Full Text of SB1506 99th General Assembly
SB1506ham002 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie Filed: 5/27/2015
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1506
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1506 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is | 5 | | amended by changing Section 52 as follows:
| 6 | | (110 ILCS 947/52)
| 7 | | Sec. 52. Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program; Golden | 8 | | Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching.
| 9 | | (a) In this Section, "Foundation" means the Golden Apple | 10 | | Foundation for Excellence in Teaching, a registered 501(c)(3) | 11 | | not-for-profit corporation. | 12 | | (a-2) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | 13 | | students,
especially minority students, to pursue teaching | 14 | | careers, especially in
teacher shortage
disciplines
(which | 15 | | shall be defined to include early childhood education) or at
| 16 | | hard-to-staff schools (as defined by the Commission in |
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| 1 | | consultation with the
State Board of Education), to provide | 2 | | those students with the crucial mentoring, guidance, and | 3 | | in-service support that will significantly increase the | 4 | | likelihood that they will complete their full teaching | 5 | | commitments and elect to continue teaching in targeted | 6 | | disciplines and hard-to-staff schools, and to ensure that | 7 | | students in this State will continue to have access to a pool | 8 | | of highly-qualified teachers, each qualified student shall be | 9 | | awarded a Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program scholarship | 10 | | to any Illinois institution of higher learning. The Commission | 11 | | shall administer the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program, | 12 | | which shall be managed by the Foundation pursuant to the terms | 13 | | of a grant agreement meeting the requirements of Section 4 of | 14 | | the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act. | 15 | | (a-3) For purposes of this Section, a qualified student | 16 | | shall be a student who meets the following qualifications: | 17 | | (1) is a resident of this State and a citizen or | 18 | | eligible noncitizen of the United States; | 19 | | (2) is a high school graduate or a person who has | 20 | | received a high school equivalency certificate; | 21 | | (3) is enrolled or accepted, on at least a half-time | 22 | | basis, at an institution of higher learning; | 23 | | (4) is pursuing a postsecondary course of study leading | 24 | | to initial certification or pursuing additional course | 25 | | work needed to gain State Board of Education approval to | 26 | | teach, including alternative teacher licensure; and |
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| 1 | | (5) is a participant in programs managed by and is | 2 | | approved to receive a scholarship from the Foundation. | 3 | | (a-5) (Blank).
| 4 | | (b) (Blank).
| 5 | | (b-5) Funds designated for the Golden Apple Scholars of | 6 | | Illinois Program shall be used by the Commission for the | 7 | | payment of scholarship assistance under this Section or for the | 8 | | award of grant funds, subject to the Illinois Grant Funds | 9 | | Recovery Act, to the Foundation. Subject to appropriation, | 10 | | awards of grant funds to the Foundation shall be made on an | 11 | | annual basis and following an application for grant funds by | 12 | | the Foundation. | 13 | | (b-10) Each year, the Foundation shall include in its | 14 | | application to the Commission for grant funds an estimate of | 15 | | the amount of scholarship assistance to be provided to | 16 | | qualified students during the grant period. Any amount of | 17 | | appropriated funds exceeding the estimated amount of | 18 | | scholarship assistance may be awarded by the Commission to the | 19 | | Foundation for management expenses expected to be incurred by | 20 | | the Foundation in providing the mentoring, guidance, and | 21 | | in-service supports that will increase the likelihood that | 22 | | qualified students will complete their teaching commitments | 23 | | and elect to continue teaching in hard-to-staff schools. If the | 24 | | estimate of the amount of scholarship assistance described in | 25 | | the Foundation's application is less than the actual amount | 26 | | required for the award of scholarship assistance to qualified |
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| 1 | | students, the Foundation shall be responsible for using awarded | 2 | | grant funds to ensure all qualified students receive | 3 | | scholarship assistance under this Section. | 4 | | (b-15) All grant funds not expended or legally obligated | 5 | | within the time specified in a grant agreement between the | 6 | | Foundation and the Commission shall be returned to the | 7 | | Commission within 45 days. Any funds legally obligated by the | 8 | | end of a grant agreement shall be liquidated within 45 days or | 9 | | otherwise returned to the Commission within 90 days after the | 10 | | end of the grant agreement that resulted in the award of grant | 11 | | funds. | 12 | | (c) Each scholarship awarded under this Section shall be in | 13 | | an amount
sufficient to pay the tuition and fees and room and | 14 | | board costs of the Illinois
institution of higher learning at | 15 | | which the recipient is enrolled, up to
an annual maximum of | 16 | | $5,000; except that in the case of a
recipient who
does not
| 17 | | reside
on-campus at the institution of higher learning at which | 18 | | he or she is enrolled,
the amount of the scholarship shall be | 19 | | sufficient to pay tuition and fee
expenses and a commuter | 20 | | allowance, up to an annual maximum of $5,000. All scholarship | 21 | | funds distributed in accordance with this Section shall be paid | 22 | | to the institution on behalf of recipients.
