[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4002 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4002

   To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with 
       respect to teacher qualifications, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2004

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with 
       respect to teacher qualifications, 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 ``No Qualified Teacher Left Behind Act 
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO ESEA RELATING TO TEACHER QUALIFICATIONS.

    (a) Highly Qualified Definition.--Paragraph (23) of section 9101 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
                    (A) in subclause (I), by striking ``or'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) by striking subclause (II) and inserting the 
                following:
                                    ``(II) successful completion, in 
                                each of the academic subjects in which 
                                the teacher teaches, of an academic 
                                major or minor, a graduate degree, 
                                State certification of sufficient 
                                college-level coursework to satisfy 
                                this subclause, or advanced 
                                certification; or
                                    ``(III) passing a high objective 
                                uniform State standard of evaluation 
                                described in subparagraph (C)(ii) in 
                                each of the academic subjects in which 
                                the teacher teaches; and''; and
            (2) in clause (ii) of subparagraph (C)--
                    (A) in subclause (V), by striking ``but not be 
                based primarily on'' and inserting ``but not be based 
                solely on'';
                    (B) by redesignating subclauses (VI) and (VII) as 
                subclauses (VII) and (VIII), respectively; and
                    (C) by inserting after subclause (V) the following:
                                    ``(VI) takes into consideration any 
                                professional development being 
                                pursued;''.
    (b) Rural School Districts.--
            (1) Extension.--Subsection (a) of section 1119 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319) 
        is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Rural school districts.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding the deadline 
                described in paragraphs (2) and (3), a plan developed 
                by a State educational agency or a local educational 
                agency under this subsection shall ensure that all 
                teachers who are described in such paragraphs, but are 
                teaching in a rural school district, are highly 
                qualified not later than the end of the 2008-2009 
                school year.
                    ``(B) Definition.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                a rural school district means a local educational 
                agency that--
                            ``(i) meets the eligibility criteria 
                        described in section 6211(b), including by 
                        obtaining a waiver under paragraph (2) of such 
                        section; and
                            ``(ii) employs a percentage of teachers who 
                        are not highly qualified that is higher than 
                        the corresponding percentage for the State 
                        involved.''.
            (2) Additional funding.--Section 6234 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7355c) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``There are'' and inserting ``(a) 
                In General.--There are''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Highly Qualified Teachers.--For the purpose of making grants 
under subpart 2 to be used for teacher recruitment, retention, and 
professional development activities described in section 6222(a) in 
rural school districts (as that term is defined in section 1119(a)(4)), 
there are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 
2005 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2006 
and 2007. Such authorization of appropriations is in addition to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a).''.
    (c) Core Academic Subjects Only.--Paragraph (1) of section 1119(a) 
(20 U.S.C. 6319(a)) is amended by inserting ``, teaching in core 
academic subjects,'' after ``hired after such day''.
    (d) Proportion of Inexperienced Teachers.--Subparagraph (C) of 
section 1111(b)(8) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(8)) is amended by striking 
``inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers'' and inserting 
``unqualified or out-of-field teachers''.
    (e) Other Grantees.--Subpart 2 of part E of title IX of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 9537. HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS.

    ``No entity may receive any funds under this Act unless, 
irrespective of whether the entity has applied for a grant under part A 
of title I, the entity ensures that all elementary school and secondary 
school teachers employed by the entity and teaching in core academic 
subjects are highly qualified not later than--
            ``(1) the end of the 2005-2006 school year; or
            ``(2) in the case of a teacher in a rural school district 
        (as that term is defined in section 1119(a)(4)), the end of the 
        2008-2009 school year.''.
                                 <all>