Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 952
       
       
        
       By Senator Sachs
       
       
       
       
       
       34-01172A-16                                           2016952__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to teacher education; amending s.
    3         1009.60, F.S.; revising eligibility criteria for
    4         receipt of a minority teacher education scholarship;
    5         amending s. 1009.605, F.S.; revising funding for the
    6         training program carried out by the board of directors
    7         of the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, Inc.;
    8         providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 1009.60,
   13  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   14         1009.60 Minority teacher education scholars program.—There
   15  is created the minority teacher education scholars program,
   16  which is a collaborative performance-based scholarship program
   17  for African-American, Hispanic-American, Asian-American, and
   18  Native American students. The participants in the program
   19  include Florida’s Florida College System institutions and its
   20  public and private universities that have teacher education
   21  programs.
   22         (1) The minority teacher education scholars program shall
   23  provide an annual scholarship in an amount that shall be
   24  prorated based on available appropriations and may not exceed
   25  $4,000 for each approved minority teacher education scholar who
   26  is enrolled in one of Florida’s public or private colleges or
   27  universities, in the junior year and is admitted into a teacher
   28  education program, and has not earned more than 18 credit hours
   29  of upper-division-level courses in education.
   30         (4) A student may receive a scholarship from the program
   31  for 3 consecutive years if the student remains enrolled full
   32  time in the program and makes satisfactory progress toward a
   33  baccalaureate degree with a major in education or a graduate
   34  degree with a major in education for initial certification.
   35         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 1009.605, Florida
   36  Statutes, is amended to read:
   37         1009.605 Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, Inc.—
   38         (2)(a) The corporation shall submit an annual budget
   39  projection to the Department of Education to be included in the
   40  annual legislative budget request. The projection must be based
   41  on the cost to award up to 350 scholarships to new scholars in
   42  the junior year and up to 350 renewal scholarships to the 350
   43  rising seniors.
   44         (b) The corporation shall report to the Department of
   45  Education, by the date established by the department, the
   46  eligible students to whom scholarship moneys are disbursed each
   47  academic term, the annual balance of the corporation’s assets
   48  and cash reserves, and any other information requested by the
   49  department in accordance with s. 1009.94. By June 30 of each
   50  fiscal year, the corporation shall remit to the department any
   51  appropriated funds that were not distributed for scholarships,
   52  less the 5 percent for administration and the $100,000 for the
   53  training program required in, including administration of the
   54  required training program, authorized pursuant to subsection
   55  (3).
   56         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.