Full Text of SB1926 96th General Assembly
SB1926eng 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
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| (110 ILCS 947/52)
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| Sec. 52. Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program Illinois | 8 |
| Future Teacher Corps Program .
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| (a) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | 10 |
| students,
especially minority students, to pursue teaching | 11 |
| careers, especially in
teacher shortage
disciplines
(which | 12 |
| shall be defined to include early childhood education) or at
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| hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the Commission in | 14 |
| consultation with the
State Board of Education) , to provide | 15 |
| those students with the crucial mentoring, guidance, and | 16 |
| in-service support that will significantly increase the | 17 |
| likelihood that they will complete their full teaching | 18 |
| commitments and elect to continue teaching in targeted | 19 |
| disciplines and hard-to-staff schools, and to ensure that | 20 |
| students in this State will continue to have access to a pool | 21 |
| of highly qualified teachers, the Commission shall combine the | 22 |
| best practices and methods and programmatic functions of the | 23 |
| Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple |
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| Foundation for Excellence in Teaching's Golden Apple Scholars | 2 |
| of Illinois Program into one program. The consolidated program | 3 |
| shall be known as the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program | 4 |
| and shall be managed by the Golden Apple Foundation for | 5 |
| Excellence in Teaching. | 6 |
| (1) This consolidated program shall be fully | 7 |
| operational before July 1, 2012. The existing programs, the | 8 |
| Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple | 9 |
| Scholars Program, shall continue to exist and be governed | 10 |
| as they have under this Section before the effective date | 11 |
| of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly and any | 12 |
| associated administrative rules, but shall also begin a | 13 |
| transition period commencing on the first day of the 2010 | 14 |
| fiscal year and ending on the last day of the 2013 fiscal | 15 |
| year. | 16 |
| (2) During the transition period, the Commission | 17 |
| shall, in consultation with the Golden Apple Foundation, | 18 |
| establish rules governing the transition period and | 19 |
| related fund transfers and to facilitate coordination and | 20 |
| implementation of the consolidated program. Eligible | 21 |
| students in this State may continue to apply for Illinois | 22 |
| Future Teacher Corps scholarships under the current rules | 23 |
| governing such applications during the transition period. | 24 |
| Fiscal Year 2012 shall be the last year that such | 25 |
| scholarships are available. | 26 |
| (3) The Commission shall, by March 30, 2010, develop an |
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| estimate of General Revenue funds that it expects will | 2 |
| remain unexpended at the end of FY 2010 from the FY 2010 | 3 |
| appropriation for the Illinois Future Teacher Corps. No | 4 |
| later than April 15, 2010, the Commission shall cause to be | 5 |
| transferred funds comprising 85% of this estimated amount | 6 |
| to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching. | 7 |
| The Commission shall subsequently transfer funding from | 8 |
| the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Program to the Golden | 9 |
| Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching on the | 10 |
| following schedule and in the following amounts:
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| (A) FY 2011: an amount equal to 58% of the total | 12 |
| combined appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | 13 |
| for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | 14 |
| Teacher Corps Program; | 15 |
| (B) FY 2012: an amount equal to 80% of the combined | 16 |
| total appropriation for the Golden Apple Foundation | 17 |
| for Excellence in Teaching and the Illinois Future | 18 |
| Teacher Corps Program; | 19 |
| (C) FY 2013: the entire appropriation shall be | 20 |
| designated for the Golden Apple Foundation for | 21 |
| Excellence in Teaching. | 22 |
| (4) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, at | 23 |
| least 30% of Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program | 24 |
| scholarships available each year shall be awarded to | 25 |
| students residing in counties having a population of less | 26 |
| than 500,000. |
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| (5) Following the consolidation of the 2 programs, the | 2 |
| Auditor General shall prepare an annual audit of the | 3 |
| operations and finances of the Golden Apple Scholars of | 4 |
| Illinois Program. This audit shall be provided to the | 5 |
| Governor and the General Assembly. | 6 |
| (a-5) The ,
the Commission shall, each year until Fiscal | 7 |
| Year 2011 , receive and consider applications
for | 8 |
| scholarship assistance under this Section. An applicant is | 9 |
| eligible for an Illinois Future Teacher Corps a
scholarship | 10 |
| under this Section when the Commission finds that the | 11 |
| applicant is:
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| (1) a United States citizen or eligible noncitizen;
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| (2) a resident of Illinois;
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| (3) a high school graduate or a person who has received | 15 |
| a General
Educational Development Certificate;
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| (4) enrolled or accepted for enrollment at or above the | 17 |
| junior level,
on at least a half-time basis, at an Illinois | 18 |
| institution of higher learning;
and
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| (5) pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading to | 20 |
| initial
certification or pursuing additional
course
work
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| needed to gain State Board of Education approval to teach, | 22 |
| including
alternative teacher certification.
