[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5944 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5944
To improve career and technical education by providing improved
educational opportunities and financial assistance for career and
technical educators.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2018
Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve career and technical education by providing improved
educational opportunities and financial assistance for career and
technical educators.
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 ``Skilled Labor Education Act of
2018''.
SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIPS TO PREPARE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
TEACHERS.
Part B of title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1031 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 230, by inserting ``, except subpart 6,''
after ``this part''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subpart:
``Subpart 6--Scholarships to Prepare Career and Technical Education
Teachers.
``SEC. 259. SCHOLARSHIPS TO PREPARE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
TEACHERS.
``(a) Grants by Secretary.--
``(1) Authorization.--The Secretary is authorized to award
grants to eligible institutions to enable such institutions to
make scholarship awards to qualified teacher candidates in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
``(2) Designation.--A scholarship under this section--
``(A) for a teacher candidate pursuing a
baccalaureate or master's degree in education shall be
known as a `Career and Technical Educator Scholarship'
or a `CTE Scholarship'; and
``(B) for a teacher candidate pursuing an
associate's degree, certification in education, or
industry-recognized certification or licensure, shall
be known as a `Skilled Labor Educator Scholarship' or a
`SLE Scholarship'.
``(3) Considerations.--In awarding grants and contracts
under this subsection the Secretary shall make every effort to
ensure--
``(A) the equitable distribution of scholarship
funds to teacher candidates pursuing baccalaureate
degrees, master's degrees, and associate's degrees or
certifications;
``(B) the equitable participation of public and
private nonprofit institutions of higher education
(including community colleges); and
``(C) the equitable geographic participation of
such institutions.
``(b) Eligible Institutions.--In this section, the term eligible
institution means an institution of higher education, as defined in
section 101 or section 102(c), that--
``(1) offers a program of undergraduate or graduate
education awarding a baccalaureate or master's degree in
education; or
``(2) is a community college that offers a program of
undergraduate education awarding an associate's degree,
certification in education, or industry-recognized
certification or licensure.
``(c) Applications.--An eligible institution that desires a grant
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may reasonably require.
``(d) Types of Scholarships Supported.--
``(1) In general.--An eligible institution that receives a
grant under this section shall use the grant funds to provide
scholarships to qualified teacher candidates who are preparing
to become teachers of qualified career and technical education
courses for secondary school students.
``(2) Types of study.--A scholarship provided under this
section shall support a teacher candidate in pursuing--
``(A) a baccalaureate or master's degree in
education; or
``(B) an associate's degree, certification in
education, or industry-recognized certification or
licensure.
``(e) Scholarship Terms and Conditions.--
``(1) Selection of scholarship recipients.--The Secretary
shall ensure that an eligible institution that receives a grant
under this section--
``(A) shall provide scholarship awards to qualified
teacher candidates who plan to pursue a career teaching
qualified career and technical education courses;
``(B) shall select scholarship recipients from
qualified teacher candidates based on academic merit
and demonstrated financial need; and
``(C) may not provide a scholarship to an otherwise
eligible individual--
``(i) during periods in which such
individual is enrolled at an institution of
higher education unless such individual is
maintaining satisfactory academic progress in,
and devoting full-time study or research to,
the pursuit of the degree or certificate for
which the scholarship support was provided; or
``(ii) if the individual is engaged in
gainful employment, other than part-time
employment related to teaching, research, or a
similar activity determined by the institution
to be consistent with and supportive of the
individuals's progress toward the degree or
certificate for which the scholarship support
was provided.
``(2) Amount of scholarship awards.--An eligible
institution that receives a grant under this section shall
award to each teacher candidate who is provided a scholarship
under this section $5,000 for each academic year of the
scholarship, not to exceed $10,000 in total.
``(3) Scholarship period.--The period for which a teacher
candidate may receive a scholarship under this section shall be
one academic year, and such scholarship may be renewed for one
additional academic year.
``(4) Service requirement.--
``(A) Teaching required.--Upon completion of the
program for which a teacher candidate receives a
scholarship under this section, the teacher candidate
shall, for each year of scholarship support received
under this section, be employed full-time for one year
as a teacher of qualified career and technical
education courses.
``(B) Agreement required.--Prior to receiving an
initial scholarship award, and upon renewal of the
scholarship award, a teacher candidate selected to
receive a scholarship under this section shall sign an
agreement with the Secretary agreeing to--
``(i) promptly obtain the applicable State
certification and licensure requirements,
including any requirements for certification
obtained through alternative routes to
certification, necessary to teach secondary
school students;
``(ii) serve as a full-time teacher of
secondary school students in accordance with
subparagraph (A); and
``(iii) submit evidence of such service in
the form of a certification by the chief
administrative officer of the teacher's
employer upon completion of each year of such
service.
``(C) Institutional obligation.--Each eligible
institution that receives a grant under this section
shall provide--
``(i) to each teacher candidate applying
for a scholarship under this section a plain-
language disclosure form developed by the
Secretary that clearly describes the nature of
the scholarship award, the service obligation,
and the loan repayment requirements that are
the consequence of the failure to complete such
service obligation; and
``(ii) an assurance to the Secretary that
the institution has inquired of and determined
the decision of each teacher candidate who has
received a scholarship to, within 2 years of
completing the program for which a teacher
candidate receives a scholarship under this
section, begin employment as a teacher, as
required by this section.
``(D) Failure to comply.--If an individual who
receives a scholarship award under this section fails
to comply with the agreement signed pursuant to
subparagraph (C), the sum of the amounts of any
scholarship award received by such recipient shall,
upon a determination of such a failure, be treated as a
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D
of title IV, and shall be subject to repayment,
together with interest thereon accruing from the date
of the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and
conditions specified by the Secretary in regulations
under this section.
