Introduction of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today, I rise to introduce the Consider Teachers Act of 2021, which would improve the service obligation verification process for Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program recipients. The Senate passed a version of this bill last Congress, and Senators Mike Braun and Kyrsten Sinema are introducing the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 today.

The TEACH Grant Program was created by the federal government in 2007 to attract the best and brightest to the teaching profession in underserved communities. The TEACH Grant Program provides up to $4,000 a year in grants to students who agree to serve for at least four years as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income families. The obligation to teach four years must be completed within an eight-year period. Those who do not fulfill their service requirement but have been given grants have their grants converted into Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, which must be paid back with interest. These loans cannot revert to grants.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, 66 percent of the grants are converted into loans. Though 21,000 recipients have completed the program without conversion, 94,000 recipients have had their grants converted to loans. Those conversions are often triggered by small paperwork issues, such as submitting the annual form one day late or missing a date or signature.

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released a reconsideration process for recipients who had their grants converted into loans but had either fulfilled, or could still fulfill, their teaching requirements. The Department also turned back the clock to allow teachers who left the TEACH Grant Program once their grants were converted to give them more time to complete their requirements. These changes allowed the Department to lift the debt of 2,300 recipients.

This bill would codify this reconsideration process and mandate that the Department continue to implement it, creating a safeguard from changes in Department leadership. This bill would also outline yearly deadlines and notification requirements to rectify some of the TEACH Grant Program's previous administrative mishaps. Furthermore, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, many recipients have had trouble finding qualifying work. This bill would create a grace period for these individuals by extending the fulfillment period by three years for anyone who was fulfilling their obligations when the coronavirus pandemic began.

This past year has given us all a hard lesson in the invaluable service that teachers and educators provide to our society. As many young students have turned to homeschooling and remote learning, we have all come to appreciate the hard work and incredible talent of our teachers, who foster the mental, physical and emotional growth of our children every day. This bill ensures that that pipeline of talent for the teaching profession remains strong and that we do not unduly burden TEACH Program recipients, who have dedicated themselves to serving our most vulnerable communities.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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