[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 839 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 839

   To establish a national teaching fellowship program to encourage 
  individuals to enter and remain in the field of teaching at public 
                                schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2001

Mr. Price of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Frost, Ms. 
 McCarthy of Missouri, Mr. Clement, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Payne, 
Mr. Strickland, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Baird, Mr. Watt 
 of North Carolina, and Mr. Holt) introduced the following bill; which 
      was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a national teaching fellowship program to encourage 
  individuals to enter and remain in the field of teaching at public 
                                schools.

    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 ``Teaching Fellows Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The United States faces an increasing need for high-
        quality educators.
            (2) Up to 1,000,000 of the country's 3,000,000 teachers 
        will retire in the next 5 years. American schools will have to 
        hire 2,200,000 teachers by 2010.
            (3) The Congress desires to inspire promising high school 
        seniors and accomplished persons currently involved in the 
        field of education to become certified teachers.
            (4) The opportunity created by a fellowship program would 
        allow persons in the field of education the financial 
        opportunity to obtain a quality education which they would use 
        to teach America's youth.
            (5) The Congress desires to motivate those who go into the 
        field of teaching to become career educators.
            (6) Many teacher assistants have received their training at 
        community colleges and have the potential and desire to obtain 
        degrees in education and certification as teachers.
            (7) Rural and inner-city communities could greatly benefit 
        from encouraging those in the community who already have an 
        interest in teaching to pursue a degree in education and become 
        career educators.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et 
seq.) is amended--
            (1) by striking out the head of such title and inserting 
        the following:

                      ``TITLE II--TEACHER QUALITY

      ``Part A--Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants for States and 
                            Partnerships'';

            (2) by striking out ``this title'' each place it appears in 
        section 201 through 209 and inserting ``this part''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new part:

