Assistant Teacher Salary Waiver Grant Program; create to help assistant teachers become licensed.

HB 180 creates a program allowing Mississippi assistant teachers with at least five years of classroom experience to have a portion of their salary (equal to the statutory minimum) waived to cover tuition for a bachelor's degree, helping them become licensed teachers. To qualify, applicants must be enrolled full-time at a Mississippi college with two years left to graduate, maintain a 2.5 GPA, pass the Praxis Core exam, and commit to teaching in the state for the duration of the grant. The State Board of Education will administer the program, report annually on teacher vacancies and provisional license hires, and require repayment of grants plus a 5% penalty if recipients fail to teach as agreed. This directly affects eligible assistant teachers and school districts participating in the salary waiver agreements.