1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to early childhood; creating a grant program 
  1.3             to increase the education and retention of child care 
  1.4             providers and staff; appropriating money; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 119B.
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [119B.221] [TEACHER EDUCATION AND COMPENSATION 
  1.8   HELPS PROGRAM.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner shall 
  1.10  establish a teacher education and compensation helps program 
  1.11  (TEACH) to provide tuition scholarships, education incentive 
  1.12  bonuses, and retention bonuses to child care and education 
  1.13  providers and staff.  The commissioner shall transfer funds 
  1.14  provided under this section through a grant to a nonprofit 
  1.15  organization licensed to administer the TEACH program.  The 
  1.16  commissioner shall establish application procedures, eligibility 
  1.17  criteria, terms, and other conditions necessary to administer 
  1.18  the program. 
  1.19     Subd. 2.  [PROGRAM COMPONENTS.] (a) The nonprofit 
  1.20  organization shall distribute funds for: 
  1.21     (1) tuition scholarships up to $2,000 per year for courses 
  1.22  leading to the nationally recognized child development associate 
  1.23  credential or college-level courses leading to the University of 
  1.24  Minnesota competency-based training assessment credential, or 
  1.25  similar credentials recognized by the department or a 
  2.1   certificate, A.A., B.A., or M.A. in early childhood development 
  2.2   and school-age care; and 
  2.3      (2) education incentive bonuses of $300 to $500 to 
  2.4   participants in the tuition scholarship program if they complete 
  2.5   a year of working in the child care and education field. 
  2.6      (b) Applicants for the scholarship must be either employed 
  2.7   by a licensed child care center and working directly with 
  2.8   children, a licensed family child care provider, or an employee 
  2.9   in a school-age program operated under the auspices of a 
  2.10  license-exempt public program.  Scholarship recipients who are 
  2.11  self employed must contribute five percent of the total 
  2.12  scholarship.  Applicants who are not self-employed must be 
  2.13  sponsored by their employer and the employer must contribute 
  2.14  five percent of the total scholarship. 
  2.15     (c) The organization shall also distribute funds for 
  2.16  retention bonuses of $600 to $3,500 annually to be paid 
  2.17  biannually to child care and education providers and staff who 
  2.18  have worked in the child care and education field for at least 
  2.19  one year.  The amount of the retention bonus must be based on 
  2.20  the applicant's level of education when they apply for the 
  2.21  bonus.  A provider or staff is eligible for the bonus if: 
  2.22     (1) the provider or staff has worked in the field for at 
  2.23  least one year and has been working at the same location for at 
  2.24  least one year at the time of application; and 
  2.25     (2) is earning an hourly wage that is less than the hourly 
  2.26  wage equivalent of elementary school teachers in the school 
  2.27  district. 
  2.28     The commissioner shall annually adjust the scholarship and 
  2.29  bonus amounts by the rate of inflation as measured by the 
  2.30  consumer price index. 
  2.31     Subd. 3.  [ADVISORY COMMITTEE.] The TEACH program must have 
  2.32  an advisory board composed of five members from early childhood 
  2.33  and school age care professional associations, three members 
  2.34  from professional associations that represent the cultural 
  2.35  diversity of communities; one member of the business community 
  2.36  working in the human resources field; two parents using child 
  3.1   care; one representative each from a Head Start program and an 
  3.2   early childhood and family education program; one licensed child 
  3.3   care center teacher; one licensed child care center director; 
  3.4   one licensed family child care provider; and one kindergarten 
  3.5   through third grade teacher. 
  3.6      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.7      $8,000,000 in fiscal year 2002, and $8,000,000 in fiscal 
  3.8   year 2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.9   commissioner of children, families, and learning for grants 
  3.10  under section 1.