CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.House Bill 1009
Florida House of Representatives - 1997 HB 1009
By Representative Morse
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to postsecondary education;
3 creating the minority teacher education
4 scholars program; requiring a training program;
5 providing for enrollment in the program;
6 authorizing scholarships to certain students;
7 authorizing incentive awards for public
8 community colleges and certain public and
9 private colleges and universities; providing
10 restrictions; providing for repayment of
11 scholarships; providing exceptions; creating
12 the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, Inc.,
13 in the College of Education at the University
14 of Florida; requiring budget projections and a
15 7-year plan; authorizing scholarships and
16 incentives; providing for a board of directors;
17 providing responsibilities; limiting
18 administrative costs; providing an effective
19 date.
20
21 WHEREAS, the number of public school students who are
22 African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, and
23 Native American continues to increase, while the number of
24 public school teachers of those races is decreasing rapidly,
25 and
26 WHEREAS, a Caucasian student is three times as likely
27 to have a teacher of the same race as is an Hispanic American
28 student or an African American student, and
29 WHEREAS, African American male students number more
30 than 12 percent of the total enrollment in grades kindergarten
31 through 12, and
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1 WHEREAS, African American men enrolled in State
2 University System colleges of education number less than 3
3 percent of the future teachers, and
4 WHEREAS, the total number of Hispanic Americans and
5 African Americans who enter the teaching profession is
6 insufficient by far to maintain their current representation
7 level, even though they are currently under-represented by an
8 alarming proportion, NOW, THEREFORE,
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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12 Section 1. There is created the minority teacher
13 education scholars program, which is a collaborative
14 performance-based scholarship program for African American,
15 Hispanic American, Asian American, and Native American
16 students. The participants in the program include Florida's
17 public community colleges and its public and private
18 universities that have teacher education programs.
19 (1) The minority teacher education scholars program
20 shall provide an annual scholarship of $4,000 for each
21 approved minority teacher education scholar who is enrolled in
22 one of Florida's public or private universities in the junior
23 year and is admitted into a teacher education program. The
24 program shall provide an incentive award of $2,000 to each
25 scholar's community college if the scholar renews the
26 scholarship for a second year and $2,000 to the scholar's
27 university or college if the scholar graduates in 2 or 3 years
28 with a baccalaureate degree and a major in education. An
29 additional incentive of $500 is to be paid to each community
30 college and to each public or private university or college if
31 the qualifying minority teacher education scholar is a male or
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1 is certified to teach mathematics or science courses in a
2 Florida public school. An education institution that earns a
3 minority teaching incentive award must use it to support its
4 minority student recruitment and retention programs.
5 (2) To assist each participating education institution
6 in the recruitment and retention of minority teacher scholars,
7 the administrators of the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers,
8 Inc., shall implement a system-wide training program. The
9 training program must include an annual conference or series
10 of conferences for students who are in the program or who are
11 identified by a high school or a community college as likely
12 candidates for the program. The training program must also
13 include research about and dissemination concerning successful
14 activities or programs that recruit minority students for
15 teacher education and retain them through graduation,
16 certification, and employment. Staff employed by the
17 corporation may work with each participating education
18 institution to assure that local faculty and administrators
19 receive the benefit of all available research and resources to
20 increase retention of their minority teacher education
21 scholars.
22 (3) To be eligible for an incentive award, a college
23 or university must offer a teacher education program and must
24 be accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern
25 Association of Colleges and Schools.
26 (4) The total amount appropriated annually for new
27 scholarships in the program must be divided by $4,000 and by
28 the number of participating colleges and universities. Each
29 participating institution has access to the same number of
30 scholarships and may award all of them to eligible minority
31 students. If a college or university does not award all of its
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1 scholarships by the date set by the program administration at
2 the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, Inc., the remaining
3 scholarships must be transferred to another institution that
4 has eligible students.
5 (5) A student may receive a scholarship from the
6 program for 3 consecutive years if the student remains
7 enrolled full-time in the program and makes satisfactory
8 progress toward a baccalaureate degree with a major in
9 education.
10 (6) If a minority teacher education scholar graduates
11 and is employed as a teacher by a Florida district school
12 board, the scholar is not required to repay the scholarship
13 amount so long as the scholar teaches in a Florida public
14 school. A scholar may repay the entire scholarship amount by
15 remaining employed as a Florida public school teacher for 1
16 year for each year he or she received the scholarship.
17 (7) If a minority teacher education scholar does not
18 graduate within 3 years, or if the scholar graduates but does
19 not teach in a Florida public school, the scholar must repay
20 the total amount awarded, plus annual interest of 8 percent.
21 (a) Interest begins accruing the first day of the 13th
22 month after the month in which the recipient completes an
23 approved teacher education program or after the month in which
24 enrollment as a full-time student is terminated. Interest does
25 not accrue during any period of deferment or eligible teaching
26 service.
