BETTER TEACH Grants Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4578 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make improvements to the TEACH Grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Mrs. HAYES, and Mr. TAKANO) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make im- provements to the TEACH Grant program, 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 ‘‘Build Effective Teach- 4 ers Through Essential Reforms to Teacher Education As- 5 sistance for College and Higher Education Grants Act of 6 2019’’ or the ‘‘BETTER TEACH Grants Act of 2019’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4578 IH SEC. 2. REVISED DEFINITIONS OF TEACH GRANTS. 1 Section 420L of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1070g) is amended by adding at the end the 3 following: 4 ‘‘(4) TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM.—The 5 term ‘teacher preparation program’— 6 ‘‘(A) means a State-approved course of 7 study provided by an institution of higher edu- 8 cation, the completion of which signifies that an 9 enrollee has met all the State’s educational or 10 training requirements for initial certification or 11 licensure to teach in the State’s elementary 12 schools or secondary schools; and 13 ‘‘(B) may be a regular program or an al- 14 ternative route to certification, as defined by 15 the State that approved such course of study.’’. 16 SEC. 3. REVISIONS TO ESTABLISHING TEACH GRANT PRO- 17 GRAM. 18 Section 420M of the Higher Education Act of 1965 19 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–1) is amended— 20 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘in the 21 amount of’’ and all that follows through the period 22 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘in the 23 amount of— 24 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subsection 25 (d)(4), $8,000 dollars, to be available to a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4578 IH teacher candidate who is enrolled as an under- 1 graduate junior at the eligible institution; 2 ‘‘(B) except as provided in subsection 3 (d)(4), $8,000 dollars, to be available to a 4 teacher candidate who is enrolled as an under- 5 graduate senior at the eligible institution; and 6 ‘‘(C) $4,000 for any year not described in 7 subparagraph (A) or (B) during which that 8 teacher candidate is in attendance at the insti- 9 tution.’’; and 10 (2) in subsection (d)— 11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘under- 12 graduate’’ and inserting ‘‘associate, under- 13 graduate,’’; and 14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(4) ASSOCIATE DEGREE STUDENTS.— 16 ‘‘(A) MAXIMUM AMOUNT FOR ASSOCIATE 17 DEGREE STUDY.—The period during which an 18 associate degree student may receive grants 19 under this subpart shall be the period required 20 for the completion of an associate’s degree 21 course of study pursued by the teacher can- 22 didate at the eligible institution at which the 23 teacher candidate is in attendance, except that 24 the total amount that a teacher candidate may 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4578 IH receive under this subpart for an associate’s de- 1 gree course of study shall not exceed $8,000. 2 ‘‘(B) EFFECT ON FURTHER UNDER- 3 GRADUATE OR POST-BACCALAUREATE STUDY.— 4 In the case of a teacher candidate who receives 5 a grant under this subpart for an associate’s 6 degree course of study and who seeks to receive 7 a grant described in subparagraph (A) or (B) 8 of subsection (a)(1), the amount of such grant 9 shall be equal to— 10 ‘‘(i) one half of the amount that is 11 equal to $16,000, minus the amount the 12 teacher candidate received under this sub- 13 part for the associate’s degree course of 14 study of such candidate, to be available to 15 a teacher candidate who is enrolled as an 16 undergraduate junior at the eligible insti- 17 tution; and 18 ‘‘(ii) one half of the amount that is 19 equal to $16,000, minus the amount the 20 teacher candidate received under this sub- 21 part for the associate’s degree course of 22 study of such candidate, to be available to 23 a teacher candidate who is enrolled as an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4578 IH undergraduate senior at the eligible insti- 1 tution.’’. 2 SEC. 4. REVISIONS TO TEACH GRANT APPLICATIONS AND 3 ELIGIBILITY. 