Sen. Iris Y. Martinez
Filed: 4/1/2008
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1334
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1334, AS AMENDED, by | ||||||
3 | replacing everything after the enacting clause with the | ||||||
4 | following:
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5 | "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | ||||||
6 | amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
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7 | (110 ILCS 947/52)
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8 | Sec. 52. Illinois Future Teacher Corps
Program .
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9 | (a) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | ||||||
10 | students,
especially minority students, to pursue teaching | ||||||
11 | careers, especially in
teacher shortage
disciplines
(which | ||||||
12 | shall be defined to include early childhood education) or at
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13 | hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the Commission in | ||||||
14 | consultation with the
State Board of Education) , to provide | ||||||
15 | those students with the crucial mentoring, guidance, and | ||||||
16 | in-service support that will significantly increase the |
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1 | likelihood that they will complete their full teaching | ||||||
2 | commitments and elect to continue teaching in targeted | ||||||
3 | disciplines and hard-to-staff schools, and to ensure that | ||||||
4 | students in this State will continue to have access to a pool | ||||||
5 | of highly-qualified teachers, the Commission shall combine the | ||||||
6 | best practices and methods and programmatic functions of the | ||||||
7 | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple | ||||||
8 | Foundation for Excellence in Teaching's Golden Apple Scholars | ||||||
9 | program into one program. The consolidated program shall be | ||||||
10 | known as the Illinois Future Teachers Corps and shall be | ||||||
11 | managed by the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in | ||||||
12 | Teaching. | ||||||
13 | (1) This consolidated program shall be fully | ||||||
14 | operational before July 1, 2011. The existing programs, the | ||||||
15 | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Program and the | ||||||
16 | Golden Apple Scholars program, shall continue to exist and | ||||||
17 | be governed as they have under this Section before the | ||||||
18 | effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General | ||||||
19 | Assembly and any associated administrative rules, but | ||||||
20 | shall also begin a transition period commencing on the | ||||||
21 | first day of the 2009 fiscal year and ending on the last | ||||||
22 | day of the 2012 fiscal year. | ||||||
23 | (2) During the transition period, the Commission | ||||||
24 | shall, in consultation with the Golden Apple Foundation, | ||||||
25 | establish rules governing the transition period and | ||||||
26 | related fund transfers and to facilitate coordination and |
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1 | implementation of the consolidated program. Eligible | ||||||
2 | students in this State may continue to apply for Illinois | ||||||
3 | Future Teacher Corps scholarships under the current rules | ||||||
4 | governing such applications during the transition period. | ||||||
5 | Fiscal Year 2011 shall be the last year that such | ||||||
6 | scholarships are available. | ||||||
7 | (3) The Commission shall, by March 30, 2009, develop an | ||||||
8 | estimate of General Revenue Funds that it expects will | ||||||
9 | remain unexpended at the end of FY 2009 from the FY 2009 | ||||||
10 | appropriation for the Illinois Future Teacher Corps. No | ||||||
11 | later than April 15, 2009, the Commission shall cause to be | ||||||
12 | transferred funds comprising 85% of this estimated amount | ||||||
13 | to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching. | ||||||
14 | The Commission shall subsequently transfer funding from | ||||||
15 | the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program to the Golden | ||||||
16 | Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching on the | ||||||
17 | following schedule and in the following amounts:
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18 | (A) FY 2010: an amount equal to 58% of the total | ||||||
19 | combined appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | ||||||
20 | for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | ||||||
21 | Teacher Corps Program; | ||||||
22 | (B) FY 2011: an amount equal to 80% of the combined | ||||||
23 | total appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | ||||||
24 | for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | ||||||
25 | Teacher Corps Program; | ||||||
26 | (C) FY 2012: the entire appropriation shall be |
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1 | designated for the Golden Apple Foundation for | ||||||
2 | Excellence in Teaching. | ||||||
3 | (4) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, 30% | ||||||
4 | of Illinois Future Teacher Corps scholarships available | ||||||
5 | each year shall be awarded to students residing in counties | ||||||
6 | having a population of less than 500,000. | ||||||
7 | (5) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, the | ||||||
8 | Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching shall | ||||||
9 | prepare an annual audit of the operations and finances of | ||||||
10 | the Illinois Future Teacher Corps in a form and on a | ||||||
11 | schedule prescribed by the Commission in consultation with | ||||||
12 | the Golden Apple Foundation. This audit shall be provided | ||||||
13 | to the Governor and the General Assembly. | ||||||
14 | (a-5) The ,
the Commission shall, each year until Fiscal | ||||||
15 | Year 2010 , receive and consider applications
for scholarship | ||||||
16 | assistance under this Section. An applicant is eligible for a
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17 | Illinois Future Teacher Corps scholarship under this Section | ||||||
18 | when the Commission finds that the applicant is:
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19 | (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
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20 | (2) a resident of Illinois;
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21 | (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received | ||||||
22 | a General
Educational Development Certificate;
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23 | (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the | ||||||
24 | junior level,
on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois | ||||||
25 | institution of higher learning;
and
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26 | (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to |
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1 | initial
certification or pursuing additional
course
work
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2 | needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach, | ||||||
3 | including
alternative teacher certification.
