SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 898
91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATORS DOUGHERTY, KENNEDY AND BLAND.
Read 1st time January 9, 2002, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.
TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.
3704S.01I
AN ACT
To repeal section 161.415, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to minority teaching scholarships.
Section A. Section 161.415, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 161.415, to read as follows:
161.415. 1. Within the limits of amounts appropriated therefor, the department of elementary and secondary education shall make available up to [one] two hundred one-year, renewable scholarships in an amount of two thousand dollars to minority students for the purpose of encouraging minority students to enter teaching. Such scholarship shall be increased to three thousand dollars if the student is entering the special education field. Such scholarships shall be available to minority high school graduates and college students who are residents of Missouri, and who enter and make a commitment to pursue a teacher education program approved by the department of elementary and secondary education and offered by a four-year college or university located in Missouri, or who after the completion of their baccalaureate degree enter teacher education and make a commitment to teach science or mathematics, and who have:
(1) Achieved scores on an accepted standardized test of academic ability, including, but not limited to, the SAT, ACT, SCAT, which place them at or above the seventy-fifth percentile; and
(2) A high school rank at or above the seventy-fifth percentile.
2. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of scholarships or revenues available, the department of elementary and secondary education may consider the financial needs of the applicant.
3. Any college or university located in Missouri which offers a teacher education program approved by the department of elementary and secondary education, and wishes to have the scholarships provided pursuant to this section made available to eligible applicants for admittance to such college or university, must provide matching funds to match one dollar for every two dollars made available by the state pursuant to this section for students attending the college or university. Such matching funds shall not be taken from money made available to the college or university from state funds. The total scholarship available to any one student from state and from college and university sources pursuant to such match program shall be three thousand dollars per year.
4. A recipient shall be eligible for a renewed scholarship for a maximum of three additional years. Eligibility for renewed scholarships shall be based on criteria established by the colleges of education and the department of elementary and secondary education.
5. As used in this section the term "minority" includes Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and African Americans.
6. The scholarships provided in subsection 1 of this section shall be available to otherwise eligible students who are currently enrolled in a community college and make a commitment to pursue a teacher education program approved by the department of elementary and secondary education and offered by a four-year college or university located in Missouri.