Quality Educator Partnership Act

(a) Grants authorized. From amounts made available under section 221(b), the Secretary shall—

(1) reserve 0.7 percent of such amounts for the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the purposes of this section for schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Education; and

(2) award implementation grants, on a competitive basis, to States to enable States to carry out the activities described in subsection (c).

(b) Applications. Each State shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

(c) Activities. A State receiving a grant under this section shall use such implementation grant funds to carry out each of the following activities:

(1) Implementing the strategic plan developed in accordance with section 222(c)(2).

(2) Incentivizing local educational agencies to rethink the way schools are staffed by providing competitive subgrants to local partnerships to enable those local partnerships to implement 1 or more of the following:

(A) Differentiate roles and compensation, including through innovative staffing models such as strategic staffing.

(B) Carrying out induction and mentoring activities for novice educators.

(C) Establishing educator pipelines, including residencies, apprenticeships, and Grow Your Own programs.

(D) Supporting job-embedded professional learning and team-based collaboration.

(E) Supporting school leader development.

(F) Carrying out evidence-based planning, ongoing evaluation, and continuous improvement.

(3) Identifying and addressing policy changes to enable and promote innovative educator workforce designs, which may include 1 or more of the following:

(A) Career-lattice systems that rewards mastery without requiring departure from the classroom.

(B) Family-sustaining supports, including childcare, transportation, and housing assistance.

(C) Compensation reform supported by Federal–State partnerships.

(D) Embedded professional development systems linking educator growth to student outcomes.

(E) Rigorous evaluation of implementation and outcomes of the activities undertaken under this grant.

(F) Providing technical assistance and support for implementation and replication of the activities that were evaluated as effective under this grant.

(d) Local partnership. In this section the term local partnership means a partnership between 1 or more of the following:

(1) An educational service agency.

(2) A local educational agency.

(3) An educator preparation program.

(4) A labor organization for teachers.

(5) Community-based partners.