[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 38 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2706-S2707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SALAZAR (for himself, Mr. Chambliss, Ms. Collins, and Mr. 
        Allard):
  S. 769. A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 to ensure that participants in the Troops to Teachers program may 
teach at a range of eligible schools; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Troops to 
Teachers Improvement Act of 2007, which will help more of our veterans 
and service members find second careers in our classrooms. This bill 
will expand the accessibility of this program, so that more military 
personnel will be able to enroll, receive $5,000 toward their teaching 
certification, and teach in a school near their home. I am proud to be 
joined by Senator Chambliss, Senator Collins, and Senator Allard in 
introducing this legislation. On the House side, Congressman Petri and 
Congresswoman Matsui have introduced a companion to this bill.
  Since it was created in 1994, the Troops to Teachers program has 
helped place over 10,000 new teachers in classrooms around the country. 
The program provides guidance, teacher certification assistance, and 
bonuses for military personnel who give at least three years of service 
in the classroom.
  When Congress established the Troops to Teachers program, it created 
two levels of bonuses for military personnel and veterans who 
participate. An individual was eligible for a $5,000 stipend so long as 
he or she taught in any school in a district that received Title I 
funding under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This meant 
that an individual could teach three years in any of a vast majority of 
schools in the country and still be eligible for the $5,000 bonus.
  Congress allowed a person to receive an additional $5,000 if he or 
she taught three years in a school that served a high percentage of 
disadvantaged students. The total bonus of $10,000 was meant to draw 
these talented new teachers into schools that needed them most.
  For over a decade, this bonus structure was highly successful. In 
Colorado alone, the program has provided around 80 new hires a year to 
schools where new teachers are desperately needed.
  But in 2005, the Department of Education limited the number of 
schools that were eligible to participate and therefore made it more 
difficult for individuals to receive the baseline $5,000 bonus. The 
Department of Education was able to do this because when the Troops to 
Teachers program was reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act, 
there was a mistake in the reauthorization language that created 
confusion about which schools an individual may teach in order to be 
eligible for the $5,000 bonus. As I pointed out a moment ago, when 
Congress created the Troops to Teachers program, it said that an 
individual could receive the bonus if he or she taught in a ``high-
need'' school, that is, in any school in a district that received Title 
1 funding. In Colorado, that meant that around 98 percent of school 
districts qualified. But, because Troops to Teachers was mistakenly 
placed in a section of NCLB with a different definition of ``high 
need,'' an individual can now only receive the $5,000 bonus if he or 
she teaches in a school that has more than 10,000 students or has more 
than 20 percent of its students from families below the poverty line.
  As a result of this change, enrollments in the Troops to Teachers 
program have dwindled over the past two years. Western and rural 
States, in particular, have been negatively impacted. In Colorado, new 
hires out of Troops to Teachers have dropped from 79 for the 2003-2004 
school year to 43 for the 2006-2007 school year.
  This drop-off in new hires from Troops to Teachers is problematic for 
several reasons. First, we should be finding ways of attracting new 
teachers to our classrooms, not devising bureaucratic barriers that 
keep them out. Experts predict that we will need approximately 2 
million new teachers in the next decade, and we need teachers who will 
give more than a year or two of service. Today, half of newcomers to 
the teaching profession last less than five years. The good news is 
that Troops to Teachers has an 83 percent retention rate for its 
teachers. A full 223 of the 343 original participants are still 
teaching today, more than a decade after the program's creation.
  Troops to Teachers also helps fill a need for diversity in the 
classroom--83 percent of program participants are male, compared to 18 
percent of teachers nationally, and 37 percent are ethnic minorities, 
compared to 15 percent of teachers nationally.
  The second problem with the new eligibility criteria is that it 
disproportionately hurts rural veterans and rural school districts. 
It's hard to find a school district in western Colorado or on the 
eastern plains that has 10,000 students. Are we expecting a Troops to 
Teacher participant living in Yuma County, population 9,789 to drive to 
Denver to teach in an eligible school there so they can receive the 
$5,000 stipend?
  The third problem with the new criteria is that it hurts retiring 
service members who want to pursue a second career in education. This 
country has a long history of providing educational benefits to our men 
and women in uniform through the 1944 GI Bill and successive 
legislation. Troops to Teachers furthers this great cause by helping 
our men and women in uniform extend their education and earn a teaching 
certificate. With over 1.3 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, 
many of whom are currently transitioning back to civilian life, we have 
an opportunity to bring the best and the brightest who are now serving 
in the military straight into the classrooms, where they can continue 
to extend their service to their country.
  The bill I'm introducing today provides a simple fix to the problems 
that arose for the Troops to Teachers program under the No Child Left 
Behind Act. The bill simply says that if there is no school within 50 
miles of the home of a Troops to Teachers participant, the individual 
may teach in any school in a district that receives Title 1 funding and 
receive the initial $5,000 bonus. This bill will allow thousands of 
retiring service members in rural communities to take advantage of the 
Troops to Teachers incentives and transition to a second career in the 
classroom. I also want to point out that this bill still prioritizes 
schools that fit the current definition of ``high need''--that is, 
schools with over 10,000 students or with 20 percent of its students 
from families below the poverty line--but it also provides an outlet if 
there are no schools in the area that fit those criteria. This bill 
does not affect the additional bonus that Troops to Teachers 
participants have always

[[Page S2707]]

been able to receive if they teach in a school with a high percentage 
of disadvantaged students.
  I am hopeful that when we reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act, 
we take another look at Troops to Teachers to help make it more 
accessible to veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, National Guard 
members, and reservists. Troops to Teachers is a good program that 
should be strengthened and supported when it is reauthorized. Yet, we 
shouldn't wait until then to fix this needless problem that is 
hampering the program's effectiveness today. I urge my colleagues to 
support this problem, today, by supporting the quick, straightforward 
solution that this bill provides.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of this bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 769

       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 ``Troops to Teachers 
     Improvement Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE 
                   UNDER TROOPS TO TEACHERS PROGRAM.

       Section 2304 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6674) is amended in subsection (a)(1)(B) 
     by striking ``for not less than 3 school years'' and all that 
     follows through the period at the end and inserting the 
     following: ``for not less than 3 school years, to begin the 
     school year after obtaining that certification or licensing, 
     with a high-need local educational agency or public charter 
     school, as such terms are defined in section 2101 or, if 
     there is no high-need local educational agency or public 
     charter school for which the member is qualified to teach 
     within a 50-mile radius of the member's residence, then under 
     circumstances covered by section 2302(b)(2).''.
                                 ______