For any academic | 23 | | year in which a recipient enrolled at a public university is | 24 | | entitled to scholarship funds, he or she is exempt from the | 25 | | payment of any remaining tuition and fees not covered by the | 26 | | scholarship.
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| 1 | | (d) The total amount of scholarship assistance awarded by | 2 | | the Commission
under this Section to an individual in any given | 3 | | fiscal year, when added to
other financial assistance awarded | 4 | | to that individual for that year, shall not
exceed the cost of | 5 | | attendance at the institution of higher learning at which
the | 6 | | student is enrolled. In any academic year for which a qualified | 7 | | student under this Section accepts financial assistance | 8 | | through any other teacher scholarship program administered by | 9 | | the Commission, a qualified student shall not be eligible for | 10 | | scholarship assistance awarded under this Section.
| 11 | | (e) A recipient may receive up to 8 semesters or 12
| 12 | | quarters of scholarship
assistance under this Section. | 13 | | Scholarship funds are applicable toward 2 semesters or 3 | 14 | | quarters of enrollment each academic year.
| 15 | | (f) All applications for scholarship assistance to be | 16 | | awarded under this
Section shall be made to the Foundation in a | 17 | | form determined by the Foundation. Each year, the Foundation | 18 | | shall notify the Commission of the individuals awarded | 19 | | scholarship assistance under this Section. Each year, at least | 20 | | 30% of the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Program | 21 | | scholarships shall be awarded to students residing in counties | 22 | | having a population of less than 500,000.
| 23 | | (g) (Blank).
| 24 | | (h) The Commission shall administer the payment of
| 25 | | scholarship assistance provided through the Golden Apple | 26 | | Scholars of Illinois Program and shall make all necessary
and
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| 1 | | proper rules not inconsistent with this Section for the | 2 | | effective
implementation of this Section.
| 3 | | (i) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | 4 | | academic year, each
recipient of a scholarship awarded under | 5 | | this
Section shall be required by the Foundation to sign an | 6 | | agreement under which
the
recipient pledges that, within the | 7 | | 2-year period following the
termination
of the academic program | 8 | | for which the recipient was awarded a scholarship, the
| 9 | | recipient: (i) shall begin teaching for a period of not
less | 10 | | than 5 years, (ii) shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a | 11 | | nonprofit
Illinois public,
private, or parochial
preschool or | 12 | | an Illinois public elementary or secondary school that | 13 | | qualifies for teacher loan cancellation under Section | 14 | | 465(a)(2)(A) of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 | 15 | | U.S.C. 1087ee(a)(2)(A)) or other Illinois schools deemed | 16 | | eligible for fulfilling the teaching commitment as designated | 17 | | by the Foundation, and (iii)
shall, upon request of
the | 18 | | Foundation, provide the Foundation with evidence that he or she | 19 | | is fulfilling
or has fulfilled the terms of the teaching | 20 | | agreement provided for in this
subsection. Upon request, the | 21 | | Foundation shall provide evidence of teacher fulfillment to the | 22 | | Commission.
| 23 | | (j) If a recipient of a scholarship awarded under this | 24 | | Section fails to
fulfill the teaching obligation set forth in | 25 | | subsection (i) of this Section,
the Commission shall require | 26 | | the recipient to repay the amount of the
scholarships received, |
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| 1 | | prorated according to the fraction of the teaching
obligation | 2 | | not completed, plus interest at a rate of 5% and if applicable, | 3 | | reasonable
collection fees.
