(1) The general assembly finds that:
Colorado suffers from a shortage of teachers and other educators due to various factors affecting the teaching profession, which include but are not limited to declining enrollment and completion of educator preparation programs, low educator compensation and benefits, an insufficient number of educators in certain content areas, and difficulty in filling educator positions in rural or isolated areas of the state;
Pursuant to House Bill 17-1003, enacted in 2017, the department of higher educationand the department of education, with input from education and community stakeholders, analyzed teacher and other educator shortages and issued a report including recommendations for addressing these shortages;
As part of their findings, the department of higher education and the department ofeducation determined that the state has educator shortages in early childhood education; science; mathematics; world languages; special education; and art, music, and drama;
Further, shortages in these content areas are more pronounced in rural and remoterural areas where school districts and rural schools face additional challenges, including inadequate teacher compensation, lack of affordable housing, and an inability to attract new teachers to rural communities; and
The department of higher education and the department of education found that onestrategy for addressing teacher and other educator shortages in hard-to-fill positions due to teaching content area or geographic location is to offer loan repayment of educational loans for educators who serve in these hard-to-fill positions in the state.
(2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that implementing a loan forgiveness program for educators employed in qualified positions in the state is necessary to ensure that the needs of students are met in all Colorado public schools.
Source: L. 2019: Entire section added, (SB 19-003), ch. 333, p. 3075, § 1, effective May 29.