Miller and Kennedy Introduce TEACH Act

On Tuesday, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced H.R. 2204 and its companion S.1339, the Teacher Excellence for All Children (TEACH) Act. The $3.4 billion bill is designed to improve recruitment, preparation, distribution and retention of public elementary and secondary school teachers and principals.


The bill serves four major functions. First, it addresses the recruitment of excellent teachers by providing institutions of higher education incentives to recruit teachers among students majoring in math, science, foreign languages, special education and English language learners and by providing aspiring teachers with tuition and loan support.

Second, the bill would assure that high poverty students have equitable access to quality teachers by providing local educational agencies the funding to distribute annual bonuses for exemplary teachers and by assuring equitable distribution of excellent teachers by making ESEA funding contingent on meeting the law’s teacher equity provisions.

Third, the bill would reward teacher quality by using robust data systems to recognize exceptional teachers, by funding the establishment of fiscally rewarding career advancement ladders, by requiring schools of education to track the results of their graduates, and by requiring the Secretary of Education to study the validity of teacher certification exams.

Finally, it would try to reduce professional turnover by developing teacher induction programs, peer mentoring and review programs, principal certification and professional development and tax relief for teachers and principles in high needs schools.

What does the bill mean for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)? The chairmen’s introduction of the bills is a clear indication that the Democrats will focus their efforts on teacher quality issues. Yet, this is not new for George Miller who was an original architect of the highly qualified teacher provisions of NCLB. It also provides a framework for debate and legislative language on this topic. Notably, the bill provides a compromise on the pending debate on measuring teacher effectiveness. The Aspen Institute’s Commission on NCLB recommends tying a teacher effectiveness rating to student test scores, but the push-back has been strong because standardized assessments are, currently, blunt instruments and using them to assess teacher quality raises legitimate political and technical concerns. Yet, the Commission and Miller seem to agree that the technical capacity of school instructional management systems will continue to evolve and will, eventually, provide school leaders with powerful analytical tools capable of cross-analyzing teacher quality and student academic progress. How, exactly, that analysis should play out remains in contention, but that it will play out is nearly certain.
Resources:

“Miller, Kennedy Introduce Comprehensive Bill to Promote Excellence in Teaching,” Committee on Education and Labor, May 8, 2007, http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/edlabor_dem/rel050807.html
Author: DAD