4 Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 5 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a)— 7 (A) in the heading of paragraph (2), by 8 striking ‘‘DEMONSTRATION OF TEACH’’ and in- 9 sert ‘‘TEACH’’; 10 (B) in paragraphs (2)(B)(i), by striking 11 ‘‘or another high-need’’ and inserting ‘‘early 12 childhood education, or another high-need’’; and 13 (C) in paragraph (2)(B)(ii), by striking ‘‘, 14 such as Teach for America,’’; 15 (2) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 18 before the semicolon at the end the fol- 19 lowing: ‘‘or in a high-need early childhood 20 education program (as defined in section 21 200(15));’’; 22 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 23 (I) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of 24 clause (vi); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4578 IH (II) by redesignating clause (vii) 1 as clause (viii); 2 (III) by inserting after clause 3 (vi), as so amended, the following: 4 ‘‘(vii) early childhood education; or’’; 5 and 6 (IV) in clause (viii), as so redes- 7 ignated, by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end; 8 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 10 (iv) by striking subparagraph (E); 11 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 12 graph (2); 13 (C) by striking the period at the end of 14 paragraph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 15 (D) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(4) the Secretary will— 17 ‘‘(A) notify, or ensure that the applicable 18 loan servicer will notify, the applicant of— 19 ‘‘(i) the date on which submission of 20 the certification under paragraph (1)(D) is 21 required; and 22 ‘‘(ii) any failure to submit such cer- 23 tification; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4578 IH ‘‘(B) allow employers and borrowers to use 1 electronic signatures to certify such employ- 2 ment.’’; 3 (3) in subsection (c)— 4 (A) by striking ‘‘In the event’’ and insert- 5 ing the following: 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 7 in the event’’; and 8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION.— 10 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—Paragraph (1) may 11 only apply with respect to a recipient of a grant 12 under this subpart if— 13 ‘‘(i) after completing the course of 14 study for which the recipient received the 15 grant, such recipient does not serve as a 16 full-time teacher as required under sub- 17 section (b)(1) for at least— 18 ‘‘(I) 1 year, as certified under 19 subsection (b)(1)(D) on a date that is 20 not later than 5 years after the date 21 such course of study was completed; 22 ‘‘(II) 2 years, as certified under 23 subsection (b)(1)(D) on a date that is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4578 IH not later than 6 years after the date 1 such course of study was completed; 2 ‘‘(III) 3 years, as certified under 3 subsection (b)(1)(D) on a date that is 4 not later than 7 years after the date 5 such course of study was completed; 6 or 7 ‘‘(IV) 4 years, as certified under 8 subsection (b)(1)(D) on a date that is 9 not later than 8 years after the date 10 such course of study was completed; 11 or 12 ‘‘(ii) the recipient elects to have such 13 grant treated as a loan in accordance with 14 such paragraph (1). 15 ‘‘(B) APPEAL.—A recipient of a grant may 16 appeal a decision to convert a loan under para- 17 graph (1).’’; and 18 (4) in subsection (d)— 19 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 20 paragraph (5); 21 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 22 section (b)(1)(C)(vii)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 23 section (b)(1)(C)(viii)’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4578 IH (C) by inserting after paragraph (1), the 1 following: 2 ‘‘(2) CHANGE OF SCHOOL DESCRIPTION OR 3 PROGRAM DEFINITION.—If a recipient of an initial 4 grant under this subpart teaches in a school or an 5 early childhood education program for an academic 6 year during which the school is identified as a school 7 described in section 465(a)(2)(A) or a program that 8 meets the definition of section 200(15), but the 9 school or program no longer meets such description 10 or definition during a subsequent academic year, the 11 grant recipient may fulfill the service obligation de- 12 scribed in subsection (b)(1) by continuing to teach 13 at that school or program. 14 ‘‘(3) CHANGE OF TEACHER DUTIES OR ASSIGN- 15 MENT.—If a recipient of an initial grant under this 16 subpart teaches as a full-time teacher described in 17 subsection (b)(1)(A), but the recipient no longer 18 meets such description during a subsequent aca- 19 demic year due to switching academic roles to that 20 of a full-time co-teacher, teacher leader, instruc- 21 tional or academic coach, department chairperson, 22 special education case manager, guidance counselor, 23 or school administrator within a school or program, 24 the grant recipient may fulfill the service obligation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4578 IH described in subsection (b)(1) by continuing to work 1 in any such academic role on a full-time basis at 2 that school or program. 