Public Act 098-1036
 
HB3948 EnrolledLRB098 15504 NHT 50534 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act is
amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 13, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and
90 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 48/5)
    Sec. 5. Purpose. The Grow Your Own Teacher preparation
programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
statewide initiative, known as the Grow Your Own Teacher
Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools, including
within the Department of Juvenile Justice School District, and
hard-to-staff teaching positions and who will remain in these
schools for substantial periods of time.
     The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall help
to create a statewide pipeline of teachers who are likely
effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
and paraeducators to become effective teachers statewide in
hard-to-staff schools serving a substantial percentage of
low-income students and hard-to-staff teaching positions in
schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
students. Further, the Initiative shall increase the diversity
of teachers, including diversity based on race and ethnicity.
    The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
educational rigor by effectively preparing candidates in
accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an
Illinois initial teaching certificate.
    The goal of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative
is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income, hard-to-staff Illinois
schools by 2016.
(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09; 96-414,
eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/10)
    Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
    "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a
regionally accredited, Illinois approved teacher education
program authorized to prepare individuals to fulfill all of the
requirements to receive an Illinois initial teaching
certificate.
    "Cohort" means a group of teacher education candidates who
are enrolled in and share experiences in the same program and
are linked by their desire to become Illinois teachers in
hard-to-staff schools and by their need for the services and
supports offered by the Initiative.
    "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization
that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and
organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that
will hold the school and the school district accountable for
achieving high academic standards; in addition to
organizations with a geographic focus, "community
organization" includes general parent organizations,
organizations of special education or bilingual education
parents, and school employee unions.
    "Developmental classes" means classes in basic skill
areas, such as mathematics and language arts that are
prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements
of a teacher preparation program.
    "Eligible school" means a public elementary, middle, or
secondary school in this State that serves a substantial
percentage of low-income students and that is either hard to
staff or has hard-to-staff teaching positions.
    "Hard-to-staff school" means a public elementary, middle,
or secondary school in this State that, based on data compiled
by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board
of Higher Education, serves a substantial percentage of
low-income students, as defined by the Board of Higher
Education State Board.
    "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
category (such as special education, bilingual education,
mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by
the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of
Higher Education indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need
by the local school board.
    "Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education
Initiative created under this Act.
    "Para educator" "Paraeducator" means an individual with a
history of demonstrated accomplishments in school staff
positions (such as teacher assistants, school-community
liaisons, school clerks, and security aides) in schools that
meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school under this
Section.
    "Parent and community leader" means an individual who has
or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that meet the
definition of a hard-to-staff school under this Section and who
has a history of active involvement in the school or who has a
history of working to improve schools serving a substantial
percentage of low-income students, including membership in a
community organization.
    "Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program
established by a consortium under this Act.
    "Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
students" means schools that maintain any of grades
pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the
students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches
and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which
at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or
reduced price lunches.
    "State Board" means the Board of Higher Education.
(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09;
96-1393, eff. 7-29-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/13)
    Sec. 13. Transfer of powers and duties to the Board of
Higher Education. On July 1, 2010, all powers and duties of
the State Board of Education under this Act were shall be
transferred to the Board of Higher Education. All rules,
standards, guidelines, and procedures adopted by the State
Board of Education under this Act shall continue in effect as
the rules, standards, guidelines, and procedures of the Board
of Higher Education, until they are modified or abolished by
the Board of Higher Education.
(Source: P.A. 96-1393, eff. 7-29-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/15)
    Sec. 15. Creation of Initiative. The Grow Your Own Teacher
Education Initiative is created. The Board of Higher Education
State Board shall administer the Initiative as a grant
competition to fund consortia that will carry out Grow Your Own
Teacher preparation programs.
(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/20)
    Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The Board of Higher
Education State Board shall award grants to qualified consortia
that reflect the distribution and diversity of hard-to-staff
schools and hard-to-staff positions across this State. In
awarding grants, the Board of Higher Education State Board
shall select programs that successfully address Initiative
criteria and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of
serving urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the
participating institutions of higher education, and the nature
of hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff teaching positions
on which a program is focused.
