Quality Teachers for All Act

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Parental Rights Title II: Teacher Quality Title III: Academic Achievement Awards Program Quality Teachers for All Act - Title I: Parental Rights - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require any public elementary or secondary school that receives funds under ESEA to provide to the parents of each student enrolled in the school information regarding: (1) the professional qualifications of each of the student's teachers, both generally and with respect to the subject area in which the teacher provides instruction; and (2) the minimum professional qualifications required by the State for teacher certification or licensure. Title II: Teacher Quality - Revises requirements for State plans under ESEA title I (Helping Disadvantaged Students Meet High Standards) part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by State and Local Educational Agencies) to add teacher quality requirements. (Sec. 201) Requires State plans to assure, with respect to schools served under part A, that: (1) no student will be taught for more than one year by an elementary school teacher, or for more than two consecutive years in the same subject by a secondary school teacher, who has not demonstrated the subject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skill necessary to teach effectively in the subject in which the teacher provides instruction; (2) the State provides incentives for teachers in those schools to pursue and achieve advanced teaching and subject area content standards; (3) the State has mechanisms to ensure that local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools served under part A can recruit fully qualified teachers, reward financially those teachers and principals whose students have made significant progress toward high academic performance (such as through performance-based compensation systems and access to ongoing professional development opportunities), and remove expeditiously incompetent or unqualified teachers; (4) the State aggressively helps those schools, particularly in high need areas, recruit and retain fully qualified teachers; (5) during the four years after enactment of this Act, elementary and secondary school teachers in those schools will be at least as well qualified, in terms of experience and credentials, as the instructional staff in schools served by the same local educational agency (LEA) that are not schools served under part A; and (6) any teacher who meets the standards set by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards will be considered fully qualified to teach in those schools in any school district or community in the State. Requires State plans to assure that, within four years after enactment of this Act: (1) all instructional staff who provide services to students, under part A schoolwide programs or targeted assistance schools programs, have demonstrated the subject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skill necessary to teach effectively in the content area or areas in which they provide instruction, according to specified criteria; and (2) part A funds will not be used to support instructional staff who provide such program services to students and for whom State qualification or licensing requirements have been waived or who are teaching under an emergency or other provisional credential. Requires each such member of the instructional staff who teaches elementary school students, at a minimum, to have: (1) State certification (which may be by alternative means) or a State license to teach; and (2) a bachelor's degree and demonstrated subject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skill required to teach effectively in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, science, and other elements of a liberal arts education. Requires each such member of the instructional staff who teaches in middle and secondary schools to have, at a minimum, such State certification or license, and a bachelor's or higher degree, and demonstrate a high level of competence in all subject areas in which the staff member teaches through: (1) achievement of a high level of performance on rigorous academic subject area tests; (2) completion of an academic major (or courses totaling an equivalent number of credit hours) in each of the subject areas in which the staff member provides instruction; or (3) achievement of a high level of performance in relevant subject areas through other professional employment experience. Prohibits use of part A funds to employ teacher aides or other paraprofessionals who do not meet such requirements in elementary or secondary schools, unless such staff: (1) provide instruction only when under the direct and immediate supervision, and in the immediate presence, of instructional staff who meet such requirements; and (2) possess particular skills necessary to assist instructional staff in providing services to students served under ESEA. Requires State plans to assure that no school served under part A will use funds received under ESEA to hire instructional staff who do not fully meet all such criteria for instructional staff. Defines instructional staff to include anyone with responsibility for providing any student or group of students with instruction in any of the core academic subject areas, including reading, writing, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Requires State plans to describe how State educational agencies (SEAs) will help LEAs and schools to develop the capacity to comply with teacher quality requirements. Requires SEAs to take specified corrective actions against LEAs that do not make sufficient effort to comply with such requirements. Directs the Secretary to withhold certain amounts from States that fail to take such corrective actions. Eliminates certain part A professional development requirements with respect to instructional aides. (Sec. 202) Establishes an ESEA title I part A program of grants to provide a Fully Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, under such program, to make such competitive grants to States or LEAs to carry out specified activities to assist schools that receive part A assistance to meet the goal of ensuring that all their instructional staff have the necessary subject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skill. Allows States to use such funds for: (1) collaboration with programs that recruit, place, and train fully qualified teachers; (2) the necessary education and training, including establishing continuing education programs and paying college tuition and other student fees, to help teachers or other school personnel to meet necessary qualifications and licensing requirements; (3) alternative means of State certification of teachers for highly qualified individuals with a minimum of a baccalaureate degree; (4) projects to increase portability of teacher pensions or credited years of experience or to promote reciprocity of teacher certification or licensure between or among States; or (5) induction programs to support, and promote retention of, new teachers in schools served under part A. Allows LEAs to use such funds to recruit fully qualified teachers, including through the use of signing bonuses or other financial incentives, and also to: (1) collaborate with programs that recruit, place, and train qualified teachers; (3) provide the necessary education and training, including college tuition and student fees, to help current teachers or other school personnel meet qualifications and licensing requirements; and (4) carry on induction programs for support and retention of new teachers in part A schools. Requires an individual, in order to qualify for such for such State or LEA payments for college tuition, to: (1) be within two years of completing an undergraduate degree; and (2) agree to teach for at least two subsequent years after receiving such degree in a school where, in that academic year, more than one-half of the enrollment may be counted for purposes of concentration grants to LEAs, and its LEA is eligible for ESEA title I assistance. Authorizes appropriations for such grants program. Authorizes States and LEAs, in order to meet such ESEA title I part A goal of a qualified teacher in every classroom, to carry out such specified activities by also using funds received under: (1) ESEA title II (Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program); (2) ESEA title VI (Innovative Education Program Strategies); (3) title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants for States and Partnerships) of the Higher Education Act of 1965; or (5) the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Establishes a certification grants program. Authorizes the Secretary to make such grants to SEAs, LEAs, or schools that receive part A assistance, to pay for one-half of the cost of providing financial assistance to teachers in such schools who obtain certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Authorizes appropriations for such certification grants. (Sec. 203) Prohibits the use of any ESEA funds for any professional development services for a teacher that are not directly related to the curriculum and content areas in which the teacher provides instruction. Title III: Academic Achievement Awards Program - Requires each State receiving an ESEA title I grant to establish an Academic Achievement Awards Program to recognize and reward: (1) LEAs and schools that operate schoolwide programs or targeted schools programs and demonstrate outstanding yearly progress for two or more consecutive years; and (2) teachers who provide instruction in such programs. Requires such States to reserve certain funds for such awards programs. Authorizes appropriations to supplement funds for such awards programs.