GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 922

Short Title:  Opportunities for Teacher Assistants.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Winner, Kerr, Lucas, Hartsell, and Simpson.

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Referred to:  Education/Higher Education

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May 1, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEACHER ASSISTANTS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-468 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-468.  Establishment of fund.
(a)	There is established a revolving fund known as the 'Scholarship Loan Fund for Prospective Teachers'.
	(b)	Criteria for awarding scholarship loans from the fund shall include measures of academic performance including grade point averages, scores on standardized tests, class rank, and recommendations of guidance counselors and principals.  To the extent practical, an equal number of scholarships shall be awarded in each of the State's Congressional Districts.
(c)	The Superintendent of Public Instruction may earmark up to twenty percent (20%) of the funds available for scholarship loans each year for awards to applicants who have been employed for at least one year as teacher assistants and who are currently employed as teacher assistants.  Preference for these scholarship loans from funds earmarked for teacher assistants shall be given first to applicants who worked as teacher assistants for at least five years and whose positions as teacher assistants were abolished and then to applicants who already hold a baccalaureate degree or who have already been formally admitted to an approved teacher education program in North Carolina.  The criteria for awarding scholarship loans to applicants who worked as teacher assistants for at least five years and whose positions as teacher assistants were abolished shall include whether the teacher assistant has been admitted to an approved teacher education program in North Carolina.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction may further earmark a portion of these funds each year for two-year awards to applicants who have been employed for at least one year as teacher assistants to  attend community colleges to get other skills of use in public schools or to get early childhood certification to be used in child care centers.  The provisions of this Article shall apply to these scholarship loans except that a recipient of one of these scholarship loans may receive credit upon the amount due by reason of the loan as provided in G.S. 115C-471(5)	or by working in a nonteaching position in the North Carolina public schools or by working in a licensed day care center in North Carolina."
Sec. 2.  Substitute teachers who are not certified as teachers but have worked as teacher assistants in the public schools shall be paid at the same rate as substitute teachers who are not certified as teachers but have previously taken teacher effectiveness training.
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995.