1.This Act may be cited as the
Collaborative Agreements to Recruit
Educators (CARE) Act of 2005
.
2.
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)An estimated 2,000,000 new teachers will be
needed in the United States over the next decade.
(2)Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(Public Law 107–110), States shall ensure that all teachers teaching in core
academic subjects within the State are highly qualified not later than the end
of the 2005–2006 school year, yet schools in rural areas and low-income schools
have trouble attracting and retaining such teachers.
(3)A 2000 study by the Education Trust reports
that low-income schools are twice as likely not to have teachers certified in
the fields in which they teach as schools that are not low-income schools,
which highlights that low-income schools will need special help to meet the
goals of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
(4)If the Nation is to improve student
achievement and success in school, the United States must encourage and support
the training and development of our Nation’s teachers, who are the single most
important in-school influence on student learning.
(5)Highly qualified teachers are more
effective in impacting student academic achievement because such teachers have
high verbal abilities, high content knowledge, and an enhanced ability to know
how to teach the content using appropriate pedagogical strategies.
(6)The difference in annual student
achievement growth between having an effective and ineffective teacher can be
more than 1 grade level of achievement in academic performance.
(7)A study conducted by the New Teacher
Project shows that strategic recruitment may recruit qualified applicants but
many applicants withdraw from the process because of the late hiring timelines
found in urban schools.
(8)Every school day approximately 3,000
adolescents drop out of secondary school.
(9)The national graduation rate is 68 percent
with approximately 540,000 students failing to graduate each year.
(10)As few as 53 percent of students from
low-income families graduate each year.
(11)American schools spend more than
$2,600,000,000 annually replacing teachers who have dropped out of the teaching
profession.
(b)It is the purpose of this Act to provide
grants to encourage secondary school students in low-income schools to graduate
and pursue higher education and teaching.
3.
(1)The term core
academic subjects means—
(A)mathematics;
(B)science;
(C)reading (or language arts) and
English;
(D)social studies, including history, civics,
political science, government, geography, and economics;
(E)foreign languages; and
(F)fine arts, including music, dance, drama,
and the visual arts.
(2)The term
highly qualified has the meaning given such term in section 9101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3)Institution of
higher educationThe term
institution of higher education—
(A)has the meaning given the term in section
101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)); and
(B)if such an institution conducts a teacher
preparation program that enrolls students receiving Federal assistance under
such Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), means such an institution that—
(i)is in full compliance with the requirements
of section 207 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1027); and
(ii)does not have a teacher preparation program
identified by a State as low performing.
(4)The term
local educational agency has the meaning given such term in
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(5)The term
low-income school
means an elementary school or secondary school
that—
(A)is served by a local educational agency
that qualifies to receive funding under title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.);
(B)has been selected by the Secretary based on
a determination that more than 30 percent of the students enrolled at the
school qualify for services provided under such title I; and
(C)(i)is listed in the Annual Directory of
Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits, issued by the
Department of Education, in the year for which the determination is made, or if
such Directory for such year is not available before May 1 of such year, is
listed in such Directory in the year preceding the year for which the
determination is made; or
(ii)is operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
or operated on an Indian reservation by an Indian tribal group under contract
with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(6)The term mentoring means
activities that consist of structured guidance and regular and ongoing support
for beginning teachers.
(7)The term
secondary school means a public or nonprofit private school that
provides secondary education, as determined under State law or the Secretary if
the school is not in a State.
(8)The term Secretary means the
Secretary of Education.
(9)The term State means each of
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico.
(10)The term teacher means an
individual who provides students direct classroom teaching, or classroom-type
teaching in a non-classroom setting, or educational services directly related
to classroom teaching.
4.
(a)
(1)The Secretary is
authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher
education to establish partnerships with low-income schools to establish
programs for students that promote—
(A)graduation from secondary school;
and
(B)persistence and completion of postsecondary
degrees in education.
(2)A partnership
described in paragraph (1) may include a nonprofit organization.
(b)
(1)An institution of
higher education that desires to receive a grant under this section shall
submit an application, developed in collaboration with 1 or more low-income
schools, to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
(2)Each application submitted under paragraph
(1) shall include—
(A)a description of any shortages of highly
qualified teachers in core academic subjects in the low-income school
participating in the partnership; and
(B)a description of how the institution of
higher education will use funds made available under a grant awarded under this
section—
(i)to increase and improve the quality of the
teaching force in the low-income school participating in the partnership;
and
(ii)to establish a partnership with a
low-income school to establish programs for students that promote graduation
from secondary school and persistence and completion of postsecondary degrees
in education.
(c)
(1)The Secretary shall
approve an application submitted pursuant to subsection (b) if the application
meets the requirements of this section and holds reasonable promise of
achieving the purpose of this Act.
(2)In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to an institution of higher education that is in
partnership with a nonprofit organization that is a teacher union or group
representing teachers in a school, which organization proposes the
establishment of a track for hiring teachers for an academic year prior to the
first date of such academic year in urban or rural low-income schools
participating in the partnership.
(3)To the extent
practicable, the Secretary shall ensure an equitable geographic distribution of
grants under this section among the regions of the United States.
(4)The Secretary is
authorized to make grants under this section for a period of 5 years. At the
end of the 5-year period, a grant recipient may apply for an additional grant
under this section.
(d)An institution of
higher education that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant
funds to—
(1)establish innovative mentoring or tutoring
programs proven to enhance secondary school graduation rates and recruitment of
students in low-income schools to pursue postsecondary degrees in
education;
(2)provide scholarships to graduates of
low-income schools to encourage the graduates to attend the institution and
pursue and complete a postsecondary degree in education;
(3)provide students in low-income schools with
counseling and information about college admissions requirements, scholarships,
and various student aid programs;
(4)provide lessons and workshops, either at
the institution or the low-income school, for students to attend to increase
academic achievement and interest in postsecondary degrees in education;
and
(5)carry out any other activity that increases
graduation rates and recruitment of low-income students to pursue and complete
postsecondary degrees in education.
(e)Each institution of
higher education that receives a grant under this section shall demonstrate a
financial commitment to such institution’s school of education by contributing,
either directly or through private contributions, non-Federal matching funds
equal to 20 percent of the amount of the grant to carry out activities funded
by such grant.
(f)Assessment and
evaluationThe Secretary
shall report to Congress on the effectiveness of the grant programs funded
under this section.
5.Authorization of
appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through
2011.