           ``Part B--Federal Teaching and Partnership Fellows

``SEC. 211. STATE TEACHING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to encourage 
promising high school seniors and college undergraduates to enter the 
field of teaching and become career educators.
    ``(b) Establishment of Teaching Fellows Program.--
            ``(1) Use of funds for scholarships.--From the funds 
        appropriated under subsection (g), the Secretary shall make 
        grants available to States for the purpose of establishing 
        State Teaching Fellows Programs to provide scholarships for 
        Teaching Fellows. Such scholarships shall be used to pay for 
        higher education tuition, fees, and other costs of attendance.
            ``(2) Selection of fellows.--Teaching Fellows shall be 
        selected from individuals who--
                    ``(A) at the time of application, are high school 
                seniors or in their second year of a program of 
                undergraduate education;
                    ``(B) are United States citizens or legal aliens;
                    ``(C) are residents of the State sponsoring the 
                Fellows Program to which they are applying; and
                    ``(D) meet the criteria established under 
                subsection (d)(1)(B).
    ``(c) Competition for Federal Funds.--
            ``(1) State application to program.--The governor of each 
        State desiring to participate in the Partnership Program shall 
        designate a single State agency to submit an application to the 
        Secretary and to administer the State Fellows Program. Such 
agency shall have a full-time staff and may be a division of the 
State's education department, a coordinating or governing board of 
higher education, an independent government agency, or a non-profit 
organization. Any such application shall be submitted to the Secretary 
at such time, and contain such information, as the Secretary shall 
require.
            ``(2) Competitive selection.--From the applications 
        submitted by State agencies, the Secretary shall approve those 
        applications that the Secretary determines to be the most 
        promising in carrying out the purposes of the Fellows Program. 
        Each State whose application is selected by the Secretary to 
        participate in the Fellows Program shall receive funds to offer 
        scholarships in an amount determined by the Secretary in light 
        of the amount of the total appropriation for the Fellows 
        Program, the relative size of the State's student population, 
        and the funding necessary to administer a viable State Fellows 
        Program. Such funds shall go to the State agency designated in 
        subsection (c)(1).
    ``(d) Requirements for State Receipt of Federal Funds.--Each State 
participating in the Fellows Program shall--
            ``(1) provide information and assurances--
                    ``(A) identifying the institutions of higher 
                education within the State, either private or public, 
                that will participate in the Fellows Program;
                    ``(B) establishing specific, rigorous criteria to 
                be used in selecting Teaching Fellows;
                    ``(C) providing that the State will offer no less 
                than $6,500 per year in scholarships to each Fellow, 
                which shall be available--
                            ``(i) for each of 4 years of undergraduate 
                        education, in the case of a Fellow who, at the 
                        time of application, was a high school senior;
                            ``(ii) for the third and fourth year of 
                        undergraduate education, in the case of a 
                        Fellow who, at the time of application, was in 
                        his or her second year of undergraduate 
                        education; and
                            ``(iii) for a fifth year of undergraduate 
                        education if such year is required in order to 
                        obtain a bachelor's degree with a State license 
                        or certificate to teach;
                    ``(D) providing that each participating institution 
                will provide a full-time faculty member or 
                administrator to serve as the Fellows Program director 
                and to work closely with the State agency to administer 
                the campus program and create and execute the extra-
                curricular enrichment programs;
                    ``(E) describing mandatory extra-curricular 
                enrichment programs and activities as part of the 
                State's Fellows Program that--
                            ``(i) are designed to motivate students to 
                        become career educators;
                            ``(ii) provide Teaching Fellows with a 
                        multidisciplinary education;
                            ``(iii) are offered regularly during each 
                        year of schooling (including during intervals 
                        between periods of enrollment); and
                            ``(iv) expose Fellows to the State's 
                        business, political, demographic, cultural, and 
                        economic climate and help Fellows develop 
                        leadership qualities; and
                    ``(F) establishing procedures for the distribution 
                of scholarships and administration of service 
                obligation oversight;
            ``(2) provide an assurance that the State agency and 
        participating institutions shall, collectively, match the 
        Federal funds provided under this section by providing at least 
        25 percent of the total cost of the Fellows Program;
            ``(3) use funds received under this section only to 
        supplement the amount of funds that would, in the absence of 
        such Federal funds, be made available from non-Federal sources 
        for the purposes of this section, and not to supplant such 
        funds; and
            ``(4) provide an assurance that Teaching Fellows fulfill 
        their teaching commitments at United States public schools 
        within that State only.
    ``(e) Conversion to Loan.--
            ``(1) Obligation to repay.--The Fellows Program shall 
        require that a Teaching Fellow agree to repay a pro rata 
        amount, as determined by the State agency, of the scholarship 
        received from the Fellows Program, and to pay interest on such 
        pro rata amount at an annual rate of 10 percent until such pro 
        rata amount is repaid, if the recipient fails to comply with 
        one of the following:
                    ``(A) Within 7 years after graduation the recipient 
                of the scholarship teaches for 4 years at a public 
                school.
                    ``(B) Within 7 years after graduation the recipient 
                teaches for 3 consecutive years, unless the recipient 
                takes an approved leave of absence, at a public school 
                that at the time the recipient accepts employment is a 
                low-performing school, as defined by State educational 
                agency or the Secretary of Education.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply if the 
        State agency finds that it is impossible for the recipient to 
        teach for 4 years, within 7 years after the recipient 
        graduates, at a public school because of the death or permanent 
        disability of the recipient.
    ``(f) Revolving Funding.--Any funds repaid by a Teaching Fellow 
pursuant to subsection (e), together with any interest thereon, may be 
retained by the State agency for making available additional 
scholarships under this section, and for paying costs related to the 
disbursement of awards and the collection of payments under subsection 
(e).
    ``(g) Funds.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be 
necessary for the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
    ``(h) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Fellows program.--The term `Fellows Program' means 
        the program established under this section.
            ``(2) Teaching fellows.--The term `Teaching Fellow' means 
        an individual selected for an award of financial assistance 
        under this section.
            ``(3) State.--The term `State' includes the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            ``(4) State agency.--The term `State agency' means the 
        agency designated pursuant to subsection (c)(1).

