Federal

SPELL Act

Source: Congress.gov · 989 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes federal laws to add English learner teachers and bilingual or dual language immersion teachers to a program that forgives student loans for teachers. The bill adds these teacher types to two existing loan programs for teachers who work in certain fields.

Who It Affects

Elementary and secondary school teachers who teach English learners, bilingual students or dual language immersion students. School principals and chief administrative officers of schools and educational service agencies (organizations that provide education support services).

Key Provisions

• Teachers of English learners and teachers of bilingual or dual language immersion students become eligible for loan forgiveness under the teacher loan forgiveness program, but only if their school's principal certifies they are teaching English learners or bilingual or dual language immersion students that match their training and that they have demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills in the content areas they teach (Sec. 2(a)) • Teachers of English learners and teachers of bilingual or dual language immersion students become eligible for loan cancellation under the teacher loan cancellation program, with the same certification requirements from school principals (Sec. 2(b)) • The changes apply to people who become eligible for teacher loan forgiveness or loan cancellation after the law takes effect (Sec. 3)

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, teachers who teach English learners or teach bilingual or dual language immersion classes will be able to receive loan forgiveness or loan cancellation. Previously, these teachers were not specifically listed as eligible for these programs.

Important Definitions

The bill references the definition of "English learners" from another law but does not define this term itself within this bill text.

Effective Date

On the date the law is enacted (Sec. 3)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 460 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide additional amounts of loan forgiveness to teachers of English learners and teachers of bilin- gual and dual language immersion students, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 24, 2023 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CARSON, Ms. CROCKETT, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. EVANS, and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide additional amounts of loan forgiveness to teachers of English learners and teachers of bilingual and dual lan- guage immersion students, 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 ‘‘Supporting Providers 4 of English Language Learning Act’’ or the ‘‘SPELL Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H460.IH H460 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 460 IH SEC. 2. TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS, BILINGUAL, 1 AND DUAL LANGAGE STUDENTS. 2 (a) LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS.—Section 3 428J(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1078–10(c)(3)) is amended— 5 (1) in the paragraph heading by striking 6 ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, OR SPECIAL EDUCATION’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, SPECIAL 8 EDUCATION, OR ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION’’; 9 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ 10 at the end; 11 (3) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking the pe- 12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (4) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 15 school teacher— 16 ‘‘(i) who meets the requirements of 17 subsection (b); 18 ‘‘(ii) whose qualifying employment for 19 purposes of such subsection is— 20 ‘‘(I) as a teacher of English 21 learners (as that term is defined in 22 section 8101 of the Elementary and 23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 24 U.S.C. 7801)) whose primary respon- 25 sibility is to teach such learners; or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H460.IH H460 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 460 IH ‘‘(II) as a bilingual or dual lan- 1 guage immersion teacher; and 2 ‘‘(iii) who, as certified by the chief ad- 3 ministrative officer of the public or non- 4 profit private elementary school or sec- 5 ondary school in which the borrower is em- 6 ployed, or, in the case of a teacher who is 7 employed by an educational service agency, 8 as certified by the chief administrative offi- 9 cer of such agency— 10 ‘‘(I) is teaching English learners 11 or bilingual or dual language immer- 12 sion students who correspond with the 13 borrower’s training; and 14 ‘‘(II) has demonstrated knowl- 15 edge and teaching skills in the content 16 areas of the elementary school or sec- 17 ondary school curriculum that the 18 borrower is teaching.’’. 19 (b) LOAN CANCELLATION FOR TEACHERS.—Section 20 460(c)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 21 1087j(c)(3)) is amended— 22 (1) in the paragraph heading by striking 23 ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, OR SPECIAL EDUCATION’’ 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H460.IH H460 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 460 IH and inserting ‘‘MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, SPECIAL 1 EDUCATION, OR ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION’’; 2 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ 3 at the end; 4 (3) in subparagraph (B)(iii) by striking the pe- 5 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 6 (4) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(C) an elementary school or secondary 8 school teacher— 9 ‘‘(i) who meets the requirements of 10 subsection (b); 11 ‘‘(ii) whose qualifying employment for 12 purposes of such subsection is— 13 ‘‘(I) as a teacher of English 14 learners (as that term is defined in 15 section 8101 of the Elementary and 16 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 17 U.S.C. 7801)) whose primary respon- 18 sibility is to teach such learners; or 19 ‘‘(II) as a bilingual or dual lan- 20 guage immersion teacher; and 21 ‘‘(iii) who, as certified by the chief ad- 22 ministrative officer of the public or non- 23 profit private elementary school or sec- 24 ondary school in which the borrower is em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H460.IH H460 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 460 IH ployed, or, in the case of a teacher who is 1 employed by an educational service agency, 2 as certified by the chief administrative offi- 3 cer of such agency— 4 ‘‘(I) is teaching English learners 5 or bilingual or dual language immer- 6 sion students who correspond with the 7 borrower’s training; and 8 ‘‘(II) has demonstrated knowl- 9 edge and teaching skills in the content 10 areas of the elementary school or sec- 11 ondary school curriculum that the 12 borrower is teaching.’’. 13 SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 14 The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect 15 on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply 16 with respect to individuals who are eligible to receive 17 teacher loan forgiveness under section 428J of the Higher 18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) or teacher 19 loan cancellation under section 460 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 20 1087j) after such date. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:48 Feb 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H460.IH H460 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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