3 ‘‘(4) CHANGE IN HIGH-NEED FIELD STATUS.— 4 If a recipient of an initial grant under this subpart 5 teaches in a field at a school or an early childhood 6 education program for an academic year during 7 which the field is designated under subsection 8 (b)(1)(C)(viii), but the field no longer is so des- 9 ignated during a subsequent academic year, the 10 grant recipient may fulfill the service obligation de- 11 scribed in subsection (b)(1) by continuing to teach 12 in such field at such school or early childhood edu- 13 cation program.’’. 14 SEC. 5. REVISIONS TO TEACH GRANT DATA COLLECTION 15 AND REPORTING. 16 Section 420P of the Higher Education Act of 1965 17 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–4) is amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘SEC. 420P. DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING. 19 ‘‘(a) DATA COLLECTION.— 20 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATE STUDENT DATA.—On an an- 21 nual basis, the Secretary shall determine, 22 disaggregate in accordance with paragraph (2), and 23 make available to the public in accordance with 24 paragraph (3), with respect to each institution (and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4578 IH each category of institution listed in section 132(d)) 1 that received a payment under this subpart in the 2 previous academic year, the following information: 3 ‘‘(A) The number and mean dollar amount 4 of TEACH Grants awarded to students at the 5 institution. 6 ‘‘(B) The number and proportion of 7 TEACH Grant recipients who exit their pro- 8 gram of study before completing the program. 9 ‘‘(C) The number and proportion of 10 TEACH Grant recipients who complete their 11 program of study and begin employment as a 12 teacher in the first academic year following the 13 year of such completion. 14 ‘‘(D) The number and proportion of indi- 15 viduals employed as teachers who received a 16 TEACH Grant and whose TEACH Grants are 17 converted into loans during the 8-year period 18 following the year in which the recipient com- 19 pleted the recipient’s program of study, set 20 forth separately for each year in such period. 21 ‘‘(E) The number and proportion of 22 TEACH Grant recipients who fulfill the terms 23 of their agreement to serve under section 24 420N(b) during the 8-year period following the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4578 IH year in which the recipient completed the recipi- 1 ent’s program of study, set forth separately for 2 each year in such period. 3 ‘‘(2) DISAGGREGATION.—The information de- 4 termined under paragraph (1)— 5 ‘‘(A) except in cases in which such 6 disaggregation would reveal personally identifi- 7 able information about an individual student, 8 shall be disaggregated by— 9 ‘‘(i) race; 10 ‘‘(ii) gender; 11 ‘‘(iii) socioeconomic status; 12 ‘‘(iv) Federal Pell Grant eligibility 13 status; 14 ‘‘(v) status as a first-generation col- 15 lege student (as defined in section 16 402A(h)); 17 ‘‘(vi) veteran or active duty status; 18 ‘‘(vii) disability status; 19 ‘‘(viii) level of study (associate, under- 20 graduate, postbaccalaureate, or graduate, 21 as applicable); 22 ‘‘(ix) year of study (junior or senior 23 year, as applicable); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 Oct 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4578.IH H4578 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 4578 IH ‘‘(x) each teacher preparation pro- 1 gram offered by an institution; and 2 ‘‘(B) may be disaggregated by any com- 3 bination of subgroups or descriptions described 4 in subparagraph (A). 5 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The information 6 determined under paragraph (1) shall— 7 ‘‘(A) remain available to the public for a 8 period of not less than 10 years after its initial 9 release by the Secretary; and 10 ‘‘(B) be updated as necessary to reflect the 11 most accurate and up-to-date information for 12 each institution for each year of data collection. 13 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION FROM INSTITUTIONS.—Each in- 14 stitution that receives a payment under this subpart shall 15 provide to the Secretary, on an annual basis, such infor- 16 mation as may be necessary for the Secretary to carry out 17 subsectio [Text truncated for display. 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