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92_SB1521sam001
LRB9208236NTcdam
1 AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1521
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend Senate Bill 1521 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4 "AN ACT relating to education."; and
5 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
6 following:
7 "Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
8 Section 5.545 as follows:
9 (30 ILCS 105/5.545 new)
10 Sec. 5.545. The Illinois Future Teacher Corps
11 Scholarship Fund.
12 Section 10. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act
13 is amended by adding Section 65.65 as follows:
14 (110 ILCS 947/65.65 new)
15 Sec. 65.65. Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
16 (a) In this Section:
17 "Fees" means matriculation, graduation, activity, term,
18 or incidental fees. "Fees" does not include any other
19 fees, including book rental, service, laboratory, supply,
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1 and union building fees, hospital and medical insurance fees,
2 and any fees established for the operation and maintenance of
3 buildings the income of which is pledged to the payment of
4 interest and principal on bonds issued by the governing board
5 of an institution of higher learning.
6 "Shortage" means an unfilled teaching position or one
7 that is filled but is occupied by a person who is not fully
8 certified by the State for that teaching position at the
9 start of the school year.
10 "Scholarship" means an Illinois Future Teacher Corps
11 Scholarship.
12 "Tuition and other necessary fees" includes the
13 customary charge for instruction and use of facilities in
14 general and the additional fixed fees charged for specified
15 purposes that are required generally of non-scholarship
16 recipients for each academic term for which the recipient of
17 a scholarship under this Section actually enrolls. "Tuition
18 and other necessary fees" does not include fees payable only
19 once or breakage fees and other contingent deposits that are
20 refundable in whole or in part. "Tuition and other necessary
21 fees" does not include expenses for any sectarian or
22 denominational instruction, for the construction or
23 maintenance of sectarian or denominational facilities, or for
24 any other sectarian or denominational purposes or activity.
25 (b) A program is created to provide new teacher training
26 scholarships, to be known as Illinois Future Teacher Corps
27 Scholarships. The scholarships are for full-time
28 undergraduate and graduate students pursuing studies at
29 qualified institutions of higher learning leading to teacher
30 certification in this State. To receive a scholarship, a
31 graduate student must be seeking retraining, from another
32 field, to enter a teaching career. No more than half of the
33 scholarships shall be awarded to graduate students seeking
34 retraining.
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1 (c) The Commission, in accordance with rules adopted for
2 the program created under this Section, shall provide
3 funding, determine the eligibility of applicants, and
4 designate each year's new recipients from among those
5 applicants who qualify for consideration by showing:
6 (1) that he or she is a resident of this State
7 and a citizen or a lawful permanent resident alien of the
8 United States;
9 (2) that he or she (i) has successfully completed
10 the program of instruction at an approved high
11 school or (ii) is a student in good standing at that
12 school and is enrolled in a program of instruction that
13 will be completed by the end of the school year and, in
14 either event, that his or her cumulative grade point
15 average was or is in the upper one-third of his or her
16 high school class;
17 (3) that he or she has a superior capacity to
18 profit by a higher education; and
19 (4) that he or she intends to teach in an
20 elementary or secondary school in this State.
21 (d) If for any academic year the number of qualified
22 applicants exceeds the number of scholarships to be
23 awarded, the Commission shall prioritize the awarding of
24 scholarships to applicants by considering (i) identified
25 teacher shortage areas established by the State Board of
26 Education and (ii) an applicant's cumulative class rank in
27 high school or, for graduate student applicants, total
28 undergraduate cumulative grade point average.
29 (e) Unless otherwise indicated, scholarships shall be
30 good for a period of up to 4 academic years while the
31 recipient is enrolled for full-time residence credit at a
32 qualified institution of higher learning. Each academic
33 year, the scholarship shall cover tuition and other necessary
34 fees for 2 semesters plus the summer session or 4 quarters.
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1 For purposes of calculating scholarship assistance for
2 recipients attending private institutions of higher learning,
3 tuition and other necessary fees for students at private
4 institutions shall not exceed the average tuition and other
5 necessary fees for students at State universities for the
6 academic year in which the scholarship is made.
7 (f) Before receiving scholarship assistance, a
8 scholarship recipient shall be required by the Commission to
9 sign an agreement under which the recipient pledges that,
10 within the 5-year period following the completion of the
11 academic program for which the recipient was awarded a
12 scholarship, the recipient (i) shall teach for a period of
13 not less than 4 years for each academic year of scholarship
14 assistance that he or she was awarded, (ii) shall fulfill
15 this teaching obligation at a public or nonprofit private
16 preschool, elementary school, or secondary school in this
17 State, and (iii) shall, upon request by the Commission,
18 provide the Commission with evidence that he or she is
19 fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the teaching
20 agreement provided for in this subsection (f).
21 (g) If a scholarship recipient fails to fulfill the
22 teaching obligation set forth in subsection (f) of this
23 Section, the Commission shall require the recipient to repay
24 the amount of the scholarship assistance received, at a rate
25 of interest equal to 5%, and, if applicable, reasonable
26 collection fees. The Commission may establish rules relating
27 to its collection activities for the repayment of
28 scholarships. All repayments collected under this Section
29 shall be forwarded to the State Comptroller for deposit into
30 the General Revenue Fund.
