Teacher Loan Program Passes Ed Committee

Jan 29, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

Moves to House for Consideration

(KCPW News) A bill to give new teachers $15,000 for a down-payment on a home gained the support of the House Education Committee Tuesday and now moves to the House for full consideration. Representative Lynn Hemingway says the loans would attract much-needed new teachers to the profession, and encourage them to stay.

"The crux of the loan, the reason I am doing this is to get some young folks and some other people interested in teaching, and to get them invested in the community through the purchase of a home," Hemingway said. "And, hopefully, stick around after the ten years, teach for 25 to 30."

Under the bill, loan recipients pay the interest on the loan for the first five years. After that, the state forgives $5,000 of the loan. Then they pay interest on the remaining $10,000 of the loan for another 5 years. At that point, the state forgives the remaining balance on the loan. This sounds like a pretty good deal to Representative Carl Wimmer. He asked if the same loan program could be extended to alleviate the critical shortage of law enforcement officers.

 "Well, Representative, I have in fact have talked with some people who have those feelings," Hemingway said. "And, I would really like to see this bill get through, to help with teachers before. And, I am willing to go start writing another one right now."

While the bill did pass committee, it received two "No" votes. Some thought the state should take a cue from the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis, and avoid the risk associated with issuing loans. And others thought the $1.5 million to fund the program would be better spent going directly to boost teachers' salaries.

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