[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1240 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1240

    To provide grants to eligible consortia to provide professional 
    development to superintendents, principals, and to prospective 
                    superintendents and principals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2003

 Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. 
Frost, Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Owens, Mr. Lantos, Mrs. 
Davis of California, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Bishop of New 
  York, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide grants to eligible consortia to provide professional 
    development to superintendents, principals, and to prospective 
                    superintendents and principals.

    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 ``Investment in Quality School 
Leadership Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Nation is experiencing a shortage of qualified 
        school administrators and principals with such shortage 
        expected to intensify. This shortage comes at a time when 
        States are enacting new and more rigorous learning standards, 
        school officials are expected to handle an increasing number of 
        non-educational problems and issues, and the current generation 
        of school administrators and officials are retiring. The 
        combination of these factors results in a shrinking pool of 
        qualified applicants.
            (2) The shortage is particularly severe in high poverty 
        school districts because of lower salaries and the challenging 
        work environment. In many such districts, a disproportionate 
        number of school administrators and principals have less than 3 
        years of experience.
            (3) The ability of a school or district to improve teaching 
        and raise student achievement is greatly dependent on the 
        quality of leadership. Quality leadership can only be achieved 
        if potential leaders are provided with the necessary support, 
        professional development, and resources. A recent report by the 
        Educational Research Service (ERS) cites studies that find that 
        the one attribute of all high-performing schools is a dedicated 
        and dynamic principal.
            (4) All current and prospective principals and 
        superintendents need support in their first 3 years, such as 
        mentoring and sustained professional development, to become 
        effective school leaders and to raise school and classroom 
        performance effectively.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

     The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to provide ongoing, intensive professional development 
        to superintendents, principals, and prospective superintendents 
        and principals, particularly those serving, or intending to 
        serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school districts and 
        schools;
            (2) to improve the capacity of current and prospective 
        superintendents and principals to serve as effective leaders 
        and successfully implement standards-based reforms;
            (3) to encourage the recruitment and retention of quality 
        school leaders at the district- and school-level by enabling 
        them to further develop their skills and knowledge; and
            (4) to recognize and support the importance of principals 
        and superintendents in facilitating student learning and 
        improving academic achievement.

SEC. 4. GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Grant awards.--From the amounts appropriated to carry 
        out this section and not reserved under subsection (g) for any 
        fiscal year, the Secretary of Education (in this Act referred 
        to as the ``Secretary'') shall award grants to eligible 
        consortia to establish professional development programs 
        described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Professional development.--A program referred to in 
        paragraph (1) shall serve a State or region and provide 
        superintendents, principals, and prospective superintendents 
        and principals, particularly those serving, or intending to 
        serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school districts and 
        schools, with ongoing, intensive professional development 
        opportunities to improve their capacity to serve as effective 
        leaders and successfully implement standards-based reforms.
    (b) Award Basis.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall award grants on a 
        competitive basis to eligible applicants to carry out this 
        section.
            (2) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary shall give priority to consortia in which the local 
        educational agency participating in the consortium serves the 
        highest concentration of children living in poverty.
    (c) Eligibility.--
            (1) Required participants.--In order to receive a grant 
        under this section, a consortium shall include not less than--
                    (A) one local educational agency serving a high 
                concentration of children living in poverty;
                    (B) one institution of higher education; and
                    (C) one organization that does not usually provide 
                educational services, but has the necessary expertise 
                to provide professional development to school 
                administrators.
            (2) Other participants.--An eligible consortium may also 
        include--
                    (A) one or more additional local educational 
                agencies;
                    (B) State educational agencies;
                    (C) for-profit organizations with the expertise to 
                provide professional development to school 
                administrators; and
                    (D) public or private nonprofit organizations with 
                the expertise to provide professional development to 
                school administrators.
    (d) Application.--
            (1) In general.--In order to receive an award under this 
        section, an eligible applicant shall submit an application to 
        the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Contents.--Each such application shall include--
                    (A) information demonstrating that the applicant 
                shall meet the matching requirement of subsection (f); 
                and
                    (B) a description of the involvement of 
                superintendents and principals in developing the 
                application.
    (e) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Required uses.--
                    (A) In general.--A consortium that receives a grant 
                under this section shall use the grant funds to 
                establish or expand a leadership development program 
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Activities.--The program referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) shall provide superintendents, 
                principals, and prospective superintendents and 
                principals, particularly individuals serving, or 
                intending to serve, in high-poverty, low-performing 
                schools and school districts, with ongoing, intensive 
                professional development opportunities through 
                activities that increase the knowledge and skills of 
                participants in such areas as--
                            (i) effective instructional practices;
                            (ii) the content of the State's standards 
                        and supporting implementation of the standards 
                        in the classroom;
                            (iii) comprehensive whole-school reform 
                        approaches and programs;
                            (iv) the effective use of educational 
                        technology to improve teaching and learning;
                            (v) the recruitment, assignment, retention, 
                        and evaluation of school staff;
                            (vi) the enhancement and development of 
                        management and organizational skills;
                            (vii) leadership skills;
                            (viii) the effective use of data for 
                        decisionmaking; and
                            (ix) the implementation of school-based 
                        leadership teams.
            (2) Additional uses.--A consortium that receives a grant 
        under this section may also use the grant funds to support--
                    (A) the recruitment and preparation of prospective 
                principals and superintendents, including candidates 
                with leadership and managerial experience in fields 
                other than education; and
                    (B) alternative pathways to administrative 
                positions.
    (f) Matching Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) In general.--Each recipient of a grant under 
                this Act shall provide not less than 50 percent of the 
                annual cost of the project assisted by the grant from 
                sources other than this Act.
                    (B) Contributions.--A grantee's share of such costs 
                may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated.
            (2) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the matching 
        requirement of paragraph (1) with respect to applicants that 
        the Secretary determines serve low-income areas.
    (g) Reservation.--The Secretary may reserve not more than 4 percent 
of the amount appropriated under subsection (i) for each fiscal year 
for technical assistance, evaluation, dissemination of information on 
effective programs for preparing and training district and school-level 
administrators, carrying out activities to encourage the spread and 
adoption of successful leadership development centers, and other 
national activities that support the programs under this section.
    (h) Report.--
            (1) Existing programs.--
                    (A) Study.--The Secretary shall, in consultation 
                with representatives of local educational agencies, 
                State educational agencies, institutions of higher 
                education, superintendents, principals, education 
                organizations, community groups, business, and labor, 
                conduct a study to evaluate and report to Congress 
                regarding existing professional development programs 
                that recruit, prepare, and train district- and school-
                level administrators to serve as effective leaders and 
                successfully implement standards-based reforms in 
                diverse educational environments across the Nation.
                    (B) Report to congress.--The Secretary shall submit 
                a report to Congress not later than one year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act regarding the findings of 
                the study conducted under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Program report.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress 
        a report not later than March 1, 2008, regarding the 
        effectiveness of professional development programs, established 
        pursuant to this section, to recruit and retain principals and 
        superintendents.
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008 to 
carry out this section.
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