Diversify Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1780 To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. BOOKER (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MARKEY, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, 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 ‘‘Diversifying by Invest- 4 ing in Educators and Students To Improve Outcomes For 5 Youth Act’’ or the ‘‘Diversify Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1780 IS (1) Schools predominantly enrolling historically 1 underserved students are often disproportionately 2 impacted by teacher shortages. 3 (2) According to Department of Education data 4 for the 2020–2021 school year, to date 43 States 5 are reporting shortages in mathematics teachers, 42 6 in science teachers, and 44 in special education 7 teachers. 8 (3) Data shows that, between 2009 and 2017, 9 teacher education enrollments dropped from 691,000 10 to 444,000, a 38-percent reduction. This amounts to 11 a decrease of about 340,000 professionals on their 12 way to becoming teachers in the year 2017, as com- 13 pared to 2009. 14 (4) Current data show that the impacts of 15 COVID–19 may be further exacerbating student ac- 16 cess to well-prepared and diverse teachers through 17 declining higher education enrollments and potential 18 increased turnover due to pandemic teaching condi- 19 tions, among other factors. 20 (5) About 80 percent of educators begin teach- 21 ing with a bachelor’s degree, yet the latest Federal 22 data show a 4.5-percent decline in undergraduate 23 enrollment in the Spring of 2021. Enrollment de- 24 clines have inequitably impacted students of color. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1780 IS (6) In an August 2020 Census Bureau survey, 1 respondents cited their inability to pay as a factor 2 in their decision to forgo college. 3 (7) Research suggests that service scholarship 4 programs like the TEACH Grant Program are suc- 5 cessful when they are both administratively manage- 6 able and when subsidies are large enough to sub- 7 stantially offset training costs. Efforts to increase 8 the TEACH Grant award amount must be combined 9 with efforts to ensure that the program is adminis- 10 tratively manageable. In order for the TEACH 11 Grant Program to meet its full potential, the re- 12 search is clear that both criteria need to be ad- 13 dressed. 14 (8) The TEACH Grant’s award amount has not 15 increased since its creation in the bipartisan College 16 Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public Law 110– 17 84). In addition, due to the Budget Control Act of 18 2011 (Public Law 112–25), the maximum amount 19 of grant aid available under the TEACH Grant Pro- 20 gram of $4,000 a year has been cut for a majority 21 of the program’s existence. This comes at a time 22 when the yearly full cost of a public 4-year college 23 for an in-State student exceeds $20,000. Further, 24 more than two-thirds of individuals entering the field 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1780 IS of education borrow money to pay for their higher 1 education, resulting in an average debt of about 2 $20,000 for those with a bachelor’s degree and 3 $50,000 for those with a master’s degree. 4 (9) Grant programs can eliminate or reduce the 5 need to borrow student loans in order to afford a 6 college education. This is important because a col- 7 lege student’s potential debt burden influences the 8 student’s decisions about what profession to enter, 9 with the result that the student is less likely to pur- 10 sue a career in education or take other low-paying 11 jobs after graduation if the student expects to incur 12 more debt. This is especially true for students of 13 color, who, according to a recent report, are more 14 likely to come from families that are unable to con- 15 tribute financially to their higher education. 16 (10) Students with disabilities, including stu- 17 dents of color with disabilities, are also likely to ac- 18 crue significant student loan debt. This often results 19 from limited ability to work while in school due to 20 the increased time needed for coursework. 21 (11) Teachers of color face unique barriers to 22 entering and staying in the profession. For example, 23 teachers of color are more likely to enter teaching 24 through alternative pathways due to the high cost of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1780 IS traditional teacher preparation programs and the 1 debt burden faced by college students of color. 2 Lower quality pathways can result in less effective 3 teaching and high turnover rates. Research shows 4 that candidates who receive comprehensive prepara- 5 tion are 2 to 3 times more likely to stay in teaching 6 than those who receive little training. In many cases, 7 however, teachers of color are more likely to begin 8 teaching without having completed comprehensive 9 preparation and entering instead through alternative 10 routes that often skip student teaching and key 11 coursework, leaving teachers to learn on the job. 12 (12) Research shows that recruiting and retain- 13 ing a diverse teacher workforce is key to improving 14 outcomes for all students and for closing achieve- 15 ment gaps. While White students also benefit by 16 learning from teachers of color, the impact is espe- 17 cially significant for students of color, who have 18 higher test scores, are more likely to graduate high 19 school, and more likely to succeed in college when 20 they have had teachers of color who serve as role 21 models and support their attachment to school and 22 learning. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1780 IS SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE TEACH GRANTS PROGRAM 1 UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 2 1965. 3 Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.) is amend- 5 ed— 6 (1) in section 420L(1), by inserting ‘‘(except 7 that such term does not include an institution de- 8 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 102)’’ after 9 ‘‘102’’; 10 (2) in section 420M— 11 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking 12 ‘‘$4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,000’’; 13 (B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the 14 second and third sentences and inserting the 15 following: ‘‘Any disbursement allowed to be 16 made by crediting the teacher candidate’s ac- 17 count shall be used for the full cost of attend- 18 ance (as defined in section 472).’’; and 19 (C) in subsection (d)— 20 (i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 21 ‘‘$16,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$32,000’’; and 22 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 23 ‘‘$8,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$16,000’’; and 24 (3) in section 420N— 25 (A) in subsection (b)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1780 IS (i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 1 (ii) by striking ‘‘an agreement’’ and 2 all that follows through ‘‘the applicant 3 will’’ and inserting ‘‘an agreement by the 4 applicant that the applicant will’’; 5 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 6 (A) through (E) as paragraphs (1) through 7 (5), respectively, and moving the margins 8 of such paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 9 ems to the left; 10 (iv) by redesignating clauses (i) 11 through (vii) as subparagraphs (A) 12 through (G), respectively, and moving the 13 margins of such subparagraphs (as so re- 14 designated) 2 ems to the left; 15 (v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated 16 by clause (iii), by striking ‘‘teach in a 17 school described in section 465(a)(2)(A)’’ 18 and inserting ‘‘teach in a school described 19 in section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high- 20 need early education program’’; and 21 (vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated 22 by clause (iii)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1780 IS (I) in subparagraph (F), as re- 1 designated by clause (iv), by striking 2 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 3 (II) in subparagraph (G), as re- 4 designated by clause (iv), by inserting 5 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 6 (III) by adding at the end the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(H) early childhood education;’’; and 9 (B) by striking subsection (c) and insert- 10 ing the following: 11 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATE.—Upon the completion of the 12 service requirement in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 13 send to the recipient of a grant under this subpart an elec- 14 tronic certificate documenting the completion of such serv- 15 ice.’’; 16 (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 17 section (e); 18 (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the 19 following: 20 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not institute 21 or create a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to com- 22 plete the service requirement under subsection (b).’’; and 23 (E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by 24 subparagraph (C)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1780 IS (i) by striking ‘‘subsection 1 (b)(1)(C)(vii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 2 (b)(3)(G)’’; and 3 (ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 5 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND DEF- 6 ICIT CONTROL ACT. 7 (a) EXEMPTION OF PROGRAM FROM SEQUESTRA- 8 TION.—Section 255(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 9 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(h)) is 10 amended by inserting after the item relating to ‘‘Supple- 11 mental Security Income Program (28–0406–0–1–609).’’ 12 the following new item: 13 ‘‘TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of 14 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 15 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 16 section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under 17 the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 18 of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date of 19 enactment of this Act. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:46 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1780.IS S1780 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS