97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB3312

 

Introduced 2/24/2011, by Rep. Rich Brauer

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 48/5
110 ILCS 48/10
110 ILCS 48/20
110 ILCS 48/25

    Amends the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act. Adds as a purpose of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative that the Initiative shall effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders and paraeducators to become effective teachers statewide in non-public special education facilities. Includes Illinois non-public special education facilities under the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code as an "eligible school" under the Act. Makes related changes.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act is
5amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 20, and 25 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 48/5)
7    Sec. 5. Purpose. The Grow Your Own Teacher preparation
8programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
9statewide initiative, known as the Grow Your Own Teacher
10Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
11teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools, including
12within the Department of Juvenile Justice School District, and
13hard-to-staff teaching positions, and non-public special
14education facilities and who will remain in these schools for
15substantial periods of time.
16     The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall
17effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
18and paraeducators to become effective teachers statewide in
19hard-to-staff schools serving a substantial percentage of
20low-income students, and hard-to-staff teaching positions in
21schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
22students, and in non-public special education facilities.
23Further, the Initiative shall increase the diversity of

 

 

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1teachers, including diversity based on race and ethnicity.
2    The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
3educational rigor by effectively preparing candidates in
4accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
5which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an
6Illinois initial teaching certificate.
7    The goal of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative
8is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income, hard-to-staff Illinois
9schools and Illinois non-public special education facilities
10by 2016.
11(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09; 96-414,
12eff. 1-1-10; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
 
13    (110 ILCS 48/10)
14    Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
15    "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a
16regionally accredited, Illinois approved teacher education
17program authorized to prepare individuals to fulfill all of the
18requirements to receive an Illinois initial teaching
19certificate.
20    "Cohort" means a group of teacher education candidates who
21are enrolled in and share experiences in the same program and
22are linked by their desire to become Illinois teachers in
23hard-to-staff schools or non-public special education
24facilities and by their need for the services and supports
25offered by the Initiative.

 

 

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1    "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization
2that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and
3organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that
4will hold the school and the school district accountable for
5achieving high academic standards; in addition to
6organizations with a geographic focus, "community
7organization" includes general parent organizations,
8organizations of special education or bilingual education
9parents, and school employee unions.
10    "Developmental classes" means classes in basic skill
11areas, such as mathematics and language arts that are
12prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements
13of a teacher preparation program.
14    "Eligible school" means a public elementary, middle, or
15secondary school in this State that serves a substantial
16percentage of low-income students and that is either hard to
17staff or has hard-to-staff teaching positions or an Illinois
18non-public special education facility under Section 14-7.02 of
19this Code.
20    "Hard-to-staff school" means a public elementary, middle,
21or secondary school in this State that, based on data compiled
22by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board
23of Higher Education, serves a substantial percentage of
24low-income students, as defined by the State Board.
25    "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
26category (such as special education, bilingual education,

 

 

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1mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by
2the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of
3Higher Education indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
4teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need
5by the local school board.
6    "Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education
7Initiative created under this Act.
8    "Paraeducator" means an individual with a history of
9demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such
10as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school
11clerks, and security aides) in schools that meet the definition
12of a hard-to-staff school under this Section or in Illinois
13non-public special education facilities.
14    "Parent and community leader" means (i) an individual who
15has or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that meet
16the definition of a hard-to-staff school under this Section and
17who has a history of active involvement in the school or who
18has a history of working to improve schools serving a
19substantial percentage of low-income students, including
20membership in a community organization, or (ii) an individual
21who has or had a child enrolled in an Illinois non-public
22special education facility and who has a history of active
23involvement in the school or who has a history of working to
24improve non-public special education facilities, including
25membership in a community organization.
26    "Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program

 

 

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1established by a consortium under this Act.
2    "Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
3students" means schools that maintain any of grades
4pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the
5students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches
6and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which
7at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or
8reduced price lunches.
9    "State Board" means the Board of Higher Education.
10(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09;
1196-1393, eff. 7-29-10.)
 
12    (110 ILCS 48/20)
13    Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall award
14grants to qualified consortia that reflect the distribution and
15diversity of hard-to-staff schools, and hard-to-staff
16positions, and non-public special education facilities across
17this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall select
18programs that successfully address Initiative criteria and
19that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving
20urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the
21participating institutions of higher education, and the nature
22of hard-to-staff schools, and hard-to-staff teaching
23positions, and non-public special education facilities on
24which a program is focused.
25    The State Board shall select consortia that meet the

 

 

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1following requirements:
2        (1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one
3    4-year institution of higher education with an Illinois
4    approved teacher preparation program, at least one school
5    district or group of schools, and one or more community
6    organizations. The consortium membership may also include
7    a 2-year institution of higher education, a school employee
8    union, or a regional office of education.
9        (2) The 4-year institution of higher education
10    participating in the consortium shall have past,
11    demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary
12    or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of
13    low-income students or for non-public special education
14    facilities.
15        (3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set
16    of eligible schools that will participate in the program.
17    The consortium shall articulate the steps that it will
18    carry out in preparing teachers for its participating
19    schools and in preparing teachers for one or more
20    hard-to-staff teaching positions in those schools.
21        (4) A candidate in a program under the Initiative must
22    hold a high school diploma or its equivalent, must meet
23    either the definition of "parent and community leader" or
24    the definition of "paraeducator" contained in Section 10 of
25    this Act, must not have attended college right after high
26    school or must have experienced an interruption in his or

 

 

