SECOND REGULAR SESSION
93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES BOYKINS (Sponsor), WRIGHT-JONES, SANDERS BROOKS, BOWMAN, STORCH, WALTON, BLAND, JOHNSON (61), HUGHES AND CURLS (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time March 2, 2006 and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To amend chapter 168, RSMo, by adding thereto four new sections relating to the Missouri teacher certification incentive program.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 168, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto four new sections, to be known as sections 168.650, 168.653, 168.656, and 168.660, to read as follows:
168.650. 1. Sections 168.650 to 168.660 to establish a financial assistance program for prospective teachers shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri Teacher Certification Incentive Program".
2. As used in sections 168.650 to 168.660, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Academic year", the period from August first of any year through July thirty-first of the following year;
(2) "Coordinating board", the coordinating board for higher education;
(3) "Eligible noncertified instructional employee", any noncertified classroom employee of a school who meets the criteria established by the state board and the coordinating board and who has been accepted at a participating school and enrolled in a formal course of instruction leading to qualifications necessary to obtain a teaching certificate in Missouri;
(4) "Fund", the Missouri teacher certification incentive fund established in section 168.660;
(5) "Grant", a grant under the the Missouri teacher certification incentive program;
(6) "Participating school", a public or private Missouri institution offering an approved program of teacher education;
(7) "Resident", any person declared a resident under guidelines established by the coordinating board for higher education;
(8) "State board", the state board of education.
168.653. 1. The coordinating board shall promulgate rules establishing standards for determining eligible noncertified instructional employees for grants under sections 168.650 to 168.660. Such standards may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Citizenship or permanent residency in the United States;
(2) Residence in the state of Missouri;
(3) Current or previous employment in a classroom setting as a noncertified instructional employee;
(4) Enrollment, or acceptance for enrollment, as an undergraduate student in an approved teacher education program at a participating school;
(5) Evaluation of the results of the entry-level test as established under section 168.400.
2. The policy of the coordinating board shall not discriminate in the awarding of grants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The policy shall comply with the Federal Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968 and executive orders issued thereunder. The coordinating board shall give due consideration to the cultural diversity of applicants.
3. The coordinating board shall promulgate rules regarding the form, time, and method of filing applications, and the evaluation and approval process for such applications.
4. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, RSMo, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo, and, if applicable, section 536.028, RSMo. This section and chapter 536, RSMo, are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536, RSMo, to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2006, shall be invalid and void.
168.656. 1. The coordinating board shall enter into a contract with each individual receiving a grant under sections 168.650 to 168.660. The coordinating board may designate a representative to act on its behalf to fulfill this duty.
2. For the first three years in which grants are made under sections 168.650 to 168.660, no grant to an eligible noncertified instruction employee shall exceed one thousand dollars for each academic year. For the fourth and each subsequent year in which grants are made under sections 168.650 to 168.660, the coordinating board shall determine the maximum amount for grants to eligible noncertified instructional employees in each academic year. All grants shall be made from moneys deposited in the fund established under section 168.660.
3. The commissioner of higher education, acting on behalf of the coordinating board, may:
(1) Enter into agreements with and receive grants from the United States government in connection with federal programs of assistance to participants in the program;
(2) Contract with public agencies or private persons or organizations for the purpose of carrying out the administrative functions imposed by sections 168.650 to 168.660;
(3) Designate the department of higher education to receive grant applications and distribute moneys.
168.660. 1. The "Missouri Teacher Certification Incentive Fund" is established and shall consist of money appropriated to it by the general assembly and charges, gifts, grants and bequests from federal, private and other sources made for the purpose of assisting eligible noncertified instructional employees in financing their education in order to become certified teachers. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall be exempt from the provisions of section 33.080, RSMo, relating to the transfer of unexpended balances to the general revenue fund.
2. All moneys recovered for payments shall be paid promptly into the state treasury and credited to the fund.
3. Moneys in the fund shall be invested by the state treasurer in the same deposits and obligations in which state funds are authorized by law to be invested; except that, the income accruing from such funds shall be credited to the fund on an annual basis.
4. The fund shall be administered by the department of higher education at the direction of the coordinating board.
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