Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau announced applications are now available for the 2010 “Quality Educator Loan Assistance Program” for K-12 educators.

This is the third year of the Quality Educator Loan Assistance Program. It was authorized by the 2007 Legislature and provides for the direct repayment of student loans to eligible teachers in Montana. A teacher may qualify for loan repayment assistance of up to $3,000 per year for up to four years – a total of up to $12,000.

“Great leaders were inspired in the classroom by extraordinary teachers. Montana has some of the best teachers in the nation,” Juneau said. “It is important that we do what we can to keep them here in Montana so they can inspire our young leaders and help build a brighter future.” Juneau added, “Across the state, educators are helping students experience success. This program helps us recruit the right people for the right places and helps teachers pursue long-term careers in these fields without becoming burdened by student loan repayment.”

To be eligible for the Montana student loan forgiveness program, a teacher must:

Have a current student loan balance and be in good standing with repayment of the loan.

Be teaching full-time in a public school, state-funded school, special education cooperative or in the Montana Youth Challenge Program.

Be teaching at an “impacted” school. An impacted school is rural and/or has a high percentage of disadvantaged students and/or has greater challenges in closing the achievement gap. A list of the impacted schools is available here: http://opi.mt.gov/PDF/Supt/Impacted_School_Score.pdf

Have at least one staff assignment recorded in the 2009-2010 OPI Annual Data Collection in a shortage area at an impacted school. The shortage areas are Career and Technical Education, Music, Special Education, Mathematics, Speech/Language Pathologist, Science, World Languages, School Counselor, Library Media and Art.

Have an active Montana educator license with a corresponding endorsement in the shortage area or have a professional license in the shortage area.

Complete an application and submit it by April 1. Depending on the volume of applications and the availability of funds, some applicants may be turned down for student loan forgiveness.