[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 29, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S932-S933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WELLSTONE (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Schumer):
  S. 2116. A bill to amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 to support teacher corps programs, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.


                             teacher corps

 Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, if there is one thing we all can 
agree on in education, it is that teacher quality is absolutely 
critical to how well children learn. Yet, the nation confronts one of 
the worst teacher shortages in history. With expanding enrollment, 
decreasing class size and one third of the nation's teachers nearing 
retirement age, public schools will need to hire as many as 2.2 million 
teachers over the next decade.
  The need is greatest in specific subject areas such as mathematics, 
science, special education and bilingual education, all important 
subjects if the nation is to have an educated work force to keep it 
competitive in the world marketplace.
  Need is also greatest in specific geographical areas such as the 
inner city and rural areas. Ironically, it is the most educationally 
and socio-economically disadvantaged students that are under served. If 
there is one action we can take guaranteed to help struggling schools 
and children, it is to provide states and school districts the means to 
ensure that there is a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.
  My legislation, Teacher Corps, which I am proud to introduce today 
with my colleagues, Senators Kennedy and Schumer, who for so long have 
fought to bring the best possible educational opportunities to all of 
America's children, is designed to do just that. Its components are 
based on a definite need and sound research concerning effective 
mechanisms for meeting that need.
  Teacher Corps would fund collaboratives between state education 
agencies, local education agencies and institutions of higher 
education.
  The collaboratives would recruit top ranked college students and 
qualified mid career individuals, who have not yet been trained as 
teachers, to teach in the nation's poorest schools in the areas of 
greatest need--both geographically and academically. Districts and 
universities would work together to only recruit candidates who have an 
academic major or extensive and substantive professional experience in 
the subject in which they will teach.
  The collaboratives would provide recruits a tuition free alternative 
route to certification which includes intensive study and a teaching 
internship. The internship would include mentoring, co-teaching and 
advanced course work in pedagogy, state standards, technology and other 
areas.
  After the internship period, the collaboratives would offer 
individualized follow up training and mentoring in the first two years 
of full time teaching.
  Corps members that become certified will be given priority in hiring 
within that district in exchange for a commitment to teach in low 
income schools for 3 years.
  A good teacher can mean the world to any child whether it is through 
caring or through providing children with the skills they need to open 
their own doors to the future. Every time I enter schools in Minnesota, 
I am in awe of teachers' work.
  That is why it is so tragic to think that there are so many children 
that do not have access to qualified teachers, at the same time that 
many people interested in teaching are either not entering the 
profession or are not staying there once they have qualified.
  Teacher Corps will help meet the growing need for teachers in low 
income urban and rural schools, and in high need subject areas such as 
math, science, bilingual and special education.
  It will do so because Teacher Corps is rooted in three fundamental 
parts. Recruitment, retention and innovative, flexible, high quality 
training programs for college graduates and mid-career professionals 
who want to teach in high need areas.
  The first principle is recruitment. As I mentioned before, we may 
need to hire as many as 2.2 million new teachers in the next decade to 
ensure that there are enough teachers in our schools. But, overall 
quantity is not the only issue. Quality and shortages in specific 
geographic and curriculum areas are equally critical. While there are 
teacher surpluses in some areas, certain states and cities are facing 
acute teacher shortages. In California, 1 out of every 10 teachers 
lacks proper credentials. 58 percent of new hires in Los Angeles are 
not certified.
  There are also crucial shortages in some subject areas such as math, 
science, bilingual and special education. In my home state of 
Minnesota, 90 percent of principals report a serious shortage of strong 
candidates in at least one curriculum area. 54 percent of the 
mathematics teachers in the state of Idaho and 48 percent of the 
science teachers in Florida and Tennessee did not major in the subject 
of their primary assignment.
  Teacher Corps would meet this need because it would recruit and train 
thousands of high quality teachers into the field to meet the specific 
teaching needs of local school districts.
  It would recruit and train top college students and mid-career 
professionals from around the country, who increasingly want to enter 
the teaching profession.
  More college students want to enter teaching today than have wanted 
to join the profession in the past 30 years. According to a recent UCLA 
survey, over 10 percent of all freshman say they want to teach in 
elementary and secondary schools.
  Second, the design of the program ensures that the needs of local 
school districts will be considered so that only those candidates who 
meet the specific needs of that district will be recruited and trained. 
If, for example, there is a shortage of special education, bilingual, 
math and science teachers in a particular district, Teacher Corps

