[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 857 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 857

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax incentive 
to individuals teaching in elementary and secondary schools located in 
    rural or high unemployment areas and to individuals who achieve 
    certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching 
                   Standards, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2003

    Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mr. DeWine, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. 
   Cochran) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax incentive 
to individuals teaching in elementary and secondary schools located in 
    rural or high unemployment areas and to individuals who achieve 
    certification from 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 ``Incentives to Educate American 
Children (I Teach) Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) An estimated 2,000,000 new teachers will be needed over 
        the next decade.
            (2) Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, States must 
        recruit qualified teachers by 2006, yet schools in rural areas 
        and public schools with high poverty have trouble attracting 
        and retaining teachers.
            (3) Fourteen percent of America's school children attend 
        rural schools, and according to the Rural School and Community 
        Trust 2000 report, ``Why Rural Matters'', rural education is 
        crucial or very important to overall education performance in 
        25 States, so recruitment and retention of teachers is 
        essential.
            (4) A 2000 study by the Education Trust reports that high 
        poverty schools are twice as likely not to have teachers 
        certified in their fields than other schools, which highlights 
        that high poverty schools will need special help to meet the 
        goals of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
            (5) The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards 
        was founded in 1987 as a follow up to the landmark 1983 report, 
        ``A Nation at Risk'', by the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching. 
        The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is an 
        independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization the 
        mission of which is to establish high and rigorous standards 
        for what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do.
            (6) Over 16,000 teachers from all 50 States and the 
        District of Columbia have completed certification by the 
        National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which 
        certification is a rigorous assessment process for teachers.
            (7) Recent data from the Accomplished Teaching Validation 
        Study have demonstrated that teachers who are certified by the 
        National Board for Professional Teaching Standards 
        significantly outperform their peers who are not National Board 
        certified on 11 of 13 key measures of teaching expertise.
            (8) Teacher salaries have remained stagnant over the past 
        decade, according to a study by the National Education 
        Association, and \2/3\ of the States do not meet the national 
        average of $40,582 for teacher salaries.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To encourage teachers, through a refundable tax credit, 
        to work in public elementary and secondary schools located in 
        rural areas or schools with high poverty.
            (2) To provide an additional tax credit to teachers who 
        achieve certification from the National Board for Professional 
        Teaching Standards in order to recruit and retain highly 
        qualified teachers in public elementary and secondary schools.

SEC. 3. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY 
              AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS LOCATED IN HIGH POVERTY OR RURAL 
              AREAS AND CERTIFIED TEACHERS.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to refundable credits) 
is amended by redesignating section 36 as section 37 and by inserting 
after section 35 the following new section:

``SEC. 36. TAX CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS TEACHING IN ELEMENTARY AND 
              SECONDARY SCHOOLS LOCATED IN HIGH POVERTY OR RURAL AREAS 
              AND CERTIFIED TEACHERS.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of an eligible teacher, 
there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this 
subtitle for the taxable year an amount equal to the applicable amount 
for the eligible academic year ending during such taxable year.
    ``(b) Applicable Amount.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Teachers in schools in rural areas or schools with 
        high poverty.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of an eligible 
                teacher who performs services in a public kindergarten 
                or a public elementary or secondary school described in 
                subparagraph (B) during the eligible academic year, the 
                applicable amount is $1,000.
                    ``(B) School described.--A public kindergarten or a 
                public elementary or secondary school is described in 
                this subparagraph if--
                            ``(i) at least 75 percent of the students 
                        attending such kindergarten or school receive 
                        free or reduced-cost lunches under the school 
                        lunch program established under the Richard B. 
                        Russell National School Lunch Act, or
                            ``(ii) such kindergarten or school has a 
                        School Locale Code of 7 or 8, as determined by 
                        the Secretary of Education.
            ``(2) Certified teachers.--In the case of an eligible 
        teacher who is certified by the National Board for Professional 
        Teaching Standards for the eligible academic year, the 
        applicable amount is $1,000.
            ``(3) Certified teachers in schools in rural areas or 
        schools with high poverty.--In the case of an eligible teacher 
        described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the applicable amount is 
        $2,000.
    ``(c) Eligible Teacher.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`eligible teacher' means, for any eligible academic year, an individual 
who is a kindergarten through grade 12 classroom teacher or instructor 
in a public kindergarten or a public elementary or secondary school on 
a full-time basis for such eligible academic year.
    ``(d) Additional Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Elementary and secondary schools.--The terms 
        `elementary school' and `secondary school' have the respective 
        meanings given such terms by section 9101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            ``(2) Eligible academic year.--The term `eligible academic 
        year' means any academic year ending in a taxable year 
        beginning after December 31, 2003.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting before the period ``, or 
        from section 36 of such Code''.
            (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        is amended by striking the item relating to section 36 and 
        inserting the following new items:

``Sec. 36. Tax credit for individuals teaching in elementary and 
                            secondary schools located in high poverty 
                            or rural areas and certified teachers.
``Sec. 37. Overpayments of tax.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to academic years ending in taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2003.
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