Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB2773 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R9274 KJM-D
2	2	By: Eissler H.B. No. 2773
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the Texas Teach Corps Scholarship Program for students
8	8	who agree to teach in public schools in this state that have
9	9	shortages of teachers in mathematics or science.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding
12	12	Subchapter GG to read as follows:
13	13	SUBCHAPTER GG. TEXAS TEACH CORPS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
14	14	Sec. 61.9831. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM; AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIP.
15	15	(a) In accordance with this subchapter and board rules, the board
16	16	shall establish and administer the Texas Teach Corps Scholarship
17	17	Program to award scholarships to undergraduate students who:
18	18	(1) are enrolled in educator preparation programs
19	19	provided by public or private institutions of higher education in
20	20	this state; and
21	21	(2) agree to teach for a specified period in the public
22	22	schools in this state that are determined by the Texas Education
23	23	Agency to have shortages of teachers in mathematics or science.
24	24	(b) The amount of a scholarship under this subchapter for an
25	25	academic year is equal to the lesser of:
26	26	(1) the total amount of tuition that the public or
27	27	private institution of higher education in which the scholarship
28	28	recipient is enrolled charges the recipient for that academic year
29	29	for semester credit hours for which the recipient may use the
30	30	scholarship to pay tuition as provided by Subsection (c); or
31	31	(2) $5,000.
32	32	(c) A student may use a scholarship under this subchapter
33	33	only to pay tuition for a semester credit hour that is required for
34	34	completion of the educator preparation program in which the student
35	35	is enrolled.
36	36	(d) For purposes of this subchapter, not later than April 1
37	37	of each school year, the Texas Education Agency shall determine
38	38	which public schools in this state are anticipated to have
39	39	shortages of mathematics or science teachers during the following
40	40	school year and shall provide that information to the board and to
41	41	each educator preparation program in this state accredited by the
42	42	State Board for Educator Certification.
43	43	Sec. 61.9832. ELIGIBILITY; LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF
44	44	SCHOLARSHIPS. (a) To be eligible to receive a scholarship under
45	45	this subchapter, a person must:
46	46	(1) have graduated from a high school in this state
47	47	with an overall grade point average:
48	48	(A) of at least 2.75 on a four-point scale or the
49	49	equivalent; and
50	50	(B) in the top 35 percent of the student's
51	51	graduating class;
52	52	(2) be enrolled in an educator preparation program
53	53	accredited by the State Board for Educator Certification that is
54	54	provided by a public or private institution of higher education in
55	55	this state; and
56	56	(3) enter into an agreement with the board as provided
57	57	by Section 61.9833.
58	58	(b) Not more than 4,000 scholarships may be awarded under
59	59	this subchapter for an academic year.
60	60	(b-1) This subsection expires September 1, 2013.
61	61	Notwithstanding Subsection (b), not more than the following number
62	62	of scholarships may be awarded under this subchapter for the
63	63	specified academic year:
64	64	(1) for the 2010-2011 academic year, not more than
65	65	1,000 scholarships may be awarded;
66	66	(2) for the 2011-2012 academic year, not more than
67	67	2,000 scholarships may be awarded; and
68	68	(3) for the 2012-2013 academic year, not more than
69	69	3,000 scholarships may be awarded.
70	70	(c) If in any year the amount of money available for
71	71	scholarships under this subchapter is insufficient to award a
72	72	scholarship to each eligible applicant or if there are more
73	73	eligible applicants than the number of scholarships authorized by
74	74	this section, the board shall establish criteria to determine which
75	75	eligible applicants will be granted scholarships as the board
76	76	determines appropriate to further the purposes of this subchapter,
77	77	including criteria that:
78	78	(1) are related to the financial need of an applicant;
79	79	and
80	80	(2) serve to ensure geographic and ethnic diversity
81	81	among scholarship recipients.
82	82	Sec. 61.9833. AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS. (a) To qualify for a
83	83	scholarship under this subchapter, a person must enter into a
84	84	written agreement with the board as provided by this section. The
85	85	agreement must:
86	86	(1) specify the conditions the person must satisfy to
87	87	receive the scholarship award;
88	88	(2) require the person to earn a baccalaureate degree
89	89	through completion of an educator preparation program accredited by
90	90	the State Board for Educator Certification that is provided by a
91	91	public or private institution of higher education in this state;
92	92	(3) require the person to obtain, within the period
93	93	prescribed by board rule, appropriate certification under
94	94	Subchapter B, Chapter 21, to teach mathematics or science in a
95	95	public school in this state;
96	96	(4) require the person to accept, for the first school
97	97	year that begins after the date the person obtains the appropriate
98	98	certification, an offer of full-time employment to teach
99	99	mathematics or science, as applicable based on the person's
100	100	certification, in a public school in this state selected by the
101	101	person from among schools anticipated by the Texas Education Agency
102	102	to have shortages of teachers in that subject for that first school
103	103	year for which the person is accepting employment;
104	104	(5) require the person to complete eight years of
105	105	full-time employment teaching as follows:
106	106	(A) beginning with the school year described by
107	107	Subdivision (4), four consecutive school years of employment
108	108	teaching mathematics or science, as applicable based on the
109	109	person's certification, in one or more public schools in this state
110	110	selected by the person from among schools anticipated by the Texas
111	111	Education Agency to have shortages of teachers in that subject for
112	112	the person's applicable year of employment by the school; and
113	113	(B) beginning with the school year immediately
114	114	following the last of the four consecutive school years described
115	115	by Paragraph (A), four additional consecutive school years teaching
116	116	in any public school in this state;
117	117	(6) provide that any scholarship award the person
118	118	receives under this subchapter constitutes an interest-free loan
119	119	until the person:
120	120	(A) subject to Section 61.9835, satisfies the
121	121	requirements of Subdivision (5) and any other applicable conditions
122	122	of the agreement; or
123	123	(B) is excused from the repayment obligation in
124	124	accordance with law; and
125	125	(7) require the person to sign a promissory note
126	126	acknowledging the conditional nature of the scholarship award
127	127	received and promising to repay any unforgiven amount of that award
128	128	and reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the
129	129	applicable conditions and is not excused from the repayment
130	130	obligation in accordance with law.
