HB 1965 - DIGEST

(SEE ALSO PROPOSED 1ST SUB)

Declares an intent to assist beginning public school teachers with their educational expenses by having state colleges and universities waive tuition for those courses required for a master's degree or professional certification. The legislature further intends that teachers repay the waived tuition with future service in the public schools.

Requires the higher education coordinating board to: (1) Adopt rules to implement these requirements;

(2) Provide the universities and college with documents that may be used to ensure that waiver recipients accept their service or repayment obligations;

(3) Work with the office of the superintendent of public instruction to create a system that identifies those teachers eligible to receive waivers and provides information about the waivers to those eligible to use them;

(4) Report to the legislative education and fiscal committees by November of each even-numbered year with the number of waiver recipients, the total amount waived by each university or college, and the type of master's degree or certification pursued by waiver recipients; and

(5) Collect and manage repayments from waiver recipients who do not meet their teaching obligations.