``SEC. 212. TEACHING FELLOWS PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to encourage members 
of the education community, such as teaching assistants and other 
school employees who are not yet certified teachers, to obtain a degree 
in education.
    ``(b) Establishment of Partnership Fellows Program.--
            ``(1) Use of funds for scholarships.--From the funds 
        appropriated under subsection (h), the Secretary shall make 
        grants available to States for the purpose of establishing 
        Partnership Programs between associate-degree-granting 
        institutions and bachelor-degree-granting institutions.
            ``(2) Selection of fellows.--Partnership Fellows shall be 
        selected from individuals who--
                    ``(A) are United States citizens or legal aliens;
                    ``(B) are residents of the State sponsoring the 
                partnership program to which they are applying; and
                    ``(C) meet the criteria established under 
                subsection (e)(1).
    ``(c) Competition for Federal Funds.--
            ``(1) State review and submission.--The governor of each 
        State desiring to participate in the Partnership Program shall 
        designate a single State education department, a coordinating 
        or governing board of higher education, or other agency--
                    ``(A) to receive and review partnership proposals 
                from associate-degree-granting institutions and 
                bachelor-degree-granting institutions within the State;
                    ``(B) to determine which proposals delineate 
                Partnership Programs to be created between associate-
                degree-granting institutions and bachelor-degree-
granting institutions that are the most promising in carrying out the 
purposes of this section;
                    ``(C) to submit the partnership proposals that are 
                approved by the State agency to the Secretary for 
                competitive selection in the form of one single 
                partnership proposal application; and
                    ``(D) to administer the funds available under this 
                section.
            ``(2) Competitive selection.--From the partnership proposal 
        applications submitted by State agencies under paragraph (1), 
        the Secretary shall select for funding under this section those 
        applications that the Secretary determines to be the most 
        promising in carrying out the purposes of the Partnership 
        Program. The Secretary shall distribute the awards for each 
        selected application to the State agency that submitted the 
        application.
    ``(d) Requirements for State Receipt of Federal Funds.--A State 
agency that submits a partnership proposal application to the Secretary 
under subsection (c) shall provide to the Secretary such information 
and assurances as the Secretary may require to demonstrate that the 
State will comply with the following requirements:
            ``(1) Any State whose partnership proposal application is 
        selected to receive Federal funds as authorized by this section 
        shall match the Federal funding by providing at least 25 
        percent of the total cost of the Partnership Program or 
        Programs.
            ``(2) The State agency may reserve up to 20 percent of its 
        Federal funding to be used for administrative costs associated 
        with the creation of articulation agreements between one or 
        more associate-degree-granting institutions and one or more 
        bachelor-degree-granting institutions that detail the 
        partnership arrangement between the institutions. Such reserved 
        administrative funds shall be made available to the Partnership 
        institutions in order to support curricula alignment between 
        the associate-degree granting institution's and the bachelor-
        degree-granting institution's requirements and to allow the 
        Partnership institutions to sponsor extra-curricular activities 
        for its Fellows as specified in subsection (e)(3).
            ``(3) The State agency shall be responsible for determining 
        how the funds provided under this section are allocated among 
        specific partnership proposals or to administer the allocation 
        of funds for an approved state-wide Partnership Program.
            ``(4) The State agency shall be responsible for assuring 
        such funds are used to provide full-time Partnership Fellows 
        with scholarships of no less than $6,500 per year, which shall 
        be available for each of the four years of undergraduate 
        education remaining after the year of the Fellow's selection, 
and for a fifth year of undergraduate education if such year is 
required in order to obtain a bachelor's degree with a State license or 
certificate to teach. Partnership Fellows pursuing a part-time course 
load, as defined by the institution attended, shall receive a pro rata 
scholarship over a period not to exceed six years. The annual 
scholarship amount shall be a fraction of the full-time scholarship 
amount and shall be reduced according to the number of credits being 
pursued. Partnership Programs also may make scholarship funds available 
during the period of student teaching as prescribed by subsection 
(e)(6).
            ``(5) The State agency will use funds received under this 
