Mississippi SB 2629: Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program; earmark minimum number of awards for teachers of advanced placement courses.

Bill Text

SB2629 (As Introduced) - 2019 Regular Session 

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2019 Regular Session

To: Education; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Dawkins

Senate Bill 2629

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-106-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 
TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING WITH THE 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR AT LEAST TWO CRITICAL 
NEEDS TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM AWARDS SHALL BE MADE IN EACH MISSISSIPPI 
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT FOR TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS WHO AGREE TO TEACH 
ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

���� BE IT ENACTED BY THE 
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

���� SECTION 1.� Section 
37-106-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

���� 37-106-55.� (1)� There is 
established the "Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program," the 
purpose of which is to attract qualified teachers to those geographical areas 
of the state and those subject areas of the curriculum where there exists a 
critical shortage of teachers by awarding forgivable loans to persons declaring 
an intention to serve in the teaching field who actually render service to the 
state while possessing an appropriate teaching license.

���� (2)� Individuals shall not 
be eligible to enroll in the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program after 
the 2014-2015 academic year, and in subsequent years individuals are encouraged 
to apply to the Teaching Fellows Program established in Section 37-106-77.� Any 
individual who is enrolled in or accepted for enrollment at a teacher education 
program approved by the State Board of Education or other program at a 
baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher learning in the State of 
Mississippi and has a passing score on the Praxis I Basic Skills Test who 
expresses in writing an intention to teach in a geographical area of the state 
or a subject area of the public school curriculum in which there exists a 
critical shortage of teachers, as designated by the State Board of Education, 
shall be eligible for a forgivable loan to be applied toward the costs of the 
individual's college education.� The annual amount of the award shall be equal 
to the total cost for tuition, room and meals, books, materials and fees at the 
college or university in which the student is enrolled, not to exceed an amount 
equal to the highest total cost of tuition, room and meals, books, materials 
and fees assessed by a state institution of higher learning during that school 
year.� Awards made to nonresidents of the state shall not include any amount assessed 
by the college or university for out-of-state tuition.

���� (3)� Awards granted under 
the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program shall be available to both 
full-time and part-time students.� Students enrolling on a full-time basis may 
receive a maximum of two (2) annual awards.� The maximum number of awards that 
may be made to students attending school on a part-time basis, and the maximum 
time period for part-time students to complete the number of academic hours 
necessary to obtain a baccalaureate degree in education, shall be established 
by rules and regulations promulgated by the board.� Critical Needs Teacher 
Forgivable Loans shall not be based upon an applicant's financial need.

���� (4)� Awards granted under 
the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program shall be made available to 
nontraditional licensed teachers showing a documented need for student loan 
repayment and employed in those school districts designated by the State Board 
of Education as a geographical area of the state or in a subject area of the 
curriculum in which there is a critical shortage of teachers.� The maximum 
annual amount of this repayment should not exceed Three Thousand Dollars 
($3,000.00) and the maximum time period for repayment shall be no more than 
four (4) years.

���� (5)� Except in those cases 
where employment positions may not be available upon completion of licensure 
requirements, at the beginning of the first school year in which a recipient of 
a Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan is eligible for employment as a 
licensed teacher or a nontraditional teacher intern pursuant to Section 37-3-2(6)(b), 
that person shall begin to render service as a licensed teacher or 
nontraditional teacher intern in a public school district in a geographical 
area of the state or a subject area of the curriculum where there is a critical 
shortage of teachers, as approved by the State Board of Education.

���� (6)� Failure to repay any 
loan and interest that becomes due shall be cause for the revocation of a 
person's teaching license by the State Board of Education.

���� (7)� Repayment and 
conversion terms shall be the same as those outlined in Section 37-106-53.

���� (8)� The board shall 
promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the proper administration of the 
Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program.

���� (9)� The State Board of 
Education shall compile and report, in consultation with the board,