[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5839 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5839

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
to establish a Federal ``Grow Your Own Teacher'' program, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 10, 2014

  Mr. Israel introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
to establish a Federal ``Grow Your Own Teacher'' program, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 ``Grow Your Own Teacher Act''.

SEC. 2. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM.

    Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                ``PART E--GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM

``SEC. 2501. GROW YOUR OWN TEACHER PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--From amounts made available to carry out this 
part, the Secretary shall carry out a program to make grants, on a 
competitive basis, to eligible entities, to be used by such entities to 
train and employ eligible individuals in hard-to-staff schools or hard-
to-staff teaching positions in accordance with subsection (c).
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means a 
        consortium consisting of--
                    ``(A) a local educational agency that is eligible 
                to receive funds under part A of title I; and
                    ``(B) an institution of higher education that 
                offers a program, accredited by the State, for 
                preparing individuals to fulfill all the requirements 
                for receiving a teaching certificate in the State of 
                the local educational agency described in subparagraph 
                (A).
            ``(2) Eligible individual.--The term `eligible individual' 
        means an individual--
                    ``(A) who--
                            ``(i) received a high school diploma from a 
                        local educational agency described in paragraph 
                        (1)(A); and
                            ``(ii) is enrolled in a program to receive 
                        a teaching certificate in the State of the 
                        local educational agency at an institution of 
                        higher education described in paragraph (1)(B); 
                        and
                    ``(B) is--
                            ``(i) a high school graduate who graduated 
                        not more than 5 years ago;
                            ``(ii) a parent of a current or former 
                        student of the local educational agency who has 
                        a history of working to improve the local 
                        educational agency; or
                            ``(iii) an education support professional 
                        in the local educational agency who works with 
                        students in an instructional role.
            ``(3) Veteran teacher.--The term `veteran teacher' means a 
        teacher who has taught in a local educational agency described 
        in paragraph (1)(A) for a period of least 15 years.
            ``(4) Student loans.--The term `student loans' means any 
        loans awarded to an eligible individual under title IV of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.).
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity receiving a grant 
        under this section shall use such grant funds to--
                    ``(A) conduct a training program for eligible 
                individuals to be teachers, which shall include 
                requiring such individuals to observe and work with a 
                veteran teacher in a classroom for at least one year;
                    ``(B) employ such individuals in hard-to-staff 
                schools and hard-to-staff teaching positions in the 
                local educational agency of the eligible entity, with 
                priority given to teaching positions in mathematics, 
                science, special education, world languages, and 
                English as a second language; and
                    ``(C) employ such individuals in a manner that 
                reduces the divergence between the racial diversity of 
                teachers and of students.
            ``(2) Other authorized activities.--An eligible entity 
        receiving a grant under this section may use any grant funds 
        that remain after carrying out paragraph (1) for the following 
        activities:
                    ``(A) Helping an eligible individual trained under 
                this section to cover the costs of childcare and other 
                indirect expenses that are reasonably required by the 
                individual to participate in the training program.
                    ``(B) Recruiting and counseling eligible 
                individuals, and individuals who are likely to become 
                eligible individuals in the near future (such as 
                students soon to receive a high school diploma from a 
                local educational agency described in subsection 
                (b)(1)(A)), to participate in the training program.
                    ``(C) Providing space in the community of the 
                eligible entity to carry out the activities described 
                in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(D) Offering the training program under this 
                section in community settings and to provide tutoring 
                services to supplement the training.
                    ``(E) Carrying out any other activities consistent 
                with the purposes of this section, as determined by the 
                Secretary.
    ``(d) Student Loan Forgiveness.--
            ``(1) In general.--From the amounts made available to carry 
        out this part, the Secretary is authorized to forgive the 
        student loans incurred by an eligible individual who has 
        completed a training program under this section and has been 
        employed as a teacher in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-
        staff teaching position, in an amount not to exceed the total 
        amount of students loans incurred by the individual for 
        participating in the program.
            ``(2) Amount of loan forgiveness.--The Secretary may 
        forgive--
                    ``(A) in the case of an eligible individual who has 
                been employed in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-
                staff teaching position for at least 5 years, the total 
                amount of the student loans incurred by the student for 
                participating in a training program under this section; 
                or
                    ``(B) in the case of an eligible individual who has 
                been employed in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-
                staff teaching position for less than 5 years, an 
                amount that is less than the total amount of the 
                student loans incurred by the student for participating 
                in a training program under this section.
    ``(e) Regulations.--The Secretary is authorized to promulgate any 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section.
    ``(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies, and 
procedures afforded school or local educational agency employees under 
Federal, State, or local laws (including applicable regulations or 
court orders) or under the terms of collective bargaining agreements, 
memoranda of understanding, or other agreements between such employees 
and their employers.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be 
necessary.''.
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