31 A scholarship recipient shall not be considered in
32 violation of the agreement entered into pursuant to
33 subsection (f) of this Section if the recipient (i) enrolls
34 on a full-time basis as a graduate student in a course of
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1 study related to the field of teaching at a qualified
2 institution of higher learning, (ii) is serving as a member
3 of the armed services of the United States for a period of
4 time not to exceed 3 years, (iii) is temporarily totally
5 disabled for a period of time not to exceed 3 years, as
6 established by sworn affidavit of a qualified physician, (iv)
7 is seeking and unable to find full-time employment as a
8 teacher at a public or nonprofit private preschool,
9 elementary school, or secondary school that satisfies the
10 criteria set forth in subsection (f) of this Section and is
11 able to provide evidence of that fact, or (v) becomes
12 permanently totally disabled, as established by sworn
13 affidavit of a qualified physician. No claim for repayment
14 may be filed against the estate of a decedent or incompetent.
15 Each person applying for a scholarship shall be provided
16 with a copy of this subsection (g) at the time he or she
17 applies for the scholarship.
18 (h) The Commission may prescribe, by rule, detailed
19 provisions concerning the computation of tuition and other
20 necessary fees, which must not be inconsistent with this
21 Section.
22 (i) If an applicant for a scholarship under this Section
23 accepts another teacher preparation scholarship administered
24 by the Commission for the same academic year as the
25 scholarship under this Section, that applicant shall not be
26 eligible for a scholarship under this Section.
27 (j) To continue receiving scholarship assistance, a
28 scholarship recipient must remain a full-time student and
29 must maintain a cumulative grade point average at the
30 postsecondary level of no less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.
31 (k) A scholarship shall not be awarded to or continued
32 for anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offense that
33 would disqualify that person from receiving teacher
34 certification in this State.
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1 (l) If a scholarship recipient satisfies the president
2 of the institution of higher learning in which the recipient
3 is enrolled (or someone designated by the president) that the
4 recipient requires a leave of absence for the purpose of
5 earning funds to defray his or her expenses while enrolled
6 in the institution, for study abroad or internship study, or
7 on account of illness or military service, then leave may be
8 granted for a period of time not to exceed 6 years (with time
9 spent in the armed forces not included as part of this time
10 limit) without violating the agreement entered into pursuant
11 to subsection (f) of this Section.
12 (m) Scholarship amounts due to an institution of
13 higher learning shall be payable by the Comptroller to that
14 institution on vouchers approved by the Commission.
15 (n) The Commission shall administer the program created
16 under this Section and shall adopt all necessary and proper
17 rules not inconsistent with this Section for the program's
18 effective implementation. All applications for scholarship
19 assistance shall be made to the Commission in a form as set
20 forth by the Commission. The form of application and the
21 information required to be set forth in the application shall
22 be determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
23 require applicants to submit with their applications any
24 supporting documents that the Commission deems necessary.
25 (o) If an appropriation to the Commission for a given
26 fiscal year is insufficient to provide scholarships to all
27 qualified applicants, then the Commission shall allocate the
28 available scholarship funds for that fiscal year on the
29 basis of the date the Commission receives a complete
30 application form from a qualified applicant.
31 Section 15. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by
32 adding Section 3-648 as follows:
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1 (625 ILCS 5/3-648 new)
2 Sec. 3-648. Education license plates.
3 (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made
4 in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special
5 registration plates designated as Education license plates.
6 The special plates issued under this Section shall be affixed
7 only to passenger vehicles of the first division and motor
8 vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000
9 pounds. Plates issued under this Section shall expire
10 according to the multi-year procedure established by Section
11 3-414.1 of this Code.
12 (b) The design and color of the plates shall be
13 determined by a contest that every elementary school pupil in
14 the State of Illinois is eligible to enter. The designs
15 submitted for the contest shall be judged on September 30,
16 2002, and the winning design shall be selected by a committee
17 composed of the Secretary, the Director of State Police, 2
18 members of the Senate, one member chosen by the President of
19 the Senate and one member chosen by the Senate Minority
20 Leader, and 2 members of the House of Representatives, one
21 member chosen by the Speaker of the House and one member
22 chosen by the House Minority Leader. The Secretary may allow
23 the plates to be issued as vanity or personalized plates
24 under Section 3-405.1 of the Code. The Secretary shall
25 prescribe stickers or decals as provided under Section 3-412
26 of this Code.
27 (c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged
28 a $40 fee for original issuance, in addition to the
29 appropriate registration fee. Of this $40 additional original
30 issuance fee, $15 shall be deposited into the Secretary of
31 State Special License Plate Fund, to be used by the Secretary
32 to help defray the administrative processing costs, and $25
33 shall be deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
34 Scholarship Fund. For each registration renewal period, a
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1 $40 fee, in addition to the appropriate registration fee,
2 shall be charged. Of this $40 additional renewal fee, $2
3 shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special
4 License Plate Fund and $38 shall be deposited into the
5 Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund. Each fiscal
6 year, once deposits from the additional original issuance and
7 renewal fees into the Secretary of State Special License
8 Plate Fund have reached $500,000, all the amounts received
9 for the additional fees for the balance of the fiscal year
10 shall be deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
11 Scholarship Fund.
12 (d) The Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
13 is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All
14 moneys in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
15 shall be appropriated to the Illinois Student Assistance
16 Commission for scholarships under Section 65.65 of the Higher
17 Education Student Assistance Act.
18 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19 becoming law.".