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| (b) Recipients shall be selected from among applicants | 24 |
| qualified pursuant to
subsection (a) based on a combination of | 25 |
| the following criteria as set forth by
the Commission until | 26 |
| Fiscal Year 2011 : (1) academic excellence; (2) status as a |
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| minority student as
defined in Section 50; and (3) financial | 2 |
| need. Preference may be given to
previous recipients of | 3 |
| assistance under this Section, provided they continue to
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| maintain eligibility and maintain satisfactory academic | 5 |
| progress as determined
by the institution of higher learning at | 6 |
| which they enroll.
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| In each year until the consolidation of the 2 programs | 8 |
| under subsection (a) of this Section has been completed , to | 9 |
| support mentoring, guidance, and in-service support for | 10 |
| teaching candidates in order to increase the likelihood that | 11 |
| they will complete their full teaching commitments and elect to | 12 |
| continue teaching in targeted disciplines and hard-to-staff | 13 |
| schools, a minimum of 200 awards shall be allocated to | 14 |
| participants in the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois program. | 15 |
| (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | 16 |
| an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | 17 |
| board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | 18 |
| which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | 19 |
| $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
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| reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | 21 |
| he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | 22 |
| sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | 23 |
| allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000.
For recipients | 24 |
| who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline or at a
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| hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this Section, the | 26 |
| Commission
may, by rule and subject to appropriation, increase |
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| the annual
maximum amount to $10,000. If a recipient agrees to | 2 |
| teach in both a
teacher shortage discipline and at a | 3 |
| hard-to-staff school under
subsection (i) of this Section, the | 4 |
| Commission may increase the amount of the
scholarship awarded
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| by up to an additional $5,000.
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| (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | 7 |
| the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | 8 |
| fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | 9 |
| to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | 10 |
| attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | 11 |
| student is enrolled.
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| (e) A recipient may receive up to 4 semesters or 6
quarters | 13 |
| of scholarship
assistance under this Section.
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| (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | 15 |
| awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Commission in a | 16 |
| form as set forth by the
Commission. The form of application | 17 |
| and the information required to be set
forth therein shall be | 18 |
| determined by the Commission, and the Commission shall
require | 19 |
| eligible applicants to submit with their applications such | 20 |
| supporting
documents as the Commission deems necessary. | 21 |
| Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, following the | 22 |
| completion of the transition of funding of the Illinois Future | 23 |
| Teacher Corps to the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in | 24 |
| Teaching, all applications for scholarship assistance under | 25 |
| this Section shall be in a form determined by the Golden Apple | 26 |
| Foundation for Excellence in Teaching.
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| (g) Subject to a separate appropriation made for such | 2 |
| purposes, payment of
any
scholarship awarded under this Section | 3 |
| shall be determined by the Commission.
There shall be a | 4 |
| separate appropriation made for scholarships awarded
to | 5 |
| recipients who agree to teach in a teacher shortage discipline | 6 |
| or at a
hard-to-staff school under subsection (i) of this | 7 |
| Section.
The Commission may use for scholarship assistance | 8 |
| under this Section
(i) all funds appropriated for scholarships | 9 |
| under this Section that were
formerly known as ITEACH Teacher | 10 |
| Shortage Scholarships and (ii) all
funds appropriated for | 11 |
| scholarships under Section 65.65 of this Act
(repealed by this | 12 |
| amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly), formerly
known as | 13 |
| Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarships.
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| All scholarship funds distributed in accordance with this | 15 |
| Section shall be
paid
to the institution on behalf of the | 16 |
| recipients. Scholarship funds are
applicable toward 2 | 17 |
| semesters or 3 quarters of enrollment within an academic
year.
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| (h) The Commission shall administer the
scholarship | 19 |
| program established by this Section and shall make all | 20 |
| necessary
and
proper rules not inconsistent with this Section | 21 |
| for its effective
implementation.
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| (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | 23 |
| academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under | 24 |
| this
Section shall be required by the Commission to sign an | 25 |
| agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | 26 |
| one-year period following the
termination
of the academic |
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| program for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
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| recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less | 3 |
| than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | 4 |
| nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | 5 |
| an Illinois public elementary or secondary school, and (iii)
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| shall, upon request of
the
Commission, provide the Commission | 7 |
| with evidence that he or she is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the | 8 |
| terms of the teaching agreement provided for in this
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| subsection.
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| (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this | 11 |
| Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | 12 |
| subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | 13 |
| the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, | 14 |
| prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | 15 |
| not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | 16 |
| reasonable
collection fees. The Commission is authorized to | 17 |
| establish rules relating to
its collection activities for | 18 |
| repayment
of scholarships under this Section.
