MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2018 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Currie
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-106-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE CONTINUATION OF THE CRITICAL NEEDS TEACHER FORGIVABLE LOAN PROGRAM AS A FOUR-YEAR REPAYMENT PROGRAM AND TO ALLOW APPLICANTS TO RESIDE OR BE EMPLOYED IN ANY GEOGRAPHICAL AREA OF THE STATE UNDER A SEVEN-YEAR REPAYMENT PROGRAM; 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) * * *
The Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program * * * is hereby continued for applicants
after the * * *
2017-2018 academic year, and in subsequent years * * * subject
to appropriation therefor by the Legislature.
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) Effective with the 2018-2019 academic year, 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 any geographical area of the State of Mississippi shall be eligible for a forgivable loan to be applied toward the costs of the individual's college education under the same terms and conditions as prescribed for the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program under this section, with the exception that the maximum time period for repayment shall be no more than seven (7) years.
( * * *7) 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.
( * * *8) Repayment and conversion terms
shall be the same as those outlined in Section 37-106-53.
( * * *9) The board shall promulgate rules
and regulations necessary for the proper administration of the Critical Needs
Teacher Forgivable Loan Program and the Teacher Forgivable Loan Program
authorized under subsection (6) of this section.
( * * *10) The State Board of Education shall
compile and report, in consultation with the board, an annual report with
findings and recommendations to the legislative committees on education by
December 1, * * *
2018, and annually thereafter, on the following:
(a) The number of participants in the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program, by institution and by freshman, sophomore, junior and senior level;
(b) The number of nontraditional teacher license program participants;
(c) The number of individuals who completed the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program and the program authorized in subsection (6) of this section and the school district in which they are employed;
(d) The number of individuals who are in default of their obligation under the Critical Needs Teacher Forgivable Loan Program and the status of their obligation;
(e) The number of participants in the program who have successfully completed the Praxis examination in their junior year; and
(f) The number of noneducation majors participating in the program.
( * * *11) Where local school districts
exhibit financial need, the State Department of Education may, subject to the
availability of funds specifically appropriated therefor by the Legislature,
provide financial assistance for the recruitment of certified teachers in an
amount not to exceed Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) annually.
This section shall stand repealed July 1, 2020.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018.