SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2007 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 22.1-290.01 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-290.01. Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program established; purpose; Board of Education to administer Program; eligibility requirements for scholarship and awards; collaboration and consultation with State Council of Higher Education; repayment of scholarship required.
A. With such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose and
any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds that may be received on
behalf of the Program by the Board of Education, there is hereby established
the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program, hereinafter referred to as the "Program,"
to: (i) increase the number of students teacher candidates
pursuing careers in teaching and students seeking endorsements in elementary
and middle school education; (ii) increase the number of teachers in the
critical teacher shortage areas disciplines, including special
education, as established by the Board; (iii) increase the number of teachers
in a school division with a shortage of teachers in any discipline or at any
grade level, as defined in the Board of Education's Regulations Governing
the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas; (iv) assist
paraprofessionals enrolled as full-time or part-time students in an approved
teacher education program in completing the program to become fully licensed
teachers; (v) (ii) expand eligibility to sophomores, students
teacher candidates, including graduate students and paraprofessionals from
Virginia school divisions who are enrolled full-time or part-time in an
approved teacher education program; and (vi) (iii) increase the
diversity of persons pursuing careers in teaching, including male teacher
candidates enrolled in an elementary or middle school education program and
minority teacher candidates enrolled in any teaching endorsement area.
The Program shall consist of seven components:
1. Awards to students pursuing teacher licensure;
2. Awards to students pursuing teacher licensure in
critical teacher shortage disciplines;
3. Awards to assist paraprofessionals in completing an
approved teacher education program to become fully licensed teachers;
4. Awards to sophomores and full-time and part-time
students enrolled in an approved teacher education program;
5. Awards to persons identified by a school board to teach
in a discipline or at a grade level within the school division in which a shortage
of teachers exists, as defined in the Board of Education's Regulations
Governing the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas. However, such
persons shall meet the qualifications for awards granted pursuant to this
section;
6. Awards to students enrolled in any area of an approved
teacher education program seeking endorsements in elementary or middle school
education; and
7. Awards to students of diverse backgrounds, pursuant to
subsection B.
B. In addition, there is hereby established within the
Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program a component focused solely on
increasing diversity among teachers by providing incentives for students of
diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in teaching, which shall be known as the
Diversity in Teaching Initiative. The Diversity in Teaching Initiative shall
provide scholarships to students of diverse backgrounds enrolled in approved
undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs and shall be funded with
such moneys as may be appropriated for this purpose, and any gifts, donations,
grants, bequests, and other funds as may be received on its behalf by the Board
of Education and deposited in the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Fund
pursuant to subsection G. The Board shall establish procedures and criteria, in
consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, for awarding the
Diversity in Teaching Initiative scholarships.
C B. The Board of Education shall establish, in
regulation, criteria for determining critical teacher shortage areas and
disciplines for awarding scholarships pursuant to this section. The
criteria shall include such factors as the needs in teacher teaching
endorsement areas among the several school divisions of the Commonwealth,
teacher shortages at the elementary and secondary grade levels, and teacher
shortages in rural and urban regions of the Commonwealth. The Program shall
be administered by the Board of Education, which shall promulgate such
regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of the Program. The
Board shall consult with the State Council of Higher Education in the
development and implementation of the Program.
D C. The Program shall be administered by the Board
of Education. The Board may promulgate such regulations as may be necessary for
the implementation of the Program. The Board shall consult with the State
Council of Higher Education in the implementation of the Program.
The Program shall consist of scholarships awarded annually to
undergraduate students teacher candidates, in the sophomore,
junior, or senior year of college, and to including graduate
students and paraprofessionals from Virginia school divisions at an
accredited public or private four-year institution of higher education in the
Commonwealth, who (i) are enrolled full-time or part-time in an approved
teacher education program, or are participants in another approved
teacher education program, in a critical teacher shortage discipline, as
established by the Board of Education; (ii) are enrolled in any area of
an approved teacher education program seeking endorsements in elementary or
middle school education; (iii) are of diverse backgrounds and enrolled in
approved undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs, pursuant to
subsection B; (iv) are employed as paraprofessionals and are enrolled full-time
or part-time to complete an approved teacher education program to become fully
licensed teachers; (v) has been identified by a school board to teach in a
discipline or at a grade level within the school division in which a shortage of
teachers exists, as defined in the Board of Education's Regulations Governing
the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas; (vi) (ii) have
and maintain maintained a cumulative grade point average of at
least 2.7 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent; and (vii) (iii) are
nominated for such scholarship by the institution where they are enrolled.
