Diversifying by Investing in Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For Youth Act or the Diversify Act
This bill revises the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grant program. The TEACH program awards grants to undergraduate and graduate students who commit to teaching in a high-need field and in an elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students.
First, the bill raises the maximum amount for TEACH grants.
Second, the bill allows TEACH grants to cover the full cost of attendance. Currently, these grants may be used only for tuition, fees, and on-campus housing.
The bill allows teaching in a high-need early childhood education program to count toward service requirements for the program.
Next, the bill eliminates the process for converting a TEACH grant to a loan if a recipient does not complete the requirements of the program. Further, the bill prohibits the Department of Education (ED) from instituting or creating a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service requirement.
In addition, the bill requires ED to send an electronic certificate to grant recipients who have completed their service requirement.
The bill also exempts the TEACH program from sequestration, which is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3393 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3393
To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a
well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 20, 2021
Mr. Garcia of Illinois (for himself, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Bishop of Georgia,
Mr. Panetta, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Smith of
Washington, Mr. Soto, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Pressley, Mr.
Blumenauer, Mrs. McBath, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Brown, Mr. Moulton, Mr.
Sires, Ms. Meng, Mr. Trone, Ms. Bush, Ms. Titus, Mr. Torres of New
York, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms.
Chu, Mr. Welch, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Auchincloss, Ms.
Blunt Rochester, Mr. Khanna, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a
well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, 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 ``Diversifying by Investing in
Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For Youth Act'' or the
``Diversify Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Schools predominantly enrolling historically
underserved students are often disproportionately impacted by
teacher shortages.
(2) According to Department of Education data for the 2020-
2021 school year, to date 43 States are reporting shortages in
mathematics teachers, 42 in science teachers, and 44 in special
education teachers.
(3) Data shows that, between 2009 and 2017, teacher
education enrollments dropped from 691,000 to 444,000, a 38-
percent reduction. This amounts to a decrease of about 340,000
professionals on their way to becoming teachers in the year
2017, as compared to 2009.
(4) Current data show that the impacts of COVID-19 may be
further exacerbating student access to well-prepared and
diverse teachers through declining higher education enrollments
and potential increased turnover due to pandemic teaching
conditions, among other factors.
(5) About 80 percent of educators begin teaching with a
bachelor's degree, yet the latest Federal data show a nearly 6-
percent decline in undergraduate enrollment in the Spring of
2021. Enrollment declines have inequitably impacted students of
color.
(6) In an August 2020 Census Bureau survey, respondents
cited their inability to pay as a factor in their decision to
forgo college.
(7) Research suggests that service scholarship programs
like the TEACH Grant Program are successful when they are both
administratively manageable and when subsidies are large enough
to substantially offset training costs. Efforts to increase the
TEACH Grant award amount must be combined with efforts to
ensure that the program is administratively manageable. In
order for the TEACH Grant Program to meet its full potential,
the research is clear that both criteria need to be addressed.
(8) The TEACH Grant's award amount has not increased since
its creation in the bipartisan College Cost Reduction and
Access Act (Public Law 110-84). In addition, due to the Budget
Control Act of 2011 (Public Law 112-25), the maximum amount of
grant aid available under the TEACH Grant Program of $4,000 a
year has been cut for a majority of the program's existence.
This comes at a time when the yearly full cost of a public 4-
year college for an in-State student exceeds $20,000. Further,
more than two-thirds of individuals entering the field of
education borrow money to pay for their higher education,
resulting in an average debt of about $20,000 for those with a
bachelor's degree and $50,000 for those with a master's degree.
(9) Grant programs can eliminate or reduce the need to
borrow student loans in order to afford a college education.
This is important because a college student's potential debt
burden influences the student's decisions about what profession
to enter, with the result that the student is less likely to
pursue a career in education or take other low-paying jobs
after graduation if the student expects to incur more debt.
This is especially true for students of color, who, according
to a recent report, are more likely to come from families that
are unable to contribute financially to their higher education.
(10) Students with disabilities, including students of
color with disabilities, are also likely to accrue significant
student loan debt. This often results from limited ability to
work while in school due to the increased time needed for
coursework.
(11) Teachers of color face unique barriers to entering and
staying in the profession. For example, teachers of color are
more likely to enter teaching through alternative pathways due
to the high cost of traditional teacher preparation programs
and the debt burden faced by college students of color. Lower
quality pathways can result in less effective teaching and high
turnover rates. Research shows that candidates who receive
comprehensive preparation are 2 to 3 times more likely to stay
in teaching than those who receive little training. In many
cases, however, teachers of color are more likely to begin
teaching without having completed comprehensive preparation and
entering instead through alternative routes that often skip
student teaching and key coursework, leaving teachers to learn
on the job.
(12) Research shows that recruiting and retaining a diverse
teacher workforce is key to improving outcomes for all students
and for closing achievement gaps. While White students also
benefit by learning from teachers of color, the impact is
especially significant for students of color, who have higher
test scores, are more likely to graduate from high school, and
more likely to succeed in college when they have had teachers
of color who serve as role models and support their attachment
to school and learning.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE TEACH GRANTS PROGRAM UNDER THE HIGHER
EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.
Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 420L(1), by inserting ``(except that such
term does not include an institution described in subsection
(a)(1)(A) of section 102)'' after ``102'';
(2) in section 420M--
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ``$4,000''
and inserting ``$8,000'';
(B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the second
and third sentences and inserting the following: ``Any
disbursement allowed to be made by crediting the
teacher candidate's account shall be used for the full
cost of attendance (as defined in section 472).''; and
(C) in subsection (d)--
(i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking
``$16,000'' and inserting ``$32,000''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking
``$8,000'' and inserting ``$16,000''; and
(3) in section 420N--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3);
(ii) by striking ``an agreement'' and all
that follows through ``the applicant will'' and
inserting ``an agreement by the applicant that
the applicant will'';
(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
through (E) as paragraphs (1) through (5),
respectively, and moving the margins of such
paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the
left;
(iv) by redesignating clauses (i) through
(vii) as subparagraphs (A) through (G),
respectively, and moving the margins of such
subparagraphs (as so redesignated) 2 ems to the
left;
(v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by
clause (iii), by striking ``teach in a school
described in section 465(a)(2)(A)'' and
inserting ``teach in a school described in
section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high-need
early childhood education program (defined in
section 200(9))''; and
(vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by
clause (iii)--
(I) in subparagraph (F), as
redesignated by clause (iv), by
striking ``or'' after the semicolon;
(II) in subparagraph (G), as
redesignated by clause (iv), by
inserting ``or'' after the semicolon;
and
(III) by adding at the end the
following:
``(H) early childhood education;''; and
(B) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the
following:
``(c) Certificate.--Upon the completion of the service requirement
in subsection (b), the Secretary shall send to the recipient of a grant
under this subpart an electronic certificate documenting the completion
of such service.'';
(C) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection
(e);
(D) by inserting after subsection (c) the
following:
``(d) Prohibition.--The Secretary may not institute or create a
monetary penalty for failure or refusal to complete the service
requirement under subsection (b).''; and
(E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by
subparagraph (C)--
(i) by striking ``subsection
(b)(1)(C)(vii)'' and inserting ``subsection
(b)(3)(G)''; and
(ii) by striking ``subsection (b)(1)'' and
inserting ``subsection (b)''.
SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND DEFICIT CONTROL ACT.
(a) Exemption of Program From Sequestration.--Section 255(h) of the
Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C.
905(h)) is amended by inserting after the item relating to
``Supplemental Security Income Program (28-0406-0-1-609).'' the
following new item:
``TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965.''.
(b) Applicability.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to any sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line