HB 24-1376

House Bill 24-1376, which has been approved and signed into law, expands a program that provides funding for experienced teachers to mentor both new teacher candidates and novice teachers with fewer than three years of experience. The bill allocates $100,000 annually from the state budget starting in 2024 to support these mentoring activities. This initiative aims to improve the quality of teaching by offering additional guidance and training to newer educators. Since it has been signed into law, the program can now be implemented as planned.

Official Summary

Under current law, the teacher mentor grant program (grant program) provides funding to partnerships between local education providers and educator preparation programs to provide training and stipends for experienced teachers who mentor teacher candidates in clinical practice. The act expands the grant program to include mentorship of novice teachers who have fewer than 3 years of teaching experience. The act requires the general assembly to appropriate $100,000 dollars to the department of higher education for the grant program for the 2024-25 state fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter. Any appropriation remaining at the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year or subsequent fiscal year may be used for the grant program in subsequent fiscal years. The act appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the department of higher education for use by the Colorado commission on higher education for growing great teachers - teacher mentor grants. APPROVED by Governor June 3, 2024 EFFECTIVE June 3, 2024(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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