House Bill 214

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-143-11 AND 37-159-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE PERSONS POSSESSING A COLLEGE DEGREE IN A MAJOR THAT DOES NOT SATISFY THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR A STANDARD TEACHING LICENSE TO RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE REQUISITE COURSES UNDER THE WILLIAM F. WINTER TEACHER SCHOLAR LOAN PROGRAM AND THE CRITICAL NEEDS TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-143-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-143-11. (1) It is the intention of the Legislature to attract and retain qualified teachers by awarding incentive loans to persons declaring an intention to serve in the teaching field and who actually render service to the state while possessing an appropriate teaching license.

(2) There is established the "William F. Winter Teacher Scholar Loan Program."

(3) To the extent of appropriations available, students who are enrolled in any baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher learning in the State of Mississippi accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and approved by the Mississippi Commission on College Accreditation, or any accredited nonprofit community or junior college, and who have expressed in writing a present intention to teach in Mississippi, shall be eligible for student loans to be applied to the costs of their college education. Persons who have been admitted to a teacher education program or a nontraditional teacher internship licensure program authorized under Section 37-3-2(6)(b), as approved by the State Board of Education, shall also qualify for loans at approved institutions. In addition, a person possessing a baccalaureate degree in a major that does not qualify the person for a Standard License - Approved Program Route or a Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route is eligible for student loans at an approved institution for those additional courses that are necessary for the person to satisfy the educational requirements of Section 37-3-2(6)(a) or (b) and the State Board of Education. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall provide that teacher education majors and noneducation majors shall have equal access to scholarship/loans under authority of this section.

(4) A freshman establishing initial eligibility shall be eligible for a maximum of four (4) annual loans, and a senior shall be eligible for one (1) annual loan. A student possessing a baccalaureate degree who enrolls in additional courses in order to satisfy the educational requirements for a Standard License - Approved Program Route or a Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route is eligible for loans only for those additional courses that are necessary for the person to satisfy the educational requirements of Section 37-3-2(6)(a) or (b) and the State Board of Education.

(5) The maximum annual loan shall be set by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning at an amount not to exceed the cost of attendance at any baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher learning in the State of Mississippi. However, it is the intent of the Legislature that the maximum annual loan amounts under the William F. Winter Teacher Scholar Loan Program shall not be of any amounts that would compete with the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program.

(6) The loans of persons who actually render service as licensed teachers or nontraditional teacher interns authorized under Section 37-3-2(6)(b) in a public school in Mississippi for a major portion of the school day for at least seventy-eight (78) school days during each of eight (8) school semesters of the ten (10) immediately after obtaining a baccalaureate degree, shall be converted to interest-free scholarships. Conversion shall be based on two (2) semesters of service for each year a loan was received, or at an equivalent rate in those instances when a person received loans only for certain courses in order to meet the educational requirements under Section 37-3-2(6)(a) or (b), and the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall not authorize the conversion of loans into interest-free scholarships at any other ratio, except as follows: Participants in the William F. Winter Teacher Scholar Loan Program may have their loans converted into interest-free scholarships at the same ratio as under the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program if they render service as a licensed teacher or nontraditional teacher intern authorized under Section 37-3-2(6)(b) in a public school district in a geographical area of the state where there is a critical shortage of teachers, as designated by the State Board of Education.

(7) Persons failing to complete an appropriate program of study shall immediately become liable to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the sum of all outstanding loans, except in the case of a deferral of debt for cause by the board, after which period of deferral, study may be resumed. Persons failing to meet teaching requirements in any required semester shall immediately be in breach of contract and become liable to the board for the amount of the corresponding loan received, with interest accruing at the current Stafford Loan rate at the time the breach occurs, except in the case of a deferral of debt for cause by the board, after which period of deferral, teaching duties required hereunder will be resumed. If the claim for payment of such loan is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection after default, then the obligor shall be liable for an additional amount equal to a reasonable attorney's fee.

(8) A loan made under the provisions of this section shall not be voidable by reason of the age of the borrower at the time of receiving the loan.

(9) 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 Department of Education.

(10) All monies repaid to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning under this section shall be added to the appropriations made for purposes of this section, and those appropriations shall not lapse.

(11) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning with the concurrence of the State Board of Education shall jointly promulgate regulations necessary for the proper administration of this section.

