Teacher Health and Wellness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4221 To require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to carry out a study to add to the scientific knowledge on reducing teacher stress and increasing teacher retention and well-being, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 30, 2019 Mr. RYAN (for himself and Mr. BOST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Director of the National Institutes of Health to carry out a study to add to the scientific knowledge on reducing teacher stress and increasing teacher reten- tion and well-being, 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 ‘‘Teacher Health and 4 Wellness Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4221 IH (1) High levels of stress are adversely affecting 1 teachers’ health. Teachers with high levels of stress 2 are less effective in raising student achievement than 3 their healthier peers. 4 (2) Elementary school teachers who have great- 5 er stress and show more symptoms of depression 6 create classroom environments that are less condu- 7 cive to learning. 8 (3) Stress is contributing to the high turnover 9 rate among teachers, which causes instability for 10 students and communities. This leads to higher costs 11 for school districts to train new teachers and hinders 12 students’ academic success. 13 (4) School organization, low job autonomy, and 14 a lack of ability to access teacher leadership oppor- 15 tunities are main sources of teacher stress. If teach- 16 ers are unable to manage their stress levels, this 17 leads to lower level teacher instruction, which then 18 impacts student well-being. 19 (5) High teacher turnover brings down stu- 20 dents’ math and language arts scores. 21 (6) According to a 2014 Gallup survey, 46 per- 22 cent of teachers experience high daily stress during 23 the school year. This percentage is tied for the high- 24 est rate of high daily stress among occupations and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4221 IH is a significant increase from teacher stress levels in 1 1985. 2 SEC. 3. STUDY ON REDUCING TEACHER STRESS AND IN- 3 CREASING TEACHER RETENTION AND WELL- 4 BEING. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In- 6 stitutes of Health shall carry out a five-year study on re- 7 ducing teacher stress and increasing teacher retention and 8 well-being by implementing and analyzing the results of 9 any of the following programs: 10 (1) Workplace wellness programs that are de- 11 signed to improve teacher health, attendance, and 12 engagement. 13 (2) Social emotional learning programs that 14 help teachers improve student engagement in the 15 classroom. 16 (3) Teacher stress management programs that 17 improve teacher performance. 18 (4) Mentoring and induction programs during 19 the school year and teacher pre-service programs 20 that improve teacher well-being. 21 (5) Organizational interventions, such as prin- 22 cipal training programs, that reduce stress through 23 supervisor/peer support and increased opportunities 24 for teachers to participate in professional learning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4221 IH communities, teacher leadership positions, and deci- 1 sion making regarding school interventions and man- 2 agement. 3 (6) Teacher residency programs that provide 4 mental health and psychological support. 5 (7) Complementary health approaches, such as 6 mindfulness meditation, that improve teacher per- 7 formance. 8 (8) School reorganization that creates the con- 9 ditions to facilitate the transmission and sharing of 10 knowledge among teachers. 11 (9) Other innovative evidence-based approaches 12 that reduce stress and increase well-being in the 13 teaching profession, which may include increased 14 compensation. 15 (b) REPORT.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 17 after the end of the study carried out under sub- 18 section (a), the Director shall submit to the Com- 19 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 20 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu- 21 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 22 including— 23 (A) the results of the study carried out 24 under subsection (a); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4221 IH (B) recommendations for— 1 (i) decreasing teacher stress and in- 2 creasing teacher retention and well-being; 3 and 4 (ii) lowering stress-related health care 5 costs for teachers. 6 (2) AVAILABILITY.—The Director shall make 7 publicly available the report submitted under para- 8 graph (1). 9 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 (1) COMPLEMENTARY HEALTH APPROACH.— 11 The term ‘‘complementary health approach’’ includes 12 integrative health care, adjunctive health care, and 13 functional medicine. 14 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 15 the Director of the National Institutes of Health. 16 (d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No ad- 17 ditional funds are authorized to carry out the require- 18 ments of this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out 19 using amounts otherwise authorized. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4221.IH H4221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS