PATHS to Tutor Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 457 To establish a grant program for innovative partnerships among teacher preparation programs, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations to expand access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. MURPHY, and Ms. COLLINS) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a grant program for innovative partnerships among teacher preparation programs, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations to expand access to high-quality tutoring in hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partnering Aspiring 4 Teachers with High-need Schools to Tutor Act of 2021’’ 5 or the ‘‘PATHS to Tutor Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 457 IS SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR HIGH-QUALITY TUTORING. 1 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 (1) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 3 term ‘‘educational service agency’’ has the meaning 4 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6 7801). 7 (2) EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAM.—The 8 term ‘‘educator preparation program’’ means a 9 State-accredited program at a public or nonprofit in- 10 stitution of higher education or other nonprofit pro- 11 vider that prepares individuals to serve as educators. 12 (3) HARD-TO-STAFF SCHOOL.—The term 13 ‘‘hard-to-staff school’’ means a high-need school that 14 has a high rate of teacher turnover or a large con- 15 centration of teachers in their first or second year 16 of teaching. 17 (4) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 18 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 19 2211 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6631). 21 (5) HIGH-QUALITY TUTORING.—The term 22 ‘‘high-quality tutoring’’ means tutoring— 23 (A) that is provided by a tutor; 24 (B) that is one-on-one or in a small group 25 not to exceed a ratio of 1 to 4, or a small group 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 457 IS ratio based on evidence deemed sufficient by the 1 State educational agency in the State in which 2 the tutoring takes place; 3 (C) that includes plans and time for tutors 4 to collaborate; 5 (D) that— 6 (i) includes multiple sessions each 7 week that are of sufficient length, such as 8 the length of a regularly scheduled class or 9 period; and 10 (ii) is embedded in the school sched- 11 ule, preferably during the regular school 12 day or tightly integrated to the regular 13 school day and provided before or after 14 school, or during school vacations; 15 (E) in which content and grade specific tu- 16 tors are matched with students; 17 (F) that is aligned to local standards and 18 curriculum; 19 (G) that includes high-quality pre-service 20 training and ongoing professional support; 21 (H) that is facilitated by the local consor- 22 tium where local educational agencies and 23 schools support tutors through direct super- 24 vision and feedback with additional capacity 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 457 IS provided by the education preparation program 1 faculty or staff; and 2 (I) where tutors are adequately com- 3 pensated for their work. 4 (6) LOCAL CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘local con- 5 sortium’’ means a consortium consisting of commu- 6 nity partners as follows: 7 (A) The consortium shall include the fol- 8 lowing entities, one or both of which shall serve 9 as the lead entity of the consortium: 10 (i) A local educational agency, an in- 11 dividual school, or an educational service 12 agency. 13 (ii) An educator preparation program. 14 (B) The consortium may include a commu- 15 nity partner, such as— 16 (i) a community-based organization; 17 (ii) a child and youth serving organi- 18 zation or agency; 19 (iii) an institution of higher education, 20 as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher 21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 22 1001(a)); 23 (iv) a foundation; 24 (v) an educator organization; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 457 IS (vi) an organization representing edu- 1 cation professionals; 2 (vii) a local government, including a 3 government agency serving children and 4 youth, such as a child welfare and juvenile 5 justice agency; 6 (viii) an organization representing 7 students; or 8 (ix) an organization representing par- 9 ents. 10 (7) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 11 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 12 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 14 (8) MENTOR.—The term ‘‘mentor’’ means an 15 experienced educator, including a teacher-educator 16 at an educator preparation program, dedicated to 17 advising a tutor or administering the tutoring pro- 18 gram. 19 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 the Secretary of Education. 21 (10) TUTOR.—The term ‘‘tutor’’ means— 22 (A) a postsecondary student who is en- 23 rolled in an educator preparation program; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 457 IS (B) a recent graduate of an educator prep- 1 aration program; 2 (C) an individual serving as an education 3 paraprofessional or teaching aide; or 4 (D) a fully certified and licensed educator 5 (such as a recently retired educator, an educa- 6 tor experiencing a gap in employment due to 7 COVID-induced budget cuts, or an educator 8 providing tutoring before or after school, or 9 during the summer). 10 (b) DEMONSTRATION COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO- 11 GRAM.—The Secretary shall award grants, on a competi- 12 tive basis, to local consortia to enable the local consortia 13 to carry out high-quality tutoring, especially at hard-to- 14 staff schools or high-need schools. 15 (c) APPLICATION.—A local consortium that desires to 16 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica- 17 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 18 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 19 require, including the following: 20 (1) A description of the local consortium, in- 21 cluding which public or nonprofit entity participating 22 in the local consortium shall serve as the fiscal agent 23 for the local consortium. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 457 IS (2) A description of the strategy for recruit- 1 ment, careful selection, and matching of tutors with 2 hard-to-staff schools and high-need schools. 3 (3) A description of the pre-service training and 4 ongoing professional support for tutors. 5 (4) A list of hard-to-staff schools and high-need 6 schools, and the grades that will be supported in 7 each school, identified by the local consortium to re- 8 ceive comprehensive, coordinated continuum of serv- 9 ices and support. 