1.Establishment of the National
Remote Teacher CorpsThe
Secretary of Education may establish the National Remote Teacher Corps (in this
Act referred to as the Corps
) to fill teacher vacancies, reduce
class sizes, and improve educational quality in qualified remote areas.
2.Designation as a
Corps site
(a)In order to be
designated as a Corps site, a local educational agency or charter school
located in a qualified remote area shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may require.
(b)An
application submitted under
subsection (a) shall demonstrate that the
agency or charter school is—
(1)experiencing a
shortage of teachers;
(2)willing to work
with the Secretary to—
(A)promote teacher
accountability and high standards for teachers; and
(B)provide
cooperation, support, and use of facilities for the programs described in
section 10;
(3)willing to provide
mentorship and professional development programs to teachers;
(4)willing to provide
compensation in accordance with section 8(a) for each Corps participant placed
with the agency or school under the Corps; and
(5)willing to—
(A)work with the
Secretary under section 9 to develop and implement an alternative certification
route for individuals selected to be Corps participants; or
(B)allow such
individuals to participate in an existing alternative certification program
that is in compliance with any requirements prescribed by the Secretary.
3.The Secretary may—
(1)conduct recruiting
programs for the Corps at institutions of higher education, including
institutions that offer majors in the fields of education, science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics; and
(2)recruit current
highly qualified elementary school or secondary school teachers.
4.Application;
Selection Criteria; Priority
(a)Selection of individuals to participate in
the Corps shall be made on the basis of applications submitted to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may require.
(b)An individual
selected to participate in the Corps shall—
(1)have at least a bachelor’s degree from an
institution of higher education; and
(2)comply with such
other criteria as the Secretary may prescribe.
(c)In selecting individuals to participate in
the Corps, the Secretary shall give priority to individuals—
(1)with at least a master’s degree in
education (such as special education or teaching English as a second language),
science, technology, engineering, or mathematics and who agree to seek
employment as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, special education,
or English as a second language teachers in elementary schools or secondary
schools; or
(2)who are highly
qualified teachers with—
(A)10 or more years
of experience teaching students in elementary school or secondary school;
or
(B)equivalent qualifications and experience,
as determined by the Secretary.
5.Compensation for
Applicants
(a)The Secretary may
reimburse an individual applying to participate in the Corps for the actual and
reasonable expenses incurred—
(1)in traveling to
and from the individual’s place of residence to a Corps site at which the
individual may be placed under
section 6 for the purpose of evaluating such
site with regard to being assigned at such site; and
(2)for the travel of
1 family member to accompany the individual to such site.
(b)The Secretary may
establish a maximum total amount that may be paid to an individual as
reimbursement for such expenses.
6.Placement of
Corps participants
(a)The Secretary shall
place each individual selected to be a Corps participant with a local
educational agency or charter school that is designated as a Corps site.
(b)In
placing a Corps participant at a Corps site, the Secretary shall take into
account—
(1)the preference of
the Corps participant;
(2)the preferences of
local educational agencies and charter schools that are Corps sites; and
(3)the relative need
among Corps sites with respect to teacher shortages, including—
(A)the total number
of open teaching positions;
(B)the number of
teachers needed for class size reductions; and
(C)the shortage of
teachers with a particular subject-matter expertise.
7.
(a)
(1)An individual selected to participate in the Corps shall
be required to enter into an agreement with the Secretary under which the
individual agrees—
(A)within such time as the Secretary may
require, to obtain certification or licensing as an elementary school teacher
or secondary school teacher under section 9 or through another procedure
approved by the Secretary; and
(B)to accept an offer
of full-time employment as an elementary school teacher or secondary school
teacher for not less than 3 school years with a local educational agency or
charter school that is a Corps site.
(2)The
Secretary may waive the 3-year commitment described in paragraph (1)(B), or any
other requirement under a participation agreement described in paragraph (1),
for a participant if the Secretary determines such waiver to be appropriate. If
the Secretary provides the waiver to a participant, the participant—
(A)shall not be
considered to be in violation of the agreement; and
(B)shall not be
required to provide reimbursement for any funds received as a Corps
participant.
(b)Upon completion of the 3-year commitment described in
subsection (a)(1)(B), a Corp participant’s participation agreement may be
renewed in 1-year increments.