[[Page S933]]

would only train people with those skills. In setting up collaboratives 
in this way, teacher corps helps avoid the overproduction of candidates 
in areas where they are not needed.
  Finally, Teacher Corps gives priority to high need rural, inner 
suburban and urban districts to ensure that new teachers will enter 
where they are needed most.
  However, it does not help to recruit teachers into high need schools 
and train them if we cannot retain them in the profession. Teaching is 
one of the hardest, most important jobs there is. We ask teachers to 
prepare our children for adulthood. We ask them to educate our children 
so that they may be productive members of society. We entrust them with 
our children's minds and with their future. It is a disgrace how little 
support we give them in return. It is no surprise that one of the major 
causes of our teacher shortage is that teachers decide to change 
professions before retirement. 73 percent of Minnesota teachers who 
leave the profession, leave for reasons other than retirement. In urban 
schools, 50 percent of teachers leave the field within five years of 
when they start teaching.
  To retain high quality teachers in the profession, we must 
give teachers the support they deserve. Teachers, like doctors need 
monitoring and support during the first years of their professional 
life. Teacher Corps offers new teachers the training, monitoring and 
support they need to meet the profession's many challenges. It includes 
methods of support that have proven effective in ensuring that teachers 
stay in schools. The key elements for effective teacher retention were 
laid out by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future in 
1996. Effective programs organize professional development around 
standards for teachers and students; provide a year long, pre-service 
internship; include mentoring and strong evaluation of teacher skills; 
offer stable, high quality professional development.

  Each of these criteria are included in the Teacher Corps program.
  Further, Teacher Corps supports people who choose teaching by paying 
for their training. Through this financial and professional support, 
Teacher Corps will go a long way toward keeping recruits in teaching.
  But, it is still not enough to recruit and retain teachers. Quality 
must be of primary importance. Research shows that the most important 
predictor of student success is not income, but the quality of the 
teacher. Despite this need, studies show that as the level of students 
of color and students from low-income families increases in schools, 
the test scores of teachers declines.
  This is wrong. We are denying children from low-income areas, from 
racial minorities, with limited English proficiency, access to what we 
know works. Several studies have shown that if poor and minority 
students are taught by high quality teachers at the same rate as other 
students, a large part of the gap between poor and minority students 
and their more affluent white counterparts would disappear. For 
example, one Alabama study shows that an increase of one standard 
deviation in teacher test scores leads to a two-thirds reduction in the 
gap between black/white tests scores.
  We can not turn our back on this knowledge. We must act on it. We 
must give low income, minority and limited English proficiency children 
the same opportunities that all children have and we must do it now.
  The very essence of Teacher Corps is to funnel high quality teachers 
where they are needed most. Teacher Corps would help ensure quality by 
using a selective, competitive recruitment process. It would provide 
high quality training, professional development, monitoring and 
evaluations of corps member performance, all of which have been proven 
to increase the quality of the teaching force and the achievement of 
the students they teach.
  Further, by creating strong connections between universities and 
districts and by implementing effective professional development 
projects within districts, we are setting up powerful structures to 
benefit all teachers and students.
  Mr. President, we have an opportunity to do what we know works to 
help children who need our help most. Good teachers have an 
extraordinary impact on children's lives and learning. We need to be 
sure that all children have access to such teachers and all children 
have the opportunity to learn so that all children may take advantage 
of the many opportunities this country provides.
                                 ______