27 (b) The repayment period begins the first day of the
28 13th month after the month in which the recipient completes an
29 approved teacher education program or after the month in which
30 enrollment as a full-time student is terminated.
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1 (c) The terms and conditions of the scholarship
2 repayment must be contained in a promissory note and a
3 repayment schedule. The loan must be paid within 10 years
4 after the date of graduation or termination of full-time
5 enrollment, including any periods of deferment. A shorter
6 repayment period may be granted. The minimum monthly repayment
7 is $50 or the unpaid balance, unless otherwise approved,
8 except that the monthly payment may not be less than the
9 accruing interest. The recipient may prepay any part of the
10 scholarship without penalty.
11 (d) The holder of the promissory note may grant a
12 deferment of repayment for a recipient who is a full-time
13 student, who is unable to secure a teaching position that
14 would qualify as repayment, who becomes disabled, or who
15 experiences other hardships. Such a deferment may be granted
16 for a total of 24 months.
17 (e) If a student defaults on the scholarship, the
18 entire unpaid balance, including interest accrued, becomes due
19 and payable at the option of the holder of the promissory
20 note, or when the recipient is no longer able to pay or no
21 longer intends to pay. The recipient is responsible for paying
22 all reasonable attorney's fees and other costs and charges
23 necessary for administration of the collection process.
24 Section 2. (1) There is created the Florida Fund for
25 Minority Teachers, Inc., which is a not-for-profit statutory
26 corporation housed in the College of Education at the
27 University of Florida. The corporation shall administer and
28 manage the minority teacher education scholars program.
29 (2) The corporation shall submit an annual budget
30 projection to the Department of Education to be included in
31 the annual legislative budget request. The projection must be
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1 based on a 7-year plan that would be capable of awarding the
2 following schedule of scholarships and incentives:
3 (a) In the initial year, 700 scholarships of $4,000
4 each to scholars in the junior year of college.
5 (b) In the second year, 350 scholarships to new
6 scholars in their junior year and 700 renewal scholarships to
7 the rising seniors.
8 (c) In each succeeding year, 350 scholarships to new
9 scholars in the junior year and renewal scholarships to the
10 350 rising seniors.
11 (d) An incentive of $2,000 to the public community
12 college and $2,000 to the public or private college or
13 university from which each scholar in the program graduated,
14 upon the scholar's receipt of the baccalaureate degree with a
15 major in education.
16 (e) An additional incentive of $500 to the community
17 college and $500 to the university or college if the
18 graduating scholar is a male minority teacher education
19 graduate.
20 (f) An additional incentive of $500 to the community
21 college and $500 to the university or college if the
22 graduating scholar is eligible to teach mathematics or
23 science.
24 (g) The initial budget projections for the incentive
25 award fund must be capable of providing an incentive for each
26 successful outcome provided by the program. However, the
27 annual projections must be adjusted to account for changes
28 such as the number of students who graduate in 3 rather than 2
29 years and the number of students who do not graduate or who
30 must repay their scholarships.
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1 (3) A board of directors shall administer the
2 corporation. The Governor shall appoint to the board at least
3 15 but not more than 25 members, who shall serve terms of 3
4 years, except that four of the initial members shall serve
5 1-year terms and four shall serve 2-year terms. At least four
6 members must be employed by public community colleges and at
7 least 11 members must be employed by public or private
8 postsecondary institutions that operate colleges of education.
9 At least one member must be a financial aid officer employed
10 by a postsecondary education institution operating in Florida.
11 The Board of Regents, the State Board of Community Colleges,
12 and the State Board of Independent Colleges and Universities
13 shall collaborate to provide the Governor with a list of at
14 least 15 recommendations of members to be appointed to the
15 board. The board shall:
16 (a) Hold meetings to implement this section.
17 (b) Select a chairperson annually.
18 (c) Make rules for its own government.
19 (d) Appoint an executive director to serve at its
20 pleasure. The executive director shall be the chief
21 administrative officer and agent of the board.
22 (e) Maintain a record of its proceedings.
23 (f) Delegate to the chairperson the responsibility for
24 signing final orders.
25 (g) Carry out the training program as required for the
26 minority teacher education scholars program. No more than 15
27 percent of the funds appropriated for the minority teacher
28 education scholars program may be expended for administration,
29 including administration of the required training program.
30 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 1997.
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
3 Creates a minority teacher education scholars program to
provide scholarships to certain students. Provides
4 incentive awards for certain educational institutions.
Provides qualifications for scholarship recipients and
5 provides for repayments of the funds. Creates the Florida
Fund for Minority Teachers, provides for budgeting,
6 authorizes scholarships and incentives, provides the
composition of and creates powers and duties of a board
7 of directors.
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