Section 28B.102.090. Teacher shortage conditional grant program—Rules—Reports.

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the office shall develop and administer the teacher shortage conditional grant program as a subprogram within the future teachers conditional scholarship and loan repayment program. The purpose of the teacher shortage conditional grant program is to encourage individuals to become teachers by providing financial aid to individuals enrolled in professional educator standards-approved teacher preparation programs.

(2) The office has the power and duty to develop and adopt rules as necessary under chapter 34.05 RCW to administer the program described in this section.

(3) As part of the rule-making process under subsection (2) of this section, the office must collaborate with the professional educator standards board, the Washington state school directors' association, and the professional educator standards board-approved teacher preparation programs to develop a framework for the teacher shortage conditional grant program, including eligibility requirements, contractual obligations, conditional grant amounts, and loan repayment requirements.

(4)(a) In developing the eligibility requirements, the office must consider: Whether the individual has a financial need, is a first-generation college student, or is from a traditionally underrepresented group among teachers in Washington; whether the individual is completing an alternative route teacher certification program; whether the individual plans to obtain an endorsement in a hard-to-fill subject, as defined by the professional educator standards board; the characteristic of any geographic shortage area, as defined by the professional educator standards board, that the individual plans to teach in; and whether a school district has committed to offering the individual employment once the individual obtains a residency teacher certificate.

(b) In developing the contractual obligations, the office must consider requiring the individual to: Obtain a Washington state residency teacher certificate; teach in a subject or geographic endorsement shortage area, as defined by the professional educator standards board; and commit to teach for five school years in an approved education program with a need for a teacher with such an endorsement at the time of hire.

(c) In developing the conditional grant award amounts, the office must consider whether the individual is: Enrolled in a public or private institution of higher education, a resident, in a baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate program, or in an alternative route teacher certification program. In addition, the award amounts must not result in a reduction of the individual's federal or state grant aid, including Pell grants, state need grants, college bound scholarships, or opportunity scholarships.

(d) In developing the repayment requirements for a conditional grant that is converted into a loan, the terms and conditions of the loan must follow the interest rate and repayment terms of the federal direct subsidized loan program. In addition, the office must consider the following repayment schedule:

(i) For less than one school year of teaching completed, the loan obligation is eighty-five percent of the conditional grant the student received, plus interest and an equalization fee;

(ii) For less than two school years of teaching completed, the loan obligation is seventy percent of the conditional grant the student received, plus interest and an equalization fee;

(iii) For less than three school years of teaching completed, the loan obligation is fifty-five percent of the conditional grant the student received, plus interest and an equalization fee; and

(iv) For less than four school years of teaching completed, the loan obligation is forty percent of the conditional grant the student received, plus interest and an equalization fee.

(5) By November 1, 2018, and November 1, 2020, the office shall submit reports, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, to the appropriate committees of the legislature that recommend whether the teacher shortage conditional grant program under this section should be continued, modified, or terminated, and that include information about the recipients of the grants under this program.

[ 2016 c 233 § 15.]

2016 c 233 § 15.