An Act
Concerning Federal Funding of Secondary Education
Draft Proposal for US Legislation
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Section I. Preparation of Teachers
Whereas the education of children to become informed citizens is of vital necessity to insure the continued existence of the United States as a free and prosperous nation, and
Whereas well-qualified teachers are essential to assist parents in the education of children by providing instruction to the children in various subjects, and the quality of instruction is the prime determinant of the quality of any educational system, and
Whereas the need for teachers to have skills, knowledge, and abilities in teaching techniques is essential in the early years of a child's education, it wanes in favor of skills, knowledge, and abilities in specific subject areas other than education as the child grows older,
Schools receiving Federal economic assistance must adopt the following standards for hiring new teachers in all years subsequent to the enactment of this legislation:
- Teachers newly hired for grades K-4 must at least be a Bachelors of any academic discipline except Education, and Masters of Education.
- Teachers newly hired for grades 4-8 must be at least Bachelors of the subject areas of their specialty (e.g. Mathmatics teacher must be Bachelors of Mathematics, History teachers must be Bachelors of History, Science teacher must be Bachelors of one of the Sciences, etc.) and be Bachelors of Education.
- Teachers newly hired for grades 9-12 must be at least Masters of the specific subject of their specialty (e.g., Physics teachers must be at least Masters of Physics, Biology teachers must be at least Masters of Biology, English teachers must be at least Masters of English, etc.) and be Bachelors of Education or have one year's experience as Apprentice Teachers. Schools and school systems receiving Federal assistance shall establish Apprentice Teaching programs as necessary to develop an adequate supply of qualified teachers.
Congress understands that in order to attract qualified teachers, schools, school systems, and school districts will need to raise the starting compensation of new teachers.
Section II. Language Education
Whereas English is the native language of most of the people who have wealth and power in the United States, and fluency in English is therefore necessary for young people to prosper and to be politically effective in this society, and
Whereas English is only one of the languages in the increasingly globalized economy, which requires that the United States develop a multilingual workforce in order to remain a prosperous nation,
Schools receiving Federal economic assistance shall ensure that all students attain fluency in reading, writing, and speaking English within three years of entering the school. All students graduating grades 6 or higher must demonstrate or have demonstrated fluency in reading, writing, and speaking English and competency in reading, writing, and speaking one other natural human language.
Section III. Values-Based Education
Whereas public education is undertaken so that each generation of children becomes good citizens, good leaders, good workers, and good managers, the term good being understood in the sense of morality prior to the sense of effectiveness,
Schools receiving Federal economic assistance shall instruct students in moral precepts as agreed upon by the parents of children attending the school together with the teachers and administration of the school.
Section IV. School Choice
The Federal Government shall not interfere with any State wishing to establish a voucher system or any other system for increasing parental choice in the matter of the education of children, except that no Federal Funds shall be distributed as vouchers or as part of a voucher system. Schools wishing to receive Federal Funding must comply with this and all prior relevant legislation that is not invalidated by this Act.
Section V. Affirmative Action
Educational institutions that have selective admissions policies and that seek Federal funds must establish affirmative action policies based on socio-economic class that help students from poor familes to gain admission and to graduate from the said institutions. No Federal funds shall be used to support educational institutions whose admission policies include race-based affirmative action.
