HB 18-1002

HB 18-1002, also known as the Rural School District Teaching Fellowship Programs bill, aims to address teacher shortages in rural areas of Colorado by providing financial support for future educators. Under this bill, rural schools and higher education institutions can collaborate to offer stipends of $10,000 to fourth-year education students who commit to teaching in these underserved regions after graduation. The state will cover half of the stipend cost if the school demonstrates a significant need for teachers. If fellows don’t fulfill their commitment to teach at the rural schools for two years, they must repay the stipend. This bill is now signed into law and is expected to help attract more educators to work in rural Colorado districts facing hiring challenges.

Official Summary

The bill directs the department of education to identify geographic areas within the state and specific subjects for which there is a teacher shortage. Under the bill, a rural school district, rural charter school, or rural board of cooperative services (rural local education provider) and a public or private institution of higher education (institution) may enter into an agreement to provide a teaching fellowship program for students enrolled in the fourth year of the approved educator preparation program. The rural local education provider must be located within an identified area or need a teacher for one of the identified subjects and demonstrate chronic hiring difficulty and financial need; the institution must offer an approved educator preparation program. The agreement must include the commitments of both the rural local education provider and the institution, including the commitments of both the rural local education provider and the institution to jointly design an individualized fellowship plan for each teaching fellow that addresses necessary competencies, the rural local education provider's commitment to extend an offer of employment to the teaching fellow when he or she successfully completes the fellowship year, and the institution's commitment to pay a percentage of a stipend to the teaching fellow during the fellowship year. Each teaching fellow receives a stipend of $10,000 to use for costs of attendance during the fellowship year. The department of higher education, based on the rural local education provider's demonstrated chronic hiring difficulties and financial need, will annually select up to 100 teaching fellows for which the state will provide 50% of the stipend through the state financial assistance program. For these teaching fellows, the institution must provide the remaining 50% from institutional financial assistance. If the teaching fellow receives an offer of employment from the rural local education provider for the 2 school years following completion of the fellowship and does not work for the rural local education provider for those 2 school years, the teaching fellow must repay the amount of the stipend. The rural local education provider and institution must prepare an annual report concerning implementation of the teaching fellowship program and submit it to the department of higher education. The department must prepare a summary report concerning the implementation and effect of the teaching fellowship programs throughout the state and submit the report to the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, and the joint budget committee and education committees of the general assembly. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.) , Read More

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