[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1971 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1971

   To provide for recruiting, selecting, training, and supporting a 
           national teacher corps in underserved communities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 19, 2007

 Mr. Van Hollen (for himself, Mr. Castle, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Regula, and 
Mr. Sarbanes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for recruiting, selecting, training, and supporting a 
           national teacher corps in underserved communities.

    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 ``Teach for America Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this part are--
            (1) to raise the number of highly accomplished recent 
        college graduates teaching in underserved urban and rural 
        communities in the United States;
            (2) to increase the number of school districts and 
        communities served by a nationally recruited corps of 
        outstanding new teachers; and
            (3) to build a broader pipeline of talented and experienced 
        future leaders in public education and education reform.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this part:
            (1) In general.--The terms ``highly qualified'', ``local 
        educational agency'', and ``Secretary'' have the meanings given 
        the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Grantee.--The term ``grantee'' means Teach For America, 
        Inc.
            (3) High need.--The term ``high need'', when used with 
        respect to a local educational agency, means a local 
        educational agency in which a substantial percentage of 
        students are eligible for free or reduced price meals through 
        the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1751 et seq.).

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    The Secretary is authorized to award a grant to Teach For America, 
Inc., the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who 
commit to teach for 2 years in underserved communities in the United 
States, to implement and expand its program of recruiting, selecting, 
training, and supporting new teachers.

SEC. 5. GRANT REQUIREMENTS.

    In carrying out the grant program under this part, the Secretary 
shall enter into an agreement with the grantee under which the grantee 
agrees to use the grant funds--
            (1) to provide highly qualified teachers to high need local 
        educational agencies in urban and rural communities;
            (2) to pay the cost of recruiting, selecting, training, and 
        supporting new teachers; and
            (3) to serve a substantial number of students who are 
        eligible for free or reduced price meals through the Richard B. 
        Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

    Grant funds provided under this part shall be used by the grantee 
to carry out each of the following activities:
            (1) Recruiting and selecting teachers through a highly-
        selective national process.
            (2) Providing preservice training to selected teachers 
        through a rigorous summer institute that includes hands-on 
        teaching experience and significant exposure to education 
        coursework and theory.
            (3) Placing selected teachers in schools and positions in 
        high need local education agencies.
            (4) Providing ongoing professional development activities 
        for the selected teachers in the classroom, including regular 
        classroom observations and feedback, and ongoing training and 
        support.

SEC. 7. EVALUATION.

    (a) Annual Report.--The grantee shall provide to the Secretary an 
annual report that includes--
            (1) data on the number and characteristics of the teachers 
        provided to local educational agencies through the grant under 
        this part;
            (2) an externally conducted analysis of the satisfaction of 
        local educational agencies and principals with the teachers so 
        provided; and
            (3) comprehensive data on the background of the selected 
        teachers, the training such teachers received, the placement 
        sites of the teachers, the professional development of the 
        teachers, and the retention of the teachers.
    (b) Study.--From funds appropriated under this legislation, the 
Secretary shall provide for a study comparing the academic achievement 
of students taught by the teachers selected, trained, and placed under 
this part with the academic achievement of students taught by other 
teachers in the same schools and positions. The Secretary shall provide 
for such a study not less than once every 3 years, and each such study 
shall include multiple local education agencies. Each such study shall 
meet the peer-review standards of the education research community.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;
            (2) $18,000,000 for fiscal year 2009;
            (3) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and
            (4) such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 
        years 2011 and 2012.
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