        section only to supplement the amount of funds that would, in 
        the absence of such Federal funds, be made available from non-
        Federal sources for the purposes of this section, and not to 
        supplant such funds.
    ``(e) Requirements for Partnership Proposals.--Each partnership 
proposal under this section shall be submitted by one or more 
associate-degree-granting institutions and one or more bachelor-degree-
granting institutions and shall propose the establishment of a program 
allowing individuals, such as those currently in the education field, 
to complete a bachelor's degree with a State license or certification 
to teach. Such proposals shall include--
            ``(1) identification of specific, rigorous criteria to be 
        used in selecting Partnership Fellows, including outstanding 
        service to school-age children, a firm commitment to the field 
        of education, and aptitude to succeed as a teacher;
            ``(2) designation of a full-time faculty member or 
        administrator to serve as the local or regional Partnership 
        Program director or coordinator and to work closely with the 
        State agency director to administer the program and create and 
        execute the extra-curricular enrichment programs;
            ``(3) mandatory extra-curricular enrichment programs and 
        activities as part of the State's Fellows Program that--
                    ``(A) are designed to motivate students to become 
                career educators;
                    ``(B) provide Fellows with a multidisciplinary 
                education;
                    ``(C) are offered regularly during each year of 
                schooling (including during intervals between periods 
                of enrollment); and
                    ``(D) expose Fellows to the State's business, 
                political, demographic, cultural, and economic climate 
                and help Fellows develop leadership qualities;
            ``(4) a specific description of how the proposed 
        Partnership Program will provide individuals in rural or 
        underserved communities access to the curriculum and 
        extracurricular opportunities created by the Partnership 
        Program;
            ``(5) a description of how the program will accommodate 
        Partnership Fellows who must maintain employment while pursuing 
        a degree, whether via distance learning methods, evening and 
        weekend programs, minimum credit requirements, or other 
        programs;
            ``(6) a description of how the program will assist 
        Partnership Fellows in accordance with subsection (d)(4) during 
        the period of student teaching should they be otherwise 
        financially unable to complete such a requirement; and
            ``(7) an itemized account of how the funds will be 
        allocated to best achieve the goals of the Partnership Program.
    ``(f) Conversion to Loan.--
            ``(1) Obligation to repay.--The Partnership Program shall 
        require that a Partnership Fellow agree to repay a pro rata 
        amount, as determined by the State agency, of the scholarship 
        received from the Partnership Program, and to pay interest on 
        such pro rata amount at an annual rate of 10 percent until such 
        pro rata amount is repaid, if the recipient fails to comply 
        with one of the following:
                    ``(A) Within 7 years after graduation the recipient 
                of the scholarship teaches for 4 years at a public 
                school.
                    ``(B) Within 7 years after graduation the recipient 
                teaches for 3 consecutive years, unless the recipient 
                takes an approved leave of absence, at a public school 
                that at the time the recipient accepts employment is a 
                low-performing school, as defined by State educational 
                agency or the Secretary of Education.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply if the 
        State agency finds that it is impossible for the recipient to 
        teach for 4 years, within 7 years after the recipient 
        graduates, at a public school because of the death or permanent 
        disability of the recipient.
    ``(g) Revolving Funding.--Any funds repaid by a Teaching Fellow 
pursuant to subsection (f), together with any interest thereon, may be 
retained by the State agency for making available additional 
scholarships under this section, and for paying costs related to the 
disbursement of awards and the collection of payments under subsection 
(f).
    ``(h) Funds.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as 
necessary for the 4 subsequent fiscal years.
    ``(i) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Partnership program.--the term `Partnership Program' 
        means the program established under this section.
            ``(2) Partnership fellows.--The term `Partnership Fellow' 
        means an individual selected for an award of financial 
        assistance under this section.
            ``(3) State.--The term `State' includes the several States, 
        the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
            ``(4) State agency.--The term `State agency' means the 
        agency designated pursuant to subsection (c)(1).''.
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