    The Board of Higher Education State Board shall select
consortia that meet the following requirements:
        (1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one
    4-year institution of higher education with an Illinois
    approved teacher preparation program, at least one school
    district or group of schools, and one or more community
    organizations. The consortium membership may also include
    a 2-year institution of higher education, a school employee
    union, or a regional office of education.
        (2) The 4-year institution of higher education
    participating in the consortium shall have past,
    demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary
    or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of
    low-income students.
        (3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set
    of eligible schools that will participate in the program.
    The consortium shall articulate the steps that it will
    carry out in preparing teachers for its participating
    schools and in preparing teachers for one or more
    hard-to-staff teaching positions in those schools.
        (4) The consortium shall recruit potential candidates
    for the program and shall take into consideration when
    selecting a candidate whether the candidate:
            (A) holds A candidate in a program under the
        Initiative must hold a high school diploma or its
        equivalent; ,
            (B) meets must meet either the definition of
        "parent and community leader" or the definition of
        "para educator" contained in Section 10 of this Act; ,
            (C) has must not have attended college right after
        high school or must have experienced an interruption in
        his or her college education; , and does not hold a
        bachelor's degree.
            (D) exhibits a willingness to be a teacher in a
        hard-to-staff school with the goal of maintaining
        academic excellence;
            (E) shows an interest in postsecondary education
        and may hold an associate's degree, a bachelor's
        degree, or another postsecondary degree, but a
        postsecondary education is not required;
            (F) is a parent, a para educator, a community
        leader, or any other individual from a community with a
        hard-to-staff school;
            (G) commits to completing and passing all State
        standards, including the licensure test to obtain an
        educator license;
            (H) shows a willingness to set high standards of
        performance for himself or herself and students; and
            (I) demonstrates commitment to the program by:
                (i) maintaining a cumulative grade point
            average of at least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or the
            equivalent as determined by the Board of Higher
            Education);
                (ii) attending monthly cohort meetings; and
                (iii) applying for financial aid from all
            other financial aid resources before applying for
            assistance from the program.
        (5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures
    for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare
    highly competent teachers. Professional preparation shall
    include on-going direct experience in target schools and
    evaluation of this experience.
        (6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts
    of candidates, as defined in Section 10 of this Act, on a
    schedule that enables candidates to work full time while
    participating in the program and allows para educators
    paraeducators to continue in their current positions. In
    any fiscal year in which an appropriation for the
    Initiative is made, the consortium shall guarantee that
    support will be available to an admitted cohort for the
    cohort's education for that fiscal year. At the beginning
    of the Initiative, programs that are already operating and
    existing cohorts of candidates under this model shall be
    eligible for funding.
        (7) The institutions of higher education participating
    in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the
    same amount of funds in implementing the program that these
    institutions spend per student on similar educational
    programs. Grants received by the consortium shall
    supplement and not supplant these amounts.
        (8) The Board of Higher Education State Board shall
    establish additional criteria for review of proposals,
    including criteria that address the following issues:
            (A) Previous experience of the institutions of
        higher education in preparing candidates for
        hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working
        with students with non-traditional backgrounds.
            (B) The quality of the implementation plan,
        including strategies for overcoming institutional
        barriers to the progress of non-traditional
        candidates.
            (C) If a community college is a participant, the
        nature and extent of existing articulation agreements
        and guarantees between the community college and the
        4-year institution of higher education.
            (D) The number of candidates to be educated in the
        planned cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the
        consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles.
            (E) Experience of the community organization or
        organizations in organizing parents and community
        leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong
        relational school culture.
            (F) The qualifications of the person or persons
        designated by the 4-year institution of higher
        education to be responsible for cohort support and the
        development of a shared learning and social
        environment among candidates.
            (G) The consortium's plan for collective
        consortium decision-making, involving all consortium
        members, including mechanisms for candidate input.
            (H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the
        program on the quality of education in the eligible
        schools.
            (I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of
        the eligible schools and positions, and the use in
        curriculum and instructional planning of principles
        for effective education for adults.
            (J) The availability of classes under the program
        in places and times accessible to the candidates.
            (K) Provision of a level of performance to be
        maintained by candidates as a condition of continuing
        in the program.
