[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2246-S2247]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONSIDER TEACHERS ACT OF 2021
Ms. DUCKWORTH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be discharged from
further consideration of S. 848 and the Senate proceed to its immediate
consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 848) to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965
in order to improve the service obligation verification
process for TEACH Grant recipients, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the
Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Ms. DUCKWORTH. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered
read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 848) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows
S. 848
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 ``Consider Teachers Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS.
Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1070g-2) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(referred to in
this section as the `service obligation window')'' after
``under this subpart'';
(B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting ``or geographic
area'' after ``field''; and
(C) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) and inserting the
following:
``(D) submit a certification of employment by the chief
administrative officer of the school in accordance with
subsection (d)(5); and
``(E) meet all State certification requirements for
teaching (which may include meeting such requirements through
a certification obtained through alternative routes to
teaching);'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``In the event'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--In the event''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Reconsideration of conversion decisions.--
``(A) Request to reconsider.--In any case where the
Secretary has determined that a recipient of a grant under
this subpart has failed or refused to comply with the service
obligation in the agreement under subsection (b) and has
converted the grant into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Stafford Loan under part D in accordance with paragraph (1),
(including a TEACH Grant converted to a loan prior to the
date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and
including cases where such loans have been fully or partially
paid), the recipient may request that the Secretary
reconsider such initial determination and may submit
additional information to demonstrate satisfaction of the
service obligation. Upon receipt of such a request, the
Secretary shall reconsider the determination in accordance
with this paragraph not later than 90 days after the date
that such request was received.
``(B) Reconsideration.--If, in reconsidering an initial
determination under subparagraph (A) (including
reconsideration related to a TEACH Grant that was converted
to a loan prior to the date of enactment of the Consider
Teachers Act of 2021 and including cases where such loans
were fully or partially paid), the Secretary determines that
the reason for such determination was the recipient's failure
to timely submit a certification required under subsection
(b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day before the date of
enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021), an error or
processing delay by the Secretary, a change to the fields
considered eligible for fulfillment of the service obligation
(as described in subsection (b)(1)(C)), a recipient having
previously requested to have the TEACH Grant converted to a
loan, or another valid reason determined by the Secretary,
and that the recipient has, as of the date of the
reconsideration, demonstrated that the recipient did meet, or
is meeting the service obligation in the agreement under
subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
``(i) discharge the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford
Loan under part D, and reinstate the recipient's grant under
this subpart;
``(ii) discharge any interest or fees that may have
accumulated during the period that the grant was converted to
a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D;
``(iii) if the recipient has other loans under part D,
apply any payments made for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Stafford Loan under part D during such period to those other
loans under part D;
``(iv) if the recipient does not have other loans under
part D, reimburse the recipient for any amounts paid on the
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D during
such period;
``(v) request that consumer reporting agencies remove any
negative credit reporting due to the conversion of the TEACH
Grant to a loan; and
``(vi) use the additional information provided under
subparagraph (A) to determine the progress the recipient has
made in meeting the service obligation.
``(C) Extension of time to complete service obligation.--In
the case of a recipient whose TEACH Grant was reinstated in
accordance with subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall, upon
such reinstatement--
``(i) extend the time remaining for the recipient to
fulfill the service obligation described in subsection (b)(1)
to a period of time equal to--
``(I) 8 years; minus
``(II) the number of full academic years of teaching that
the recipient completed prior to the reconversion of the loan
to a TEACH Grant under subparagraph (B), including any years
of qualifying teaching completed during the period when the
TEACH Grant was in loan status; and
``(ii) treat any full academic years of teaching described
in clause (i)(II) as years that count toward the individual's
service obligation (regardless of whether the TEACH Grant
funds were in grant or loan status) if that time otherwise
meets the requirements of this section.''; and
(3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Communication with recipients.--The Secretary shall
notify TEACH grant recipients not less than once per calendar
year regarding how to submit the employment certification
under subsection (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and
requirements for submitting that certification under
subsection (d)(5).
``(4) Qualifying schools and high-need fields.--The
Secretary shall maintain and annually update a list of
qualifying schools as described in subsection (b)(1)(B), and
a list of high-need fields as described in subsection
(b)(1)(C) and shall make such lists publicly available on the
Department's website in a sortable and searchable format.''.
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION.
Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070g-2(d)), as amended by section 2, is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Submission of employment certification.--
``(A) Recommended submissions.--The Secretary shall notify
TEACH Grant recipients that the Department recommends that
TEACH Grant recipients submit the employment certification
described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon as practicable
after the completion of each year of service.
``(B) Required submission.--A TEACH Grant recipient shall
be required to submit to the Department employment
certification within the timeframe that would allow that
individual to complete their service obligation before the
end of the service obligation window.
``(C) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify TEACH Grant
recipients of the required submission deadlines described in
this paragraph.
``(D) Adjustment of deadline.--The Secretary shall adjust
the submission deadline described in subparagraph (B) to
account for a service obligation window extension.
``(E) Alternative to certification.--The Secretary shall
provide an alternative to the certification of employment
described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for recipients who cannot
obtain such required certification of employment from the
chief administrative officer of the school because the
recipient can demonstrate the school is no longer in
existence or the school refuses to cooperate.''.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGATION DUE
TO COVID-19.
(a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136;
20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking
``For the purpose of section 420N of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2), during a qualifying emergency,''
and inserting ``Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of
part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the
semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ``such section 420N.''
and inserting ``section 420N of such Act; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) shall extend the service obligation window (as
described in section 420N(b)(1)(A)
[[Page S2247]]
of such Act) for a period of not more than 3 years, in
addition to any extensions provided in accordance with
subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.), in the case of a grant
recipient whose service obligation window begins during, or
includes--
``(A) the qualifying emergency period; or
``(B) a period of recession or economic downturn related to
the qualifying emergency period, as determined by the
Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.''.
(b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20
U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(c) Federal Perkins Loans.--Notwithstanding section 465
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee), the
Secretary shall waive the requirements of such section in
regard to full-time service and shall consider an incomplete
year of service of a borrower as fulfilling the requirement
for a complete year of service under such section, if the
service was interrupted due to a qualifying emergency.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the
CARES Act (Public Law 116-136).
SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION.
In carrying out this Act and any amendments made by this
Act, or any regulations promulgated under this Act or under
such amendments, the Secretary of Education may waive the
application of--
(1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States
Code (commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'');
(2) the master calendar requirements under section 482 of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089);
(3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a); and
(4) the requirement to publish the notices related to the
system of records of the agency before implementation
required under paragraphs (4) and (11) of section 552a(e) of
title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy
Act of 1974''), except that the notices shall be published
not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act.
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