Full Text of SB3319 99th General Assembly
SB3319ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie Filed: 5/11/2016
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 3319
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 3319 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 50 as follows: | 6 | | (110 ILCS 947/50)
| 7 | | Sec. 50. Minority Teachers of Illinois scholarship | 8 | | program.
| 9 | | (a) As used in this Section:
| 10 | | "Eligible applicant" means a minority student who has | 11 | | graduated
from high school or has received a high school | 12 | | equivalency certificate and
and has
maintained a | 13 | | cumulative grade point average of
no
less than 2.5 on a 4.0 | 14 | | scale, and who by reason thereof is entitled to
apply for | 15 | | scholarships to be awarded under this Section.
| 16 | | "Minority student" means a student who is any of the |
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| 1 | | following: | 2 | | (1) American Indian or Alaska Native (a person | 3 | | having origins in any of the original peoples of North | 4 | | and South America, including Central America, and who | 5 | | maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment). | 6 | | (2) Asian (a person having origins in any of the | 7 | | original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or | 8 | | the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited | 9 | | to, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, | 10 | | Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and | 11 | | Vietnam). | 12 | | (3) Black or African American (a person having | 13 | | origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa). | 14 | | Terms such as "Haitian" or "Negro" can be used in | 15 | | addition to "Black or African American". | 16 | | (4) Hispanic or Latino (a person of Cuban, Mexican, | 17 | | Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other | 18 | | Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race). | 19 | | (5) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (a | 20 | | person having origins in any of the original peoples of | 21 | | Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).
| 22 | | "Qualified student" means a person (i) who is a | 23 | | resident of this State
and a citizen or permanent resident | 24 | | of the United States; (ii) who is a
minority student, as | 25 | | defined in this Section; (iii) who, as an eligible
| 26 | | applicant, has made a timely application for a minority |
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| 1 | | teaching
scholarship under this Section; (iv) who is | 2 | | enrolled on at least a
half-time basis at a
qualified | 3 | | Illinois institution of
higher learning; (v) who is | 4 | | enrolled in a course of study leading to
teacher | 5 | | certification, including alternative teacher | 6 | | certification; (vi)
who maintains a grade point average of | 7 | | no
less than 2.5 on a 4.0 scale;
and (vii) who continues to | 8 | | advance satisfactorily toward the attainment
of a degree.
| 9 | | (b) In order to encourage academically talented Illinois | 10 | | minority
students to pursue teaching careers at the preschool | 11 | | or elementary or
secondary
school
level, each qualified student | 12 | | shall be awarded a minority teacher
scholarship to any | 13 | | qualified Illinois institution of higher learning.
However, | 14 | | preference may be given to qualified applicants enrolled at or | 15 | | above
the
junior level.
| 16 | | (c) Each minority teacher scholarship awarded under this | 17 | | Section shall
be in an amount sufficient to pay the tuition and | 18 | | fees and room and board
costs of the qualified Illinois | 19 | | institution of higher learning at which the
recipient is | 20 | | enrolled, up to an annual maximum of $5,000;
except that
in
the | 21 | | case of a recipient who does not reside on-campus at the | 22 | | institution at
which he or she is enrolled, the amount of the | 23 | | scholarship shall be
sufficient to pay tuition and fee expenses | 24 | | and a commuter allowance, up to
an annual maximum of $5,000.
| 25 | | (d) The total amount of minority teacher scholarship | 26 | | assistance awarded by
the Commission under this Section to an |
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| 1 | | individual in any given fiscal
year, when added to other | 2 | | financial assistance awarded to that individual
for that year, | 3 | | shall not exceed the cost of attendance at the institution
at | 4 | | which the student is enrolled. If the amount of minority | 5 | | teacher
scholarship to be awarded to a qualified student as | 6 | | provided in
subsection (c) of this Section exceeds the cost of | 7 | | attendance at the
institution at which the student is enrolled, | 8 | | the minority teacher
scholarship shall be reduced by an amount | 9 | | equal to the amount by which the
combined financial assistance | 10 | | available to the student exceeds the cost
of attendance.
| 11 | | (e) The maximum number of academic terms for which a | 12 | | qualified
student
can receive minority teacher scholarship | 13 | | assistance shall be 8 semesters or
12 quarters.
| 14 | | (f) In any academic year for which an eligible applicant | 15 | | under this
Section accepts financial assistance through the | 16 | | Paul Douglas Teacher
Scholarship Program, as authorized by | 17 | | Section 551 et seq. of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, the | 18 | | applicant shall not be eligible for scholarship
assistance | 19 | | awarded under this Section.
| 20 | | (g) All applications for minority teacher scholarships to | 21 | | be awarded
under this Section shall be made to the Commission | 22 | | on forms which the
Commission shall provide for eligible | 23 | | applicants. The form of applications
and the information | 24 | | required to be set forth therein shall be determined by
the | 25 | | Commission, and the Commission shall require eligible | 26 | | applicants to
submit with their applications such supporting |
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| 1 | | documents or recommendations
as the Commission deems | 2 | | necessary.
