45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2002

RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING AND ENACTING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978 TO PROVIDE FOR IMPROVEMENTS AND REFORMS; MAKING APPROPRIATIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: Section 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 10 of this act may be cited as the "Teacher Loan for Service Act".

Section 2. [NEW MATERIAL] PURPOSE.--The purpose of the Teacher Loan for Service Act is to proactively address New Mexico's looming teacher shortage by providing qualified students with the financial means to complete their post-secondary teacher preparation education.

Section 3. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Teacher Loan for Service Act:

A. "commission" means the commission on higher education;

B. "loan" means a payment of money under contract between the commission and a student that defrays the costs incidental to a state-board-of-education-approved teacher preparation program offered in a regionally accredited post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico and that requires repayment in services;

C. "loan recipient" means an applicant approved for a loan pursuant to the provisions of the Teacher Loan for Service Act; and

D. "student" means a United States citizen who is enrolled in or accepted by an undergraduate or graduate state-board-of-education-approved teacher preparation program in a regionally accredited post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico.

Section 4. [NEW MATERIAL] TEACHER STUDENT LOANS AUTHORIZED--QUALIFICATIONS.--

A. The commission may grant a loan to a student deemed qualified by the commission upon such terms and conditions as may be imposed by rule of the commission.

B. The commission shall only receive, pass upon and allow or disallow an application for a loan made by a student who declares his intent to serve as a public school teacher in New Mexico.

C. The commission shall make a full and careful investigation of the ability and qualifications of each applicant to become a recipient of a loan. The commission shall give preference to qualified applicants who demonstrate financial need.

D. The commission and the department of education shall arrange for loan recipients to receive assistance in locating employment with public schools in New Mexico.

Section 5. [NEW MATERIAL] DELEGATION OF DUTIES TO OTHER STATE AGENCIES.--The commission may arrange with other agencies for the performance of services required by the provisions of Section 4 of the Teacher Loan for Service Act.

Section 6. [NEW MATERIAL] TEACHER LOANS--CONTRACT TERMS--REPAYMENT.--

A. Each applicant who is approved for a loan by the commission may be granted a loan in such amounts and for such periods as the commission determines. The loan shall not exceed the necessary expenses incurred while attending a teacher preparation program.

B. A loan shall bear interest at the rate of:

(1) up to eighteen percent per year if the loan recipient completes his teacher preparation program and no portion of the principal and interest is forgiven pursuant to Subsection E of this section; or

(2) seven percent per year in all other cases.

C. The loan shall be evidenced by a contract between the loan recipient and the commission acting on behalf of the state. The contract shall provide for the payment by the state of a stated sum covering the costs of a teacher preparation program and shall be conditioned on the repayment of the loan to the state, together with interest, over a period established by the commission after the completion of the teacher preparation program and any postgraduate study or internship required to complete the loan recipient's education. The contract shall further provide that immediately upon completion or termination of the loan recipient's education, all interest then accrued shall be capitalized.

D. A loan made to a loan recipient who fails to complete his teacher preparation program shall become due, together with interest, immediately upon termination of his teacher preparation program. The contract shall provide that the loan recipient shall immediately notify the commission of his failure to complete his teacher program. The commission, in consultation with the loan recipient, shall establish terms of repayment, alternate service or cancellation terms.

E. The contract shall provide that the commission shall forgive a portion of the loan principal and interest for each year that the loan recipient practices his profession as a licensed teacher in New Mexico. Loan principal and interest shall be forgiven as follows:

(1) loan terms of one year shall require one year of practice. Upon completion of service, one hundred percent of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven;

(2) loan terms of two years shall require one year of practice for each year of the loan. Upon completion of the first year of service, fifty percent of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven. Upon completion of the second year of service, the remainder of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven; and

(3) for loan terms of three years or more, forty percent of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven upon completion of the first year of service, thirty percent of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven upon completion of the second year of service and the remainder of the principal plus accrued interest shall be forgiven upon completion of the third year of service.

F. A loan recipient shall serve a complete contract year in order to receive credit for that year. The minimum credit for a year shall be established by the commission.