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4 | (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants | ||||||
5 | qualified pursuant to
subsection (a) based on a combination of | ||||||
6 | the following criteria as set forth by
the Commission: (1) | ||||||
7 | academic excellence; (2) status as a minority student as
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8 | defined in Section 50; and (3) financial need. Preference may | ||||||
9 | be given to
previous recipients of assistance under this | ||||||
10 | Section, provided they continue to
maintain eligibility and | ||||||
11 | maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined
by the | ||||||
12 | institution of higher learning at which they enroll.
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13 | (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | ||||||
14 | an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | ||||||
15 | board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | ||||||
16 | which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | ||||||
17 | $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
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18 | reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | ||||||
19 | he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | ||||||
20 | sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | ||||||
21 | allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
For recipients | ||||||
22 | who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
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23 | hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
24 | Commission
may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase | ||||||
25 | the annual
maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to | ||||||
26 | teach in both a
teacher shortage discipline and at a |
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1 | hard-to-staff school under
subsection (i) of this Section, the | ||||||
2 | Commission may increase the amount of the
scholarship awarded
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3 | by up to an additional $5,000.
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4 | (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | ||||||
5 | the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | ||||||
6 | fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | ||||||
7 | to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | ||||||
8 | attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | ||||||
9 | student is enrolled.
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10 | (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6
quarters | ||||||
11 | of scholarship
assistance under this Section.
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12 | (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | ||||||
13 | awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission in a | ||||||
14 | form as set forth by the
Commission. The form of application | ||||||
15 | and the information required to be set
forth therein shall be | ||||||
16 | determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require | ||||||
17 | eligible applicants to submit with their applications such | ||||||
18 | supporting
documents as the Commission deems necessary. | ||||||
19 | Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, following the | ||||||
20 | completion of the transition of funding of the Illinois Future | ||||||
21 | Teacher Corps to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in | ||||||
22 | Teaching, all applications for scholarship assistance under | ||||||
23 | this Section shall be in a form determined by the Golden Apple | ||||||
24 | Foundation for Excellence in Teaching.
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25 | (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such | ||||||
26 | purposes, payment of
any
scholarship awarded under this Section |
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1 | shall be determined by the Commission.
There shall be a | ||||||
2 | separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded
to | ||||||
3 | recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline | ||||||
4 | or at a
hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this | ||||||
5 | Section.
The Commission may use for scholarship assistance | ||||||
6 | under this Section
(i) all funds appropriated for scholarships | ||||||
7 | under this Section that were
formerly known as ITEACH Teacher | ||||||
8 | Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all
funds appropriated for | ||||||
9 | scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act
(repealed by this | ||||||
10 | amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly
known as | ||||||
11 | Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
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12 | All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this | ||||||
13 | Section shall be
paid
to the institution on behalf of the | ||||||
14 | recipients. Scholarship funds are
applicable toward 2 | ||||||
15 | semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic
year.
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16 | (h) The Commission shall administer the
scholarship | ||||||
17 | program established by this Section and shall make all | ||||||
18 | necessary
and
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section | ||||||
19 | for its effective
implementation.
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20 | (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | ||||||
21 | academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under
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22 | this
Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an | ||||||
23 | agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | ||||||
24 | one-year period following the
termination
of the academic | ||||||
25 | program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
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26 | recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less |
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1 | than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | ||||||
2 | nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | ||||||
3 | an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
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4 | shall, upon request of
the
Commission, provide the Commission | ||||||
5 | with evidence that he or she is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the | ||||||
6 | terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
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7 | subsection.
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8 | (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under
this | ||||||
9 | Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | ||||||
10 | subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | ||||||
11 | the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, | ||||||
12 | prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | ||||||
13 | not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | ||||||
14 | reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to | ||||||
15 | establish rules relating to
its collection activities for | ||||||
16 | repayment
of scholarships under this Section.