131	131	(b) To satisfy the teaching obligation prescribed by an
132	132	agreement under this section, a person must teach mathematics or
133	133	science courses for not less than an average of four hours each
134	134	school day.
135	135	(c) For purposes of Subsection (a)(5)(A), if a person is
136	136	employed as a teacher in a public school anticipated to have a
137	137	shortage of teachers in mathematics or science in the first year of
138	138	employment, each subsequent year of continuous employment as a
139	139	teacher in that school is considered to be employment in a school
140	140	anticipated to have such a shortage of teachers in that subject in
141	141	that subsequent year, regardless of whether the Texas Education
142	142	Agency anticipated that the school would have a shortage of
143	143	teachers in that subject in that year.
144	144	(d) The board shall determine the terms of the promissory
145	145	note required by Subsection (a)(7). To the extent practicable, the
146	146	terms must be the same as those applicable to state or federally
147	147	guaranteed student loans made at the same time.
148	148	Sec. 61.9834. EXCEPTIONS TO TEACHING AND REPAYMENT
149	149	OBLIGATIONS. (a) A person is not considered to be in violation of
150	150	the teaching obligation in the agreement described by Section
151	151	61.9833 during any period in which the person:
152	152	(1) is pursuing a full-time course of study related to
153	153	the field of teaching offered by a public or private institution of
154	154	higher education in this state and approved by the State Board for
155	155	Educator Certification;
156	156	(2) is serving on active duty as a member of the armed
157	157	forces of the United States, including as a member of a reserve
158	158	force or National Guard called to active duty;
159	159	(3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period not
160	160	to exceed 36 months as established by the affidavit of a qualified
161	161	physician;
162	162	(4) is unable to secure employment for a period not to
163	163	exceed 12 months because of care required by a disabled spouse or
164	164	child;
165	165	(5) is seeking and unable to find, for a single period
166	166	not to exceed 12 months, full-time employment teaching in a public
167	167	school in this state, or if the person is within the period of the
168	168	agreement described by Section 61.9833(a)(5)(A), full-time
169	169	employment teaching in a public school in this state anticipated to
170	170	have a shortage of mathematics or science teachers, as applicable
171	171	based on the person's certification, for the year for which the
172	172	person is seeking employment; or
173	173	(6) satisfies the provisions of any other teaching
174	174	exception adopted by the board.
175	175	(b) A person is excused from the repayment obligation in a
176	176	promissory note described by Section 61.9833 if:
177	177	(1) the person becomes permanently totally disabled as
178	178	established by the affidavit of a qualified physician; or
179	179	(2) the board waives repayment in the case of extreme
180	180	hardship to the person.
181	181	Sec. 61.9835. FORGIVENESS OF REPAYMENT OBLIGATION. The
182	182	board shall forgive 25 percent of the total amount of a person's
183	183	scholarship awards under this subchapter for each complete school
184	184	year the person teaches in accordance with the agreement under
185	185	Section 61.9833 after the expiration of the period described by
186	186	Subsection (a)(5)(A) of that section.
187	187	Sec. 61.9836. GRANTS, GIFTS, AND DONATIONS. In addition to
188	188	money appropriated by the legislature, the board may solicit and
189	189	accept grants, gifts, and donations from any public or private
190	190	source for the purposes of this subchapter.
191	191	Sec. 61.9837. RULES. (a) The board shall adopt rules to
192	192	administer this subchapter, including rules:
193	193	(1) providing for the manner in which a student may
194	194	apply for a scholarship; and
195	195	(2) providing for notification of the scholarship
196	196	program under this subchapter to students enrolled in educator
197	197	preparation programs in this state.
198	198	(b) The board shall distribute to each educator preparation
199	199	program of a public or private institution of higher education in
200	200	this state a copy of the rules adopted under this section.
201	201	SECTION 2. Not later than December 31, 2009, the Texas
202	202	Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Education Agency
203	203	shall adopt rules for the Texas Teach Corps Scholarship Program
204	204	under Subchapter GG, Chapter 61, Education Code, as added by this
205	205	Act.
206	206	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
207	207	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
208	208	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
209	209	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
210	210	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.