(a) Subject to appropriations from the Legislature, the teaching field of computer science shall be added to the list of eligible subject areas identified within the Alabama Math and Science Teacher Education Loan Repayment Program (AMSTEP), Article 3, commencing with Section 16-5-50, Chapter 5 of this title, with the following exceptions:
state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Computer science recipients shall be eligible to receive a total of three thousand dollars ($3,000) per year or one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per semester worked.(2) Computer science teachers are not eligible to receive the acute shortage area supplement, until such time as the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the State Department of Education concur that there is sufficient need or resources, or both, available to allow its inclusion.(b) The Alabama Commission on Higher Education may adopt any rules necessary for the incorporation of the teaching field of computer science into AMSTEP within the parameters provided by this section.
