Dianne Feinstein: “In Title II, Improving Teacher Quality, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states to…”

“In Title II, Improving Teacher Quality, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to states to reform teacher preparation and, on page 363, lines 13-15, ``to ensure that current and future teachers posses the necessary teaching skills and academic content knowledge in the subject areas in which the teachers are assigned to teach.'' In (1) beginning on lines 18, the bill includes as an authorized activity that can be funded by a grant, ``reforms that hold institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs accountable for preparing teachers who are highly competent in the academic content areas in which teachers plan to teach, which may include the use of rigorous subject matter competency tests and the requirement that a teacher have an academic major in the subject area, or related discipline, in which the teacher plans to teach.'' I commend the committee for these provisions and believe they will be very helpful in training good teachers.”