1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; providing local grants to allow underrepresented 
1.3 	populations to pursue a teaching career or attain a license in a teacher shortage 
1.4 	area; appropriating money.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. GRANTS TO RECRUIT UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS 
1.7 	TO BECOME LICENSED TEACHERS IN THE ST. PAUL SCHOOL DISTRICT.
 1.8 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. An annual grant program in the St. Paul school 
1.9 	district, Independent School District No. 625, is established to provide teacher training 
1.10 	opportunities to underrepresented populations of current high school seniors and education 
1.11 	or teacher assistants or other qualified nonlicensed district employees interested in 
1.12 	becoming licensed teachers, including in subject areas where teacher shortages exist. 
1.13 	To provide grants under this program, the St. Paul school district must enter into an 
1.14 	agreement with a local or regional teacher preparation program or institution approved 
1.15 	by the Board of Teaching to provide the training needed for the grant recipient to attain 
1.16 	a Minnesota teaching license. As part of the agreement, the program or institution and 
1.17 	the district must agree to support and monitor the progress of each grant recipient and to 
1.18 	provide the grant recipient with student teaching opportunities and teacher mentoring.
1.19 		Subd. 2.Eligibility. Grants under this section are available to high school seniors 
1.20 	in good standing currently enrolled in the St. Paul school district and to nonlicensed 
1.21 	education or teacher assistants or other nonlicensed district employees holding a bachelor's 
1.22 	degree from an accredited higher education institution who are interested in becoming 
1.23 	licensed classroom teachers, including in areas of teacher shortages, and are members of 
1.24 	populations underrepresented among licensed teachers.
2.1 		Subd. 3.Grant criteria; funding. A person eligible under subdivision 2 who is 
2.2 	interested in working as a licensed classroom teacher in the district for four consecutive 
2.3 	school years after receiving a teaching license may apply to the district for grant funding 
2.4 	to help offset teacher preparation costs, including tuition, textbooks, or other instructional 
2.5 	materials, or for a stipend to enable the applicant to complete the student teaching 
2.6 	requirement. To receive a grant, an eligible applicant must enroll and make satisfactory 
2.7 	progress in the teacher preparation program offered by the provider subject to the 
2.8 	agreement under subdivision 1 and annually must complete an application for federal 
2.9 	student aid. The grant amount must not exceed the grant recipient's actual program or 
2.10 	course costs in a school term or year minus any federal Pell grant or state grant amount the 
2.11 	grant recipient is eligible to receive. Grants must be awarded annually on a first-come, 
2.12 	first-served basis to the extent funding is available.

2.13 	Sec. 2. ST. PAUL SCHOOL DISTRICT GRANT PROGRAM TO RECRUIT 
2.14 	UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS TO BECOME LICENSED TEACHERS; 
2.15 	APPROPRIATION.
 2.16 	$....... in fiscal year 2017 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
2.17 	of education for a grant to the St. Paul school district, Independent School District No. 
2.18 	625, for grants to recruit underrepresented populations to become licensed teachers, 
2.19 	consistent with section 1.