Rural School District Teaching Fellowship Programs

Teacher preparation - rural teaching fellowship programs - appropriation. The act directs the department of education to identify geographic areas within the state and specific subjects for which there is a teacher shortage. Under the act, 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 an 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 commitment of both to jointly design an individualized fellowship plan for each teaching fellow, which 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.

For the 2018-19 fiscal year, the act appropriates $530,448 to the department of higher education with the assumption that the department will require an additional 0.5 FTE. The department may use the appropriation for rural teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)