The Commission on Higher Education, in consultation with the State Department of Education, must develop an Education Lottery Teaching Scholarship Grants Program to provide certified teachers in the public schools of this State grants not to exceed one thousand dollars per year to attend public or private colleges and universities for the purposes of upgrading existing content area skills or obtaining a Master’s Degree in the teacher’s content area. If there are insufficient funds in the Education Lottery Account to provide the grant to each eligible recipient for a particular year, priority must be given to those teachers whose subject areas are critical subject needs as determined by the State Department of Education.