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2007 SESSION
078801534Be 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 studentsteacher
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, 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.
CB. 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.
DC. 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 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 Bpursuing teacher
licensure in a critical shortage area as defined in the
Board of Education's regulations; (iv) are employed
as paraprofessionals and are enrolled full-time or part-time to complete an
approved teacher education program to become fully licensed teachersmale
teacher candidates enrolled in an elementary or middle school education
program, or are minority teacher candidates enrolled in any teacher endorsement
area; (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)(v) have and
maintain maintained a cumulative grade point
average of at least 2.7 on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent; and (vii)(vi)
are nominated for such scholarship by the institution where they are enrolled.
ED. 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.
GF. 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.
HG. 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.