Public Act 096-1393
 
SB2487 EnrolledLRB096 15061 RCE 30059 b

    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
    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 and 30 and by adding Section 13
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
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.
    "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 State Board.
    "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
category (such as special education, bilingual education,
mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by
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.
    "Paraeducator" 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
reduced price lunches.
    "State Board" means the State Board of Higher Education.
(Source: P.A. 95-476, eff. 1-1-08; 96-144, eff. 8-7-09.)
 
    (110 ILCS 48/13 new)
    Sec. 13. Transfer of powers and duties to the Board of
Higher Education. On July 1, 2010, all powers and duties of
the State Board of Education under this Act shall be
transferred to the Board of Higher Education. All rules,
standards, guidelines, and procedures adopted by the State
Board of Education under this Act shall continue in effect as
the rules, standards, guidelines, and procedures of the Board
of Higher Education, until they are modified or abolished by
the Board of Higher Education.
 
    (110 ILCS 48/30)
    Sec. 30. Implementation of Initiative. The State Board
shall develop guidelines and application procedures for the
Initiative in fiscal year 2011 2005. The State Board may, if it
chooses, award a small number of planning grants during any
fiscal year to potential consortia. Other than existing
cohorts, the first programs under the Initiative shall be
awarded grants in such a way as to allow candidates to begin
their work at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year.
(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2010.