H.R. 6711

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6711 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6711

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 15, 2025

Mr. Espaillat introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

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, 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 (20 
U.S.C. 7801)) 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 (20 
U.S.C. 7801)) 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 
the 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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