Legislature to Consider Teacher Loan Program

None by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) Lawmakers on Utah's Capitol Hill are once again looking for ways to attract public school teachers to the state. Democratic Representative Lynn Hemingway believes the path to keeping teachers is to help them buy a home.

Hemingway is bringing back a bill that would provide a $15,000 loan towards the purchase of a home for teachers receiving their teaching certificate in the last five years. The state will forgive $5,000 of the loan principal if a teacher remains teaching in the state for five years. After ten years of teaching, the state will forgive the remaining principal. Loan recipients would be responsible for interest-only payments over that time.

The bill's co-sponsor, Democratic Senator Gene Davis, says loan programs aren't a new concept. He says the state has programs that forgive loans to doctors and nurses who commit to working in rural areas of the state.

Teachers who have received their first teaching certificate in the last five years would be eligible for the loan. Last year, a report from the Utah Foundation found that more than 17% of teachers in Utah leave the profession during their first three years in the classroom.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom and 2008 Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW