By an overwhelming margin, the U.S. House of Representatives passed today Rep. Phil Gingrey’s “Ready to Teach Act of 2003.”

“As schools continue to face shortages of teachers, we can’t accept that those positions simply be filled by warm bodies,” U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) said. “The Ready to Teach Act will ensure that there’s a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.

“In the No Child Left Behind Act, the Congress made schools accountable for their students’ achievement,” Gingrey continued. “Similarly, this legislation makes teacher preparation programs accountable for how well their graduates perform in the classroom.”

Gingrey’s Ready to Teach Act passed 404-17.

The Ready to Teach Act lends new urgency as Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act and the programs that enhance teacher training programs in America. The Ready to Teach Act amends Title II of the Higher Education Act, strengthening and improving teacher programs to ensure prospective teachers have a quality education and the ability to perform as an educator. 

The Ready to Teach Act accomplishes the following:

• Provides three types of grants to improve the training of the teachers of tomorrow.
• Creates Centers of Excellence at minority serving institutions such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).
• Includes accountability provisions that will strengthen reporting measures and hold teacher preparation programs accountable for providing accurate and useful information.

The Ready to Teach Act is the second piece of legislation authored by Gingrey to pass this session. Earlier this year, Gingrey’s Runaway, Homeless and Missing Children Protection Act passed the House.