Bill Amendment: IL SB3319 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly

NOTE: For additional amemendments please see the Bill Drafting List

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Bill Title: HIGHER ED-MINORITY TEACHERS

Status: 2017-01-10 - Passed Both Houses [SB3319 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-SB3319-House_Amendment_001.html

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Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie

Filed: 5/11/2016

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3319
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3319 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 50 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/50)
Sec. 50. Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship
program.
(a) As used in this Section:
"Eligible applicant" means a minority student who has
graduated from high school or has received a high school
equivalency certificate and and has maintained a
cumulative grade point average of no less than 2.5 on a 4.0
scale, and who by reason thereof is entitled to apply for
scholarships to be awarded under this Section.
"Minority student" means a student who is any of the

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following:
(1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person
having origins in any of the original peoples of North
and South America, including Central America, and who
maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment).
(2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the
original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or
the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited
to, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and
Vietnam).
(3) Black or African American (a person having
origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa).
Terms such as "Haitian" or "Negro" can be used in
addition to "Black or African American".
(4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican,
Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other
Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race).
(5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a
person having origins in any of the original peoples of
Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).
"Qualified student" means a person (i) who is a
resident of this State and a citizen or permanent resident
of the United States; (ii) who is a minority student, as
defined in this Section; (iii) who, as an eligible
applicant, has made a timely application for a minority

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teaching scholarship under this Section; (iv) who is
enrolled on at least a half-time basis at a qualified
Illinois institution of higher learning; (v) who is
enrolled in a course of study leading to teacher
certification, including alternative teacher
certification; (vi) who maintains a grade point average of
no less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale; and (vii) who continues to
advance satisfactorily toward the attainment of a degree.
(b) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois
minority students to pursue teaching careers at the preschool
or elementary or secondary school level, each qualified student
shall be awarded a minority teacher scholarship to any
qualified Illinois institution of higher learning. However,
preference may be given to qualified applicants enrolled at or
above the junior level.
(c) Each minority teacher scholarship awarded under this
Section shall be in an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and
fees and room and board costs of the qualified Illinois
institution of higher learning at which the recipient is
enrolled, up to an annual maximum of $5,000; except that in the
case of a recipient who does not reside on-campus at the
institution at which he or she is enrolled, the amount of the
scholarship shall be sufficient to pay tuition and fee expenses
and a commuter allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
(d) The total amount of minority teacher scholarship
assistance awarded by the Commission under this Section to an

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individual in any given fiscal year, when added to other
financial assistance awarded to that individual for that year,
shall not exceed the cost of attendance at the institution at
which the student is enrolled. If the amount of minority
teacher scholarship to be awarded to a qualified student as
provided in subsection (c) of this Section exceeds the cost of
attendance at the institution at which the student is enrolled,
the minority teacher scholarship shall be reduced by an amount
equal to the amount by which the combined financial assistance
available to the student exceeds the cost of attendance.
(e) The maximum number of academic terms for which a
qualified student can receive minority teacher scholarship
assistance shall be 8 semesters or 12 quarters.
(f) In any academic year for which an eligible applicant
under this Section accepts financial assistance through the
Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program, as authorized by
Section 551 et seq. of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the
applicant shall not be eligible for scholarship assistance
awarded under this Section.
(g) All applications for minority teacher scholarships to
be awarded under this Section shall be made to the Commission
on forms which the Commission shall provide for eligible
applicants. The form of applications and the information
required to be set forth therein shall be determined by the
Commission, and the Commission shall require eligible
applicants to submit with their applications such supporting