| 3 | | (h) Subject to a separate appropriation for such purposes, | 4 | | payment of
any minority teacher scholarship awarded under this | 5 | | Section shall be
determined by the Commission. All scholarship | 6 | | funds distributed in
accordance with this subsection shall be | 7 | | paid to the institution and used
only for payment of the | 8 | | tuition and fee and room and board expenses
incurred by the | 9 | | student in connection with his or her attendance as an
| 10 | | undergraduate student at a qualified Illinois institution of | 11 | | higher
learning. Any minority teacher scholarship awarded | 12 | | under this Section
shall be applicable to 2 semesters or 3 | 13 | | quarters of enrollment. If a
qualified student withdraws from | 14 | | enrollment prior to completion of the
first semester or quarter | 15 | | for which the minority teacher scholarship is
applicable, the | 16 | | school shall refund to the Commission the full amount of the
| 17 | | minority teacher scholarship.
| 18 | | (i) The Commission shall administer the minority teacher | 19 | | scholarship aid
program established by this Section and shall | 20 | | make all necessary and proper
rules not inconsistent with this | 21 | | Section for its effective implementation.
| 22 | | (j) When an appropriation to the Commission for a given | 23 | | fiscal year is
insufficient to provide scholarships to all | 24 | | qualified students, the
Commission shall allocate the | 25 | | appropriation in accordance with this
subsection. If funds are | 26 | | insufficient to provide all qualified students
with a |
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| 1 | | scholarship as authorized by this Section, the Commission shall
| 2 | | allocate the available scholarship funds for that fiscal year | 3 | | on the basis
of the date the Commission receives a complete | 4 | | application form.
| 5 | | (k) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (j) or any | 6 | | other
provision of this Section, at least 30% of the funds | 7 | | appropriated for
scholarships awarded under this Section in | 8 | | each fiscal year shall be reserved
for qualified male minority | 9 | | applicants.
If the Commission does not receive enough | 10 | | applications from qualified male
minorities on or before
| 11 | | January 1 of each fiscal year to award 30% of the funds | 12 | | appropriated for these
scholarships to qualified
male minority | 13 | | applicants, then the Commission may award a portion of the
| 14 | | reserved funds to qualified
female minority applicants.
| 15 | | (l) Prior to receiving scholarship assistance for any | 16 | | academic year,
each recipient of a minority teacher scholarship | 17 | | awarded under this Section
shall be required by the Commission | 18 | | to sign an agreement under which the
recipient pledges that, | 19 | | within the one-year period following the
termination
of the | 20 | | program for which the recipient was awarded a minority
teacher | 21 | | scholarship, the recipient (i) shall begin teaching for a
| 22 | | period of not less
than one year for each year of scholarship | 23 | | assistance he or she was awarded
under this Section; and (ii) | 24 | | shall fulfill this teaching obligation at a
nonprofit Illinois | 25 | | public, private, or parochial preschool, elementary school,
or | 26 | | secondary school at which no less than 30% of the enrolled |
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| 1 | | students are
minority students in the year during which the | 2 | | recipient begins teaching at the
school; and (iii) shall, upon | 3 | | request by the Commission, provide the Commission
with evidence | 4 | | that he or she is fulfilling or has fulfilled the terms of the
| 5 | | teaching agreement provided for in this subsection.
| 6 | | (m) If a recipient of a minority teacher scholarship | 7 | | awarded under this
Section fails to fulfill the teaching | 8 | | obligation set forth in subsection
(l) of this Section, the | 9 | | Commission shall require the recipient to repay
the amount of | 10 | | the scholarships received, prorated according to the fraction
| 11 | | of the teaching obligation not completed, at a rate of interest | 12 | | equal to
5%, and, if applicable, reasonable collection fees.
| 13 | | The Commission is authorized to establish rules relating to its | 14 | | collection
activities for repayment of scholarships under this | 15 | | Section. All repayments
collected under this Section shall be | 16 | | forwarded to the State Comptroller for
deposit into the State's | 17 | | General Revenue Fund.
| 18 | | (n) A recipient of minority teacher scholarship shall not | 19 | | be considered
in violation of the agreement entered into | 20 | | pursuant to subsection (l) if
the recipient (i) enrolls on a | 21 | | full time basis as a graduate student in a
course of study | 22 | | related to the field of teaching at a qualified Illinois
| 23 | | institution of higher learning; (ii) is serving, not in excess | 24 | | of 3 years,
as a member of the armed services of the United | 25 | | States; (iii) is
a person with a temporary total disability for | 26 | | a period of time not to exceed 3 years as
established by sworn |
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| 1 | | affidavit of a qualified physician; (iv) is seeking
and unable | 2 | | to find full time employment as a teacher at an Illinois | 3 | | public,
private, or parochial preschool or elementary or | 4 | | secondary school that
satisfies the
criteria set forth in | 5 | | subsection (l) of this Section and is able to provide
evidence | 6 | | of that fact; (v) becomes a person with a permanent total | 7 | | disability as
established by sworn affidavit of a qualified | 8 | | physician; (vi) is taking additional courses, on at least a | 9 | | half-time basis, needed to obtain certification as a teacher in | 10 | | Illinois; or (vii) is fulfilling teaching requirements | 11 | | associated with other programs administered by the Commission | 12 | | and cannot concurrently fulfill them under this Section in a | 13 | | period of time equal to the length of the teaching obligation.
| 14 | | (o) Scholarship recipients under this Section who withdraw | 15 | | from
a program of teacher education but remain enrolled in | 16 | | school
to continue their postsecondary studies in another | 17 | | academic discipline shall
not be required to commence repayment | 18 | | of their Minority Teachers of Illinois
scholarship so long as | 19 | | they remain enrolled in school on a full-time basis or
if they | 20 | | can document for the Commission special circumstances that | 21 | | warrant
extension of repayment.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 98-718, eff. 1-1-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)".
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