G. If a loan recipient completes his teacher preparation program and does not serve in a New Mexico public school, the commission shall assess a penalty of up to three times the principal due, plus eighteen percent interest, unless the commission finds acceptable extenuating circumstances that prevent the loan recipient from serving. If the commission does not find acceptable extenuating circumstances for the loan recipient's failure to carry out his declared intent to serve, the commission shall require immediate repayment of the unpaid principal amount of the loan plus accrued interest owed the state plus the amount of any penalty assessed pursuant to this section.

H. The commission shall adopt and promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section. The rules may provide for the repayment of loans in annual or other periodic installments.

Section 7. [NEW MATERIAL] CONTRACTS--LEGAL ASSISTANCE--ENFORCEMENT.--The general form of the contract shall be prepared and approved by the attorney general and signed by the loan recipient and a designee of the commission on behalf of the state. The commission is vested with full and complete authority and power to sue in its own name for any balance due the state from a loan recipient on a contract.

Section 8. [NEW MATERIAL] FUND CREATED--METHOD OF PAYMENT.--The "teacher loan for service fund" is created in the state treasury. Money appropriated for loans pursuant to the Teacher Loan for Service Act; earnings from investment of the fund; gifts, grants and donations to the fund; and all payments of principal and interest on loans made pursuant to that act shall be deposited in the fund. Money in the fund shall not revert at the end of a fiscal year. The fund shall be administered by the commission. All payments of money for loans shall be made on warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the commission's designated representative.

Section 9. [NEW MATERIAL] CANCELLATION.--The commission may cancel a contract between it and a loan recipient for any reasonable cause deemed sufficient by the commission.

Section 10. [NEW MATERIAL] REPORTS.--The commission shall report annually by January 1 to the governor and the legislature on its activities pursuant to the Teacher Loan for Service Act, including the loans granted, the names of loan recipients, the teacher preparation programs loan recipients are attending and the names and locations of practice of loan recipients who have completed their teacher preparation education and are teaching.

Section 11. A new section of the Public School Code is enacted to read:

"[NEW MATERIAL] STUDENT READING REQUIREMENT.--A student who fails to read independently by the end of the third grade shall not be promoted to the fourth grade until the student reads independently."

Section 12. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 12 through 16 of this act may be cited as the "Private Student Tuition Scholarship Act".

Section 13. [NEW MATERIAL] LEGISLATIVE INTENT.--The legislature recognizes that for every student eligible for public school who is instead educated in a nonpublic school or at home, the state is spared the cost of educating that student. The intent of the Private Student Tuition Scholarship Act is to recognize the value of the private contribution that has been made to the student's education by providing the student with a tuition scholarship for post-secondary education.

Section 14. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Private Student Tuition Scholarship Act:

A. "commission" means the commission on higher education;

B. "eligible institution" means any public post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico;

C. "eligible student" means a New Mexico resident under the age of twenty-four who has completed one or more years of qualifying private education; and

D. "qualifying private education" means elementary or secondary education in New Mexico that occurs after July 1, 2001 at an accredited nonpublic school or in an approved home school program.

Section 15. [NEW MATERIAL] ELIGIBILITY.--An eligible student meeting entrance requirements shall be entitled to one full-year tuition scholarship to the eligible institution of the student's choice for each year of qualifying private education completed by the student at a time when the student was eligible for enrollment in public school in New Mexico. The scholarship shall continue for such time as the recipient remains a student in good standing at the institution, but in no event shall the student receive a scholarship for more than five years.

Section 16. [NEW MATERIAL] RULES.--The commission may adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of the Private Student Tuition Scholarship Act.

Section 17. Section 22-2-8.7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1986, Chapter 33, Section 8, as amended by Laws 2001, Chapter 255, Section 1 and by Laws 2001, Chapter 261, Section 1) is amended to read:

"22-2-8.7. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.--

A. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the state board shall require any person seeking certification in elementary or secondary education to complete the following minimum requirements in the college of arts and sciences:

(1) twelve hours in English;

(2) twelve hours in history, including American history and western civilization;

(3) six hours in mathematics;

(4) six hours in government, economics or sociology;

(5) twelve hours in science, including biology, chemistry, physics, geology, zoology and botany; and

(6) six hours in fine arts.