(12) If insufficient funds are available for requested loans to a qualified student during any fiscal year, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall make pro rata reductions in the loans made to qualifying applicants. Priority consideration shall be given to persons receiving previous loans and participating in the program.

(13) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall make an annual report to the Legislature. Each report shall contain a complete enumeration of the board's activities, loans or scholarships granted, names of persons to whom granted and the institutions attended by those receiving the same, names of persons to whom loans or scholarships were granted who were not education majors, the teaching location of applicants who have received their education and become licensed teachers within this state as a result of the loans and/or scholarships. The board shall make a full report and account of receipts and expenditures for salaries and expenses incurred under the provisions of this section. The board shall, upon its records and any published reports, distinguish between those recipients who have breached their contracts but with the board's permission who have paid their financial obligations in full, and those recipients who have breached their contracts and remain financially indebted to the state.

SECTION 2. Section 37-159-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-159-3. (1) There is established the "Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship 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 full scholarships 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) 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 financial scholarship 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; however, a student possessing a baccalaureate degree who enrolls in additional courses in order to satisfy the educational requirements for a Standard License - Approved Program Route or a Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route is eligible for a scholarship only for those additional courses that are necessary for the person to satisfy the educational requirements of Section 37-3-2(6)(a) or (b) and the State Board of Education. 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 Scholarship 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 jointly promulgated by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board of Education. A person possessing a baccalaureate degree in a major that does not qualify the person for a Standard License - Approved Program Route or a Standard License - Nontraditional Teaching Route is eligible for scholarships for those additional courses that are necessary for the person to satisfy the educational requirements of Section 37-3-2(6)(a) or (b) and the State Board of Education. Critical Needs Teacher Scholarships shall not be based upon an applicant's eligibility for financial aid.

(4) Awards granted under the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship 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 Department 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 Scholarship 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. Any person who received two (2) annual awards, or who received fewer than two (2) annual awards, or the equivalent of two (2) annual awards, shall render one (1) year's service as a licensed teacher for each year that the person received a full-time student scholarship.

(6) Any person failing to complete a program of study which will enable that person to become a licensed teacher or nontraditional teacher intern under Section 37-3-2(6)(b), as the case may be, shall become liable immediately to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the sum of all Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship awards made to that person, plus interest accruing at the current Stafford Loan rate at the time the person abrogates his participation in the program. Any person failing to complete his teaching obligation, as required under subsection (5) of this section, shall become liable immediately to the board for the sum of all scholarship awards made to that person less the corresponding amount of any awards for which service has been rendered, plus interest accruing at the current Stafford Loan rate at the time the person discontinues his service, except in the case of a deferral of debt for cause by the State Board of Education when there is no employment position immediately available upon a teacher's completion of licensure requirements. After the period of such deferral, such person shall begin or resume teaching duties as required under subsection (5) or shall become liable to the board under this subsection. If a claim for payment under this subsection is placed in the hands of an attorney for collection, the obligor shall be liable for an additional amount equal to a reasonable attorney's fee.

(7) The obligations made by the recipient of a Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship award shall not be voidable by reason of the age of the student at the time of receiving the scholarship.

(8) Any student who, prior July 1, 2003, has been accepted into the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program under this section * * * shall be allowed to begin or remain in the scholar loan program based upon the prescribed guidelines of the State Department of Education, and conversion for those students with fewer than four (4) annual awards shall be based on one (1) year of service in either: (a) a geographic area of the state in which there exists a critical shortage of teachers as determined by the State Board of Education; or (b) a subject area of the curriculum in the public schools in which there exists a critical shortage of teachers as determined by the State Board of Education, for each year a loan was received by the student. For those students that receive the equivalent of four (4) annual awards, such students shall render three (3) years of service.

(9) The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the State Board of Education shall jointly promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the proper administration of the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program. The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall be the administering agency of the program.

(10) If insufficient funds are available to fully fund scholarship awards to all eligible students, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning shall make the awards to first-time students on a first-come, first-served basis; however, priority consideration shall be given to persons previously receiving awards under the Critical Needs Teacher Scholarship Program.

(11) All funds received by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning from the repayment of scholarship awards by program participants shall be deposited in the Mississippi Critical Teacher Shortage Fund.

(12) 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.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.