[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1390 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1390

To establish a pilot program to encourage certification of teachers in 
 low-income, low-performing public elementary and secondary schools by 
 the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 2003

   Mrs. Davis of California introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a pilot program to encourage certification of teachers in 
 low-income, low-performing public elementary and secondary schools by 
 the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``National Board-Certified Teachers in 
Low-Performing Schools Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. PILOT STIPEND INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR CERTIFICATION BY THE 
              NATIONAL BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHING STANDARDS.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Education shall establish 
a 5-year pilot program under which Board-certified teachers in low-
income, low-performing schools receive stipends under this section. The 
Secretary may provide stipends for up to 100 teachers annually under 
this section. The Secretary shall seek the cooperation and assistance 
of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in carrying 
out this section.
    (b) Annual Base Stipend Requirements.--A Board-certified teacher 
shall receive an annual base stipend of $5,000 under this section, for 
up to 4 years, if, for each year the teacher receives a stipend, the 
teacher--
            (1) is employed in a school that is a low-income, low-
        performing school in the first year the teacher receives the 
        stipend;
            (2) acts as the resident facilitator for the school, 
        including by--
                    (A) conducting outreach among teachers who may seek 
                to become, or are in the process of becoming, Board-
                certified (including by holding a minimum number of 
                events or contacts within the faculty of the school); 
                and
                    (B) facilitating participation in a support program 
                for teachers who are in the process of becoming Board-
                certified; and
            (3) serves as a liaison with the National Board for 
        Professional Teaching Standards, to recommend ways to encourage 
        teachers to aspire to receive Board certification.
    (c) Bonus Stipends.--A recipient of an annual base stipend under 
subsection (b) may receive a bonus stipend of $1,000 for each teacher 
who completes the process for becoming Board-certified at the school 
for which the recipient is the resident facilitator (even though such 
teacher may not necessarily become Board-certified at the completion of 
such process).
    (d) Report to Congress.--The Secretary of Education shall submit to 
the Congress not earlier than the end of the fourth year, nor later 
than the end of the pilot program under this section, a report on the 
effectiveness of the program in increasing the number of Board-
certified teachers in the low-income, low-performing schools in which 
the program's stipend recipients teach, including any appropriate 
findings or recommendations.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``Board-certified'', with respect to a 
        teacher, means certified by the National Board for Professional 
        Teaching Standards.
            (2) The term ``low-income, low-performing school'' means a 
        public elementary school or secondary school--
                    (A) served by a local educational agency in which 
                at least 50 percent of the students are counted under 
                section 1124(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)); and
                    (B) identified for improvement under section 
                1116(b)(1)(A) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)(1)(A)).
            (3) The terms ``elementary school'', ``secondary school'', 
        and ``local educational agency'' have the meanings given those 
        terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
                                 <all>