II 111th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1137 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 21, 2009 Mr. Feingold (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Sanders, and Mr. Dodd) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Teachers at the Table Act.

2.

Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by adding after section 1004 (20 U.S.C. 6304) the following:

1005.

Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee

(a)

Establishment

The Secretary shall establish an advisory committee, to be known as the Volunteer Teacher Advisory Committee (referred to in this section as the Committee). (b)

Duties and focus

The duty of the Committee shall be to monitor the effects of this Act, on the ground and in classrooms, and the focus of the Committee shall solely be on children and families. (c)

Membership

(1)

In general

The membership of the Committee shall consist of 20 public elementary school or secondary school classroom teachers who— (A)are past or present Teachers of the Year; (B)have received training, or demonstrated experience, in methods of data collection, analysis, and reporting; and (C)have submitted an application to the Secretary to serve on the Committee. (2)

List; appointment

The Secretary shall compile a list of teachers submitting applications under paragraph (1)(B). The members of the Committee shall be appointed as follows: (A)The Secretary shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. (B)The majority leader of the Senate shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. (C)The minority leader of the Senate shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. (D)The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. (E)The minority leader of the House of Representatives shall appoint 4 teachers from the list. (3)

Representation requirement

The members of the Committee shall represent diverse and multiple geographic, grade level, and specialty areas. (4)

Term

Each member of the Committee shall serve on the Committee for a 2-year term. (d)

Annual report

(1)

In general

The Committee shall submit to Congress and the Secretary— (A)on an annual basis, a report on the monitoring carried out under subsection (b); and (B)on a quarterly basis, updates on such monitoring. (2)

Contents of report

The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, the following: (A)Both quantitative and qualitative data that evaluate the effect of this section on student achievement. (B)The effect of this section on closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students, including the students identified under section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II). (e)

Authorization of funds

Of the amounts appropriated to, and available at the discretion of, the Secretary for programmatic and administrative expenditures for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, a total of $500,000 shall be used to establish and carry out the functions of the Committee established under this section.

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