2023 Minnesota Statutes

136A.1274 UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENT TEACHER GRANTS.

Subdivision 1.Establishment.

The commissioner of the Office of Higher Education must establish a grant program for student teaching stipends for low-income students who belong to an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.

Subd. 2.Eligibility.

To be eligible for a grant under this section, a student teacher must:

(1) be enrolled in a Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board-approved teacher preparation program that requires at least 12 weeks of student teaching in order to be recommended for any Tier 3 teaching license;

(2) demonstrate financial need based on criteria established by the commissioner under subdivision 3;

(3) be meeting satisfactory academic progress as defined under section 136A.101, subdivision 10; and

(4) belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.

Subd. 3.Administration.

(a) The commissioner must establish an application process and other guidelines for implementing this program. The commissioner must notify grant recipients of their award amounts by the following dates:

(1) for fall student teaching placements, recipients must be notified by August 15;

(2) for spring student teaching placements, recipients must be notified by December 1; and

(3) for summer student teaching placements, recipients must be notified by May 1.

These notification deadlines do not apply in cases where grants are awarded to student teachers who applied after application deadlines and funds remained after the initial round of grants were awarded.

(b) The commissioner must determine each academic year the stipend amount up to $7,500 based on the amount of available funding, the number of eligible applicants, and the financial need of the applicants.

(c) The commissioner must give equal consideration to all eligible applicants regardless of the order the application was received before the application deadline.

(d) If there are insufficient funds to provide an award to all eligible applicants, the commissioner shall prioritize the awards to eligible applicants based on:

(1) the financial need of an applicant; and

(2) the statewide distribution of funds.

Subd. 4.Reporting.

By February 15 of each year, the commissioner must submit a report on the details of the program under this section to the legislative committees with jurisdiction over E-12 and higher education finance and policy. The report must include the following information:

(1) the number of eligible applicants and the number of teacher candidates receiving an award, each broken down by postsecondary institution;

(2) the total number of awards, the total dollar amount of all awards, and the average award amount; and

(3) other summary data identified by the commissioner as outcome indicators.

History:

1Sp2021 c 2 art 2 s 12