[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2674 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2674

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for student loan 
forgiveness to encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in 
                           low income areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2003

 Mr. Becerra 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 provide for student loan 
forgiveness to encourage individuals to become and remain librarians in 
                           low income 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 ``Librarian Education and Development 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR LIBRARIANS.

    (a) FFEL Loans.--
            (1) Amendment.--Section 428J(b) of the Higher Education Act 
        of 1965 (20 U.S.C 1078-10(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 
        (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1)(A) has been employed--
                    ``(i) as a full-time teacher for 5 consecutive 
                complete school years in a school that qualifies under 
                section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for Perkins 
                loan recipients who teach in such a school; or
                    ``(ii) as a full-time librarian for 5 consecutive 
                complete school years in--
                            ``(I) a public library that serves a 
                        geographic area within which the public schools 
                        have a combined average of 30 percent or more 
                        of their total student enrollments composed of 
                        children counted under section 1113(a)(5) of 
                        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
                        1965; or
                            ``(II) a school that qualifies under 
                        section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan cancellation for 
                        Perkins loan recipients who teach in such a 
                        school; and
            ``(B)(i) if employed as a secondary school teacher, is 
        teaching a subject area that is relevant to the borrower's 
        academic major as certified by the chief administrative officer 
        of the public or nonprofit private secondary school in which 
        the borrower is employed; and
            ``(ii) if employed as an elementary school teacher, has 
        demonstrated, as certified by the chief administrative officer 
        of the public or nonprofit private elementary school in which 
        the borrower is employed, knowledge and teaching skills in 
        reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the 
        elementary school curriculum; and''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 428J of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (f), by striking ``subsection 
                (b)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking 
                ``subsection (b)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                (b)(1)(A)(i)''.
    (b) Direct Student Loan Forgiveness.--
            (1) Amendment.--Section 460(b)(1) of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C 1087j) is amended by striking 
        subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
                    ``(A)(i) has been employed--
                            ``(I) as a full-time teacher for 5 
                        consecutive complete school years in a school 
                        that qualifies under section 465(a)(2)(A) for 
                        loan cancellation for Perkins loan recipients 
                        who teach in such a school; or
                            ``(II) as a full-time librarian for 5 
                        consecutive complete school years in--
                                    ``(aa) a public library that serves 
                                a geographic area within which the 
                                public schools have a combined average 
                                of 30 percent or more of their total 
                                student enrollments composed of 
                                children counted under section 
                                1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and 
                                Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
                                    ``(bb) a school that qualifies 
                                under section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan 
                                cancellation for Perkins loan 
                                recipients who teach in such a school; 
                                and
                    ``(ii)(I) if employed as a secondary school 
                teacher, is teaching a subject area that is relevant to 
                the borrower's academic major as certified by the chief 
                administrative officer of the public or nonprofit 
                private secondary school in which the borrower is 
                employed; and
                    ``(II) if employed as an elementary school teacher, 
                has demonstrated, as certified by the chief 
                administrative officer of the public or nonprofit 
                private elementary school in which the borrower is 
                employed, knowledge and teaching skills in reading, 
                writing, mathematics, and other areas of the elementary 
                school curriculum; and''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 460 of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (f), by striking ``subsection 
                (b)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (g)(1)(A), by striking 
                ``subsection (b)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                (b)(1)(A)(i)(I)''.
    (c) Perkins Loans.--Section 465(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``section 111(c)'' in subparagraph 
                (A) and inserting ``section 1113(a)(5)'';
                    (B) by striking ``or'' at the end of subparagraph 
                (H);
                    (C) by striking the period at the end of 
                subparagraph (I) and inserting ``; or''; and
                    (D) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the 
                following new subparagraph:
            ``(J) as a full-time librarian in--
                    ``(i) a public library that serves a geographic 
                area within which the public schools have a combined 
                average of 30 percent or more of their total student 
                enrollments composed of children counted under section 
                1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
                Act of 1965; or
                    ``(ii) an elementary or secondary school which is 
                in the school district of a local educational agency 
                which is eligible in such year for assistance pursuant 
                to title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
                Act of 1965, and which for the purpose of this 
                paragraph and for that year has been determined by the 
                Secretary (pursuant to regulations and after 
                consultation with the State educational agency of the 
                State in which the school is located) to be a school in 
                which the enrollment of children counted under section 
                1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
                Act of 1965 exceeds 30 percent of the total enrollment 
                of that school.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3)(A)(i), by striking out ``(H), or (I)'' 
        and inserting ``(H), (I), or (J)''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by section 1 shall apply with respect to any 
year of service that is completed after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
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