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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5634 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5634
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide additional amounts
of loan forgiveness to teachers of English learners and teachers of
bilingual and dual language immersion students, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 30, 2026
Mr. Padilla (for himself and Mr. Kim) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide additional amounts
of loan forgiveness to teachers of English learners and teachers of
bilingual and dual language immersion students, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Providers of English
Language Learning Act'' or the ``SPELL Act''.
SEC. 2. TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS AND BILINGUAL AND DUAL LANGUAGE
STUDENTS.
(a) Loan Forgiveness for Teachers.--Section 428J(c)(3) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10(c)(3)) is amended--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Mathematics,
science, or special education'' and inserting ``Mathematics,
science, special education, or english language education'';
(2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(3) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) an elementary school or secondary school
teacher--
``(i) who meets the requirements of
subsection (b);
``(ii) whose qualifying employment for
purposes of such subsection is--
``(I) as a teacher of English
learners (as that term is defined in
section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965) whose
primary responsibility is to teach such
learners; or
``(II) as a bilingual or dual
language immersion teacher; and
``(iii) who, as certified by the chief
administrative officer of the public or
nonprofit private elementary school or
secondary school in which the borrower is
employed, or, in the case of a teacher who is
employed by an educational service agency, as
certified by the chief administrative officer
of such agency--
``(I) is teaching English learners
or bilingual or dual language immersion
students who correspond with the
borrower's training; and
``(II) has demonstrated knowledge
and teaching skills in the content
areas of the elementary school or
secondary school curriculum that the
borrower is teaching.''.
(b) Loan Cancellation for Teachers.--Section 460(c)(3) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087j(c)(3)) is amended--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``Mathematics,
science, or special education'' and inserting ``Mathematics,
science, special education, or english language education'';
(2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(3) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) an elementary school or secondary school
teacher--
``(i) who meets the requirements of
subsection (b);
``(ii) whose qualifying employment for
purposes of such subsection is--
``(I) as a teacher of English
learners (as that term is defined in
section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965) whose
primary responsibility is to teach such
learners; or
``(II) as a bilingual or dual
language immersion teacher; and
``(iii) who, as certified by the chief
administrative officer of the public or
nonprofit private elementary school or
secondary school in which the borrower is
employed, or, in the case of a teacher who is
employed by an educational service agency, as
certified by the chief administrative officer
of such agency--
``(I) is teaching English learners
or bilingual or dual language immersion
students who correspond with the
borrower's training; and
``(II) has demonstrated knowledge
and teaching skills in the content
areas of the elementary school or
secondary school curriculum that the
borrower is teaching.''.
SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect on the date of
enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to individuals who
are eligible to receive teacher loan forgiveness under section 428J of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10) or teacher loan
cancellation under section 460 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087j) after such
date.
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