Bill Text: IL SB2356 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB2356 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB2356-Engrossed.html

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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 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 as follows:
(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

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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, including, but
not limited to, an early childhood program licensed by the
Department of Children and Family Services in which no less
than 60% of the children it serves are receiving subsidized
care under the Department of Human Services' Child Care
Assistance Program, Head Start or Early Head Start Program,
Preschool for All Program, or a prevention initiative.
"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.
"Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
category (such as special education, bilingual education,
mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by

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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" 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

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reduced price lunches.
(Source: P.A. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
(110 ILCS 48/15)
Sec. 15. Creation of Initiative. The Grow Your Own Teacher
Education Initiative is created. Grow Your Own Illinois The
Board of Higher Education shall administer the Initiative as a
grant competition to fund consortia that will carry out Grow
Your Own Teacher preparation programs.
(Source: P.A. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
(110 ILCS 48/20)
Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The Board of Higher
Education shall, subject to appropriation, allocate funds to
Grow Your Own Illinois for the purpose of administering the
program and awarding award grants as needed 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, Grow Your Own Illinois the Board of
Higher Education 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.
Grow Your Own Illinois The Board of Higher Education shall

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select, manage, and oversee 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 high school diploma or its equivalent;
(B) meets either the definition of "parent and
community leader" or the definition of "para educator"

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contained in Section 10 of this Act;
(C) has experienced an interruption in his or her
college education;
(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

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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 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) Grow Your Own Illinois The Board of Higher
Education shall establish and oversee additional criteria
for review of proposals, including criteria that address

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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

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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

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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. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
(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,

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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. Grow Your Own Illinois The Board of Higher Education
shall establish standards for the approval of requests for
waivers or deferrals from individuals to waive this obligation
and . The Board of Higher Education shall also define standards
for the fiscal management of these loan funds.
(b) Grow Your Own Illinois The Board of Higher Education
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

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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. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)

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(110 ILCS 48/30)
Sec. 30. Implementation of Initiative. Grow Your Own
Illinois The Board of Higher Education may, if it chooses,
award and administer a small number of planning grants during
any fiscal year to potential consortia.
(Source: P.A. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2018.