Sec. 94d.
(1) From the state school aid fund money appropriated in section 11, there is allocated an amount not to exceed $1,500,000.00 for 2021-2022 for the purposes of this section.
(2) Funds under this section must be used to create and support a task force that will develop a comprehensive multi-year plan to attract, prepare, and retain qualified personnel for children with disabilities. The task force described in this subsection shall provide all of the following:
(a) An identification of the barriers to attracting and training qualified personnel to work with children with disabilities.
(b) An analysis of current educator preparation processes, including the degree to which they meet the needs of special education students and whether the preparation process could be streamlined to increase the number of qualified personnel entering the field of special education.
(c) An analysis of attrition rates for qualified personnel leaving the field of special education and recommendations for ways that this state or districts could better retain talent.
(d) An analysis of this state's licensing requirements and whether they could be streamlined to increase the number of qualified personnel entering the field of special education.
(e) Policy changes that should be enacted into law to address the barriers identified in this subsection, with specific changes to applicable state laws or applicable state rules.
(3) The task force described in subsection (2) must include representation from all special education stakeholder communities, including, but not limited to, teachers, school administrators, parents of special education students, students, educator preparation programs, the department, the legislative branch, the executive branch, the business community, and special education advocacy groups.
(4) The department shall identify an intermediate district that will serve as the fiscal agent for the funding under this section.
(5) Notwithstanding section 17b, the department shall make payments under this section on a schedule determined by the department.
(6) It is the intent of the legislature that the funding under this section support the task force described in subsection (2) for 3 years.
(7) The funds allocated under this section for 2021-2022 are a work project appropriation, and any unexpended funds for 2021-2022 do not lapse to the state school aid fund and are carried forward into 2022-2023. The purpose of the work project is to continue support for the task force described in subsection (2). The estimated completion date of the work project is September 30, 2024.
History: Add. 2021, Act 48, Eff. Oct. 1, 2021