text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Defense Overseas 
  Educators Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. TEMPORARY MEASURES TO FACILITATE REEMPLOYMENT OF DISPLACED 
                TEACHERS.
  
      (a) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
              (1) the term ``agency'' means an Executive agency (as 
          defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code), 
          excluding the General Accounting Office;
              (2) the term ``DoDDS teacher'' means a teacher within the 
          meaning of section 2(2) of the Defense Department Overseas 
          Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901(2)); 
          and
              (3) the term ``displaced employee'' means--
                      (A) a DoDDS teacher who has been given specific 
                  notice that such individual is to be separated due to a 
                  reduction in force; and
                      (B) any individual who has been involuntarily 
                  separated from service as a DoDDS teacher due to a 
                  reduction in force.
      (b) Consideration for Vacant Positions.--In accordance with 
  regulations which the Office of Personnel Management shall prescribe 
  (consistent with otherwise applicable provisions of law), an agency 
  shall, in filling a vacant position for which a qualified displaced 
  employee has applied in timely fashion, give full consideration to the 
  application of the displaced employee before selecting any candidate 
  from outside the agency for the position.
      (c) Limitation.--A displaced employee shall remain entitled to the 
  consideration described in subsection (b) until the end of the 12-month 
  period beginning on--
              (1) the date such employee receives the specific notice 
          described in subsection (a)(3)(A); or
              (2) if the employee is involuntarily separated (as 
          described in subsection (a)(3)(B)), the effective date of the 
          separation.
      (d) Applicability.--
              (1) In general.--This section shall apply to any individual 
          who--
                      (A) becomes a displaced employee during the 12-
                  month period ending on the day before the date of 
                  enactment of this Act; or
                      (B) becomes a displaced employee on or after the 
                  date of enactment of this Act and before October 1, 
                  1997.
              (2) Rule for applying the 12-month limitation to current 
          displaced employees.--For the purpose of any displaced employee 
          described in paragraph (1)(A), the 12-month period under 
          subsection (c) shall be considered to begin on the date of 
          enactment of this Act, rather than the date which would 
          otherwise be required by subsection (c).
              (3) Positions to which this section shall not apply.--
          Nothing in this section shall be considered to apply with 
          respect to any position--
                      (A) which has been filled as of the date of 
                  enactment of this Act; or
                      (B) which has been excepted from the competitive 
                  service because of its confidential, policy-
                  determining, policy-making or policy-advocating 
                  character.
  
  SEC. 3. TEACHER RECRUITMENT.
  
      (a) Amendment Relating to Benefits for Teachers Recruited Abroad.--
              (1) In general.--Section 5 of the Defense Department 
          Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 
          903) is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
          (e), and by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
      ``(d)(1) Each individual recruited outside the United States for 
  service in a teaching position shall, after such individual completes 1 
  full school year of service in a teaching position, be entitled to the 
  same benefits as an individual recruited in the United States, to the 
  extent that such benefits are based on service in a teaching position.
      ``(2)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in the case of any 
  individual who is the spouse of, and residing in the same household as, 
  a member of a uniformed service who is eligible (as such a member) for 
  benefits comparable to those described in section 7 or 8 of this Act.
      ``(B) An individual shall not be considered to have ceased to 
  reside in the same household as a member if due to a reassignment of 
  such member for 90 days or less.''.
              (2) Service to be considered.--In administering the 
          amendment made by paragraph (1), service performed before, on, 
          or after the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered.
      (b) Amendment Relating to the Definition of a ``Teaching 
  Position''.--Paragraph (1) of section 2 of the Defense Department 
  Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901(1)) is 
  amended by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B)(iii) and 
  inserting a comma, and by adding at the end of such paragraph the 
  following:
          ``including those cases in which such duties and 
          responsibilities are performed--
                      ``(I) in a substitute capacity;
                      ``(II) as a summer school teacher;
                      ``(III) as an instructor for the Junior Reserve 
                  Officers' Training Corps;
                      ``(IV) as a paraprofessional or teacher aide;
                      ``(V) for a definite term, not to exceed 1 school 
                  year, in the excepted service; or
                      ``(VI) for an indefinite term in the excepted 
                  service.''.
  