Payments | ||||||
17 | received by the Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be | ||||||
18 | remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into
the General | ||||||
19 | Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a
recipient's | ||||||
20 | repayment that equals the amount in expenses that
the | ||||||
21 | Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting
collection | ||||||
22 | from that recipient shall be remitted to the State
Comptroller | ||||||
23 | for deposit into the Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund. | ||||||
24 | (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission | ||||||
25 | under
this
Section
shall not be in violation of the agreement | ||||||
26 | entered into pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) |
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1 | enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course | ||||||
2 | of study related to the field of teaching at an institution
of | ||||||
3 | higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed | ||||||
4 | services of the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally | ||||||
5 | disabled, as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified | ||||||
6 | physician; (iv) is seeking and unable to find
full-time | ||||||
7 | employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria | ||||||
8 | set
forth
in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of | ||||||
9 | that fact; (v) is taking additional courses, on at least a | ||||||
10 | half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in | ||||||
11 | Illinois; or (vi) is fulfilling teaching requirements | ||||||
12 | associated with other programs administered by the Commission | ||||||
13 | and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a | ||||||
14 | period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation. | ||||||
15 | Any such
extension of the period during which the teaching | ||||||
16 | requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to limitations | ||||||
17 | of duration as established by the Commission.
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18 | (Source: P.A. 93-21, eff. 7-1-03; 94-133, eff. 7-7-05.)
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19 | Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by | ||||||
20 | changing Section 3-648 as follows:
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21 | (625 ILCS 5/3-648)
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22 | Sec. 3-648. Education license plates.
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23 | (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in | ||||||
24 | the form
prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special |
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1 | registration plates designated
as Education license plates. | ||||||
2 | The special plates issued under this Section
shall be affixed | ||||||
3 | only to passenger vehicles of the first division and motor
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4 | vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000 | ||||||
5 | pounds. Plates
issued under this Section shall expire according | ||||||
6 | to the multi-year procedure
established by Section 3-414.1 of | ||||||
7 | this Code.
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8 | (b) The design and color of the plates
shall be determined | ||||||
9 | by a contest that every elementary school pupil in the
State of | ||||||
10 | Illinois is eligible to enter. The designs submitted for the | ||||||
11 | contest
shall be judged on September 30, 2002, and the winning | ||||||
12 | design shall be selected
by a committee
composed of the | ||||||
13 | Secretary, the Director of State Police, 2 members of the
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14 | Senate, one member chosen by the President of the Senate and | ||||||
15 | one member chosen
by the
Senate Minority Leader, and 2 members | ||||||
16 | of the House of Representatives, one
member chosen by the | ||||||
17 | Speaker of the House and one member chosen by the House
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18 | Minority
Leader.
The
Secretary may allow the plates to be | ||||||
19 | issued as vanity or personalized plates
under Section 3-405.1 | ||||||
20 | of the Code. The Secretary shall prescribe stickers or
decals | ||||||
21 | as provided under Section 3-412 of this Code.
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22 | (c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged a | ||||||
23 | $40 fee for
original issuance,
in addition to the appropriate | ||||||
24 | registration fee.
Of this $40 additional original issuance fee, | ||||||
25 | $15 shall be deposited into the
Secretary of State Special
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26 | License Plate Fund, to be used by the Secretary to help defray |
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1 | the
administrative processing costs, and
$25 shall be deposited | ||||||
2 | into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
Scholarship Fund.
For | ||||||
3 | each registration renewal period, a $40 fee, in addition to the
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4 | appropriate registration fee, shall be charged.
Of this $40 | ||||||
5 | additional renewal fee, $2 shall be deposited into the | ||||||
6 | Secretary of
State Special License
Plate Fund and $38 shall be | ||||||
7 | deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher
Corps
Scholarship | ||||||
8 | Fund. Each
fiscal year, once deposits from the additional | ||||||
9 | original issuance and renewal
fees into the Secretary of State | ||||||
10 | Special License Plate Fund have reached
$500,000, all the | ||||||
11 | amounts received for the additional fees for the balance of
the | ||||||
12 | fiscal year shall be
deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher | ||||||
13 | Corps Scholarship Fund.
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14 | (d) The Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
is | ||||||
15 | created as a special fund in the State treasury. Ninety-five
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16 | percent of the
moneys in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps | ||||||
17 | Scholarship Fund
shall be appropriated to the Illinois Student | ||||||
18 | Assistance
Commission for scholarships under Section 52 of the | ||||||
19 | Higher
Education Student Assistance Act, and 5% of the
moneys | ||||||
20 | in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
shall be | ||||||
21 | appropriated to the State Board of Education for grants to the
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22 | Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching, a | ||||||
23 | recognized charitable
organization that
meets the requirements | ||||||
24 | of Title 26, Section 501(c)(3) of the United States
Code. | ||||||
25 | Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection (d), | ||||||
26 | beginning in the 2009 fiscal year, funds for the Illinois |
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1 | Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple Foundation | ||||||
2 | for Excellence in Teaching shall be apportioned according to | ||||||
3 | Section 52 of the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.
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4 | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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5 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
6 | becoming law.".
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