Section 16-5-55
Federal student loan repayment amounts; reapplication; disbursements; change in status.
(a) The program shall be used to provide a loan repayment for federal student loans in the following amounts:
(1)a. Five thousand dollars ($5,000) per year, or two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester worked, for a maximum of four consecutive years for a teacher with a valid Alabama professional educator certificate endorsed in middle level or secondary math or science who graduated from a teacher education program at an approved institution after the 2018 spring semester term and is teaching in an Alabama public school.
b. Three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year, or one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per semester worked, for a maximum of four consecutive years for a teacher with a valid Alabama professional educator certificate endorsed in computer science who graduated from a teacher education program at an approved institution after the 2021 spring semester term and is teaching in an Alabama public school.
(2)a. An additional two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per year, or one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250) per semester worked, for a maximum of four consecutive years for a teacher who satisfies all criteria listed in Sections 16-5-54, 16-5-54.1, and 16-5-54.2, and who also is teaching math or science in a public school in a school system within the state with an acute teacher shortage in math or science, or both, as identified by the commission in consultation with the State Department of Education or in a school that has been designated as a failing school, or any other term adopted to identify an underperforming school by the State Board of Education or the Legislature.
b. An additional one thousand dollars ($1,000) per year, or five hundred dollars ($500) per semester worked, for a maximum of four consecutive years for a teacher who satisfies all criteria listed in Sections 16-5-54, 16-5-54.1 and 16-5-54.2, and who also is teaching computer science in a public school in a school system within the state with an acute teacher shortage in computer science as identified by the commission in consultation with the State Department of Education or in a school that has been designated as a failing school, or any other term adopted to identify an underperforming school, by the State Board of Education or the Legislature.
(b) Loan repayment award recipients shall reapply for the program annually.
(c) Loan repayment awards shall be distributed directly to the recipient teacher in two disbursements during the applicable year: One disbursement after January 1 and the second disbursement after June 1. Each recipient shall provide documentation from the employing school system as proof that he or she has taught for a semester. If the award amount is larger than the outstanding loan balance, the award amount shall be reduced to the amount of the loan balance.
(d) The requirements of this article are contingent upon available funding for the program.
(e) The commission shall determine the necessary procedures for awarding loan repayments if the number of eligible applicants and recipients exceeds available funding.
(f) The recipient shall notify the commission in writing of any change in status within 30 days after the change. Failure to notify the commission of a change in status shall affect future eligibility. All of the following constitute a change in status:
(1) A change in name.
(2) A change in residence.
(3) A change in employment status.
(g) To receive a loan repayment check pursuant to this article, a teacher shall register online with the state Comptroller.
(h) A loan repayment check is considered income by the Internal Revenue Service, and recipients shall be made aware of that fact.
(i) Any funds appropriated to the program shall be nonreverting.
(j) Additional funds shall be made available to teachers who also teach math, science, or computer science in school systems of the state where the shortages of math, science, or computer science teachers, or any combination of the three, are most severe. The commission, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall determine which school systems in the state have the greatest shortage areas.
(k) A recipient who receives a loan repayment award and continues to satisfy employment criteria shall continue to receive an award for the four-year limit regardless of whether the employing school system retains its acute shortage designation or the employing school is removed from the failing school list. If a recipient leaves an acute shortage system or a failing school and accepts employment in a school system or school that does not hold an acute shortage system or failing school designation, the recipient shall no longer qualify to receive supplemental funds.
(Act 2018-504, §6; Act 2021-389, §1.)