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Thursday, March 11, 2010 | News Center

Resident Commissioner Introduces National Teacher Exchange Bill

WASHINGTON, DC- The Resident Commissioner in Washington, Pedro Pierluisi, introduced a bill today that would create a competitive grant program to fund teacher exchanges between school districts in different regions of the United States. The program would improve teacher quality throughout the United States, including English-language instruction in Puerto Rico.

The “Teacher Exchange Act of 2010” was introduced by Pierluisi and co-sponsored by 14 other Democrats, including Raúl Grijalva, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Education Task Force and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Other Congressmen backing Pierluisi’s initiative include Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca (D-CA), Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), Sam Farr (D-CA), Alan Grayson (D-FL), Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Gene Green (D-TX), Michael Honda (D-CA), Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Ciro Rodríguez (D-TX) and Albio Sires (D-NJ).

“This bill reflects my commitment to seek alternatives for improving the skills of English teachers in Puerto Rico, as well as the creation of federally supported teacher exchange programs between states and territories that would boost English and Spanish language learning in their schools,” Pierluisi said.

“Although federal support exists for international teacher exchanges, we are aware of no federal program that provides support for exchanges between school districts in the United States. Teacher exchanges provide participating teachers with the opportunity to learn new instructional techniques and to gain exposure to different learning cultures and student populations. Exchanges can be particularly valuable to teachers from low-performing schools, who are often most in need of exposure to new and innovative instructional strategies,” Pierluisi said.

Pierluisi’s bill would establish a competitive grant program administered by the Department of Education. The bill authorizes $20 million annually for 2011 through 2016 to support the exchange of approximately 1,000 teachers each year. Funds could be used for travel, housing, and other expenses associated with the exchange. Teachers would continue to receive their salary from their school district of origin.

To participate, teachers would need to have at least three years of teaching experience and be willing to return to their school of origin to teach for two years subsequent to the exchange experience.

The bill represents yet another effort initiated by the Resident Commissioner to promote bilingual education in Puerto Rico’s schools. A few weeks ago, Pierluisi announced the introduction of a bill to increase the maximum amount of federal funding that Puerto Rico can receive for English-language instruction in the public school system.

Odette Piñeiro Caballero, the Puerto Rico Secretary of Education, has expressed her support for the “Teacher Exchange Act of 2010.” Other supporters include the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); ASPIRA, a non-profit organization promoting leadership and academic excellence; and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), a professional organization for English-language educators.

To view National Teacher Exchange Bill