  SEC. 4. COMPENSATION; LEAVE TRANSFERS; RECERTIF- ICATION.
  
      (a) Compensation; Leave Transfers.--The Defense Department Overseas 
  Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act (20 U.S.C. 901 and following) 
  is amended--
              (1) in sections 4(a)(2) and 5(c) by striking ``urban''; and
              (2) in section 6 by adding at the end the following:
      ``(h) The Director of Dependents' Education, in consultation with 
  the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall establish for 
  teachers--
              ``(1) a voluntary leave transfer program similar to the one 
          under subchapter III of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 
          Code; and
              ``(2) a voluntary leave bank program similar to the one 
          under subchapter IV of chapter 63 of title 5, United States 
          Code.''.
      (b) Recertification.--Paragraph (5) of section 1413 of the Defense 
  Dependents' Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 931(5)) is amended to read 
  as follows:
              ``(5) provide for a recertification program for 
          professional personnel employed in the system to obtain not 
          more than 6 semester-hours of graduate or undergraduate 
          coursework in any discipline or subject area taught by schools 
          of the defense dependents' education system, and''.
      (c) Applicability.--The amendments made by subsection (a)(1)--
              (1) shall apply with respect to compensation for service 
          performed in fiscal years beginning more than 90 days after the 
          date of enactment of this Act; and
              (2) shall be deemed not to have been enacted for purposes 
          of determining compensation for service performed before the 
          first fiscal year to which such amendments apply under 
          paragraph (1).
  
  SEC. 5. CONTINUED HEALTH BENEFITS.
  
      (a) In General.--Section 8905a(d) of title 5, United States Code, 
  is amended--
              (1) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking ``Except as provided in 
          paragraph (4),'' and inserting ``Except as provided in 
          paragraph (4) or (5),'';
              (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ``in accordance with 
          paragraph (1) or (4),'' and inserting ``in accordance with 
          paragraph (1), (4), or (5),''; and
              (3) by adding at the end the following:
      ``(5)(A) For the purpose of this paragraph, the term `teaching 
  position' has the meaning given such term under section 2(1) of the 
  Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act.
      ``(B) If the basis for continued coverage under this section is an 
  involuntary separation from a teaching position due to a reduction in 
  force--
              ``(i) the individual shall be liable for not more than the 
          employee contributions referred to in paragraph (1)(A)(i); and
              ``(ii) the agency which last employed the individual shall 
          pay the remaining portion of the amount required under 
          paragraph (1)(A).
      ``(C) This paragraph shall apply with respect to any individual 
  whose continued coverage is based on a separation occurring on or after 
  the date of enactment of this paragraph and before--
              ``(i) October 1, 1997; or
              ``(ii) February 1, 1998, if specific notice of such 
          separation was given to such individual before October 1, 
          1997.''.
      (b) Source of Payments.--Any amount which becomes payable by an 
  agency as a result of the enactment of subsection (a) shall be paid out 
  of funds or appropriations available for salaries and expenses of such 
  agency.
target: Department of Defense Overseas Educators Act - Provides for the implementation of temporary measures to facilitate reemployment in Federal agencies of Federal employees separated from teaching positions in schools for overseas Department of Defense dependents (DoDDS teachers). 
  Amends the Defense Department Overseas Teachers Pay and Personnel Practices Act to require that, in certain cases, DoDDS teachers recruited abroad be entitled to the same benefits as teachers recruited in the United States. 
  Requires the Director of Dependents' Education to establish for DoDDS teachers a voluntary leave transfer program and a voluntary leave transfer bank program. 
  Limits the amount of graduate or undergraduate coursework which may be taken under a recertification program for DoDDS professional personnel. 
  Amends Federal law to provide for continued health benefits for DoDDS teachers involuntarily separated from service under a reduction in force.
feat_title: Department of Defense Overseas Educators Act