HF 2083 (LSB 5356HV (3) 89)

HOUSE FILE 2083

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 519)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the eligibility for grants under the teach Iowa scholar program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 261.110, subsection 3, Code 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Criteria for eligibility shall be established by the commission and shall include but are not limited to the following:
   a.  The applicant was in the top twenty-five fifty percent academically of students exiting a teacher preparation program approved by the state board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 3, or a similar teacher preparation program in another state, or had earned other comparable academic credentials.
   b.  The applicant is preparing to teach become a teacher who provides classroom instruction in fields including but not limited to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics; English as a second language or special education instruction; or is preparing to teach in a hard-to-staff subject as identified by the department. The department shall take into account the varying regional needs in the state for teachers in these subject areas when applying the criterion of this paragraph. The department shall annually identify and designate hard-to-staff subjects for the purpose of this paragraph. The eligibility of an applicant who receives a teach Iowa scholar grant and who is preparing to teach in a hard-to-staff subject as identified by the department shall not be affected in subsequent years if the department does not continue to identify that subject as a hard-to-staff subject any of the following located in this state:
   (1)  A school district. 
   (2)  A charter school.
   (3)  An area education agency.
   (4)  An accredited nonpublic school.
   c.  The applicant met all of the eligibility requirements of this section on or after January 1, 2013. A person who met the program eligibility requirements of this section prior to January 1, 2013, is ineligible for this program.
   d.  On or after July 1, 2022, the total value of grants awarded under this section each year to applicants who are preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school shall be as follows:
   (1)  Fifty percent shall be awarded to applicants preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school, with less than or equal to one thousand two hundred students. However, if the amount requested by applicants pursuant to subparagraph (2) is less than the amount reserved for applicants under subparagraph (2), the commission may award the difference to applicants under this subparagraph.
   (2)  Fifty percent shall be awarded to applicants preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school, with greater than one thousand two hundred students. However, if the amount requested by applicants pursuant to subparagraph (1) is less than the amount reserved for applicants under subparagraph (1), the commission may award the difference to applicants under this subparagraph.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the eligibility for grants under the teach Iowa scholar program.
   The teach Iowa scholar program, administered by the college student aid commission, provides grants to certain high-caliber, full-time teachers in Iowa in amounts not to exceed $4,000 annually or $20,000 over five years. Under current law, the eligibility criteria established by the commission for grants under the program include that the applicant was in the top 25 percent academically of students exiting a teacher preparation program and the applicant is preparing to teach in certain specified fields. The bill modifies these provisions to provide that the applicant was in the top 50 percent academically of students exiting a teacher preparation program and the applicant is preparing to become a teacher who provides classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or accredited nonpublic school located in the state.
   The bill provides that on or after July 1, 2022, the total value of grants awarded under the program to applicants who are preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school shall be equally divided between applicants preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school with less than or equal to 1,200 students and applicants preparing to become teachers who provide classroom instruction in a school district, charter school, area education agency, or an accredited nonpublic school with greater than 1,200 students. The bill authorizes the commission to award different amounts to each group of applicants if the amount requested by applicants of either group is less than the amount reserved for that group.