In addition, the candidates must meet one or more of the following criteria:
(a) be enrolled in a program leading to an endorsement in a critical shortage
area as established by the Board of Education; (b) be a male teacher candidate
in an elementary or middle school education program; or (c) be a minority
teacher candidate enrolled in any teacher endorsement area.
E D. Before any teaching scholarship is awarded
in accordance with the provisions of this section, the scholarship recipient
shall sign a promissory note under which he agrees agreeing (i)
to pursue an approved teacher education or graduate education program
full-time or part-time at an accredited public or private four-year institution
of higher education in Virginia or another approved teacher education
program until his graduation and (ii) upon graduation, to begin
teaching in the public schools of the Commonwealth in a critical teaching
shortage discipline or, regardless of teaching discipline, in a school with a
high concentration of students eligible for free or reduced lunch or in a rural
or urban region of the Commonwealth with a teacher shortage.
Upon graduation program completion, the scholarship
recipient shall begin teaching in the public schools of the Commonwealth in the
first full academic year after graduating from college and becoming
eligible for a teaching license, and shall fulfill the teaching obligation
in accordance with the promissory note thereafter teach by
teaching continuously in Virginia for the same number of years that he was
the beneficiary of such scholarship. Such scholarship recipient may fulfill the
teaching obligation by accepting a teaching position (i) in one of the critical
teacher shortage disciplines as established by the Board of Education; or (ii)
regardless of teaching discipline, in a school with a high concentration of
students eligible for free or reduced lunch; or (iii) in any discipline or at
any grade level within a school division with a shortage of teachers, as
defined in the Board of Education's Regulations Governing the Determination of
Critical Teacher Shortage Areas; or (iv) in a rural or urban region of the
state with a teacher shortage.
E. The Board of Education may recover the total amount of funds awarded as a scholarship, or the appropriate proportion thereof, including any accrued interest, if the scholarship recipient fails to honor the teaching obligation.
F. To ensure a more diverse representation among classroom
teachers, especially at the elementary and middle grade levels, the Diversity
in Teaching Initiative shall consist of no more than five pilot projects,
geographically distributed across the Commonwealth, and shall be designed to attract
and encourage elementary and secondary school students, particularly students
of diverse backgrounds, to pursue a career in teaching. The pilot projects
shall be developed in accordance with the provisions of the appropriation act
governing the administration of the Better Information Project within the
Pre-Collegiate Program under the Virginia Plan for Equal Educational
Opportunity in Higher Education. The pilot projects may include outreach
activities such as mentorship programs, linkages between public schools and
institutions of higher education, and other programs and activities designed to
generate interest in the teaching profession. The Board shall require the
evaluation of each pilot project before implementing this component of the
Diversity in Teaching Initiative statewide.
G F. There is hereby created in the Department
of the Treasury a special nonreverting fund known as the Virginia Teaching
Scholarship Loan Fund, hereinafter referred to as the "Fund." The
Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller, and any moneys
remaining in the Fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the
general fund but shall remain in the Fund. The Fund shall consist of such
moneys as may be appropriated for the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan
Program and such gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds as may be
received on its behalf by the Board of Education. The Fund shall be used solely
to fund the Virginia Teaching Scholarship Loan Program. Interest earned on such
moneys shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Moneys in the Fund shall
be used solely to award scholarships pursuant to the Virginia Teaching
Scholarship Loan Program as provided in this section. Disbursements from the
Fund for such scholarships shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants
issued by the Comptroller upon written request of the President of the Board of
Education. The State Treasurer shall ensure that any moneys appropriated or
provided to the Fund for the Diversity in Teaching Initiative through
appropriations, gifts, donations, grants, and bequests shall be accounted for
separately and distributed only for scholarships awarded pursuant to the
Diversity in Teaching Initiative.
H G. The Board of Education and the State
Council of Higher Education shall make available to parents, students,
teachers, high school guidance counselors, and academic advisors and financial
aid administrators at public and private institutions of higher education
information concerning the Virginia Teacher Scholarship Loan Program,
including the Diversity in Teaching Initiative, eligibility for the loans,
and the terms and conditions under which such loans are awarded, in order that
students interested in pursuing careers in the teaching profession may be
advised of the availability of such financial assistance.
I. For the purposes of this section, "critical teacher
shortage area and discipline" means subject areas and grade levels
identified by the Board of Education in which the demand for classroom teachers
exceeds the supply of teachers, as defined in the Board of Education's
Regulations Governing the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas.
J. For the purposes of this section,
"paraprofessional" means a full-time member of a school staff whose
primary responsibility is to support instructional programs under the direction
of licensed instructional personnel.