Defense Community Teacher Support Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4053 To provide Federal student loan relief for teachers who work in a military impacted community. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 22, 2021 Mr. JACKSON (for himself, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. LAMBORN, and Ms. STRICK- LAND) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide Federal student loan relief for teachers who work in a military impacted community. 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 ‘‘Defense Community 4 Teacher Support Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS IN MILITARY 6 IMPACTED COMMUNITIES. 7 (a) FFEL LOANS.—Section 428J of the Higher Edu- 8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4053 IH (A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘in a school’’; 1 (B) by striking ‘‘locations; and’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘locations; or’’; and 3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(ii) in a school in a military impacted 5 community; and’’; 6 (2) in subsection (c)(3)— 7 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 8 ‘‘OR SERVING MILITARY IMPACTED COMMU- 9 NITIES’’ after ‘‘EDUCATION’’; 10 (B) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 11 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 12 (C) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 13 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 14 and 15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 17 school teacher employed in a school in a mili- 18 tary impacted community.’’; 19 (3) in subsection (g)— 20 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 21 ‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(4) MILITARY CONNECTED TEACHERS.—In the 24 case of an elementary school or secondary school 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4053 IH teacher who is employed in a school in a military im- 1 pacted community, is the spouse of a member of the 2 armed forces, and is required to move as a result of 3 the spouse’s permanent change of station, the teach- 4 er may meet the 5-year teaching requirement of this 5 section by teaching in multiple elementary schools or 6 secondary schools in different military impacted 7 communities.’’; and 8 (4) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘DEFINI- 9 TION.—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘the term’’ 10 and inserting the following: ‘‘DEFINITIONS.—For 11 purposes of this section: 12 ‘‘(1) MILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENT.—The 13 term ‘military dependent student’ means a student 14 described in subparagraph (B) or (D)(i) of section 15 7003(a)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)). 17 ‘‘(2) MILITARY IMPACTED COMMUNITY.—The 18 term ‘military impacted community’, when used with 19 respect to a school, means a school served by a local 20 educational agency for which not less than 20 per- 21 cent (as rounded to the nearest whole percent) of 22 the students in average daily attendance in all 23 schools served by the local educational agency during 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4053 IH the preceding school year were military dependent 1 students for such year. 2 ‘‘(3) YEAR.—The term’’. 3 (b) FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.—Section 460 of the 4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j) is 5 amended— 6 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 7 (A) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ before ‘‘in a school’’; 8 (B) by striking ‘‘locations; and’’ and in- 9 serting ‘‘locations; or’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(ii) in a school in a military impacted 12 community; and’’; 13 (2) in subsection (c)(3)— 14 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 15 ‘‘OR SERVING MILITARY IMPACTED COMMU- 16 NITIES’’ after ‘‘EDUCATION’’; 17 (B) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 18 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 19 (C) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 20 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 21 and 22 (D) by adding at the end the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4053 IH ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 1 school teacher employed in a school in a mili- 2 tary impacted community.’’; 3 (3) in subsection (g)— 4 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking 5 ‘‘(b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)(1)(A)(i)’’; and 6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(4) MILITARY CONNECTED TEACHERS.—In the 8 case of an elementary school or secondary school 9 teacher who is employed in a school in a military im- 10 pacted community, is the spouse of a member of the 11 armed forces, and is required to move as a result of 12 the spouse’s permanent change of station, the teach- 13 er may meet the 5-year teaching requirement of this 14 section by teaching in multiple elementary schools or 15 secondary schools in different military impacted 16 communities.’’; and 17 (4) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘DEFINI- 18 TION.—’’ and all that follows through ‘‘the term’’ 19 and inserting the following: ‘‘DEFINITIONS.—For 20 purposes of this section: 21 ‘‘(1) MILITARY DEPENDENT STUDENT.—The 22 term ‘military dependent student’ means a student 23 described in subparagraph (B) or (D)(i) of section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4053 IH 7003(a)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7703(a)(1)). 2 ‘‘(2) MILITARY IMPACTED COMMUNITY.—The 3 term ‘military impacted community’, when used with 4 respect to a school, means a school served by a local 5 educational agency for which not less than 20 per- 6 cent (as rounded to the nearest whole percent) of 7 the students in average daily attendance in all 8 schools served by the local educational agency during 9 the preceding school year were military dependent 10 students for such year. 11 ‘‘(3) YEAR.—The term’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jul 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4053.IH H4053 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS