Sec. 56.357. TEACH FOR TEXAS ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. (a) The coordinating board shall establish a program under which the coordinating board awards grants to assist persons seeking educator certification through alternative educator certification programs as provided by this section.

(b) To be eligible for a grant under the program, a person must apply for a grant and:

(1) have received a baccalaureate degree from an eligible institution of higher education or an accredited out-of-state institution of higher education; and

(2) enroll in an alternative educator certification program described by Section 21.049 and satisfy either of the following conditions:

(A) be seeking educator certification in a teaching field certified by the commissioner of education as experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in this state in the year in which the person receives the grant and agree to teach for five years in a public school in this state in that teaching field; or

(B) agree to teach for five years in a public school in this state in a community, which is not required to be specifically designated at the time the person receives the grant, certified by the commissioner of education as experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in any year in which the person receives a grant under this section or in any subsequent year in which the person fulfills the teaching obligation.

(c) A person is not eligible to receive a grant under the program if the person has been convicted of a felony or an offense under Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code (Texas Controlled Substances Act), or under the law of another jurisdiction involving a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, unless the person has met the other applicable eligibility requirements under this section and has:

(1) received a certificate of discharge by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or a correctional facility or completed a period of probation ordered by a court, and at least two years have elapsed from the date of the receipt or completion; or

(2) been pardoned, had the record of the offense expunged from the person's record, or otherwise has been released from the resulting ineligibility to receive a grant under the program.

(d) In selecting applicants to receive grants under the program, the coordinating board shall consider:

(1) the financial resources of an applicant;

(2) the efficient use of the money available for grants;

(3) the opportunity of applicants from all regions of this state to receive grants; and

(4) any other factor the coordinating board considers appropriate to further the purposes of this subchapter.

(e) The amount of a grant under the program is equal to two times the current amount of a TEXAS grant under Subchapter M for a student enrolled in a general academic teaching institution. The coordinating board may pay the amount of the grant in installments during the period in which the person is enrolled in the person's alternative educator certification program.

(f) The person must begin fulfilling the person's teaching obligation not later than the 18th month after the person completes the alternative educator certification program, unless the coordinating board for good cause grants the person additional time to begin fulfilling the teaching obligation. The person must complete the teaching obligation not later than the sixth year after the date the person begins to fulfill the teaching obligation. The coordinating board shall grant a person additional time to complete the teaching obligation for good cause.

(g) The coordinating board shall cancel a person's teaching obligation if the coordinating board determines that the person:

(1) has become permanently disabled so that the person is not able to teach; or

(2) has died.

(h) The coordinating board shall require a person who receives a grant to sign a promissory note acknowledging the conditional nature of the grant and promising to repay the amount of the grant plus applicable interest and reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the applicable conditions of the grant. The coordinating board shall determine the terms of the promissory note.

(i) The amount required to be repaid by a person who fails to complete the teaching obligation of the person's grant shall be determined in proportion to the portion of the teaching obligation that the person has not satisfied.

(j) A person receiving a grant is considered to have failed to satisfy the conditions of the grant, and the grant automatically becomes a loan, if the person, without good cause as determined by the coordinating board, fails to:

(1) remain enrolled in or to make steady progress in the alternative educator certification program for which the grant was made or, with the approval of the coordinating board, in another alternative educator certification program; or

(2) become certified as a classroom teacher not later than the 18th month after the date the person completes the alternative educator certification program.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1261, Sec. 3, eff. June 15, 2001.