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1    her college education, and does not hold a bachelor's
2    degree.
3        (5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures
4    for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare
5    highly competent teachers. Professional preparation shall
6    include on-going direct experience in target schools and
7    evaluation of this experience.
8        (6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts
9    of candidates, as defined in Section 10 of this Act, on a
10    schedule that enables candidates to work full time while
11    participating in the program and allows paraeducators to
12    continue in their current positions. In any fiscal year in
13    which an appropriation for the Initiative is made, the
14    consortium shall guarantee that support will be available
15    to an admitted cohort for the cohort's education for that
16    fiscal year. At the beginning of the Initiative, programs
17    that are already operating and existing cohorts of
18    candidates under this model shall be eligible for funding.
19        (7) The institutions of higher education participating
20    in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the
21    same amount of funds in implementing the program that these
22    institutions spend per student on similar educational
23    programs. Grants received by the consortium shall
24    supplement and not supplant these amounts.
25        (8) The State Board shall establish additional
26    criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that

 

 

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1    address the following issues:
2            (A) Previous experience of the institutions of
3        higher education in preparing candidates for
4        hard-to-staff schools and positions and for non-public
5        special education facilities and in working with
6        students with non-traditional backgrounds.
7            (B) The quality of the implementation plan,
8        including strategies for overcoming institutional
9        barriers to the progress of non-traditional
10        candidates.
11            (C) If a community college is a participant, the
12        nature and extent of existing articulation agreements
13        and guarantees between the community college and the
14        4-year institution of higher education.
15            (D) The number of candidates to be educated in the
16        planned cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the
17        consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles.
18            (E) Experience of the community organization or
19        organizations in organizing parents and community
20        leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong
21        relational school culture.
22            (F) The qualifications of the person or persons
23        designated by the 4-year institution of higher
24        education to be responsible for cohort support and the
25        development of a shared learning and social
26        environment among candidates.

 

 

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1            (G) The consortium's plan for collective
2        consortium decision-making, involving all consortium
3        members, including mechanisms for candidate input.
4            (H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the
5        program on the quality of education in the eligible
6        schools.
7            (I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of
8        the eligible schools and positions, and the use in
9        curriculum and instructional planning of principles
10        for effective education for adults.
11            (J) The availability of classes under the program
12        in places and times accessible to the candidates.
13            (K) Provision of a level of performance to be
14        maintained by candidates as a condition of continuing
15        in the program.
16            (L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher
17        education to ensure that candidates take advantage of
18        existing financial aid resources before using the loan
19        funds described in Section 25 of this Act.
20            (M) The availability of supportive services,
21        including, but not limited to, counseling, tutoring,
22        transportation, technology and technology support, and
23        child care.
24            (N) A plan for continued participation of
25        graduates of the program in a program of support for at
26        least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings.

 

 

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1            (O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation
2        of candidates' teaching skills that ensures that
3        graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching
4        as other individuals completing the institution of
5        higher education's preparation program for the
6        certificate sought.
7            (P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides
8        reports at least yearly on the progress of candidates
9        towards graduation and the impact of the program on the
10        target schools and their communities.
11            (Q) Contributions from schools, school districts,
12        and other consortia members to the program, including
13        stipends for candidates during their student teaching.
14            (R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the
15        program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced
16        requirements for external funding, in subsequent
17        cycles.
18            (S) The inclusion in the planned program of
19        strategies derived from community organizing that will
20        help candidates develop tools for working with parents
21        and other community members.
22(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
23    (110 ILCS 48/25)
24    Sec. 25. Expenditures under the Initiative.
25    (a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement a

 

 

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1program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of tuition,
2books, and fees of candidates under the program in excess of
3the candidates' grants-in-aid. All students admitted to a
4cohort shall be eligible for a forgivable student loan. Loans
5shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5 years of
6service in hard-to-staff schools, or hard-to-staff teaching
7positions, or Illinois non-public special education facilities
8under Section 14-7.02 of the School Code, with partial
9forgiveness for shorter periods of service. The State Board
10shall establish standards for the approval of requests for
11waivers or deferrals from individuals to waive this obligation.
12The State Board shall also define standards for the fiscal
13management of these loan funds.
14    (b) The State Board shall award grants under the Initiative
15in such a way as to provide the required support for a cohort
16of candidates for any fiscal year in which an appropriation for
17the Initiative is made. Program budgets must show expenditures
18and needed funds for the entire period that candidates are
19expected to be enrolled.
20    (c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant
21the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of
22higher education for candidates.
23    (d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the
24costs of child care and other indirect expenses, such as
25transportation, tutoring, technology, and technology support,
26necessary to permit candidates to maintain their class

 

 

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1schedules. Grant funds may be used by any member of a
2consortium to offset such costs, and the services may be
3provided by the community organization or organizations, by any
4other member of the consortium, or by independent contractors.
5    (e) The institution of higher education may expend grant
6funds to cover the additional costs of offering classes in
7community settings and for tutoring services.
8    (f) The community organization or organizations may
9receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of
10recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of
11potential candidates, for providing space in the community, and
12for working with school personnel to facilitate individual work
13experiences and support of candidates.
14    (g) The school district or school employee union or both
15may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of
16supporting the work experiences of candidates and providing
17mentors for graduates. Notwithstanding the provisions of
18Section 10-20.15 of the School Code, school districts may also
19use these or other applicable public funds to pay participants
20in programs under the Initiative for student teaching required
21by an accredited teacher preparation program.
22    (h) One or more members of the consortium may expend funds
23to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator.
24    (i) Grant funds may also be expended to pay directly for
25required developmental classes for candidates beginning a
26program.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09.)