretary shall 
        cancel an amount that is not more than $20,000 in the aggregate 
        of the loan obligation on a loan made under section 428 or 428H 
        that is outstanding after the completion of the first complete 
        school year of teaching described in subsection (b)(1)(A). Such 
        amount shall be canceled at the rate of 15 percent for the 
        first or second year of such service, 20 percent for the third 
        or fourth year of such service, and 30 percent for the fifth 
        year of such service.''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES FOR PREPARING, TRAINING, AND RECRUITING HIGH 
              QUALITY TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS.

    Section 2122 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6622) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Priority.--In distributing funds under this subpart, a State 
educational agency shall give priority to high-need local educational 
agencies.''.
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