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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 1005
Introduced by Walz, 15.
Read first time January 05, 2024
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Excellence in Teaching Act; to amend
2 sections 85-3103, 85-3105, and 85-3112, Revised Statutes Supplement,
3 2023; to change provisions relating to the Attracting Excellence to
4 Teaching Program; to provide a definition; to change provisions
5 relating to eligible uses for the Excellence in Teaching Cash Fund;
6 to harmonize provisions; to repeal the original sections; to provide
7 an operative date; and to declare an emergency.
8 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 85-3103, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, is
2 amended to read:
3 85-3103 The Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program is created.
4 For purposes of the Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program:
5 (1) Commission means the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary
6 Education;
7 (2) Eligible institution means a not-for-profit college or
8 university which (a) is located in Nebraska, (b) is accredited by an
9 accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of
10 Education as determined to be acceptable by the State Board of Education,
11 (c) has a teacher education program, and (d) if a privately funded
12 college or university, has not opted out of the program pursuant to rules
13 and regulations;
14 (3) Eligible student means an individual who (a) is a full-time
15 student, (b) is enrolled in an eligible institution in an undergraduate
16 or a graduate teacher education program working toward his or her initial
17 certificate to teach in Nebraska, (c) if enrolled at a state-funded
18 eligible institution, is a resident student as described in section
19 85-502 or, if enrolled in a privately funded eligible institution, would
20 be deemed a resident student if enrolled in a state-funded eligible
21 institution, and (d) is a student majoring in a shortage area;
22 (4) Full-time student means, in the aggregate, the equivalent of a
23 student who in a twelve-month period is enrolled in twenty-four semester
24 credit hours for undergraduate students or eighteen semester credit hours
25 for graduate students of classroom, laboratory, clinical, practicum, or
26 independent study course work;
27 (5) Majoring in a shortage area means pursuing a degree which will
28 allow an individual to be properly endorsed to teach in a shortage area;
29 (6) Shortage area means a secular field of teaching for which there
30 is a shortage, as determined by the State Department of Education, of
31 properly endorsed teachers at the time the borrower first receives funds
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1 pursuant to the program; and
2 (7) Student-teaching semester means a semester of full-time
3 enrollment for clinical practice which provides initial preparation for a
4 student enrolled in an eligible institution and pursuing a certificate to
5 teach that includes a culminating supervised experience to demonstrate
6 competence in the professional teaching role for which such student is
7 applying; and
8 (8) (7) Teacher education program means a program of study approved
9 by the State Board of Education pursuant to subdivision (5)(g) of section
10 79-318.
11 Sec. 2. Section 85-3105, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, is
12 amended to read:
13 85-3105 (1) The commission shall administer the Attracting
14 Excellence to Teaching Program either directly or by contracting with
15 public or private entities.
16 (2) To be eligible for the program, an eligible student shall:
17 (a) Graduate in the top quarter of his or her high school class or
18 have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 on a four-point
19 scale in an eligible institution;
20 (b) Agree to complete a teacher education program at an eligible
21 institution and to complete the major on which the applicant's
22 eligibility is based; and
23 (c) Commit to teach in an accredited or approved public or private
24 school in Nebraska upon (i) successful completion of the teacher
25 education program for which the applicant is applying to the Attracting
26 Excellence to Teaching Program and (ii) becoming certified pursuant to
27 sections 79-806 to 79-815.
28 (3) An eligible student Eligible students may apply on an annual
29 basis for a loan loans in an amount of not more than three thousand
30 dollars per year, except that an eligible student who is enrolling for a
31 student-teaching semester may apply for an additional loan of up to three
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1 thousand dollars for the student-teaching semester and receive up to a
2 total of six thousand dollars for the year. Loans awarded to individual
3 students shall not exceed a cumulative period exceeding five consecutive
4 years. Loans shall only be awarded through an eligible institution. Loans
5 shall be funded pursuant to section 85-3112.
6 Sec. 3. Section 85-3112, Revised Statutes Supplement, 2023, is
7 amended to read:
8 85-3112 (1) The Excellence in Teaching Cash Fund is created. The
9 fund shall consist of transfers by the Legislature, transfers pursuant to
10 section 79-3501, and loan repayments, penalties, and interest payments
11 received in the course of administering the Attracting Excellence to
12 Teaching Program and the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program.
13 (2)(a) For all fiscal years beginning on and after July 1, 2024, the
14 commission shall allocate on an annual basis up to two hundred fifty
15 thousand dollars of the funds transferred pursuant to section 79-3501 for
16 grants to teachers pursuant to the Career-Readiness and Dual-Credit
17 Education Grant Program.
18 (b) For all fiscal years beginning on and after July 1, 2024, the
19 commission shall allocate on an annual basis up to five hundred thousand
20 dollars of the funds transferred pursuant to section 79-3501 exclusively
21 for loans to any eligible student who is enrolling in a student-teaching
22 semester during the award year pursuant to the Attracting Excellence to
23 Teaching Program. The funds shall be distributed to all eligible
24 institutions according to the distribution formula as determined by rule
25 and regulation. The eligible institutions shall act as agents of the
26 commission in the distribution of the funds to any eligible student for a
27 student-teaching semester for grants and loans to students enrolled in a
28 teacher education program for student-teaching semesters.
29 (c) Of the funds remaining in the Excellence in Teaching Cash Fund
30 after the distributions pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of this
31 subsection, for all fiscal years, the commission shall allocate on an
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1 annual basis up to four hundred thousand dollars in the aggregate of the
2 funds to be distributed for the Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program
3 to all eligible institutions according to the distribution formula as
4 determined by rule and regulation. The eligible institutions shall act as
5 agents of the commission in the distribution of the funds for the
6 Attracting Excellence to Teaching Program to eligible students. The
7 commission shall allocate on an annual basis up to eight hundred thousand
8 dollars of the remaining available funds to be distributed to eligible
9 students for the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program. Funding
10 amounts granted in excess of one million two hundred thousand dollars
11 shall be evenly divided for distribution between the two programs.
12 (3) Any money in the Excellence in Teaching Cash Fund available for
13 investment shall be invested by the state investment officer pursuant to
14 the Nebraska Capital Expansion Act and the Nebraska State Funds
15 Investment Act.
16 Sec. 4. This act becomes operative on July 1, 2024.
17 Sec. 5. Original sections 85-3103, 85-3105, and 85-3112, Revised
18 Statutes Supplement, 2023, are repealed.
19 Sec. 6. Since an emergency exists, this act takes effect when
20 passed and approved according to law.
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Statutes affected: Introduced: 85-3103, 85-3105, 85-3112