In this part, the term “eligible State” means—

The Governor and the individual, entity, or agency designated under paragraph (1) shall consult with the Governor, State board of education, State educational agency, or State agency for higher education, as appropriate, with respect to the activities assisted under this section.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to negate or supersede the legal authority under State law of any State agency, State entity, or State public official over programs that are under the jurisdiction of the agency, entity, or official.

Implementing reforms that hold institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs accountable for preparing teachers who are highly competent in the academic content areas in which the teachers plan to teach, and possess strong teaching skills, which may include the use of rigorous subject matter competency tests and the requirement that a teacher have an academic major in the subject area, or related discipline, in which the teacher plans to teach.

Reforming teacher certification or licensure requirements to ensure that teachers have the necessary teaching skills and academic content knowledge in the subject areas in which teachers are assigned to teach.

Providing prospective teachers with alternatives to traditional preparation for teaching through programs at colleges of arts and sciences or at nonprofit educational organizations.

Carrying out programs that—

Developing and implementing effective mechanisms to ensure that local educational agencies and schools are able to effectively recruit highly qualified teachers, to financially reward those teachers and principals whose students have made significant progress toward high academic performance, such as through performance-based compensation systems and access to ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators, and to expeditiously remove incompetent or unqualified teachers consistent with procedures to ensure due process for the teachers.

Development and implementation of efforts to address the problem of social promotion and to prepare teachers to effectively address the issues raised by ending the practice of social promotion.

Activities described in section 1024 (d) of this title.