[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S531-S532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Cochran, and Mr. Rockefeller):
  S. 164. A bill to prepare tomorrows teachers to use technology 
through pre-service and in-service training, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce a bill 
for consideration in the context of the reauthorization of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Earlier this week, I introduced 
my accountability bill designed to ensure that the taxpayers' 
investment in education is adequately protected and that the finest 
education is provided to our children by attaching performance-based 
accountability to the federal education programs encompassed in the 
ESEA. I believe the issue of accountability for results will be at the 
center of our debate this year so I introduced and spoke about that 
bill separately. Nevertheless, I believe that our efforts to ensure 
that schools are accountable for the education of our children requires 
that we provide resources to schools so that they can make full use of 
available teaching tools. Training teachers to use technology in their 
classrooms is a high priority in this regard if we are to help our 
children become full and active members of the global community. The 
bill I am introducing today addresses that priority. I am pleased that 
my colleagues Senator Cochran and Senator Rockefeller have joined me in 
cosponsoring this bill that I believe will generate bipartisan support.
  Educational technology can enlarge the classroom environment in ways 
that were unimaginable only a decade ago and can empower students to 
develop independent thinking and problem solving skills. The Technology 
for Teachers Act is designed to address the need to provide teachers 
with the skills to use this valuable resource in the classroom. Experts 
urge us to increase our investment in training teachers to use 
technology in the classroom and point out that at least 30 percent of 
our technology budget should be used for this purpose. Yet few of the 
nation's teachers have had more than one or two courses in educational 
technology, and those courses are usually designed as an add-on to 
other methods courses instead of being well-integrated into their 
teacher preparation program. The Training for Technology Act would 
provide grants to consortia of higher education institutions and public 
school districts so that they can integrate technology into their 
teacher training programs at the pre-service level. In addition, the 
bill requires recipients of Technology Literacy Challenge grants--an 
existing program which I sponsored in the 1994 reauthorization of 
ESEA--to demonstrate that they are using at lest 30% of their 
technology funding on in-service training in the use of technology.
  In order to ensure that our children are well-prepared to meet the 
challenges of an increasingly complex and challenging world, it is 
critical to address improving our Nation's schools with a comprehensive 
effort. The bills I have introduced are designed to build on the 
progress we have made in the past few years to raise standards and 
increase accountability in America's schools. This bill seeks to 
provide educators with the resources to meet these increased demands. I 
urge my colleagues to carefully consider supporting passage of this 
bill.
  I ask unanimous consent to have the bill printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 164

       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 ``Technology for Teachers Act 
     2001''.

     SEC. 2. LOCAL APPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY RESOURCE 
                   GRANTS.

       Section 3135 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6845) is amended--
       (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ``(a) In General.--
     '' before ``Each local educational agency'';
       (2) in subsection (a) (as so redesignated)--
       (A) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ``; and'' and 
     inserting a semicolon;
       (B) in paragraph (4), by striking the period and inserting 
     ``; and''; and
       (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
       ``(5) demonstrate the manner in which the local educational 
     agency will utilize at least 30 percent of the amounts 
     provided to the agency under this subpart in each fiscal year 
     to provide for in-service teacher training, or that the 
     agency is using at least 30 percent of its total technology 
     funding available to the agency from all sources (including 
     Federal, State, and local sources) to provide in-service 
     teacher training.'';
       (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
     (b) and (c) respectively; and
       (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated), by striking 
     ``subsection (e)'' and inserting ``subsection (a)''.

     SEC. 3. TEACHER PREPARATION.

       Part A of title III of the Elementary and Secondary 
     Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6811 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

      ``Subpart 5--Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers To Use Technology

     ``SEC. 3161. PURPOSE; PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

       ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this subpart to assist 
     consortia of public and private entities in carrying out 
     programs that prepare prospective teachers to use advanced 
     technology to foster learning environments conducive to 
     preparing all students to achieve to challenging State and 
     local content and student performance standards.
       ``(b) Program Authority.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized, through the 
     Office of Educational Technology, to award grants, contracts, 
     or cooperative agreements on a competitive basis to eligible 
     applicants in order to assist them in developing or 
     redesigning teacher preparation programs to enable 
     prospective teachers to use technology effectively in their 
     classrooms.
       ``(2) Period of award.--The Secretary may award grants, 
     contracts, or cooperative agreements under this subpart for a 
     period of not more than 5 years.