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documents or recommendations as the Commission deems
necessary.
(h) Subject to a separate appropriation for such purposes,
payment of any minority teacher scholarship awarded under this
Section shall be determined by the Commission. All scholarship
funds distributed in accordance with this subsection shall be
paid to the institution and used only for payment of the
tuition and fee and room and board expenses incurred by the
student in connection with his or her attendance as an
undergraduate student at a qualified Illinois institution of
higher learning. Any minority teacher scholarship awarded
under this Section shall be applicable to 2 semesters or 3
quarters of enrollment. If a qualified student withdraws from
enrollment prior to completion of the first semester or quarter
for which the minority teacher scholarship is applicable, the
school shall refund to the Commission the full amount of the
minority teacher scholarship.
(i) The Commission shall administer the minority teacher
scholarship aid program established by this Section and shall
make all necessary and proper rules not inconsistent with this
Section for its effective implementation.
(j) When an appropriation to the Commission for a given
fiscal year is insufficient to provide scholarships to all
qualified students, the Commission shall allocate the
appropriation in accordance with this subsection. If funds are
insufficient to provide all qualified students with a

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scholarship as authorized by this Section, the Commission shall
allocate the available scholarship funds for that fiscal year
on the basis of the date the Commission receives a complete
application form.
(k) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (j) or any
other provision of this Section, at least 30% of the funds
appropriated for scholarships awarded under this Section in
each fiscal year shall be reserved for qualified male minority
applicants. If the Commission does not receive enough
applications from qualified male minorities on or before
January 1 of each fiscal year to award 30% of the funds
appropriated for these scholarships to qualified male minority
applicants, then the Commission may award a portion of the
reserved funds to qualified female minority applicants.
(l) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any
academic year, each recipient of a minority teacher scholarship
awarded under this Section shall be required by the Commission
to sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges that,
within the one-year period following the termination of the
program for which the recipient was awarded a minority teacher
scholarship, the recipient (i) shall begin teaching for a
period of not less than one year for each year of scholarship
assistance he or she was awarded under this Section; and (ii)
shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a nonprofit Illinois
public, private, or parochial preschool, elementary school, or
secondary school at which no less than 30% of the enrolled

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students are minority students in the year during which the
recipient begins teaching at the school; and (iii) shall, upon
request by the Commission, provide the Commission with evidence
that he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the
teaching agreement provided for in this subsection.
(m) If a recipient of a minority teacher scholarship
awarded under this Section fails to fulfill the teaching
obligation set forth in subsection (l) of this Section, the
Commission shall require the recipient to repay the amount of
the scholarships received, prorated according to the fraction
of the teaching obligation not completed, at a rate of interest
equal to 5%, and, if applicable, reasonable collection fees.
The Commission is authorized to establish rules relating to its
collection activities for repayment of scholarships under this
Section. All repayments collected under this Section shall be
forwarded to the State Comptroller for deposit into the State's
General Revenue Fund.
(n) A recipient of minority teacher scholarship shall not
be considered in violation of the agreement entered into
pursuant to subsection (l) if the recipient (i) enrolls on a
full time basis as a graduate student in a course of study
related to the field of teaching at a qualified Illinois
institution of higher learning; (ii) is serving, not in excess
of 3 years, as a member of the armed services of the United
States; (iii) is a person with a temporary total disability for
a period of time not to exceed 3 years as established by sworn

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affidavit of a qualified physician; (iv) is seeking and unable
to find full time employment as a teacher at an Illinois
public, private, or parochial preschool or elementary or
secondary school that satisfies the criteria set forth in
subsection (l) of this Section and is able to provide evidence
of that fact; (v) becomes a person with a permanent total
disability as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
physician; (vi) is taking additional courses, on at least a
half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in
Illinois; or (vii) is fulfilling teaching requirements
associated with other programs administered by the Commission
and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a
period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation.
(o) Scholarship recipients under this Section who withdraw
from a program of teacher education but remain enrolled in
school to continue their postsecondary studies in another
academic discipline shall not be required to commence repayment
of their Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship so long as
they remain enrolled in school on a full-time basis or if they
can document for the Commission special circumstances that
warrant extension of repayment.
(Source: P.A. 98-718, eff. 1-1-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)".