|
REFERENCE TITLE: teacher recruitment and retention |
|
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-third Legislature First Regular Session 2017
|
|
HB 2392 |
|
|
|
Introduced by Representatives Engel: Butler, Coleman, Epstein, Friese, Rubalcava, Udall
|
AN ACT
amending Title 15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-249.07; appropriating monies; relating to the department of education.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-249.07, to read:
15-249.07. Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program; requirements; fund; annual report; contracts; attorney general; program termination
A. The Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program is established within the department of education. The program consists of a partnership between each of the universities under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents and participating school districts in this state.
B. Each university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents shall establish a teaching fellows program to train undergraduate students as future public schoolteachers and to provide knowledge and training to current public schoolteachers to pursue a master's degree or a Doctoral degree.
C. School district governing boards may apply to participate in the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program. The department of education shall develop application and selection criteria that include the extent of the school district's need for teachers due to vacant positions and the length of time that teaching positions have been vacant in the school district.
D. School districts that are selected to participate in the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program shall seek to fill teaching positions in the school district from participants in the teaching fellows program at a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents.
E. A university undergraduate student who is a junior or senior and who is accepted into the teaching fellows program shall receive an annual stipend of one thousand five hundred dollars from monies appropriated to the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program stipend fund for each year that the student remains in the teaching fellows program, for one year of student teaching and for the first three years of employment with a participating school district. The stipend paid during the teacher's third year of employment with a participating school district shall be at least twice the amount of the stipend paid during that teacher's first year of teaching. A fellowship pursuant to this subsection expires at the end of the third calendar year after the student graduates with an undergraduate degree.
F. A current employee of a school district that is selected to participate in the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program who is accepted into the teaching fellows program shall receive an annual stipend of one thousand five hundred dollars from monies appropriated to the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program stipend fund for each year of study in pursuit of a master's degree or a doctoral degree. A fellowship pursuant to this subsection expires when the employee obtains a graduate degree or at the end of three consecutive years, whichever occurs first. A person who was awarded a fellowship pursuant to subsection E of this section may also obtain a separate fellowship pursuant to this subsection.
G. The Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program stipend fund is established consisting of monies appropriated for this purpose. The department of education shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated. The department shall distribute monies in the fund as annual stipends as prescribed in this section.
H. The department of education, in cooperation with the Arizona board of regents and the school districts that are selected to participate in the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program, shall submit an annual report on or before September 15 to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives that summarizes the operation of the program, documents the number of vacant teaching positions in this state that were reported in that year and examine the causes of teacher shortages in the public schools in this state. The department shall submit a copy of this report to the secretary of state.
I. Each stipend recipient shall execute a contract between the recipient and the department of education, acting on behalf of this state. The contract shall be conditioned on the contractual agreement by the stipend recipient to complete the service required by this section. The contract shall provide that the stipend recipient serve as a teacher in this state. The service shall be full time as determined by the department and shall be for one year for each year of receipt of the stipend, the stipend and the interest accrued on the stipend may be fully paid with compensation received for services as required by the contract or at the option of the recipient by payment of all monies, interest and penalties for failure to fulfill the contract.
J. A stipend recipient shall begin the service for which the recipient contracted. A recipient who is ordered into military service or who for other cause beyond the recipient's control deemed sufficient by the department is unable to commence the required service within three years of graduation shall begin service within one year after completing military service or after the termination of the other cause.
K. If a stipend recipient does not fulfill the conditions of the contract, the recipient shall repay the full amount of the stipend, at a seven percent interest rate plus a penalty for liquidated damages in an amount equivalent to the full amount of the stipend, minus the amount credited for time actually served as a teacher in this state, to be calculated on a prorated monthly basis. The department for good cause shown may provide for extensions of the period of repayment specified in the stipend recipient's contract. The department may waive the payment of principal, interest and liquidated damages if it determines that death or permanent physical disability accounts for the recipient's failure to fulfill the contract.
L. If a stipend recipient withdraws or is dismissed from the university, the recipient shall repay the stipend to the department with interest, with no penalty within one year of withdrawal. The department for good cause shown may provide for extensions on the period of repayment.
M. On receipt of supporting documentation, the department for good cause shown may defer the stipend recipient's service or payment obligation or may enter into repayment arrangements with the recipient or allow service that is equivalent to full-time service if the department determines that this action is justified after a review of the recipient's circumstances.
N. The attorney general may commence any action necessary to enforce the contract and achieve repayment of stipends provided by the department pursuant to this section.
O. The program established by this section ends on July 1, 2024 pursuant to section 41‑3102.
Sec. 2. Appropriation; Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program stipend fund; exemption
A. The sum of $500,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2017-2018 to the Arizona teacher recruitment and retention incentive program stipend fund established by section 15‑249.07, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act, for the purposes prescribed in this act.
B. The appropriation made in subsection A of this section is exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations.