Teacher exchange program

(a)

Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Teacher Exchange Act of 2010

. (b)

Establishment

The Secretary of Education may make grants to local educational agencies to carry out teacher exchanges in which one local educational agency sends teachers to another local educational agency located in a different geographic region for a school year. (c)

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a local educational agency shall submit an application to the Secretary certifying that such agency— (1)has entered into a partnership with a receiving local educational agency that is located in a different geographic region, as determined by the Secretary, or has actively sought such a partnership; and (2)(A)is a high-need local educational agency; or (B)has entered into a partnership described in paragraph (1) with a high-need local educational agency, or has actively sought such a partnership. (d)

Use of funds

The recipient of a grant under this section shall use the grant for each of the following purposes: (1)Carrying out a teacher exchange under which the recipient sends teachers employed by the recipient to a receiving local educational agency to teach or perform a similar function at such agency as such teachers had previously performed. (2)Developing and implementing a plan, through the partnership described in subsection (b), to provide participating teachers with activities designed to promote professional development, including— (A)an orientation session or courses to prepare such teachers for— (i)the exchange experience; (ii)the community in which the receiving local educational agency is located and the schools in such agency; and (iii)the particular grade level and curriculum assigned to the participating teacher by the receiving local educational agency; (B)a mentoring program through which a participating teacher is paired with a mentor (who is not also a participating teacher) employed by the receiving local educational agency who teaches in the same grade level or subject area that the participating teacher has been assigned to teach under the exchange; (C)a forum for participating teachers, led by an administrator or teacher at the receiving local educational agency, to engage in ongoing professional development focused on improving classroom instruction to result in improved student outcomes, including reading educational research, reviewing student work, creating and reviewing formative and summative assessments, analyzing data from student assessments, and tracking student progress; and (D)content-specific programs designed to support participating teachers in teaching the specific curriculum in place at the receiving local education agency and at the grade level to which the participating teacher is assigned. (3)Reimbursing each participating teacher for travel expenses incurred by the participating teacher while traveling to and from the receiving local educational agency, not more than twice per calendar year, for the purpose of participating in a teacher exchange funded by a grant under this section. (4)Providing housing for participating teachers while participating in such an exchange, including cost of living increases as necessary to provide such housing. (5)Providing a living stipend to participating teachers that— (A)is added to the regular salary of such teachers each pay period, for the duration of the exchange; and (B)includes an annual cost-of-living adjustment. (6)Reimbursing the receiving local educational agency for supplies or other incidental items purchased for use by participating teachers during such an exchange. (e)

Restriction

The recipient of a grant under this section may not use the grant to pay the regular salary of participating teachers during the period of an exchange funded by a grant under this section. (f)

Conditions

As a condition of receiving a grant under this section, a grant recipient shall— (1)ensure that each participating teacher in an exchange funded under this section has at least three years of teaching experience prior to participating in such exchange; (2)certify that such participation shall not serve as grounds for the grant recipient terminating the employment of a participating teacher; (3)ensure by contract or agreement with each participating teacher that each teacher agrees to serve— (A)in the receiving local educational agency for a school year; and (B)in the local educational agency that selected such teacher for participation in the exchange for the duration of the two-year period following such participation unless the Secretary, after determining that the performance of such service poses a significant hardship to the teacher, waives such condition; (4)certify that upon the failure of a participating teacher to satisfy a condition specified in paragraph (3), the grant recipient shall— (A)recover from such teacher the amount of the grant funds that have been remitted to or on behalf of such teacher on a pro-rata basis (as determined by the Secretary); and (B)return the funds recovered under subparagraph (A) to the Secretary not later than 60 days after the recovery of such funds; and (5)if the recipient has not entered into an agreement with a receiving local educational agency by the date that is 6 months after the date of the the receipt of the grant, return the grant to the Secretary. (g)

Selection criteria

In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary of Education shall give priority to local educational agencies that— (1)have entered into partnerships with receiving local educational agencies before applying for a grant under this section; (2)the Secretary determines would be able to provide participating teachers with training or experience such teachers would not receive from teaching in the local educational agency where such teachers are employed, including immersion in a linguistically different culture; and (3)focus on instruction in science, math, English as a second language, special education, or other subject areas that have a high need for qualified teachers, as determined by the Secretary. (h)

Definitions

In this section: (1)The term local educational agency has the meaning given such term in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26)). (2)The term high-need local educational agency means an agency as defined in section 2102(2) of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6602(3)). (3)The term receiving local educational agency means a local educational agency to which a participating teacher will be sent for the duration of the exchange funded by a grant under this section.