Payments | 19 |
| received by the Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be | 20 |
| remitted to the State Comptroller for deposit into
the General | 21 |
| Revenue Fund, except that that portion of a
recipient's | 22 |
| repayment that equals the amount in expenses that
the | 23 |
| Commission has reasonably incurred in attempting
collection | 24 |
| from that recipient shall be remitted to the State
Comptroller | 25 |
| for deposit into the Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund. | 26 |
| (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Commission |
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| under this
Section shall not be in violation of the agreement | 2 |
| entered into pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) | 3 |
| enrolls on a full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course | 4 |
| of study related to the field of teaching at an institution
of | 5 |
| higher learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed | 6 |
| services of the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally | 7 |
| disabled, as established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified | 8 |
| physician; (iv) is seeking and unable to find
full-time | 9 |
| employment as a teacher at a school that satisfies the criteria | 10 |
| set
forth
in subsection (i) and is able to provide evidence of | 11 |
| that fact; (v) is taking additional courses, on at least a | 12 |
| half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in | 13 |
| Illinois; or (vi) is fulfilling teaching requirements | 14 |
| associated with other programs administered by the Commission | 15 |
| and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a | 16 |
| period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation. | 17 |
| Any such
extension of the period during which the teaching | 18 |
| requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to limitations | 19 |
| of duration as established by the Commission.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-133, eff. 7-7-05; 95-939, eff. 1-1-09.)
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| Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by | 22 |
| changing Section 3-648 as follows:
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| (625 ILCS 5/3-648)
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| Sec. 3-648. Education license plates.
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| (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in | 2 |
| the form
prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special | 3 |
| registration plates designated
as Education license plates. | 4 |
| The special plates issued under this Section
shall be affixed | 5 |
| only to passenger vehicles of the first division and motor
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| vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000 | 7 |
| pounds. Plates
issued under this Section shall expire according | 8 |
| to the multi-year procedure
established by Section 3-414.1 of | 9 |
| this Code.
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| (b) The design and color of the plates
shall be determined | 11 |
| by a contest that every elementary school pupil in the
State of | 12 |
| Illinois is eligible to enter. The designs submitted for the | 13 |
| contest
shall be judged on September 30, 2002, and the winning | 14 |
| design shall be selected
by a committee
composed of the | 15 |
| Secretary, the Director of State Police, 2 members of the
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| Senate, one member chosen by the President of the Senate and | 17 |
| one member chosen
by the
Senate Minority Leader, and 2 members | 18 |
| of the House of Representatives, one
member chosen by the | 19 |
| Speaker of the House and one member chosen by the House
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| Minority
Leader.
The
Secretary may allow the plates to be | 21 |
| issued as vanity or personalized plates
under Section 3-405.1 | 22 |
| of the Code. The Secretary shall prescribe stickers or
decals | 23 |
| as provided under Section 3-412 of this Code.
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| (c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged a | 25 |
| $40 fee for
original issuance,
in addition to the appropriate | 26 |
| registration fee.
Of this $40 additional original issuance fee, |
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| $15 shall be deposited into the
Secretary of State Special
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| License Plate Fund, to be used by the Secretary to help defray | 3 |
| the
administrative processing costs, and
$25 shall be deposited | 4 |
| into the Illinois Future Teacher Corps
Scholarship Fund.
For | 5 |
| each registration renewal period, a $40 fee, in addition to the
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| appropriate registration fee, shall be charged.
Of this $40 | 7 |
| additional renewal fee, $2 shall be deposited into the | 8 |
| Secretary of
State Special License
Plate Fund and $38 shall be | 9 |
| deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher
Corps
Scholarship | 10 |
| Fund. Each
fiscal year, once deposits from the additional | 11 |
| original issuance and renewal
fees into the Secretary of State | 12 |
| Special License Plate Fund have reached
$500,000, all the | 13 |
| amounts received for the additional fees for the balance of
the | 14 |
| fiscal year shall be
deposited into the Illinois Future Teacher | 15 |
| Corps Scholarship Fund.
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| (d) The Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
is | 17 |
| created as a special fund in the State treasury. Ninety-five
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| percent of the
moneys in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps | 19 |
| Scholarship Fund
shall be appropriated to the Illinois Student | 20 |
| Assistance
Commission for scholarships under Section 52 of the | 21 |
| Higher
Education Student Assistance Act, and 5% of the
moneys | 22 |
| in the Illinois Future Teacher Corps Scholarship Fund
shall be | 23 |
| appropriated to the State Board of Education for grants to the
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| Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching, a | 25 |
| recognized charitable
organization that
meets the requirements | 26 |
| of Title 26, Section 501(c)(3) of the United States
Code. |
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| Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection (d), | 2 |
| beginning in the 2010 fiscal year, funds for the Illinois | 3 |
| Future Teacher Corps Program and the Golden Apple Foundation | 4 |
| for Excellence in Teaching shall be apportioned according to | 5 |
| Section 52 of the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 8 |
| becoming law.
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