10 (5) A description of how the high-quality tutor- 11 ing program plans to accelerate student learning. 12 (6) A description of how the local consortium 13 will ensure that tutoring does not result in the 14 tracking or negative labeling of students, or remedi- 15 ation. 16 (7) A description of the duration of tutoring, 17 including the duration of sessions, the number of 18 days a week tutoring will occur, and the length in 19 weeks the tutoring will occur. 20 (8) An assurance that the local consortium will 21 align tutoring to the local curriculum and standards 22 of the local educational agency and school and will 23 be designed to support student success in the class- 24 room. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 457 IS (9) A description of materials and supports and 1 how they are aligned with the local curriculum and 2 standards of the local educational agency and school. 3 (10) A description of how the high-quality tu- 4 toring program will build school capacity in the 5 schools in which the tutors will serve. 6 (11) An assurance that the local consortium 7 will leverage tutors to supplement, not supplant ex- 8 isting staff. 9 (12) A description of how tutors will be ade- 10 quately compensated. 11 (13) An assurance that the local consortium 12 will use funds to supplement and not supplant funds 13 otherwise available to carry out high-quality tutoring 14 and will not use any funds to replace teaching posi- 15 tions with tutoring positions. 16 (14) A description of how the tutoring program 17 will incorporate research-based social-emotional 18 learning practices, trauma-informed learning prac- 19 tices, and culturally and linguistically responsive 20 practices. 21 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 22 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to local consortia 23 that plan to support high-need schools in building student 24 learning capacity by using tutors who are postsecondary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 457 IS students who are enrolled in educator preparation pro- 1 grams. 2 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—A local consortium that receives 3 a grant under this section may use the grant funds for 4 the following: 5 (1) Matching, training, and placing tutors with 6 schools to deliver high-quality tutoring. 7 (2) Supporting tutors to work with small 8 groups of students attending high-need schools 9 wherein tutors are providing supervision and instruc- 10 tion, and time for collaboration with mentors. 11 (3) Matching tutors with mentors. 12 (4) Providing stipends to tutors and mentors. 13 (5) Purchasing instructional materials and 14 connectivity resources, including internet access and 15 accessible devices. 16 (6) Providing transportation for students at- 17 tending the tutoring program. 18 (7) Providing meals and snacks for students at- 19 tending the tutoring program. 20 (8) Providing facilities for conducting the tutor- 21 ing program. 22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 24 appropriated to carry out this section $500,000,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 457 IS (2) ALLOCATION.—From the amounts appro- 1 priated to carry out this section— 2 (A) not less than 85 percent shall be used 3 for directly supporting students, including pro- 4 viding stipends to tutors and mentors, providing 5 transportation, meals, and snacks, and pur- 6 chasing instructional materials and connectivity 7 resources for students; and 8 (B) not more than 15 percent shall be 9 used for other uses in carrying out this section. 10 SEC. 3. COORDINATION WITH THE CORPORATION FOR NA- 11 TIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE. 12 (a) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—The Secretary of 13 Education shall enter into an interagency agreement with 14 the Corporation for National and Community Service 15 under section 121(b) of the National and Community 16 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571(b)) under which 17 the Corporation shall approve tutor positions under a pro- 18 gram funded under section 2, as approved national service 19 positions (as defined in section 101 of the National and 20 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12511)). Such 21 interagency agreement shall specify how a degree or cer- 22 tificate of completion for a term of service as a provider 23 of high-quality tutoring will be submitted to the Corpora- 24 tion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 457 IS (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding section 148 of 1 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 2 U.S.C. 12604), the Secretary and the Chief Executive Of- 3 ficer of the Corporation for National and Community 4 Service shall develop a program under which national serv- 5 ice educational awards may be disbursed to tutors upon 6 completion of service under a program funded under sec- 7 tion 2. 8 SEC. 4. REDUCING THE ECONOMIC BURDEN ON ASPIRING 9 TEACHERS. 10 Section 420N(b)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(b)(1)) is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 ‘‘(1) the applicant will— 14 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time teacher (or, dur- 15 ing any of academic years 2020–2021, 2021– 16 2022, or 2022–2023, serve as a full-time tutor 17 in high-quality tutoring or a full-time instructor 18 in small group instruction) for a total of not 19 less than 4 academic years within 8 years after 20 completing the course of study for which the 21 applicant received a TEACH Grant under this 22 subpart; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 457 IS ‘‘(B) teach in a school described in section 1 465(a)(2)(A), except if serving as a tutor or in- 2 structor as described in subparagraph (A); 3 ‘‘(C) teach, except if serving as a tutor or 4 instructor as described in subparagraph (A), in 5 any of the following fields— 6 ‘‘(i) mathematics; 7 ‘‘(ii) science; 8 ‘‘(iii) a foreign language; 9 ‘‘(iv) bilingual education; 10 ‘‘(v) special education; 11 ‘‘(vi) as a reading specialist; or 12 ‘‘(vii) another field documented as 13 high-need by the Federal Government, 14 State government, or local educational 15 agency, and approved by the Secretary; 16 and 17 ‘‘(D) submit evidence of such employment 18 in the form of a certification by the chief ad- 19 ministrative officer of the school upon comple- 20 tion of each year of such service.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Mar 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S457.IS S457 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS