Sen. Iris Y. Martinez

Filed: 4/11/2008

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1334

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1334, AS AMENDED, by
3 replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
 
5     "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
6 amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
 
7     (110 ILCS 947/52)
8     Sec. 52. Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program.
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
13 hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the Commission in
14 consultation with the State Board of Education), the Commission
15 shall, each year, receive and consider applications for
16 scholarship assistance under this Section. An applicant is

 

 

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1 eligible for a scholarship under this Section when the
2 Commission finds that the applicant is:
3         (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
4         (2) a resident of Illinois;
5         (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received
6     a General Educational Development Certificate;
7         (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the
8     junior level, on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois
9     institution of higher learning; and
10         (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to
11     initial certification or pursuing additional course work
12     needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach,
13     including alternative teacher certification.
14     (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants
15 qualified pursuant to subsection (a) based on a combination of
16 the following criteria as set forth by the Commission: (1)
17 academic excellence; (2) status as a minority student as
18 defined in Section 50; and (3) financial need. Preference may
19 be given to previous recipients of assistance under this
20 Section, provided they continue to maintain eligibility and
21 maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by the
22 institution of higher learning at which they enroll.
23     In each year, to support mentoring, guidance, and
24 in-service support for teaching candidates in order to increase
25 the likelihood that they will complete their full teaching
26 commitments and elect to continue teaching in targeted

 

 

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1 disciplines and hard-to-staff schools, a minimum of 200 awards
2 shall be allocated to participants in the Golden Apple Scholars
3 of Illinois program.
4     (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in
5 an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and
6 board costs of the Illinois institution of higher learning at
7 which the recipient is enrolled, up to an annual maximum of
8 $5,000; except that in the case of a recipient who does not
9 reside on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which
10 he or she is enrolled, the amount of the scholarship shall be
11 sufficient to pay tuition and fee expenses and a commuter
12 allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000. For recipients
13 who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
14 hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the
15 Commission may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase
16 the annual maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to
17 teach in both a teacher shortage discipline and at a
18 hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the
19 Commission may increase the amount of the scholarship awarded
20 by up to an additional $5,000.
21     (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by
22 the Commission under this Section to an individual in any given
23 fiscal year, when added to other financial assistance awarded
24 to that individual for that year, shall not exceed the cost of
25 attendance at the institution of higher learning at which the
26 student is enrolled.

 

 

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1     (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6 quarters
2 of scholarship assistance under this Section.
3     (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be
4 awarded under this Section shall be made to the Commission in a
5 form as set forth by the Commission. The form of application
6 and the information required to be set forth therein shall be
7 determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall require
8 eligible applicants to submit with their applications such
9 supporting documents as the Commission deems necessary.
10     (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such
11 purposes, payment of any scholarship awarded under this Section
12 shall be determined by the Commission. There shall be a
13 separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded to
14 recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline
15 or at a hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this
16 Section. The Commission may use for scholarship assistance
17 under this Section (i) all funds appropriated for scholarships
18 under this Section that were formerly known as ITEACH Teacher
19 Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all funds appropriated for
20 scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act (repealed by this
21 amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly known as
22 Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
23     All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this
24 Section shall be paid to the institution on behalf of the
25 recipients. Scholarship funds are applicable toward 2
26 semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic year.

 

 

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1     (h) The Commission shall administer the scholarship
2 program established by this Section and shall make all
3 necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with this Section
4 for its effective implementation.
5     (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any
6 academic year, each recipient of a scholarship awarded under
7 this Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an
8 agreement under which the recipient pledges that, within the
9 one-year period following the termination of the academic
10 program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
11 recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not less
12 than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a
13 nonprofit Illinois public, private, or parochial preschool or
14 an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
15 shall, upon request of the Commission, provide the Commission
16 with evidence that he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled the
17 terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
18 subsection.
19     (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this
20 Section fails to fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in
21 subsection (i) of this Section, the Commission shall require
22 the recipient to repay the amount of the scholarships received,
23 prorated according to the fraction of the teaching obligation
24 not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable,
25 reasonable collection fees. The Commission is authorized to
26 establish rules relating to its collection activities for

 

 

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1 repayment of scholarships under this Section. Payments
2 received by the Commission under this subsection (j) shall be
3 remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into the General
4 Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a recipient's
5 repayment that equals the amount in expenses that the
6 Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting collection
7 from that recipient shall be remitted to the State Comptroller
8 for deposit into the Commission's Accounts Receivable Fund.
9     (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission
10 under this Section shall not be in violation of the agreement
11 entered into pursuant to subsection (i) if the recipient (i)
12 enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate student in a course
13 of study related to the field of teaching at an institution of
14 higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed
15 services of the United States; (iii) is temporarily totally
16 disabled, as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
17 physician; (iv) is seeking and unable to find full-time
18 employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria
19 set forth in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of
20 that fact; (v) is taking additional courses, on at least a
21 half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in
22 Illinois; or (vi) is fulfilling teaching requirements
23 associated with other programs administered by the Commission
24 and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a
25 period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation.
26 Any such extension of the period during which the teaching

 

 

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1 requirement must be fulfilled shall be subject to limitations
2 of duration as established by the Commission.
3 (Source: P.A. 93-21, eff. 7-1-03; 94-133, eff. 7-7-05.)".