1. Short title and findings (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Supporting the Teaching profession through Revitalizing Investments in Valuable Educators Act or the STRIVE Act . (b) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) States identified significant teacher shortages in their reports to the Department of Education during the 2015–2016 school year, with 48 States identifying shortages in special education, 42 identifying teacher shortages in mathematics, and 40 identifying teacher shortages in science. One reason for the shortages in these areas is because mathematics and science teachers can earn significantly higher starting salaries in the private sector. Further, rural communities face limitations in recruiting and retaining teachers for reasons such as funding issues, limited teacher supply, and geographic isolation. (2) Students in high-poverty and high-minority schools, both urban and rural, typically feel the largest impact of teacher shortages. These schools often experience difficulty hiring and high turnover on a regular basis, and they are the most severely affected when teacher shortages become widespread. This happens, in part, because inequitable funding of schools leaves many low-wealth urban and rural communities with inadequate resources, so they must pay lower salaries and typically have poorer working conditions. (3) According to a study by Mathematica, when high-performing teachers were offered large financial incentives to transfer to low-performing schools, their students’ scores climbed 10 points in reading and 9 points in math compared to students statewide over 2 years. (4) According to a survey conducted by Scholastic, 97 percent of teachers list supportive school leadership as essential or very important for retaining strong teachers and improving student achievement, more than any other factor. (5) Research suggests that incurring postsecondary education debt can decrease the likelihood that high-achieving students, lower-income students, and students of color choose to