1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; establishing a teacher loan 
  1.3             forgiveness program; providing for rulemaking; 
  1.4             appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [122A.655] [TEACHER LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNT.] The teacher 
  1.9   loan forgiveness program is established to assist communities 
  1.10  with recruiting and retaining teachers.  The teacher loan 
  1.11  forgiveness program account is established in the state 
  1.12  treasury.  The account consists of money appropriated by the 
  1.13  legislature and repayments and penalties collected under 
  1.14  subdivision 6.  All money in this account is annually 
  1.15  appropriated to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  1.16  learning and must be used to repay loans of people enrolled in a 
  1.17  program of study designed to prepare them to teach in a 
  1.18  licensure field for which there is a teacher shortage as 
  1.19  determined by the state board of teaching under subdivision 3, 
  1.20  paragraph (a), clause (2). 
  1.21     Subd. 2.  [COMMISSIONER.] The commissioner shall adopt 
  1.22  rules to implement the teacher loan forgiveness program.  The 
  1.23  commissioner shall select the school districts that qualify for 
  1.24  loan repayment, notify school districts about the program, 
  1.25  develop and disseminate application materials to sites, and 
  2.1   carry out other activities needed to implement this section. 
  2.2      Subd. 3.  [QUALIFYING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.] (a) A school 
  2.3   district qualifies for the teacher loan forgiveness program if: 
  2.4      (1) the district is located in Minnesota outside the 
  2.5   metropolitan area defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2; or 
  2.6      (2) the district employs people who have graduated within 
  2.7   12 months of the date on which the district qualifies for this 
  2.8   program and are licensed to teach in a field for which there is 
  2.9   a teacher shortage as determined by the state board of teaching. 
  2.10     (b) A person who is eligible to have a loan forgiven under 
  2.11  paragraph (a) remains eligible for the program if the person 
  2.12  transfers to another school district and continues to teach in 
  2.13  the same licensure area for the term of the loan repayment.  
  2.14     (c) Teachers who move from one Minnesota school district 
  2.15  outside the metropolitan area to another remain eligible for the 
  2.16  loan forgiveness program.  
  2.17     Subd. 4.  [ELIGIBILITY.] A person's educational institution 
  2.18  loans may be forgiven if they are employed as a teacher, as 
  2.19  defined in section 122A.40, in a school district that qualifies 
  2.20  for loan repayment as determined by the commissioner, for up to 
  2.21  four years.  
  2.22     Subd. 5.  [LOAN FORGIVENESS.] One-fourth of the principal 
  2.23  of the outstanding loan amount must be forgiven for each year of 
  2.24  eligible employment.  A pro rata amount must be forgiven for 
  2.25  eligible employment during part of a school year, part-time 
  2.26  employment as a substitute teacher, or other part-time teaching 
  2.27  in an eligible school district.  Loans for $2,500 or less may be 
  2.28  forgiven at the rate of up to $1,250 per year. 
  2.29     Subd. 6.  [PENALTY.] If a teacher does not fulfill the 
  2.30  length of service requirement in subdivision 4 for full 
  2.31  repayment of all qualified loans, then the teacher must repay 
  2.32  the amount paid under the loan forgiveness program.  The 
  2.33  commissioner may grant a waiver of all or part of the money owed 
  2.34  as a result of a penalty using criteria established by the 
  2.35  commissioner. 
  2.36     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.1      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.2   commissioner of children, families, and learning in fiscal year 
  3.3   2000 for the teacher loan forgiveness program. 
  3.4      Any balance in the first year does not cancel but is 
  3.5   available in the second year.  This appropriation is available 
  3.6   until June 30, 2001.