8.Compensation for
Corps Participants
(a)A Corps participant shall be considered an
employee of the local educational agency or charter school in which the
participant is employed under the Corps and shall be compensated at the same
rates, including periodic increases, as employees who are similarly situated in
similar teaching positions and who have similar training, experience, and
skills, and such rates shall be in accordance with applicable law.
(b)
(1)Any Federal funds a Corps participant receives from the
Secretary under this section or
section 5 shall supplement, not supplant, the
compensation the participant receives under
subsection (a) of this section.
(2)The Secretary may
reimburse each Corps participant for all or part of the actual and reasonable
expenses incurred by the participant and 1 family member when traveling, not
more than once per year of participation, from the Corps site to any location
in the continental United States and from such location back to the Corps
site.
(3)
(A)The Secretary may award annual or one-time cash bonuses
to Corps participants, in amounts determined by the Secretary.
(B)In
awarding cash bonuses under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
give priority to Corps participants—
(i)with at least a master’s degree in
education (such as special education or teaching English as a second language),
science, technology, engineering, or mathematics and who are participating in
the Corps as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, special education,
or English as a second language teachers in elementary schools or secondary
schools; or
(ii)who
are highly qualified teachers with—
(I)10 or more years
of experience teaching students in elementary school or secondary school;
or
(II)equivalent
qualifications and experience, as determined by the Secretary.
(C)A cash bonus paid under
subparagraph (A) to a Corps
participant shall not be taken into account in determining the eligibility of
the participant for Federal student financial assistance provided under title
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070).
9.Alternative
Certification Route
(a)Subject to subsection
(d), the Secretary and each Corps site shall, jointly, develop and implement a
high-quality alternative certification route for individuals selected to
participate in the Corps who are not certified teachers.
(b)In selecting individuals described in
subsection (a) to participate in the alternative certification route, the
Secretary shall give priority to individuals—
(1)who do not have a
degree in education; and
(2)who have expertise
in a field in which there is a shortage of teachers, such as mathematics,
science, special education, English language acquisition, or another high-need
subject.
(c)All
classes and materials available under the alternative certification route shall
be accessible to all Corps participants.
(d)A
Corps site that has an existing alternative certification program that complies
with any requirements prescribed by the Secretary, may, in lieu of developing
and implementing an alternative certification route under subsection (a), allow
individuals described in subsection (a) participate in such program.
10.Professional
Development and Distance Learning
(a)From the amounts
appropriated to carry out this subsection under section 12, the Secretary, in
consultation with at least 1 institution of higher education that is a research
university, as determined by the Secretary, shall develop a professional
development and distance-learning certificate or degree program that offers
academic credit through—
(1)online
classes;
(2)classes through video- or tele-conference
technology;
(3)independent
study;
(4)in-person
instruction at Corps sites; and
(5)other distance
learning methodologies as the Secretary designates,
to assist
individuals located in qualified remote areas in becoming highly qualified
teachers.(b)
(1)From the amounts appropriated to carry out this
subsection under section 12, the Secretary shall award grants to institutions
of higher education that offer the program developed under subsection (a) to
students enrolled at the institution.
(2)An institution of higher education that receives a grant
under this subsection shall use such grant funds to cover—
(A)the cost of
administering the program developed under subsection (a); and
(B)to the maximum
extent practicable, the total cost of program tuition for teachers at Corps
sites enrolled in the program at the institution.
(3)
(A)To receive a grant under this subsection, an institution
of higher education shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(B)An application submitted under
subparagraph (A) shall include an
assurance by the institution that the institution will include the program in
its articulation agreements between or among other institutions of higher
education.
11.In this Act:
(1)Except as otherwise
provided, any term that is defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall have the meaning given
such term in such section.
(2)The term articulation agreement
has the
meaning given such term in section 486A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1093a).
(3)Institution of
higher educationThe term institution of higher
education
has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(4)The term qualified remote area
means an
area—
(A)from which an institution of higher
education is located more than 3 hours away when using public or private
transportation (including rail or bus);
(B)to which the only
method of access to the site at least 6 months of the year is by boat or
airplane; or
(C)that is located in
a United States Territory.
(5)The term
United States Territory
means the United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and
Puerto Rico.
12.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
Act.