NC H661

Establishes the North Carolina Competitive Teaching Scholarship Loan Program to recruit and support teachers for high-need licensure areas and schools, administered by the State Education Assistance Authority in collaboration with a newly created 11-member Commission.

Provides forgivable scholarship loans of up to $8,500 per year to high school seniors (4 years), community college students (2 years), and degree holders seeking teacher licensure (2 years) for tuition, fees, and books at approved educator preparation programs.

Requires loan forgiveness if recipients serve four years as teachers in identified hard-to-staff schools or licensure areas within seven years of graduation; otherwise loans must be repaid within eight years at up to 10% annual interest.

Commission must establish stringent selection criteria based on grade point averages, standardized test performance, and demonstration of qualities correlated with effective teaching, while selecting only the highest-performing educator preparation programs.

State Board of Education must annually identify hard-to-staff licensure areas and schools using metrics including teacher turnover rates, unfilled positions, student test scores, and school performance grades, with initial implementation deadlines set for late 2015 and early 2016.