Menu
2020 Special Session I

Budget Amendments - HB5005 (Conference Report)

View Budget Item
View Budget Item amendments

Clarifies Dual Enrollment Tuition Scholarship Grant Eligibility (language only)

Item 144 #1c

Item 144 #1c

Education
Direct Aid to Public Education

Language

Page 36, line 3, set out Item 144.

Item 144, after Paragraph G.3, insert:

"4. Out of this appropriation, $250,000 the first year and $250,000 the second year from the general fund is provided for tuition scholarships to be specifically allocated solely for licensed public high school teachers pursuing additional credentialing requirements necessary to be considered faculty who are qualified to teach dual enrollment courses in high schools in their local school division. The Department of Education shall make payments on behalf of the scholarship recipients directly to the regionally accredited Virginia institution of higher education where the scholarship recipient is enrolled full-time or part-time in an approved undergraduate or graduate teacher education program in courses for credit applicable to dual enrollment course curriculum available for public high school students. The lifetime maximum dual enrollment tuition scholarship award for each approved eligible teacher is $7,500. Eligibility for access to these dual enrollment tuition scholarship awards shall be determined through an application process whereby school divisions shall apply to the Department of Education. In the application process, the applying school division shall include: i) an explanation of why such dual enrollment tuition scholarship is warranted, ii) the dual enrollment course or courses that shall be offered by the scholarship recipient's high school and taught by the recipient upon the recipient's successful completion of required coursework for appropriate credentialing to teach such dual enrollment courses, and iii) the projected student enrollment in the recipient taught public high school dual enrollment courses. The Department of Education shall compile and report the application information for each applying school division, and shall also report the number of recipients and amount of tuition awarded to each school division, the institution of higher education receiving tuition, the credentialing area pursued by recipients, and dual enrollment courses offered after the recipient's successful completion of the pursued credentialing. The Department shall submit the report by June 30, 2020, and annually thereafter, to the House Committees on Education and Appropriations and the Senate Committees on Finance and Appropriations and Education and Health."



Explanation

(This amendment sets out Item 144 and adds clarifying language, in Paragraph G.4., that the Dual Enrollment Tuition Scholarships Grant funds are for teachers taking courses applicable toward meeting dual enrollment teaching requirements. The current language requires enrollment in a teacher preparation program, which is not applicable for teachers seeking to teach dual enrollment courses. The Department of Education recommended this change to the General Assembly in RD228 - Report on Dual Enrollment Tuition Scholarships Grant Program.)