[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 26 (Thursday, March 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E362-E363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 3440

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TIM ROEMER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 12, 1998

  Mr. ROEMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 3440, the 
Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification Act of 1998 which will help 
our local school districts recruit and license highly-qualified 
professionals with significant work experience to teach in our nation's 
schools.
  Congress will reauthorize the Higher Education Act this spring, and 
an important part of the reauthorization is teacher training. We have 
the opportunity to restructure how our nation recruits, trains, and 
support teachers and we are not only faced with the challenge of 
maintaining the supply of teachers, but also with ensuring that our 
children have access to the highest quality teachers.
  If current trends continue, American schools will need to hire more 
than two million teachers in the next decade to educate an increasing 
number of students and to replace teachers who retire or leave the 
profession.
  In addition, there are too many teachers who do not know their 
subject matter well enough to teach it to our students. This is a real 
problem in our urban and rural areas, which face significant 
difficulties in recruiting qualified teachers. In high poverty schools, 
40% of math teachers, 31% of English teachers, and 20% of science 
teachers are instructing in subjects in which they hold neither a 
college major or minor.
  The recently released TIMMS scores in which our nation's 12th graders 
scored near the bottom internationally in math and science highlights 
the importance of having fully qualified teachers. We can and must do 
better.
  There are highly qualified individuals who have already earned 
bachelor's degrees and serve in other occupations who are interested in 
pursuing a teaching career--in 1996, ten percent of all teachers at the 
elementary or secondary level worked in an occupation outside of 
education in the previous year.
  I think that teaching is one of the most important professions in 
this country, and I support high standards for teachers, but I think 
that we should reduce barriers to getting these highly qualified 
individuals into the classroom.

[[Page E363]]

  My bill will award grants to local school districts and teacher 
training programs that develop alternative routes to certification 
programs that open the teaching profession to individuals with 
professional experience who have the desire to teach.
  My bill will empower local school districts that are facing teacher 
shortages or subject-area shortages to develop bold and innovative 
programs that recruit and prepare these highly qualified individuals to 
teach in our elementary and secondary schools.
  These individuals could include education paraprofessionals, former 
military personnel, mid-career professionals, or returned Peace Corps 
volunteers. It can also include recent college graduates who have a 
record of academic distinction and hold a BA in the academic subject 
area in which they plan to teach.
  These individuals bring distinctive and diverse life experiences into 
the classroom, which can enrich the curriculum and school and enhance 
the quality of our educational system.
  My bill will also encourage States to develop more rigorous 
assessments certification and teacher licensing exams based on subject-
matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, teaching skills and other 
performance-based examinations.
  I am joined by my colleagues Jim Moran, Cal Dooley, Ron Kind and Anna 
Eshoo. I urge your support for this important bill.

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