[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 959 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 959

 To award a grant to enable Teach for America, Inc., to implement and 
                      expand its teaching program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2007

 Mrs. Clinton (for herself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Alexander, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
  Menendez, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To award a grant to enable Teach for America, Inc., to implement and 
                      expand its teaching program.

    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 of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to increase the number of highly accomplished recent 
        graduates of 4-year institutions of higher education 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 Act:
            (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 that serves a substantial percentage of 
        students who are eligible for free or reduced price meals under 
        the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1751 et seq.).
            (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    The Secretary is authorized to award a grant to Teach For America, 
Inc., the national corps of outstanding recent graduates of 4-year 
institutions of higher education who commit to teach for 2 years in 
underserved communities in the United States, to enable the grantee 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 Act, 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 percentage of students who are 
        eligible for free or reduced price meals under the Richard B. 
        Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

    Grant funds provided under this Act 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 educational 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 high-need 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 amounts appropriated under section 8, the 
Secretary shall provide for a study comparing the academic achievement 
of students taught by the teachers selected, trained, and placed by the 
grantee under this Act 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 educational 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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