``(E) Modified service requirement.--The Secretary
may waive or modify the service requirement of this
paragraph in accordance with regulations promulgated by
the Secretary with respect to the criteria to determine
the circumstances under which compliance with such
service requirement is inequitable or represents a
substantial hardship. The Secretary may waive the
service requirement if compliance by the scholarship
recipient is determined to be inequitable or represent
a substantial hardship--
``(i) because the individual is permanently
and totally disabled at the time of the waiver
request;
``(ii) because the individual was unable to
complete the necessary program of study due to
natural disaster; or
``(iii) based on documentation presented to
the Secretary of substantial economic or
personal hardship.
``(5) Qualified educational expenses.--Scholarship funds
available to a teacher candidate under this section may be used
for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for
the completion of the undergraduate baccalaureate or graduate
course of study being pursued by the teacher candidate at the
institution of higher education at which the teacher candidate
is in attendance.
``(6) Relation to other assistance.--Scholarships provided
under this section shall not be considered for the purpose of
awarding Federal grant assistance under title IV, except that
in no case shall the total amount of student financial
assistance awarded to a teacher candidate under this section
and title IV exceed such candidate's total cost of attendance
(as defined in section 472).
``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Community college.--The term `community college' has
the meaning given the term `junior or community college' in
section 312(f).
``(2) Qualified career and technical education courses.--
The term `qualified career and technical education courses'
means courses offered by a secondary school or an area career
and technical education school (as defined in section 3 of the
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006)
that are offered as part of a career and technical education
(as defined in section 3 of such Act).
``(3) Qualified teacher candidate.--The term `qualified
teacher candidate' means an individual who--
``(A) is (or will be) an eligible student for
purposes of section 484;
``(B) has a cumulative grade point average (or the
equivalent as determined under regulations prescribed
by the Secretary) of--
``(i) 3.0, in the case of an individual who
is or was enrolled in a secondary school and
has not yet enrolled in an undergraduate
program of education;
``(ii) 2.5, in the case of an individual
who is or was enrolled in an undergraduate
program of education and has not yet enrolled
in a graduate program of education; or
``(iii) 3.0, in the case of an individual
who is or was enrolled in a graduate program of
education; and
``(C) is (or will be) enrolled full-time at an
eligible institution.
``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2020
and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.''.
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF FEDERAL PERKINS LOANS FOR CERTAIN PART-TIME
PUBLIC SERVICE.
Section 465(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1087ee(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)--
(A) in subparagraph (L), by striking ``or'' at the
end of clause (ii);
(B) in subparagraph (M), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by inserting after subparagraph (M) the
following new subparagraph:
``(N) described in subparagraphs (A) through (M)
that is performed on a part-time basis, as determined
in accordance with paragraph (8), provided that the
individual performing such service is not engaging in
gainful employment other than such eligible part-time
service.'';
(2) in paragraph (3)(A)--
(A) by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (ii);
(B) by striking the period at the end of clause
(iii) and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(iv) in the case of service described in
subparagraph (N) of paragraph (2), at the rate
of 5 percent for the first or second year of
such service, 10 percent for the third or
fourth year of such service, and 15 percent for
the fifth year of such service.''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(8) For the purpose of this section, the term `part-time'
means less than full-time service--
``(A) for at least 20 hours per week for a complete
year; or
``(B) for at least 3 full days per week, or for
partial days equaling at least 3 full days per week,
for a complete year.''.
SEC. 4. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATOR ENHANCEMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT
PROGRAM.
Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161a et
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``PART BB--CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATOR ENHANCEMENT
``SEC. 899. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATOR ENHANCEMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT
PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--From the amounts appropriated under subsection
(h), the Secretary shall award competitive grants to 10 eligible
institutions for the purpose of improving career and technical
education by developing and carrying out programs that provide ongoing
training and professional development to educators who teach career and
technical education courses at the secondary and postsecondary levels.
``(b) Eligible Institutions.--To be eligible to receive a grant
under subsection (a), an institution shall--
``(1) be an institution of higher education as defined in
section 101 or section 102(c); and
``(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an application,
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information
as the Secretary may require.
``(c) Consideration of Applications.--The Secretary shall establish
procedures to ensure that applications under subsection (b)(2) are
rigorously reviewed and that grants are competitively awarded based
on--
``(1) the ability of the applicant to increase the number
of qualified individuals that serve as teachers in career and
technical education programs for secondary and postsecondary
students;
``(2) the ability of the applicant to provide training for
individuals to become career and technical education teachers
and teacher aids at secondary and postsecondary schools;
``(3) the ability of the applicant to provide training to
improve the skills of experienced career and technical
education teachers and teacher aids at secondary and
postsecondary schools; and
``(4) any other consideration the Secretary determines
necessary.
``(d) Use of Funds.--Amounts received under a grant under this
section--
``(1) shall be used by the eligible institution to develop
and operate a training and professional development program
to--
``(A) prepare individuals to become teachers of
career and technical education courses at the secondary
or postsecondary level; and
``(B) enhance the knowledge and skills of
individuals who are employed as teachers of career and
technical education courses at the secondary or
postsecondary level; and
``(2) may be used by the eligible institution to improve
facilities and equipment used to train career and technical
educators, except that the eligible institution shall not use
more than 30 percent of such amounts to carry out this
paragraph.
``(e) Duration of Grant.--A grant under this section shall be for a
period of 5 years.
``(f) Maximum Amount of Grant.--The amount of a grant provided
under this section to an eligible institution may not exceed $100,000
for the period of the grant.
``(g) Definition.--In this section, the term `career and technical
education' has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Carl D.
Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302).
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary
for fiscal year 2020 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years. Amounts
appropriated under this subsection shall remain available until
expended.''.
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