[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 23 (Thursday, February 9, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E173-E174]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF RULE SUBMITTED BY DEPARTMENT 
          OF EDUCATION RELATING TO TEACHER PREPARATION ISSUES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 7, 2017

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.J. 
Res. 58, the Congressional Review Act (CRA) Resolution for Disapproval 
of the Rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to 
Teacher Preparation Issues, because the regulation Republicans seek to 
rescind will have the effect of reducing educational opportunities in 
student achievement, quality of instruction, college readiness and 
other important outcomes.
  Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, 
caliber, and future of an individual and for many of our nation's 
children, a teacher affects eternity; he or she can never tell where 
his influence stops.
  Teachers cannot however succeed in shaping the lives of our children 
if we as a society fail to equip them with the tools necessary to 
master and hone the craft they pass along to our youth.
  This joint resolution would nullify the Teacher Preparation Issues 
rule finalized by the Department of Education on October 31, 2016, 
tying the hands of any and all future administrations in improving the 
transparency and quality of teacher preparation programs until the 
Higher Education Act (HEA) is successfully reauthorized.
  The Teacher Preparation Issues rule established indicators that 
States must use to report on teacher preparation program performance, 
to help ensure that the quality of teacher preparation programs is 
judged on reliable and valid indicators of program performance.
  Section 205 of the HEA requires States and institutions of higher 
education (IHEs) annually to report on various characteristics of their 
teacher preparation programs, including an assessment of program 
performance.
  Under the rule that this menacing legislation would obliterate 
requirements in the collection and dissemination of more meaningful 
data on teacher preparation program quality.
  These reporting requirements exist in part to ensure that members of 
the public, prospective teachers and employers (districts and schools), 
and the States, IHEs, and programs themselves have accurate information 
on the quality of these teacher preparation programs.
  These requirements also provide an impetus to States and IHEs to make 
improvements where they are needed.
  The Department's existing title II reporting system framework has 
not, however, ensured sufficient quality feedback to various 
stakeholders on program performance.
  A U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that some 
States are not assessing whether teacher preparation programs are low-
performing, as required by law, and so prospective teachers may have 
difficulty identifying low-performing teacher preparation programs, 
possibly resulting in teachers who are not fully prepared to educate 
children.
  In addition, struggling teacher preparation programs may not receive 
the technical assistance they need and, like the teaching candidates 
themselves, school districts, and other stakeholders, will not be able 
to make informed decisions.
  The final regulations also link assessments of program performance 
under HEA title II to eligibility for the Federal TEACH Grant program.
  The TEACH Grant program, authorized by the HEA, provides grants to 
eligible IHEs, which, in turn, use the funds to provide grants of up to 
$4,000 annually to eligible teacher preparation candidates who agree to 
serve as full-time teachers in high-need fields at low-income schools 
for not less than four academic years within eight years after 
completing their courses of study.
  Thousands of novice teachers enter the profession every year and 
their students deserve to have well-prepared teachers.
  Current educational policy is committed to ensuring that the measures 
by which States judge the quality of teacher preparation programs 
reflect the true quality of the programs

[[Page E174]]

and provide information that facilitates program improvement and, by 
extension, improvement in student achievement.
  H.J. Res. 58 is just another step in Republicans' plan to dismantle 
the oversight and enforcement authority of the Department of Education 
and undermine public education.
  H.J. Res. 58 flies in the face of Congressional intent, removing any 
sense of transparency related to teacher preparation program quality, 
and leaving these important equity provisions without checks and 
balances indefinitely.
  H.J. Res 58 would ensure that there are no serious attempts to 
improve the quality of teacher preparation programs, since the CRA 
prevents future Departments of Education from regulating on a similar 
issue.
  If unhappy with the final rule, the Trump Administration should use 
administrative tools at its disposal to amend and revise the 
regulation. Use of CRA is a political gimmick that harms students, 
teachers, and taxpayers.
  Republicans want blanket deregulation of federal education programs 
in an attempt to stall implementation of equity-focused provisions and 
allow states and districts the ultimate flexibility to ignore laws and 
federal requirements intended to protect disadvantaged students.
  The CRA has been used only once in Congressional history.
  Using it to block regulatory action to improve teacher preparation 
program quality is extreme and a gross abuse of power.
  When we fail our teachers, we rob our children of long fought for 
opportunities to expand their horizons in classrooms and achieve in 
life the hope we have vested in them for the future.
  I urge you to oppose this bill