     ``SEC. 3162. ELIGIBILITY.

       ``(a) Eligible Applicants.--In order to receive an award 
     under this subpart, an applicant shall be a consortium that 
     includes--
       ``(1) at least 1 institution of higher education that 
     offers a baccalaureate degree and prepares teachers for their 
     initial entry into teaching;
       ``(2) at least 1 State educational agency or local 
     educational agency; and
       ``(3) 1 or more of the following entities:
       ``(A) an institution of higher education (other than the 
     institution described in paragraph (1));
       ``(B) a school or department of education at an institution 
     of higher education;
       ``(C) a school or college of arts and sciences at an 
     institution of higher education;
       ``(D) a professional association, foundation, museum, 
     library, for-profit business, public or private nonprofit 
     organization, community-based organization, or other entity 
     with the capacity to contribute to the technology-related 
     reform of teacher preparation programs.
       ``(b) Application Requirements.--In order to receive an 
     award under this subpart, an eligible applicant shall submit 
     an application to the Secretary at such time, and containing 
     such information, as the Secretary may require. Such 
     application shall include--
       ``(1) a description of the proposed project, including how 
     the project would ensure that individuals participating in 
     the project would be prepared to use technology to create 
     learning environments conducive to preparing all students, 
     including girls and students who have economic and 
     educational disadvantages, to achieve to challenging State 
     and local content and student performance standards;
       ``(2) a demonstration of--
       ``(A) the commitment, including the financial commitment, 
     of each of the members of the consortium; and
       ``(B) the active support of the leadership of each member 
     of the consortium for the proposed project;
       ``(3) a description of how each member of the consortium 
     would be included in project activities;
       ``(4) a description of how the proposed project would be 
     continued once the Federal funds awarded under this subpart 
     end; and
       ``(5) a plan for the evaluation of the program, which shall 
     include benchmarks to monitor progress toward specific 
     project objectives.
       ``(c) Matching Requirements.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Federal share of the cost of any 
     project funded under this subpart shall not exceed 50 
     percent. Except as provided in paragraph (2), the non-Federal 
     share of such project may be in cash or in kind, fairly 
     evaluated, including services.
       ``(2) Acquisition of equipment.--Not more than 10 percent 
     of the funds awarded for a project under this subpart may be 
     used to acquire equipment, networking capabilities, or 
     infrastructure, and the non-Federal share of the cost of any 
     such acquisition shall be in cash.

     ``SEC. 3163. USE OF FUNDS.

       ``(a) Required Uses.--A recipient shall use funds under 
     this subpart for--

[[Page S532]]

       ``(1) creating programs that enable prospective teachers to 
     use advanced technology to create learning environments 
     conducive to preparing all students, including girls and 
     students who have economic and educational disadvantages, to 
     achieve to challenging State and local content and student 
     performance standards; and
       ``(2) evaluating the effectiveness of the project.
       ``(b) Permissible Uses.--A recipient may use funds under 
     this subpart for activities, described in its application, 
     that carry out the purposes of this subpart, such as--
       ``(1) developing and implementing high-quality teacher 
     preparation programs that enable educators to--
       ``(A) learn the full range of resources that can be 
     accessed through the use of technology;
       ``(B) integrate a variety of technologies into the 
     classroom in order to expand students' knowledge;
       ``(C) evaluate educational technologies and their potential 
     for use in instruction; and
       ``(D) help students develop their own technical skills and 
     digital learning environments;
       ``(2) developing alternative teacher development paths that 
     provide elementary schools and secondary schools with well-
     prepared, technology-proficient educators;
       ``(3) developing performance-based standards and aligned 
     assessments to measure the capacity of prospective teachers 
     to use technology effectively in their classrooms;
       ``(4) providing technical assistance to other teacher 
     preparation programs;
       ``(5) developing and disseminating resources and 
     information in order to assist institutions of higher 
     education to prepare teachers to use technology effectively 
     in their classrooms; and
       ``(6) subject to section 3162(c)(2), acquiring equipment, 
     networking capabilities, and infrastructure to carry out the 
     project.

     ``SEC. 3164. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``For purposes of carrying out this subpart, there is 
     authorized to be appropriated $150,000,000 for fiscal year 
     2002, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 
     succeeding fiscal years.''.
                                 ______