            (L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher
        education to ensure that candidates take advantage of
        existing financial aid resources before using the loan
        funds described in Section 25 of this Act.
            (M) The availability of supportive services,
        including, but not limited to, counseling, tutoring,
        transportation, technology and technology support, and
        child care.
            (N) A plan for continued participation of
        graduates of the program in a program of support for at
        least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings.
            (O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation
        of candidates' teaching skills that ensures that
        graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching
        as other individuals completing the institution of
        higher education's preparation program for the
        certificate sought.
            (P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides
        reports at least yearly on the progress of candidates
        towards graduation and the impact of the program on the
        target schools and their communities.
            (Q) Contributions from schools, school districts,
        and other consortia members to the program, including
        stipends for candidates during their student teaching.
            (R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the
        program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced
        requirements for external funding, in subsequent
        cycles.
            (S) The inclusion in the planned program of
        strategies derived from community organizing that will
        help candidates develop tools for working with parents
        and other community members.
(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/25)
    Sec. 25. Expenditures under the Initiative.
    (a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement a
program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of tuition,
books, and fees of candidates under the program in excess of
the candidates' grants-in-aid. All students admitted to a
cohort shall be eligible for a forgivable student loan. Loans
shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5 years of
service in hard-to-staff schools or hard-to-staff teaching
positions, with partial forgiveness for shorter periods of
service. The Board of Higher Education State Board shall
establish standards for the approval of requests for waivers or
deferrals from individuals to waive this obligation. The Board
of Higher Education State Board shall also define standards for
the fiscal management of these loan funds.
    (b) The Board of Higher Education State Board shall award
grants under the Initiative in such a way as to provide the
required support for a cohort of candidates for any fiscal year
in which an appropriation for the Initiative is made. Program
budgets must show expenditures and needed funds for the entire
period that candidates are expected to be enrolled.
    (c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant
the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of
higher education for candidates.
    (d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the
costs of child care and other indirect expenses, such as
transportation, tutoring, technology, and technology support,
necessary to permit candidates to maintain their class
schedules. Grant funds may be used by any member of a
consortium to offset such costs, and the services may be
provided by the community organization or organizations, by any
other member of the consortium, or by independent contractors.
    (e) The institution of higher education may expend grant
funds to cover the additional costs of offering classes in
community settings and for tutoring services.
    (f) The community organization or organizations may
receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of
recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of
potential candidates, for providing space in the community, and
for working with school personnel to facilitate individual work
experiences and support of candidates.
    (g) The school district or school employee union or both
may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of
supporting the work experiences of candidates and providing
mentors for graduates. Notwithstanding the provisions of
Section 10-20.15 of the School Code, school districts may also
use these or other applicable public funds to pay participants
in programs under the Initiative for student teaching required
by an accredited teacher preparation program.
    (h) One or more members of the consortium may expend funds
to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator.
    (i) Grant funds may also be expended to pay directly for
required developmental classes for candidates beginning a
program.
(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/30)
    Sec. 30. Implementation of Initiative. The State Board
shall develop guidelines and application procedures for the
Initiative in fiscal year 2011. The Board of Higher Education
State Board may, if it chooses, award a small number of
planning grants during any fiscal year to potential consortia.
Other than existing cohorts, the first programs under the
Initiative shall be awarded grants in such a way as to allow
candidates to begin their work at the beginning of the
2006-2007 school year.
(Source: P.A. 96-1393, eff. 7-29-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/35)
    Sec. 35. Independent program evaluation. The Board of
Higher Education State Board shall contract for an independent
evaluation of program implementation by each of its
participating consortia and of the impact of each program,
including the extent of candidate persistence in program
enrollment, acceptance as an education major in a 4-year
institution of higher education, completion of a bachelor's
degree in teaching, obtaining a teaching position in a target
school or similar school, subsequent effectiveness as a
teacher, and persistence in teaching in a target school or
similar school. The evaluation shall assess the Initiative's
overall effectiveness and shall identify particular program
strategies that are especially effective.
(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/90)
    Sec. 90. Rules. The Board of Higher Education State Board
may adopt any rules necessary to carry out its responsibilities
under this Act.
(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05.)