(1) The general assembly finds that:

(a) A recent report by the department of education and the department of higher education shows that the number of students who enroll in and graduate from teacher preparation programs in Colorado continues to decline;

(b) School districts in Colorado, especially rural school districts, are facing a serious shortage in trained, licensed teachers in the areas of math, science, English language arts, special education, and early childhood education. This shortage is driven both by decreasing numbers of persons entering the profession and increasing numbers of persons leaving the profession after just two or three years of teaching. As a result, more school districts are hiring teachers from other states.

(c) The growing shortage of teachers potentially jeopardizes the ability of every student in Colorado to have access to a high-quality teacher who is reflective of and responsive to the needs of the state's diverse student populations; and

(d) Building partnerships between teacher preparation programs and local education providers will strengthen the pipeline of teacher candidates from high school to postsecondary teacher preparation to teaching in the classroom and increase the likelihood that Colorado's graduates will be employed to teach Colorado's students.

(2) The general assembly further finds that:

(a) Institutions of higher education, alternative teacher programs, school districts, and supporting nonprofit organizations and foundations have collaborated to create effective teacher residency programs that serve school districts and public schools in rural and urban areas of the state;

(b) These teacher residency programs are specifically designed to meet the needs of the participating school districts and public schools and to achieve positive academic outcomes for students; and

(c) Expanding the design of these teacher residency programs to enable more institutions of higher education, alternative teacher programs, and local education providers throughout the state to implement these teacher residency programs is necessary to increase the supply of effective teachers for employment by local education providers.

(3) The general assembly finds, therefore, that, to address the growing teacher shortage in Colorado, it is necessary to create the teacher residency expansion program through which the department of education will review and evaluate teacher residency programs operating on a pilot basis to identify the best practices, effective strategies, and critical components of a teacher residency program that are appropriate for expansion by institutions of higher education, alternative teacher programs, and local education providers across the state.