[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S550-S551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Cornyn):
S. 2351. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
that an individual may remain eligible to participate in the teacher
loan forgiveness program under title IV of such Act if the individual's
period of consecutive years of employment as a full-time teacher is
interrupted because the individual is the spouse of a member of the
Armed Forces who is relocated during the school year pursuant to
military orders for a permanent change of duty station, and for other
purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's
attention to the bipartisan Preserving Teacher Loan Forgiveness for
Military Spouses Act of 2018, which I am introducing with the Senior
Senator from Texas today. This legislation eliminates a barrier for
teachers in military families to earn Federal student loan forgiveness
for their years of public service.
The Department of Education's Teacher Loan Forgiveness program
incentivizes teachers to commit to students in our lowest income school
districts in exchange for up to $17,500 in Federal Student loan
forgiveness. Teachers qualify for the program once they have taught
full-time for at least 5 consecutive years at a low income school or
educational service agency. Teachers who are forced to move in the
middle of the school year to follow their spouse lose eligibility for
the program and must restart their 5 years of service under current
law.
Last summer, a Maryland constituent brought to my attention the
barriers her daughter faced when seeking Federal student loan
forgiveness despite her commitment to public service. Her daughter, a
teacher married to a member of the military, was in the middle of her
fifth consecutive year teaching at one of Maryland's lower income
schools. As any military spouse knows, relocation or reassignment
orders can come at any time, upending the lives of the service member
and their family. Rather than being able to complete a 5th year of
teaching in a Maryland school, this family had to relocate with 3
months left in the school year. Despite this family's double commitment
to service for our military and our schoolchildren, this military
spouse missed the opportunity to have a portion of her Federal student
loans
[[Page S551]]
forgiven. No military spouse should be punished for following his or
her spouse's relocation or reassignment.
The legislation that the Senior Senator from Texas and I have
introduced is a common sense proposal to allow military spouses to earn
the benefits that they have dutifully worked towards and continue to
incentivize individuals to teach our hardest to educate children. Our
legislation provides a waiver from the Department of Education's
Teacher Loan Forgiveness program's 5 consecutive years of service
requirement for qualified military spouses if their spouse is relocated
during the school year pursuant to military orders from the Armed
Forces. This waiver will allow individuals to remain eligible for the
Teacher Loan Forgiveness program should they resume teaching full-time
at a qualifying low-income school district within one year of their
relocation. In addition, this legislation requires the Department of
Education to provide a report to Congress every two years on the number
of military spouses who remained eligible for Teacher Loan Forgiveness
due to this legislation.
I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to help families who are
wholly committed to public service by supporting the Preserving Teacher
Loan Forgiveness for Military Spouses Act. No family in service of our
Nation should lose out on earned benefits due to a technicality.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the 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. 2351
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 ``Preserving Teacher Loan
Forgiveness for Military Spouses Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN STUDENT LOAN
FORGIVENESS OR LOAN CANCELLATION PROGRAM FOR
TEACHERS WHOSE PERIOD OF CONSECUTIVE EMPLOYMENT
IS INTERRUPTED BECAUSE OF MILITARY ORDERS
REQUIRING SPOUSE TO RELOCATE TO NEW RESIDENCE.
(a) Continuing Eligibility.--
(1) Part b loans.--Section 428J(g) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(g)) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(4) Continuing eligibility for certain military
spouses.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of
subsection (b), an individual who is employed in a full-time
teaching position that meets the requirements of this section
for a period that includes 5 complete but nonconsecutive
years may be eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to such
subsection, if the individual was a qualified military spouse
with respect to any year during such period for which the
individual was not employed as a full-time teacher in a
school or location meeting the requirements of this section.
``(B) Qualified military spouse defined.--In this
paragraph, the term `qualified military spouse' means, with
respect to a year, an individual who--
``(i) during the previous year, served as a teacher in a
school or location meeting the requirements of subparagraph
(A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the requirements of
subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1);
``(ii) is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who
is relocated during the year pursuant to military orders for
a permanent change of duty station;
``(iii) did not serve as a teacher in a school or
location meeting the requirements of subparagraph (A) of
subsection (b)(1) during the year or any portion of the year
because the individual accompanied the spouse to a new
residence as a result of such military orders; and
``(iv) during the following year, resumed service as a
teacher in a school or location meeting the requirements of
subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the
requirements of subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1).
``(C) Reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days after
the end of the second academic year during which this
paragraph is in effect, and every 2 years thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
number of individuals who, as a result of this paragraph,
remained eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to subsection
(b) during the 2 most recent academic years.''.
(2) Part d loans.--Section 460(g) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j(g)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(4) Continuing eligibility for certain military
spouses.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of
subsection (b), an individual who is employed in a full-time
teaching position that meets the requirements of this section
for a period that includes 5 complete but nonconsecutive
years may be eligible for loan cancellation pursuant to such
subsection, if the individual was a qualified military spouse
with respect to any year during such period for which the
individual was not employed as a full-time teacher in a
school or location meeting the requirements of this section.
``(B) Qualified military spouse defined.--In this
paragraph, the term `qualified military spouse' means, with
respect to a year, an individual who--
``(i) during the previous year, served as a teacher in a
school or location meeting the requirements of subparagraph
(A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the requirements of
subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1);
``(ii) is the spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who
is relocated during the year pursuant to military orders for
a permanent change of duty station;
``(iii) did not serve as a teacher in a school or
location meeting the requirements of subparagraph (A) of
subsection (b)(1) during the year or any portion of the year
because the individual accompanied the spouse to a new
residence as a result of such military orders; and
``(iv) during the following year, resumed service as a
teacher in a school or location meeting the requirements of
subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) and met the
requirements of subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(1).
``(C) Reports to congress.--Not later than 90 days after
the end of the second academic year during which this
paragraph is in effect, and every 2 years thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
number of individuals who, as a result of this paragraph,
remained eligible for loan cancellation pursuant to
subsection (b) during the 2 most recent academic years.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection
(a) shall apply with respect to individuals who first become
employed as full-time teachers on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
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