Payments received by the | 4 | | Commission under this subsection (j)
shall be remitted to the | 5 | | State Comptroller for deposit into
the General Revenue Fund, | 6 | | except that that portion of a
recipient's repayment that equals | 7 | | the amount in expenses that
the Commission has reasonably | 8 | | incurred in attempting
collection from that recipient shall be | 9 | | remitted to the State
Comptroller for deposit into the | 10 | | Commission's Accounts
Receivable Fund. | 11 | | (k) A recipient of a scholarship awarded by the Foundation | 12 | | under this
Section shall not be considered to have failed to | 13 | | fulfill the teaching obligations of the agreement entered into | 14 | | pursuant to
subsection (i) if the recipient (i) enrolls on a | 15 | | full-time basis as a graduate
student in a course of study | 16 | | related to the field of teaching at an institution
of higher | 17 | | learning; (ii) is serving as a member of the armed services of | 18 | | the
United States; (iii) is temporarily totally disabled, as | 19 | | established by sworn
affidavit of a qualified physician; (iv) | 20 | | is seeking and unable to find
full-time employment as a teacher | 21 | | at a school that satisfies the criteria set
forth
in subsection | 22 | | (i) and is able to provide evidence of that fact; (v) is taking | 23 | | additional courses, on at least a half-time basis, needed to | 24 | | obtain certification as a teacher in Illinois; (vi) is | 25 | | fulfilling teaching requirements associated with other | 26 | | programs administered by the Commission and cannot |
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| 1 | | concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a period of | 2 | | time equal to the length of the teaching obligation; or (vii) | 3 | | is participating in a program established under Executive Order | 4 | | 10924 of the President of the United States or the federal | 5 | | National Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et | 6 | | seq.). Any such
extension of the period during which the | 7 | | teaching requirement must be fulfilled
shall be subject to | 8 | | limitations of duration as established by the Commission.
| 9 | | (l) A recipient who fails to fulfill the teaching | 10 | | obligations of the agreement entered into pursuant to | 11 | | subsection (i) of this Section shall repay the amount of | 12 | | scholarship assistance awarded to them under this Section | 13 | | within 10 years. | 14 | | (m) Annually, at a time determined by the Commission in | 15 | | consultation with the Foundation, the Foundation shall submit a | 16 | | report to assist the Commission in monitoring the Foundation's | 17 | | performance of grant activities. The report shall describe the | 18 | | following: | 19 | | (1) the Foundation's anticipated expenditures for the | 20 | | next fiscal year; | 21 | | (2) the number of qualified students receiving | 22 | | scholarship assistance at each institution of higher | 23 | | learning where a qualified student was enrolled under this | 24 | | Section during the previous fiscal year; | 25 | | (3) the total monetary value of scholarship funds paid | 26 | | to each institution of higher learning at which a qualified |
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| 1 | | student was enrolled during the previous fiscal year; | 2 | | (4) the number of scholarship recipients who completed | 3 | | a baccalaureate degree during the previous fiscal year; | 4 | | (5) the number of scholarship recipients who fulfilled | 5 | | their teaching obligation during the previous fiscal year; | 6 | | (6) the number of scholarship recipients who failed to | 7 | | fulfill their teaching obligation during the previous | 8 | | fiscal year; | 9 | | (7) the number of scholarship recipients granted an | 10 | | extension described in subsection (k) of this Section | 11 | | during the previous fiscal year; | 12 | | (8) the number of scholarship recipients required to | 13 | | repay scholarship assistance in accordance with subsection | 14 | | (j) of this Section during the previous fiscal year; | 15 | | (9) the number of scholarship recipients who | 16 | | successfully repaid scholarship assistance in full during | 17 | | the previous fiscal year; | 18 | | (10) the number of scholarship recipients who | 19 | | defaulted on their obligation to repay scholarship | 20 | | assistance during the previous fiscal year; | 21 | | (11) the amount of scholarship assistance subject to | 22 | | collection in accordance with subsection (j) of this | 23 | | Section at the end of the previous fiscal year; | 24 | | (12) the amount of collected funds to be remitted to | 25 | | the Comptroller in accordance with subsection (j) of this | 26 | | Section at the end of the previous fiscal year; and |
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| 1 | | (13) other information that the Commission may | 2 | | reasonably request. | 3 | | (n) Nothing in this Section shall affect the rights of the | 4 | | Commission to collect moneys owed to it by recipients of | 5 | | scholarship assistance through the Illinois Future Teacher | 6 | | Corps Program, repealed by this amendatory Act of the 98th | 7 | | General Assembly. | 8 | | (o) The Auditor General shall prepare an annual audit of | 9 | | the operations and finances of the Golden Apple Scholars of | 10 | | Illinois Program. This audit shall be provided to the Governor, | 11 | | General Assembly, and the Commission. | 12 | | (p) The suspension of grant making authority found in | 13 | | Section 4.2 of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act shall not | 14 | | apply to grants made pursuant to this Section. | 15 | | (Source: P.A. 98-533, eff. 8-23-13; 98-718, eff. 1-1-15 .)
| 16 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 17 | | becoming law.".
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