Section 23-3.9-302 - Student educator stipend program - created - guidelines - definition - repeal(1)(a) There is created in the department the student educator stipend program, referred to in this section as the "stipend program". The purpose of the stipend program is to award stipend money to an eligible student to reduce the financial barriers to entering the educator workforce while the student is a student educator.(b) The commission shall adopt any necessary policies and the department shall adopt any necessary guidelines to implement and administer the stipend program. The department shall collect data to measure the effectiveness of the stipend program, which data must include, but need not be limited to: (I) The total number of eligible students served by each approved program of preparation;(II) The total amount of stipend money each eligible student receives each year;(III) A survey of eligible students to measure the eligible students' experience with the stipend program;(IV) The demographic data of each eligible student aggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender;(V) The reported number of hours each eligible student works a second job to earn income;(VI) A comparison of eligible students' financial burdens with the national average of financial burdens imposed on students enrolled in teacher and counselor preparation programs; and(VII) The data correlation between eligible students who receive stipends through the student educator stipend program and the subsequent placement and retention of those eligible students as educators, to the extent the data is available.(2)(a) To qualify to participate in the stipend program, a student must be an eligible student and placed as a student educator in Colorado or within one hundred miles of the Colorado state border. No later than July 1, 2022, and no later than July 1 each year thereafter, each approved program of preparation shall notify the department of the eligible students who qualify for the stipend program.(b)(I) No later than August 1, 2022, and no later than August 1 each year thereafter, the department, subject to available appropriations, shall disburse to each approved program of preparation money to distribute as stipend money to each eligible student, plus additional money to pay the direct costs of operating the stipend program. The approved program of preparation shall distribute stipend money, using the standard methods for allocating state-based financial aid or as wages for employment, to each eligible student in monthly installments.(II) An eligible student placed as a student educator in a sixteen-week academic residency may receive a stipend of eleven thousand dollars, and an eligible student placed as a student educator in a thirty-two-week academic residency may receive a stipend of twenty-two thousand dollars.(III) The stipend amounts set forth in subsection (2)(b)(II) of this section must be annually adjusted by the rate of inflation. The amounts must be rounded to the nearest dollar. As used in this subsection (2)(b)(III), "inflation" means the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by all urban consumers, or its applicable successor index.(IV) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (2)(b)(II) and (2)(b)(III) of this section, if the amount appropriated in a state fiscal year is insufficient to fully fund stipends for the total number of eligible students for that state fiscal year, the department shall reduce the amount distributed to each approved program of preparation by the same percentage that the deficit bears to the amount required to fully fund the total number of eligible students who qualify for the stipend program. Each approved program of preparation shall reduce the stipend amounts distributed to each eligible student in proportion to the deficit.(3) The general assembly shall annually appropriate money to the department to implement this section, including money to pay the costs of implementing and administering the stipend program, which may include the direct costs incurred by the approved program of preparation in operating the stipend program.(4)(a) For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate to the department thirty-nine million dollars from the economic recovery and relief cash fund created pursuant to section 24-75-228 to fund stipends for eligible students.(b) The department or the stipend recipients shall spend or obligate any money received pursuant to this subsection (4) In accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d).(c) The department and any person who receives money from the department, including each stipend recipient, shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section 24-75-226 (5).(c.5) For purposes of this subsection (4) only, the commission shall approve the criteria of eligible students, including first consideration for students whose expected family contribution does not exceed three hundred percent of the maximum federal Pell-eligible expected family contribution.(d) This subsection (4) is repealed, effective January 31, 2027.(5)(a) The general assembly shall appropriate to the department of education money from the state education fund to fund stipends for eligible students. The department of education shall transfer spending authority from the appropriation made pursuant to this subsection (5)(a) to the department of higher education for the same purpose.(b) The general assembly finds and declares that, for purposes of section 17 of article IX of the state constitution, awarding stipend money to an eligible student to reduce the financial barriers to entering the educator workforce while the student is a student educator is a critical element of accountable education reform, accountable programs to meet state academic standards, and class size reduction, and therefore the department and eligible student may receive funding from the state education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution.Amended by 2024 Ch. 429,§ 14, eff. 6/5/2024.Amended by 2024 Ch. 398,§ 1, eff. 6/4/2024.Amended by 2023 Ch. 56,§ 2, eff. 4/10/2023.Added by 2022 Ch. 239, § 2, eff. 5/26/2022.