To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive demonstration grant program to provide funds for local educational agencies to experiment with ways to alleviate the substitute teacher shortage, and for other purposes.

September 4, 2003

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FROST, and Mr. SKELTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive demonstration grant program to provide funds for local educational agencies to experiment with ways to alleviate the substitute teacher shortage, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `No Substitute for Quality Teaching Demonstration Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds the following:

(1) Each day about 5 million children walk into 274,000 classrooms nationwide and find a substitute teacher. Students will spend the equivalent of one full year with a substitute teacher before they graduate from high school.

(2) Virtually every State in the country is facing a substitute teacher shortage, a problem that has been exacerbated by increased demand for professional development opportunities for teachers, including the professional development requirements included in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

(3) In 73 percent of school districts, there is an immediate, urgent need for substitute teachers.

(4) Nationwide, substitute teacher salaries average only $65 per day. In rural areas, rates are often as low as $40. Rarely do substitutes receive benefits.

(5) This shortage is likely to grow to a crisis level within the next 10 years, as an acute shortage of substitute teachers develops because an unprecedented number of children will enter our schools.

(6) The substitute teacher shortage has lead schools to relax their requirements and hire substitute teachers that are often underqualified. In all but one State, substitute teachers need no teaching certification.

(7) In 28 States, principals may hire anyone with a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma (GED) who is age 18 years or older.

(8) Nearly 12 percent of districts do not require substitute teachers to fill out a job application.

(9) Over half (56 percent) of school districts never have a face-to-face interview with potential substitutes.

(10) In 30 percent of all school districts, no background checks are conducted on applicants for substitute teaching positions, and only half the districts check applicants' references.

(11) Poorly trained substitute teachers have a negative impact on student academic performance.

(12) States with lower academic achievement are twice as likely to allow less qualified substitutes in the classroom. Nine out of the ten lowest-ranked States in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing allowed substitute teachers with only a high school diploma to teach in their schools. In each of those States, education spending is thousands of dollars below the national average.

(13) Of the top 25 States in education spending, 9 require at least a college degree for substitute teachers.

(14) In 77 percent of school districts across the country, substitute teachers are given no training at all.

(15) Alleviating the substitute teacher crisis would free up precious time for other teachers to spend in professional development programs.

SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of Education shall establish a competitive demonstration grant program to provide grants for a single academic year directly to not fewer than 50 nor more than 100 local educational agencies (as that term is defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965), or to regional consortia of such agencies acting together, that vary geographically and socioeconomically, to enable such agencies or consortia to experiment with ways to alleviate the substitute teacher shortage described in section 2.

SEC. 4. SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.

In selecting grant recipients under section 3, the Secretary of Education shall select applicants that, collectively, will explore a range of options for addressing the substitute teacher shortage, such as--

(1) developing a public relations campaign targeted at likely substitute teacher candidates (such as retired teachers);

(2) establishing permanent substitute teacher pools;

(3) addressing issues that hinder the ability of administrators to find qualified substitute teachers; or

(4) increasing the availability of content and skills training for substitute teachers.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

Not later than 1 year after the date the last grant made under section 3 expires, the Secretary of Education shall submit a report to the Congress describing the findings and results of the demonstration program under this Act, including--

(1) the programs or methods that best alleviated the substitute teacher shortage, and where those programs or methods worked best; and

(2) the impact of economic conditions on the quality and availability of substitute teachers.

SEC. 6. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.

The Secretary of Education may prescribe rules to carry out this Act.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.

END