B. In addition to the requirements specified in Subsections A and C of this section, the state board shall require that a person seeking standard or alternative elementary certification shall have completed six hours of reading courses, and a person seeking standard or alternative secondary certification shall have completed three hours of reading courses in subject matter content. The state board shall establish requirements that provide a reasonable period of time to comply with the provisions of this section.

C. The state board shall require, prior to certification, no less than fourteen weeks of student teaching, a portion of which shall occur in the first thirty credit hours taken in the college of education and shall be under the direct supervision of a certified school instructor and a portion of which shall occur in the student's senior year with the student teacher being directly responsible for the classroom.

D. Nothing in this section shall preclude the state board from establishing or accepting equivalent requirements for purposes of reciprocal certification or minimum requirements for alternative certification. The state board may waive the requirements of Subsections A through C of this section if it determines that an applicant is otherwise qualified by reason of his education or training.

[E. The requirements in Subsections A and C of this section shall apply to students first entering a college or university beginning in the fall of 1986.

F.] E. Vocational teacher preparatory programs may be exempt from Subsections A through C of this section upon a determination by the state board that other certification requirements are more appropriate for vocational teacher preparatory programs."

Section 18. Section 22-10-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 16, Section 113, as amended) is amended to read:

"22-10-11. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS--DURATION.--

A. All employment contracts between local school boards and certified school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors shall be in writing on forms approved by the state board. These forms shall contain and specify the term of service, the salary to be paid, the method of payment, the causes for termination of the contract and other provisions required by the regulations of the state board.

B. All employment contracts between local school boards and certified school personnel and between governing authorities of state agencies and certified school instructors shall be for a period of one [school] year except:

(1) contracts for one school year are permitted upon the request of the certified school employee;

[(1)] (2) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to fill personnel vacancies which occur during the school year;

[(2)] (3) contracts for the remainder of a school year are permitted to staff programs when the availability of funds for the programs is not known until after the beginning of the school year;

[(3)] (4) contracts for less than one school year are permitted to staff summer school programs and to staff federally funded programs in which the federally approved programs are specified to be conducted for less than one school year;

[(4)] (5) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted for certified school administrators in public schools who are engaged in administrative functions for more than one-half of their employment time; and

[(5)] (6) contracts not to exceed three years are permitted at the discretion of the local school board for certified school instructors in public schools who have been employed in the school district for three consecutive school years.

C. Persons employed under contracts for periods of less than one school year as provided in Paragraphs [(1) and] (2) through (4) of Subsection B of this section shall be accorded all the duties, rights and privileges of the [Certified] School Personnel Act.

D. In determination of eligibility for unemployment compensation rights and benefits for certified school instructors where those rights and benefits are claimed to arise from the employment relationship between governing authorities of state agencies or local school boards and certified school instructors, that period of a year not covered by a school year shall not be considered an unemployment period.

E. Except as provided in Section 22-10-12 NMSA 1978, a person employed by contract pursuant to this section has no legitimate objective expectancy of reemployment, and no contract entered into pursuant to this section shall be construed as an implied promise of continued employment pursuant to a subsequent contract.

F. A certified school employee whose contract for employment is for a period of one year, pursuant to the provisions of Subsection B of this section, shall teach, supervise an instructional program, prepare student curriculum, counsel, provide special instructional services or administrate during the period between two consecutive school years."

Section 19. APPROPRIATION.--Six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the teacher loan for service fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2003 and subsequent fiscal years to carry out the purposes of the Teacher Loan for Service Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

Section 20. APPROPRIATION.--One million four hundred thousand dollars ($1,400,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the commission on higher education for expenditure in fiscal year 2003 to implement the Private Student Tuition Scholarship Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2003 shall revert to the general fund.

Section 21. APPROPRIATION.--Four million sixty-three thousand three hundred dollars ($4,063,300) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2003 to extend the contracts for certified school personnel and certified school instructors who choose to work for one year pursuant to the provisions of this act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2003 shall revert to the general fund.

Section 22. APPROPRIATION.--One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal year 2003 to provide economic education instruction and other business-related training to elementary and secondary public school teachers in the state. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2003 shall revert to the general fund.